The way the Ottawa Senators’ Management group had been talking lately, it sort of seemed inevitable but over the weekend, it became official.
Both Mike Hoffman and Alex Chiasson have filed for salary arbitration.
It’s a formality more than anything but what it shows is that in both instances, there is a sizable gap in the current contract negotiations. Now it doesn’t necessarily mean both of these disputes get settled through arbitration but by officially filing this weekend, the players and their agents have shown that they are willing to go that route.
For those of you that are new to the whole arbitration thing, I recommend this article over on Silver Seven. They have a great breakdown of the process, including a summary of the organization’s history when it come to arbitration. Definitely worth a look.
The Alex Chiasson negotiation is an interesting one. On the surface, the player doesn’t exactly have a great case for significant pay increase. The 24 year old is coming off a disappointing season where he scored 11 goals and added 26 points in 76 games. Billed a big, skilled forward that could play in the team’s top six, Chiasson gradually fell down the depth chart and by the end of the season was spending time as a healthy scratch. His last contract carried a cap hit of $866,666 including $900,000 in the third year of the deal.
The Senators would be offering a slight raise on that amount but obviously Chiasson and his agent see things differently. I would be surprised to see this one make it to arbitration though. While Chiasson’s agent described it as a significant different between the two sides, it’s tough to imagine the two sides can’t find common ground here.
On the other hand, the Mike Hoffman negotiation seems like it has the potential to turn a little bit ugly.
Hoffman, who played last year on a one year deal, led all rookies in goal scoring with 27. His 48 points left him 5th in team scoring and his 27 goals were the most of any Senator. At 25 years of age, Hoffman is hoping to cash in on this contract and to this point, the Senators have been hesitant to make a long term commitment. There have been plenty of rumours about Hoffman’s original contract ask in these negotiations but I’ve heard that it may have been north of $4 million a season. Right now, there’s a huge gap between the two sides.
Arbitration is one way to resolve that kind of gap. Trading the player is another. There is tension between the Senators and Hoffman’s agent that makes this situation pretty unpredictable. I know there were plenty of rumours about this over the past few days but this is certainly something to keep an eye on.
Arbitration hearings will be held in Toronto between July 20 to August 4.
-The Ottawa Senators have a major announcement planned this afternoon at Sens House in the Market. It’s being billed as a “major contribution” to Canada’s 150th celebrations which has a lot of people assuming this may be something related to an outdoor game. For what it’s worth, this really isn’t the usual procedure for an outdoor game announcement as those are traditionally done with the league involved and not quite this far in advance. We know the Senators have been working hard to bring an outdoor game to Ottawa but this just doesn’t seem like enough “hype” for that announcement. We shall see.
