NHL Contract Talks

Bonjour again!!

Let’s take a look at a trade that just happened a few minutes ago.

Klim Kostin was just traded to Edmonton, from Saint-Louis. Why did Edmonton not claim him for free on waivers two days ago instead of trading away a player?

Here’s the reason. Kostin cleared waivers, which means the team that has him in their organization has up to 30 days and/or 10 games played in the NHL to send him down without him requiring to clear waivers.

So if they claimed him on waivers, they would’ve had to replace him on waivers right away to send him down to Bakersfield in the AHL.

As of now he will play in the AHL and Edmonton can push his waiver requirement to later. Let’s specify that if he was recalled but played less than 10 games and/or spent less that 30 days in the NHL, Edmonton can send him down without waivers until he meets these requirements🤝

Today, let's discuss about "Restricted Free Agents", more specifically about arbitration.

These 3 notable gentlemen (Dubois, Laine and Tkachuk) did not file for salary arbitration before the deadline set to July 17.

First of all, both the players and teams can file for arbitration. Keep in mind that if a player files for arbitration, his qualifying offer is voided + he can no longer receive an offer sheet from other teams. However, they can still negotiate a contract with their team, until the time of the hearing. Furthermore, if a club elects arbitration, they can only do so twice in a singular offseason + a player can only be taken to arbitration by a team once in his career.

In Tkachuk's and Laine's cases, they didn't file for arbitration due to their potential high-paying contracts. An arbitrator would certainly give them less money than what they ask for. Furthermore, a player of their stature is definitely more propitious to receive an offer-sheet from another team, while an arbitration case would take their right to sign an offer-sheet away. Both of them are also a year away from becoming unrestricted free-agents, so they could also decide to accept their one-year QO and become unrestricted next year to sign elsewhere, if they don't feel that the team is serious about keeping them long-term.

As for Dubois, it's a bit more complicated. He clearly stated his desire to play in Montreal, therefore putting a lot of pressure on the Jets' management. Him not filling for arbitration is simply explained by the fact that he would be signed to a contract with the Jets after the procedures, which he doesn't want to. As of now, the Jets could file for arbitration in their second window of opportunity. However, this process would only buy them time, as Dubois would become an RFA again next summer, without the possibility for the Jets to elect arbitration against Dubois, since he would've went through is only available club-elected arbitration the summer before. Pierre-Luc Dubois might just accept his offer-sheet and hope for a trade before/during the season, since it would be a one-year contract or sit out and play in Europe until he is dealt away from Winnipeg 🤝