Another year of NHL arbitration is in the books.
William Karlsson’s one-year, $5.25-million compromise with the Golden Knights last Saturday was the final case to be concluded, and now all 44 players who filed are officially under contract for the 2018-19 season.
Karlsson was one of 40 players to sign a pre-arbitration settlement with their club. The other four were awarded a salary by the arbitrator.
It’s pretty common for players and teams not to reach their hearing, as teams and players negotiate deals during the leadup. Take last year, for example, when all 30 of last year’s cases were resolved before needing judgment.
Here’s a full list of all 44 players and how their negotiations panned out.
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Anaheim Ducks
Brandon Montour
2017-18 salary: $925,000
Signed: Montour inked a two-year bridge deal worth $6.775 million on Tuesday, with negotiations going right down to the wire ahead of their scheduled hearing.
Another young (24) Ducks defenceman with good underlying numbers. Montour had the fourth-highest average time on ice among Anaheim defencemen and posted 32 points in 80 games.
Calgary Flames
Garnet Hathaway
2017-18 salary: $650,000
Signed: The Flames signed Hathaway to a one-year, one-way deal worth $850,000 prior to their hearing.
The 26-year-old is one year away from unrestricted free agency. The bottom-six player suited up for a career-high 59 NHL games with the Flames in 2017-18.
Mark Jankowski
2017-18 salary: $925,000
Signed: Two years, $3.35 million, and no arbitration for the Flames and their sophomore centreman.
First-round pick (21st overall) in 2012 figures to be the Flames’ third-line centre and is coming off a 17-goal rookie season.
Brett Kulak
2017-18 salary: $650,000
Arbitration award: Following his July 23 hearing, Kulak was awarded a $900,000 salary for 2018-19.
We know who the top five Calgary defencemen are — Kulak is a depth piece who played limited minutes in 71 games last season. May lose his No. 6 spot to rookie Rasmus Andersson.
Elias Lindholm
2017-18 salary: $2.7 million
Signed: The Flames locked up Lindholm to a six-year, $29.1-million deal on July 16, avoiding arbitration with the newly-acquired forward who came over to Calgary in the blockbuster deal along with fellow RFA Noah Hanifin. His new cap hit is $4.85 million through the 2023-24 campaign.
One of the key returns from Carolina, Lindholm is in line to be a top-line player for the Flames, who hope he’ll score more than 45 points for the first time in his career.
David Rittich
2017-18 salary: $725,000
Signed: The Flames signed Rittich to another one-year deal. His $800,000 salary for 2018-19 is a slight raise from last season and helps the two sides avoid arbitration.
Rittich served as Calgary’s backup much of last season and played 21 games, posting a .904 save percentage and 8-6-3 record. He’s 25 years old and the most proven option in that role behind Mike Smith, but we’re getting to the point where Jon Gillies and Tyler Parsons will start making their own cases.
Carolina Hurricanes
Trevor van Riemsdyk
2017-18 salary: $825,000
Signed: The Hurricanes spared no time in signing van Riemsdyk, avoiding arbitration by settling on a two-year contract worth $4.6 million. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent once his deal, which carries a $2.3-million cap hit, runs out in 2020.
Colorado Avalanche
Patrik Nemeth
2017-18 salary: $945,000
Signed: Nemeth’s hearing was scheduled for Aug. 4, but the two sides didn’t need it as they settled on a one-year, $2.5-million contract.
His 68 games played last season was the first time the 26-year-old saw more than half a season’s worth of NHL action. He averaged the third-highest TOI among Avalanche blueliners (19:51) and second-most used PK guy after coming to Colorado via waivers from Dallas in October.
Matthew Nieto
2017-18 salary: $1 million
Signed: Nieto and the Avalanche settled on a two-year, $3.95-million pact ($1.975-million cap hit) prior to the arbitration hearing.
The depth forward has fit in well in Colorado since being claimed off waivers from the San Jose Sharks in January 2017. The 25-year-old tallied a career-high 15 goals in 74 games in 2017-18.
Dallas Stars
Mattias Janmark
2017-18 salary: $700,000
Signed: The Stars dodged arbitration with Janmark, signing him to a one-year deal worth $2.3 million.
Improved by four goals and five points in his sophomore season, Janmark will be a key player as Dallas needs more scoring from its secondary lines.
Devin Shore
2017-18 salary: $925,000
Signed: The Stars avoided a hearing by inking Shore to a two-year, $4.6-million contract on July 13.
Similar to Janmark, the 23-year-old Shore will be needed to expand the depth of scoring. Averaged 1:30 less per game than Janmark, but posted a similar 32 points.
Gemel Smith
2017-18 salary: $650,000
Arbitration award: Smith was awarded a one-year, one-way deal worth $720,000 after going through the arbitration process with the Stars.
The 24-year-old is still playing his way into Dallas’s lineup. He got into just 46 games and averaged less than 10 minutes per game in 2017-18.
Florida Panthers
MacKenzie Weegar
2017-18 salary: $675,000
Signed: The Panthers’ lone arbitration case didn’t reach a hearing as the team signed Weegar to a one-year pact worth $900,000.
The depth defenceman saw very few minutes in 60 games played last season. Still, the 2013 seventh-round pick is just 24 years old has another year to prove himself.
Minnesota Wild
Mathew Dumba
2017-18 salary: $2.55 million
Signed: Dumba was rewarded for his breakout season with a five-year, $30-million contract to stay in Minnesota through 2022-23.
He saw his role increase last season and his average time on ice rise by more than three minutes. In the nine games (regular season and playoffs) the Wild played after Ryan Suter’s injury, Dumba played less than 24 minutes just twice.
Jason Zucker
2017-18 salary: $2 million
Signed: Like Dumba, Zucker got a five-year extension with the Wild. The forward will earn $27.5 million over the next five seasons.
2017-18 was a breakout season with 33 goals and 64 points plus 50 more shots on goal than his previous career high. Shooting percentage was 2.1 per cent higher than career average, but he’s becoming a more integral part of this team.
Montreal Canadiens
Joel Armia
2017-18 salary: $925,000
Signed: Two weeks after acquiring Armia in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets, the Canadiens sidestepped an arbitration hearing by signing him up to a one-year, $1.85-million deal on July 13.
He may not hit the potential he had when he was a 16th-overall pick, but the big winger is coming off a career year in which he totalled 12 goals and 29 points. If he gets more ice time and opportunity, the Canadiens could find some untapped upside in Armia.
Phillip Danault
2017-18 salary: $912,500
Signed: Not only did Danault avoid arbitration, he also got a healthy raise by signing a three-year, $9.25-million deal with the Canadiens on July 15.
With 25 points in 52 games, Danault had a similar points-per-game rate to 2016-17. Shooting percentage is below league average, so if that came up to a respectable level Danault could end up as the Canadiens’ No. 1 centre.
Nashville Predators
Miikka Salomaki
2017-18 salary: $612,500
Signed: No hearing needed in Nashville. Instead, the two sides settled on a two-year, $1.5-million contract.
He hasn’t played his way up in the lineup and only posted eight points in 58 games. The 25-year-old is basically a fourth-liner on this team.
New Jersey Devils
Blake Coleman
2017-18 salary: $660,000
Signed: The Devils avoided arbitration by signing Coleman to a three-year, $5.4-million deal on July 17.
One of the many great stories on the Devils this past season, the 26-year-old had a career-best 25 points — 10 of which came in the final 16 games.
Stefan Noesen
2017-18 salary: $660,000
Signed: On the same day they signed Coleman, the Devils also inked Noesen to a one-year deal worth $1.7 million.
A third- or fourth-liner, Noesen has yet to hit his potential as a pro.
New York Islanders
Brock Nelson
2017-18 salary: $2.5 million
Signed: The Islanders agreed to terms with Nelson on a one-year, $4.25 million contract to avoid arbitration, which was scheduled for Aug. 3.
His bid for four-straight 20-goal seasons fell one shy, but the power forward’s role should be upgraded. He’ll be a UFA in 2019.
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New York Rangers
Kevin Hayes
2017-18 salary: $2.6 million
Signed: Hayes and the Rangers dodged their Aug. 2 arbitration date, instead settling on a one-year contract valued at $5.125 million.
With younger centres coming up, Hayes had been mentioned in trade rumours. He scored a career-high 25 goals in 2017-18.
Brady Skjei
2017-18 salary: $925,000
Signed: Skjei earned himself a huge raise as the Rangers locked him up long-term with a six-year contract while avoiding arbitration. Skjei’s new deal is worth $31.5 million, carrying a $5.25-million cap hit through 2023-24.
A rising piece of New York’s rebuild on the blue line, the 24-year-old averaged 21:02 per game and should see further growth in 2018-19.
Ryan Spooner
2017-18 salary: $2.825 million
Signed: The Rangers signed Spooner to a two-year deal, avoiding arbitration with the RFA forward. The new deal carries a $4-million cap hit through 2019-20.
Acquired from Boston in the Rick Nash trade, Spooner was nearly a point-per-game player down the stretch in New York.
Jimmy Vesey
2017-18 salary: $925,000
Signed: No hearing needed between Vesey and the Rangers, as the two sides agreed to terms on a two-year deal worth $4.55 million on July 17.
After two sub-30-point seasons, Vesey is fitting in more as a bottom-six winger entering his age 25 season. That said, he’s scored 16 and 17 goals in two seasons and has the upside for more.
Ottawa Senators
Cody Ceci
2017-18 salary: $2.8 million
Arbitration award: Once his Aug. 1 hearing wrapped up, the arbitrator awarded Ceci a $4.3-million salary for the upcoming season.
Ceci averaged 23:20 per game, which might go up if Erik Karlsson is traded. He had the lowest relative Corsi percentage among Senators defencemen who spent the full season with the club.
Mark Stone
2017-18 salary: $3.5 million
Signed: Unable to agree on a long-term deal, the Senators instead inked Stone to a one-year, $7.35-million pre-arbitration settlement.
The 26-year-old winger tallied 20 goals and a career-high 42 assists in 2017-18. Like teammates Matt Duchene and Erik Karlsson, Stone will be an unrestricted free agent next July.
Philadelphia Flyers
Taylor Leier
2017-18 salary: $806,558
Signed: It’s a one-year, $720,000 deal for Leier and the Flyers, arbitration-free.
Fourth-line player with seven points in 55 games across three seasons. Hard to gauge his NHL upside so far as he averaged just a little more than 10 minutes per game — hard to muster a breakout with so little opportunity.
Alex Lyon
2017-18 salary: 874,125
Signed: The two sides avoid an arbitration hearing with a two-year, $1.5-million deal.
The 25-year-old netminder made 11 appearances as a rookie in 2017-18, posting a 4-2-1 record with a 2.75 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Jamie Oleksiak
2017-18 salary: $806,558
Signed: Oleksiak is a Penguins for three more seasons after signing a pre-arbitration contract worth $6.41 million over those three years.
A capable third-pair blueliner with limited offensive upside. Won’t hit the potential he had as a 14th-overall pick, but at 25 years old he’s a good big-body depth option for a team that needs to find value lower in the lineup.
San Jose Sharks
Chris Tierney
2017-18 salary: $735,000
Signed: The Sharks and Tierney agreed to terms on a two-year, $5.875-million contract on July 18, ahead of their scheduled arbitration hearing.
Although the Sharks didn’t get John Tavares, they still boast one of the better 1-2-3 centre lines in the league between Logan Couture, Joe Thornton and an under-the-radar Tierney. He scored 17 goals and 40 points last season, which was a 17-point jump from his previous career best, and was San Jose’s top penalty-killer among forwards.
St. Louis Blues
Joel Edmundson
2017-18 salary: $1.05 million
Signed: The day before Wednesday’s scheduled arbitration date, Edmundson and the Blues agreed to terms on a one-year deal that pays the 25-year-old defenceman $3 million for the 2018-19 season.
He averaged more than 20 minutes a game as a top-four blueliner and one of the main penalty-killers from the back end. After a seven-goal season, the best may still be to come for the six-foot-four blueliner. Edmundson missed a little more than a month with a broken arm.
Dmitrij Jaskin
2017-18 salary: $1 million
Signed: Jaskin will earn $1.1 million in 2018-19, thanks to a one-year pre-arbitration deal signed on July 7.
Oskar Sundqvist
2017-18 salary: $675,000
Signed: Sundqvist signed a one-year deal ahead of his scheduled hearing, and will earn 700,000 with the Blues next season.
Vancouver Canucks
Troy Stecher
2017-18 salary: $925,000
Signed: Stecher will stay with his hometown team, thanks to a pre-arbitration settlement signed on July 20 that will see the rearguard earn $4.65 million over the next two years.
After a successful 2016-17 season put him on the map, Stecher’s role was drawn back and his power-play time all but disappeared. The smallish puckmover could see a bounce back next season if the team still has long-term plans for fitting him in the lineup.
Vegas Golden Knights
William Karlsson
2017-18 salary: $1 million
Signed: Karlsson and the Golden Knights just narrowly avoided arbitration, signing a one-year deal worth $5.25 million — a contract GM George McPhee called “a good compromise.”
This may have been the trickiest arbitration case of the summer. Karlsson scored 43 goals in 2017-18 but did it on a completely unsustainable 23.4 shooting percentage. Prior to this breakout he had a career high of nine goals.
Colin Miller
2017-18 salary: $1 million
Signed: The Golden Knights didn’t need to head to their arbitration hearing with Miller, who agreed to a four-year, $15.5-million contract on July 7.
Tomas Nosek
2017-18 salary: $612,500
Signed: The two sides had a hearing scheduled for July 30, but came to terms on a one-year, $962,500 contract beforehand.
A fourth-line depth option, Nosek actually took a pay cut the last time he inked a two-year contract. In his first full NHL season, Nosek scored seven goals and 15 points for Vegas in a little more than 11 minutes per game.
Washington Capitals
Liam O’Brien
2017-18 salary: $650,000
Signed: Rather than head to the arbitration table on July 23, the Capitals and O’Brien signed a one-year pact worth the league-minimum $650,000 on July 13.
The undrafted 23-year-old depth player played three games with the Capitals last season, and had 17 goals in 69 AHL games.
Winnipeg Jets
Marko Dano
2017-18 salary: $850,000
Signed: The Jets avoided arbitration with Dano, signing him to a one-year, $800,000 deal ahead of his hearing.
A first-rounder all the way back in 2013, Dano was used less than any other Jets forward last season. It’s hard to see where his future is on a deep forward core, but he’s got another year to try to break in.
Connor Hellebuyck
2017-18 salary: $2.25 million
Signed: GM Kevin Cheveldayoff locked up his young No. 1 netminder to a six-year, $37-million deal on July 12. He’ll count for $6.167 million against the cap through 2023-24, which could prove to be a steal.
Adam Lowry
2017-18 salary: $1.125 million
Signed: Lowry’s locked in for three more years with Winnipeg thanks a pre-arbitration settlement worth $8.75 million.
The 25-year-old has proved valuable on special teams, posting the highest average ice time on the penalty kill among Jets forwards. He was limited to 45 regular-season games due to injury in 2017-18, but was effective in the post-season.
Brandon Tanev
2017-18 salary: $700,000
Signed: Tanev and the Jets inked a one-year 1.15-million contract just three days before their scheduled arbitration hearing.
Another of Winnipeg’s top penalty-killers, Tanev is strictly a bottom-six checker.
Jacob Trouba
2017-18 salary: $2.812 million
Arbitration award: After what was reported to be a marathon of a hearing, the arbitrator awarded Trouba a one-year, $5.5 contract on July 22.
Once upon a time Trouba asked for a trade out of Winnipeg, which was later rescinded after he accepted a two-year bridge contract. Trouba averaged 21:54 as the No. 2 most-used Jets defenceman last season behind only 33-year-old Dustin Byfuglien.
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