Three Canucks – Mason Raymond, Jannik Hansen and Tanner Glass – filed for salary arbitration before today’s 12:00 noon deadline.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I wasn’t surprised that Raymond went the arbitration route. He had a breakout season in 2009/2010 and going this route effectively guarantees he remains a Canuck (unless of course he receives an extraordinarily high award the Canucks may be forced to walk away from). Teams can’t offer him and offer sheet, and by most reports, it sounds like Raymond and the Canucks may agree on a contract prior to the arbitration hearing anyway. But if they do proceed with arbitration, the maximum two-year term of the award ensures that Raymond remains a restricted free agent even after this contract. (Because Raymond elected for arbitration, it would be up to the Canucks to request a one-year or two-year award.)
I’m not as clear on Hansen’s and Glass’ motivation to file. They can certainly ask for much more than their qualifying offers ($605,000 and $550,000, respectively), but considering their stats last season – and arbitration is a stats-driven process – I’m not sure which comparables they’d present to argue a higher salary. Or maybe their motivation is to receive a one-way contract; that may be the case for Hansen, but Glass’ qualifying offer should be a one-way contract already anyway as he played in more than 60 games last season.
The arbitration hearings are scheduled from July 20th to August 5th.
