Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
If he gets sent down because he's making more money than Kylington, and passes through waivers he could be done.
His best bet is to get another 65 or so NHL games under his belt, and that avenue is best served by being less likely to get sent down and $650K would have done that.
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You'd have to make quite a few assumptions for that to be true:
1) We'll be so tight to the cap, a $100k-$200k difference is actually meaningful enough where they'll send the better player down.
2) He has the 6th spot locked up, provided he plays as well as he can. I don't think this is the case - he won't stay up above any of the big money, top 5D contracts so I think he's vulnerable to getting passed by Valimaki, Kylington or Andersson...even if he plays well in pre-season. The whole idea that it's in his best interest to play 65 games may very well be out of his hands.
3) Ownership doesn't care about $700k actual dollars they could save by keeping a prospect in the minors as opposed to sending Kulak down in their place.
4) You're assuming a one-way $650k contract was offered. Most signs point to Treliving playing hardball by waiving him and only offering a two-way contract. As the full salary can be buried in the minors, it seems the crux of the whole arbitration case came down to one-way or two-way, so it seems unlikely this was ever offered.
I think all these assumptions are iffy at best, so expecting a fringe NHL player to gamble perhaps his only opportunity at a one-way contract seems a little far-fetched. It odd to me how some people seem so upset he dared push for a market value contract because we'll be so tight to the cap. I'm very happy we have him locked up and pencilled in as our 6D. If he gets passed, great. He'll still be there if injuries hit though, and I'd much rather see him in the lineup than Proust.