The most significant arbitration case of this summer (given how few of these actually went before an arbiter this summer) was that of LA Kings forward Mike Cammalleri.
Reports indicate Cammalleri was awarded a two-year, $6.7 million contract from the arbiter ($3.1 million for 2007-08, $3.6 million for 2008-09), which was considerably less than the $6 million per season he was seeking.
For the Kings, who offered $2.6 million per on a two-year award, they got a short-term, money-saving victory, but it could end up costing them when Cammalleri’s new contract is up in 2009.
Cammalleri’s been a player on the rise for the Kings over the past four seasons. In 2002-03, he has only 8 points in 28 NHL games and 15 in 31 games in 2003-04.
However, during the lockout season of 2004-05, Cammalleri played for the Kings AHL farm club and posted 109 points in 79 games.
That season on the farm did him a world of good, for after the lockout, he had 55 points in 80 games in 2005-06 and last season had his best record to date with 80 points in 81 games.
The arbiter’s decision was puzzling, as blogger James Mirtle pointed out how Mike York got a $2.85 million award from an arbiter last season after a 13-goal season, while Cammalleri , who average 30 goals per season the last two years, got a little over $3.35 million per.
Arbitration inconsistencies aside, the real problem here for the Kings is that by taking Cammalleri to arbitration, they may have all but assured his departure via unrestricted free agency in 2009.
The arbitration process is never pleasant, as even GM Dean Lombardi admitted following Cammalleri’s hearing. The player tries to justify his worth and the team essentially denigrates that worth. It’s an ego-bruising experience, and in most cases, players who’ve gone through the process usually end up leaving for unrestricted free agency with a year or two, depending on the award.
Is Cammalleri a six million dollar man? Considering his age (25), his growing point production on a rebuilding Kings team, and his relatively good health over the past two seasons (missing only three games during that period), I believe he is.
Cammalleri has shown nothing but steady, consistent improvement and is heading into his prime playing years. If he keeps posting up numbers over the next two seasons as he did in 2006-07, he’ll easily get $6 million on the open market in 2009.
In fact, if this summer was any indication of the value 80-point UFA forwards have, he’d likely command much more than that. Offers between $7-$9 million will surely be his if he tests the 2009 UFA market, which’ll make the $6 million (or perhaps a little less depending on negotiations) he sought via arbitration appear a bargain by comparison.
Now I realize the Kings had cap constraints of their own heading into this season, but enough money might’ve been available if they’d been a little more prudent with their UFA signings.
Hindsight of course is 20/20, and most of the Kings signings I had no problem with, acknowledging the club’s need to bolster its depth. However, with promising young d-man Jack Johnson set to begin his first full NHL season in 2007-08, perhaps the need to sign defenceman Tom Preissing wasn’t as pressing.
And bolstering their depth shouldn’t have come at the potential expense of losing a guy in two years who should’ve been a King for life, or at the very least, throughout his playing prime.
Now maybe I’ll be proven wrong here and Cammalleri and the Kings could reach a new contract extension before he becomes eligible for UFA status. Like I said before, however, most players who go through arbitration usually end up departing for greener pastures via unrestricted free agency, or the threat of doing so forces the team to trade them.
Chalk this up as potentially a pyrrhic victory for the Kings.
Vancouver Canucks GM Dave Nonis made headlines earlier this week when he slammed the lowering of the eligibility age for unrestricted free agency.
According to Canadian Press, Nonis claimed the Pittsburgh Penguins could potentially lose young superstar Sidney Crosby to free agency when he reaches age 25.
"Pittsburgh is going to put seven years of development money into him and he can leave when he's 25," Nonis told a B.C. Chamber of Commerce meeting.
"I think if you assemble a good team, fans want to see that team stick together for more than one or two years. Our current agreement does not lend itself to that."
Nonis subsequently claimed that 90 percent of his speech spoke positively of the CBA, including the salary cap, but he considers early free agency “a joke”, as something detrimental to long-term player development by reducing team building cycles to two or three years.
His comments came almost on the heels of comments made by Ottawa Senators GM John Muckler, who complained the current CBA makes it difficult to maintain a winning roster in part because of the lowered UFA age.
No other GMs have yet come forward to voice similar criticisms, but the opinions of Nonis and Muckler probably aren’t in the minority.
Early free agency isn’t the only thing GMs are grumbling about.
Last month there were reports of unnamed GMs claiming salary arbitration made it difficult to operate under a salary cap. That led to speculation the league might try to meet with the PA to come up with some form of amendment to either lessen the sting of arbitration or abolish the process entirely before the end of the current CBA.
It’s odd that general managers – the very people who negotiate the contracts and build the rosters – didn’t publicly raise concern earlier about those issues. One suspects most of them knew it when the deal was ratified last year.
Perhaps Nonis and Muckler public complaints were spurred by their respective owners’ realization of the predicament their clubs face under this new CBA.
It’s a good bet that arbitration and the UFA eligibility age will be at the forefront of the next round of NHL labor talks when this current deal expires in six years, if not earlier.
Lowered free agency was the trade-off for the NHLPA’s acceptance of the salary cap. The PA might be willing to bend on arbitration, but not on free agency. The genie is out of the bottle on that one, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the cost for the PA to part with or amend the current arbitration rules is a further lowering of the UFA eligibility age.
The GMs, and their team owners for that matter, cannot force the players to pass up arbitration and accept raising the age for UFA eligibility. It could come down to picking their poison and accepting the consequences for the sake of labor peace, which could be the driving theme in the next round of CBA talks.
Indeed, given how few players under the current system would be eligible for UFA status by age 25, this issue could be much ado about nothing.
This CBA was touted as the cure-all to the team owners’ problems, but just as under the previous deal issues have arisen to bite them hard on the hindquarters.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
