Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators have two prominent restricted free agents left to sign this summer. And yesterday, those two players filed for salary arbitration.
Both Jean Gabriel Pageau and Ryan Dzingel filed for player-elected salary arbirtation before yesterday’s 5:00 PM deadline. Like a lot of things, it seemed to cause a little bit of panic among fans but it’s really just a formality.
The Senators will continue to negotiate with both players leading up to the scheduled hearings.
If there’s one thing the team has done well in the last five years or so, it’s use their leverage in these RFA situations.
Their playbook has been pretty consistent in that they are looking to keep those early years of the deal as low as possible. Cost deferral, if you will. It prevents them from capitalizing in scenarios where they might get a deal down the road but they are always willing to trade that for short-term savings. The result has been some consistently team-friendly deals during the RFA years. Expecting more of the same with these two players.
In the case of Pageau, Dorion has made it clear that all options are on the table. Pageau is 24 though so anything beyond three years and they are buying UFA years which can get a little more expensive.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Pageau came into this asking for something in the neighbourhood of $4 million a season but the final number should be quite a bit less than that, starting with a lower salary in year one and increasing each year of the deal. Pageau made just $1.1 million last season.
Dzingel’s contract should be a little more straightforward and probably shorter in term.
The 25 year old Dzingel had a breakout year with the Senators, scoring 14 goals and picking up 32 points but he tailed off a bit down the stretch. Still, the Illinois-native is in line for a raise on the $750,000 he made last year.
Arbitration hearings will be held in Toronto from July 20 to Aug. 4.
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Connor McDavid’s mega-deal predictably has Sens fans looking ahead to next summer, when the team can officially begin contract talks with their star defenceman Erik Karlsson.
Karlsson has two more years on his deal at $6.5 million a season and after that he’s expected to cash-in. And with that in mind, some fans are already beginning to panic about Ottawa’s ability to keep Karlsson in the Nation’s Capital beyond the next two seasons.
First of all, Erik Karlsson likes living and playing in Ottawa. His wife to be is from here and she also likes Ottawa. So that’s a good start.
Also, you would think that coming within a goal of the Stanley Cup Final gives Karlsson a pretty good feeling about this team. And about his chances of winning here. He has to see some of the young players coming up right now and see a team that can be good for a while.
The last 12 months or so should give him the sense that this is a team that wants to win. Maybe it wasn’t the overpriced free agent or a big name trade acquisitions but when the team looked like they had a shot last year, the GM went out and added pieces to give his team the best chance to succeed. And while it wasn’t huge money coming in, that was something the Owner would have had to give the green light too.
Again, it may not be the big spending some fans are hoping for but it was certainly an improvement over the few years prior.
On the ice, Karlsson was a part of a team that had every single player on the same page. Everyone pulling in the same direction. And he was the one leading the way. There could not be a clearer indication that the Captain believes in what the Coaching Staff is preaching and believes in this team’s chances of winning.
Regarding the actual contract, the Senators are going to have to pay market value. There’s no hometown discount here. But, the fact that the Senators can put an offer in front of him a full year before anyone else and that contract can be one year longer than what anyone else is offering is a huge advantage. It’s why so few players test free agency.
So right now, the Senators are in a good spot. If they can continue to trend in the right direction and take steps to lock up some key players, including Kyle Turris and Mark Stone, it will only help their cause heading into next summer.
I know this is the thing we’re stressing about right now because of the McDavid contract but honestly, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. Not yet, anyway.
