Carolina Hurricanes: 2019 Salary Arbitration Outlook

The Carolina Hurricanes have a few players that have elected to undergo Salary Arbitration. Here’s what that could end up looking like for the team.

The right to undergo salary arbitration is governed by Article 12 of the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA. Players, mainly restricted free agents, utilize this tool because it is one of the few bargaining tools available to them.

The whole process is a bit too long and complicated to explain in full here, but the short story is that players can only undergo salary arbitration once during their career; meanwhile, teams can still negotiate with players until their arbitration date, usually set in late-July to early-August.

A few factors that are taken into account during the arbitration process include a player’s overall contribution to the team, length of service to the team and the NHL, overall performance and stats throughout previous seasons, and injury/illness history.

A common misconception is that players can use another ‘similar’ player’s (usually a UFA signing) contract or performance in arbitration as a basis for what they feel their own worth is. A team can also elect to walk away from a player who has elected to go through the arbitration process if the arbiter has deemed their worth over $3.5M AAV, so both sides have options throughout the process.

Now that the super fun explanatory stuff is out of the way, we can look at which players on the Carolina Hurricanes’ roster have elected to utilize salary arbitration. Of the 40 players around the NHL that have filed for salary arbitration this offseason, the Hurricanes have only had two; Brock McGinn, whose arbitration hearing is scheduled for July 20th, 2019, and Anton Forsberg, whose hearing is scheduled for August 4th, 2019.

Brock McGinn, despite putting up less-than-stellar numbers this past season, is an invaluable member of the Carolina Hurricanes’ organization. McGinn is a grinder, through and through, and has the potential to score goals when needed. Most notably, McGinn scored the game-winning goal over the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the opening round of the 2018-19 Stanley Cup Finals in double overtime.

Not only that, but McGinn notably dove into the crease to save a shot that snuck past Petr Mrazek, thus saving the game in the first place to allow the Hurricanes to keep fighting for their eventual win. This being said, McGinn, in my opinion, should not be paid more than $2M/year on a short-term multi-year deal.

Playoff heroics aside, McGinn scored 10 goals and 16 assists for a combined 26 points in 82 games played during the regular season. McGinn plays with heart, and is definitely an asset to the Hurricanes, but his lack of consistent offensive production over the course of the regular season is a big reason why his salary expectations should be kept under the $2M AAV mark.

Goaltender Anton Forsberg was a recent pickup from the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hurricanes acquired him and other assets in a ‘salary dump’ trade that saw fan-favorite defenseman Calvin de Haan and forward prospect Aleksi Saarela shipped up to Chicago. The Hurricanes, on top of receiving Forsberg, received defenseman Gustav Forsling.

Forsberg has put up less-than-impressive numbers recently, turning in a 10-16-4 record with a .908 SV%, and a 2.97 goals-against average over 35 games played in the 2017-18 season. Taking his performance and contribution to the Blackhawks last season and the Hurricanes current goaltender situation into account, Forsberg should not be paid more than $1.5M AAV on any sort of multi-year, 1-way contract.

Forsberg definitely has potential to grow into a solid goaltender, but will more than likely play in Charlotte behind Alex Nedeljkovic (barring a trade involving James Reimer), but the Hurricanes’ slight logjam in the crease is another story entirely.

In my opinion, players should use every bit of leverage they’re given by the CBA to get the best contract for themselves, and teams should also work just as diligently to keep and develop good talent, while simultaneously ensuring that the contracts they’re offering are smart and effective for both the players in question and the team itself.

If there is one takeaway you get from this article, Caniacs, its that salary arbitration is by no means a negative thing. It is a very normal, very useful part of the contract negotiation that I, personally, am glad is an avenue players can explore to ensure they are being paid what they deserve.

The good news is that the Hurricanes are very unlikely to walk away from Brock McGinn, and he’ll remain in Raleigh for at least another season. As for Forsberg, we’ll see what happens. If he can perform and put up better numbers, he’ll be a welcome addition to either the Hurricanes or the Checkers. If not (it feels so weird to say this after almost a decade of goaltender problems), the Hurricanes have options chomping at the bit to crack the NHL roster.

Question for CC Readers: What do you think both Hurricanes players who have chosen to utilize salary arbitration should be paid?