[Signing] Flames re-sign Paul Byron (1 yr)

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Man, I'd love to make $600k. Lucky kid

Also, I think there are certain tax advantages for hockey players, as they make a lot of money in a relatively short period of time during their young life.

Hopefully, he is given the opportunity to excel this coming year, and we make a more generous offer next year to keep him in on the team.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Glad he's back. He seems to be able to put up 0.50 points per game. I'm hoping on a full season he gets around 35-40 points.

[flamesfever]

Personally, I'm a little disappointed he wasn't appreciated more for his efforts, and offered more...especially when you consider other contracts handed out.

The amount isn't all that much for a professional player with his potential...especially when you consider that parents can spend several hundred thousand dollars, just getting a player to the professional level.

[Read Only]

Why would the Flames pay him more just because?

He had an okay season that seems to be way overvalued by many fans compared to NHL folks. He is still a tweener that can play for a bottom 5 team but hasn't shown any indication that he has the skill to play for a team that is actually competitive.

Based on what he has shown so far he seems pretty lucky that he got a one way and signed a deal that works for both him and the team in that he gets paid 600,000 no matter what and the team can send him down without worrying about paying him a ton on a one way deal.

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by Read Only

Why would the Flames pay him more just because?

He had an okay season that seems to be way overvalued by many fans compared to NHL folks. He is still a tweener that can play for a bottom 5 team but hasn't shown any indication that he has the skill to play for a team that is actually competitive.

Based on what he has shown so far he seems pretty lucky that he got a one way and signed a deal that works for both him and the team in that he gets paid 600,000 no matter what and the team can send him down without worrying about paying him a ton on a one way deal.

Then why was management so afraid they'd have to pay a lot more if he went to arbitration?

[Read Only]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Then why was management so afraid they'd have to pay a lot more if he went to arbitration?

I don't know if they were "so afraid."

I think they knew that an arbitrator could (not would) award him more than they wanted to pay and that there wasn't much (if any) of a market for Byron so why risk paying him more when you can let him go and sign him as a UFA for the money/term you want?

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Smart move by Byron. As long as he is cheap he has a chance to stick somewhere, here or as a waiver pickup. It's his best chance to get in a full nhl season and see if he can be a player.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Then why was management so afraid they'd have to pay a lot more if he went to arbitration?

Or, conversely, why was management so willing to let him become a UFA?

Arbitration doesn't work in Byron's favour greatly. You take his numbers and compare them to other RFA contracts of similar players. His numbers aren't good. 30 points in his career isn't something the Flames would have to worry about.

I'm sure they'll say all the right things, how Byron is an important part of the future going forward and blah blah blah but they were perfectly willing to let him walk July 1st.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

Smart move by Byron. As long as he is cheap he has a chance to stick somewhere, here or as a waiver pickup. It's his best chance to get in a full nhl season and see if he can be a player.

Exactly so.

[flamesfever]

I think he has fallen under the radar of most teams, as he is small and went a long time without showing that much improvement. However, we have had opportunity to witness his rather dramatic improvement over the past year. Hopefully his development and corresponding upside potential will continue, and we appreciate and reward him accordingly.

[OzSome]

I am glad the Flames re-signed Byron. Reason was to show the other young players that if you show you are willing to work hard to earn a spot in the team, you deserved another contract and a spot in the lineup. Byron played his butts off last few seasons and it shows the improvement especially late in the season. Not re-signing will probably give doubts to others that no matter how hard they play it will still not enough to get in the lineup. With Byron being back, it will motivates others even harder. Besides i like Paul Byron. He does not play like a small guy. He uses his speed and will hit players bigger than him when he gets the chance.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Then why was management so afraid they'd have to pay a lot more if he went to arbitration?

arbitration is something that always should be avoided if possible. It's not just about the money that is awarded, but also about the relationship between player and organization that has to be taken into consideration here. In arbitration the team basically has to rip the player and argue why they think he's not good enough to earn a lot of money. I'd imagine that could easily damage a good working relationship and I'm sure that everybody involved would try to avoid a situation like this at any cost.

[dying4acup]

If the owners had their choice, there would be no arbitration. They tried to get rid of it in the 2004 lockout. It inflates salaries. The compromise was allowing club initiated arbitration.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by flamesfever

Then why was management so afraid they'd have to pay a lot more if he went to arbitration?

Byron, statistically, would have had a very strong arbitration case. The arbitrator wouldn't be looking at his lack of size or projection, they'd look at his stats and based on those he might have earned double what he ended up getting.

Savvy move by management – if they view Byron as utility forward here, why pay him as though he's a regular starter?

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Byron, statistically, would have had a very strong arbitration case. The arbitrator wouldn't be looking at his lack of size or projection, they'd look at his stats and based on those he might have earned double what he ended up getting.

Savvy move by management – if they view Byron as utility forward here, why pay him as though he's a regular starter?

How much would he have gotten for 40 some games played? I can't see much more in any comparables

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

How much would he have gotten for 40 some games played? I can't see much more in any comparables

I think getting nearly .5 points per game and recording a +6 (2nd on the team) after playing more than half a season with a bottom 4 team would make a decent case for Paul Byron as a regular NHLer. I can't find a notable comparable case in arbitration.

Here are his cap hit comparables though, and I'd say Byron is head-and-shoulders the better player than any on this list. http://www.capgeek.com/comparables/?player_id=1166

[getbak]

I believe if the Flames had given him a qualifying offer and he had filed for arbitration, he could not receive less than his QO from the arbitrator. In Byron's case, his QO would have been $707,850 (on a two-way deal). I don't think the arbitrator can decide to award just a one-way deal if the player was eligible for a two-way QO.


Last season, Byron had 21 points in 47 games, and has a total of 81 NHL games experience. He is currently 25 years-old.

I haven't dug too hard, but here are a couple of players who seem like they would have been good arbitration comparables from Byron's perspective:

• Nick Spaling signed a one-year deal in 2013 for $1.5M. He was 24, but only about 6 months younger than Byron is now. He had played in 226 NHL games prior to signing the contract.
  
  
• Darren Helm signed a four-year deal in 2012 for an AAV of $2.125M. He was 25 years-old. He had 28 points in 68 games the year before he signed his contract. He had 248 NHL games experience when he signed.

All three of them have similar ES ice time, and each gets some PK time and very little PP time. The only significant difference between where Byron is now and where Spaling and Helm were when they signed their deals is the number of games of NHL experience.

Looking at those two contracts as possible comparables, I can understand why the Flames might have been worried that an arbitrator could have given Byron a contract they might not have liked.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

I think getting nearly .5 points per game and recording a +6 (2nd on the team) after playing more than half a season with a bottom 4 team would make a decent case for Paul Byron as a regular NHLer. I can't find a notable comparable case in arbitration.

Here are his cap hit comparables though, and I'd say Byron is head-and-shoulders the better player than any on this list. http://www.capgeek.com/comparables/?player_id=1166

I think Cory Conacher and Adam Cracknell are just as good as Byron, but obviously different qualities. This last year was the first that I really noticed Byron as an NHL quality player, so we need to see if history repeats itself before saying he's that much better than these other guys. I think he's got potential to have a decent, but probably short, NHL career. I would say the same about those other two.

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Man, I'd love to make $600k. Lucky kid

Of all the contracts in the NHL to be jealous of, you chose Byron's?

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Byron, statistically, would have had a very strong arbitration case. The arbitrator wouldn't be looking at his lack of size or projection, they'd look at his stats and based on those he might have earned double what he ended up getting.

The Flames would be bringing up players like Bonino who went 5-13-18 in 50 games as a 23 year old compared to Byron's 7-14-21 in 47 games. Bonino signed a 700,000 contract.

The Flames management gave nearly 9M to Engelland, an obvious over-payment. They weren't afraid of the sub-million dollar contract that Byron would have been awarded in arbitration. He wasn't qualified so they were perfectly prepared to lose him in UFA. After the frenzy they gave him a contract, pretty obvious this was Plan B and not some avoid arbitration at all costs plan, at least to me.