Fleury to Arbitration
June 13th, 2008 by Jason ChenRay Shero has taken Marc-Andre Fleury to arbitration, but noted that this doesn’t mean the two sides are far apart in the deal, but rather to buy more time for negotiations and prevent Fleury from getting offer sheets. This was a new rule that came with the CBA and it’s a fantastic move on Shero’s part. Fleury is the most valuable RFA they have this summer and Shero’s protecting his assets. The arbitration period is from July 20th to August 4th.
In the past players have taken teams to arbitration in order to settle differences in contract talks and squeeze a little more money out of organizations. Since the inception of the CBA, for the first time teams were allowed to take teams to arbitration. The very real possibility of players receiving offer sheets means that in the future more and more teams will be taking their prized RFAs to arbitration. I think Fleury will be under contract long before then, but if not I wonder how they are going to establish their salary structure before then? Fleury’s a key piece in their salary structure and if they can’t get him under contract it’ll be hard to sign Marian Hossa and/or Ryan Malone and/or Brooks Orpik if they don’t have some sort of idea what Fleury’s cap number’s going to be.
Rumours are circulating that the Pens have apparently offered Malone a contract that is far less than his market value, and appears to be the odd-man out. The Jackets are in heavy talks with the Pens to trade for negotiating rights with some of their UFAs, and Malone and Dan Fritsche appears to be the major players involved. Malone has also noted that he would be open to playing in Columbus.
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2 Responses to “Fleury to Arbitration”
By Steve on Jun 14, 2008
If the two sides are “not that far apart on a deal” then wouldn’t it make sense that they have a pretty good idea of where his salary cap numbers are going to fall? I mean depending on whether they’re negotiating salary or term, either way they should know what his yearly number is likely to be.
The fact that they don’t know who they’re bringing back yet likely has a lot more to do with what they can possibly get in exchange before July 1st. I think they want to bring back Hossa, and are ok with seeing Malone go. One should also remember their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre Scranton finished 2nd in the Calder Cup playoffs, and they still have Tim Brent, and Ryan Stone to look forward to as young forwards.
Orpik is also likely to be important to them, but they’ve got Hal Gill, Kris Letang, Rob Scuderi, Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar all under contract through next season - I just don’t think Orpik is as key a piece of the puzzle as people are suggesting. He’s going to be gone in my estimation. Also don’t forget they have Alex Goligoski in Wilkes-Barre Scranton and he just finished 2nd in the Calder Cup playoffs for scoring OVERALL. He was also defensive player of the year in 2006-07 for the WCHA. Basically he’s more talented than Orpik and he’s got more offensive upside, so I can see him making the jump to the Pens next year. In which case, he can take Orpik’s spot.
By Jason C on Jun 14, 2008
Considering the tight spot Shero’s in, every penny in the negotiation counts. A million saved in Fleury’s contract is another million he can commit to Hossa. For Fleury, a 5 year, $35m deal is not that different from a 5 year, $37.5m deal, but for Shero it is. A simple increase of 500k in salary per year means an extra $2.5m committed long-term, and that $2.5m could come real handy.
Shero’s buying time, which is exactly what he needs - time to step back, see what kinds of contracts the other top UFAs this year are getting, who’s going where, and evaluate from there. You’re right too - Shero can now put off Fleury’s negotiations for awhile and concentrate on what he can get for the rights to Malone/Orpik/Hossa.
I think Orpik is a vital cog to the Pens’ defense, much more valuable than a Gill, Scuderi, Letang, or even Whitney. He plays big, mean, and dirty, which is something of a premium in the East. Goligoski stands at 6′ and 185 lbs. dripping wet, more of a puck-mover than stay at home, and if anything should replace a Whitney or Letang than an Orpik. Orpik’s physical play is hard to replace, and even though puck-moving defensemen are a premium nowadays you still need to have a tough guy somewhere in the back.
There is no doubt W-BS is full of players ready to make the jump, but they’re not ready to replace the Malones, Hossas, and Orpiks.