The player-elected salary arbitration dates for Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat have been set for late July.
Two of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s restricted free agents have elected to go through the salary arbitration. Forwards Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat will have their salary arbitration hearings on July 20 and 25 respectively.
The salary arbitration process is a negotiation tactic given to RFAs to ensure that they are able to have their voice heard. During this process, a panel will analyze a multitude of factors surrounding a player in an effort to find a contract that is fair for both player and team. These factors include the player’s stats, the cap space of the team, the contribution of the player to the success (or failure) of the team, injury history, and even leadership qualities and public appeal.
Both Palat and Johnson were inked to matching 3 year, $10 million contracts before the 2014 season. That left their annual cap hit at just around $3.33 million per season. These contracts were bargains for the Lightning and played a big part in allowing them to sign the long term deals of Victor Hedman, Alex Killorn, and Steven Stamkos.
According to Cap Friendly, the Lightning have just over $16.5 million of cap space left. This will undoubtedly be enough to sign the two. However, the question will be how much cap space will be left once the contracts are signed.
The current consensus among fans and experts alike is that the contracts of the two will carry an annual average of around $5 million. However, it can be argued that the two have slowed down a bit and did not have as productive of a season as desired. This is most likely where the disagreements between the players and the teams started.
While both are loved in Tampa, they need to be signed as cheaply as possible. A $10 million annual hit between the two will be more than the Lightning will be able to reasonably afford. The Lightning still have holes on their roster to fill, specifically at the forward position. Cap space will be the determining factor in the quality of the forward that is signed before the start of the season.
Spare cap space is never a bad thing to have either. There will always be new contracts to sign next season, between Bolts players and other free agents. Breathing room is something that the Lightning haven’t had in a while, and it would make negotiations easier in the long run.
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Ultimately, it’s doubtful that either player will make it to their hearing dates without a contract. If this scenario seems familiar, it’s because Alex Killorn went through it last year before his long-term contract was signed. Players and teams are allowed to negotiate up to the hearing date in an effort to work something out. Salary arbitration is meant to be a final effort at compromise between the two parties, and few players that elect for it actually go through the process. No matter what happens, the fate of the two will be known sooner rather than later.