from Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News,
Gustav Nyquist, Detroit – Coming off a two-year deal that paid him less than $1 million per season, Nyquist is definitely getting a bump. But if the Red Wings are canny, they’ll point out that his season was a bit of a step back from his insane 2013-14 campaign.
Stats matter a lot in arbitration and Nyquist’s were down this year. His relative Shot Attempts (aka Corsi) ranked 15th on the squad at -0.6, down from third the year prior (4.3). The sly Swede’s points per game also dropped and while the success he had in 2013-14 may have been unsustainable, it sure would have resulted in a bigger contract had it occurred this season instead of last.
Derek Stepan, New York Rangers – It would be easy for Stepan’s agent to start arbitration proceedings by simply stating, “Game 7, OT against Washington” and doing a mic drop, but unfortunately that’s not how the system works. Instead, Stepan’s reps can simply point to the stats, which indicate that the gifted center played some of the hardest minutes on the squad, placed near the top of New York scorers and was one of the most dangerous penalty-killers in the NHL with five shorthanded points, just one off the lead.
Then they can point to Ryan O’Reilly’s new contract in Buffalo and say “this.”
Of all the players listed here, Stepan’s situation may be the most contentious, since New York has limited cap space and Stepan could easily win $7 million, maybe even $8 million in front of an arbitrator.
more players...
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