The Colorado Avalanche will be dealing with two players who have filed for salary arbitration with the NHLPA – defenseman Tyson Barrie and forward Mikhail Grigorenko.
The two Avalanche players join a total of twenty-four players throughout the NHL who requested a salary arbitration hearing before the player deadline of Tuesday, July 5, 2016. Teams have until 5 pm EST, Wednesday, July 6, 2016 for them to request a hearing. The arbitration hearings will be scheduled between July 20 – August 4, 2016 in Toronto.
Both sides will have 90 minutes to present their arguments before a neutral arbiter who must then render a judgment within 48 hours after the hearing. The final deadline for arbitration rulings is August 6, 2016.
When a player files for arbitration, the team has the option to choose if the hearing’s decision will cover either a one or two year contract. Competing organizations cannot extend an offer sheet to players who have filed for arbitration, although players can be traded prior to the hearing.
The final verdict will cover term, salary, and a summary of how the arbiter reached their decision. The team has the right to walk away if the salary verdict exceeds a set amount ($3.5 million in 2013), thereby allowing the player to become an unrestricted free agent. Otherwise, both the team and player are bound by the ruling and the team cannot trade the player for one year.
The arbitration filing ensures one of three outcomes for the players and the Avalanche – the team trades the player, both sides agree to a salary and sign a contract prior to the hearing, or they proceed through the whole arbitration process. Most, but not all, salary arbitration requests end up resolved prior to the actual hearing.
Tyson Barrie, a veteran member of the Avalanche organization and still only 24 years old, earned an AAV salary of $2,600,000 although he actually earned $3,200,000 (according to CapFriendly). Last year, Barrie scored 13 goals and racked up a cumulative of 49 points for the season, ranking fifth on the team in points, playing in 78 games.
Mikhail Grigorenko came to Colorado last year as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade and is 22 years old. Considered a bit of a reclamation project, the young Russian notched 6 goals and earned 27 total points in 74 games. Grigorenko signed a one-year contract for $675,000 last year. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Avalanche needed to make their qualifying offer reflect 110% of his previous salary, which means they offered at least $742,500.
