After a couple of seasons where teams and players have been able to settle their arbitration cases without too much acrimony or involvement of third parties, it seems like the arbitrators may earn their money in the 2023 offseason. Just a few days into the scheduled hearings, there are already two cases that went to arbitration.
The first one involved Chicago Blackhawks’ forward Philipp Kurashev whose hearing was on Thursday. According to The Athletic’s Scott Powers, the 23-year-old Kurashev is seeking a one-year deal worth $2.65 million while the team has countered with a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.4 million. After handing out $4 million contracts to veterans like Corey Perry and Nick Foligno it’s kind of odd that the team is trying to low-ball a young player who might actually still be on the team when they are actually playoff contenders. In his third season with the ‘Hawks, the Swiss-born center posted a 9-goal, 15-assist season while averaging a career-high 17:25 of ice time.
With $15 million in cap space and pretty much every other player signed, Chicago isn’t struggling to come in under the cap and could spare the extra million or so to sign the player without breaking a sweat. So it’s kind of odd that they would risk souring the relationship by going to arbitration. The 48-hour window for a decision will close out today, so the deal should be announced. Expect it to be somewhere in the $2.0 million range, but the big question will be if the ‘Hawks decide it is a one or two year contract.
The other arbitration that went to hearing will be for a little bit more money and could land the team involved in a dire financial situation. Yesterday, Ilya Samsonov had his hearing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to reports, the young goaltender is asking for $4.9 million while the team submitted an offer of $2.4 million. The 26-year-old entered the hearing with a strong case as he went 27-10-5 with a .919 SV% and 2.33 GAA in his first season with the Leafs.
No matter what the arbitrator decides, Toronto is going to have to make some tough decisions following the ruling. They are currently about $3.2 million above the salary cap (if you include the LTIR from Jake Muzzin) and have two goaltenders (Matt Murray and Joseph Woll) signed for $5.5 million. So, dealing with Samsonov’s contract, whatever it ends up being, is only part of the problem.
Since he did choose arbitration, they will have a second buyout window available should they choose to go in that direction. They don’t lack in candidates as John Klingberg and Matt Murray are above the $4 million threshold to be eligible for a buy out. There is some question on if Murray is healthy enough to be bought out, though. He was injured for most of the playoffs, but was supposedly cleared during the Florida series, but didn’t appear in a game despite Samsonov being injured.
If Samsonov’s contract ends up being in the $3 million range, expect the William Nylander trade talks to heat up again.
Arbitration hearings run through August 4 and there are still 8 restricted free agents who haven’t reached a deal with their team. The biggest names are Boston’s Jeremy Swayman and Troy Terry in Anaheim.
Lightning / NHL News
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