from Chuck Gormley of CSNWashington,

With the Capitals and goaltender Braden Holtby on a crash course toward salary arbitration on Thursday in Toronto, what can both sides expect when they plead their cases behind closed doors?

Animosity? Anger? Resentment?

“Not at all,” said player agent Lewis Gross, who represents dozens of NHL players, including Caps defenseman Brooks Orpik. “It’s professional. The team will present their side and the player will present his side. It’s just business.”

Gross has been a part of roughly 15 NHL arbitrations in his career and said his clients have attended every one. None of the hearings, he said, could be described as contentious.

“The team is usually trying to find the negatives and the player is trying to find the positives,” Gross said. “But at the end of the day, the team wants the player to perform and they want him back. If they didn’t want the player back they wouldn’t have even qualified him with a contract offer.”

Through his agent, David Kaye, Holtby has submitted to the arbitrator a request of $8 million, while the Capitals have submitted a one-year figure of $5.1 million. Holtby earned $2 million last season in the second year of a two-year contract.

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