- Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington: Discussing the salary arbitration meeting between goaltender Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals, which is set for Thursday in Toronto. Gormley spoke to player agent Lewis Gross who said that:
The team is usually trying to find the negatives and the player is trying to find the positives…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 a request for $8 million next season. The Capitals have countered with a one-year offer of $5.1 million. Both figures represent a significant raise from Holtby’s $2 million salary in 2014-15.
Gormley notes that Holtby’s camp is likely to use Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s $7.425 million salary as a comparable as the two have performed similarly in their first four years. Bobrovsky has 95 wins, a 2.49 GAA, and a .917 save percentage while Holtby has 101 wins, a 2.44 GAA, and a .921 save percentage.
The Capitals will argue that Holtby hasn’t done enough to earn more than goaltenders Corey Crawford, Cam Ward, or Carey Price, while Holtby’s camp will counter that head coach Barry Trotz called Holtby a part of the team’s DNA. Gormley writes that any evidence may be used.
The arbitrator’s decision is due 48 hours after the hearing but Gross added that he has seen at least one arbitration settled just ten minutes prior to the meeting.
- Mike Clifford of Dobber Hockey: Since 2011-12, scoring has almost been the same, between 2.72 and 2.74 goals per game per team, but who is scoring has changed.
Here is what’s going on:
– In 2011-2012, 30 players cracked the 30 goal mark, and four players cracked 40.
– In 2013-2014, 21 players cracked the 30 goal mark, and three players cracked 40.
– In 2014-2015, 15 players cracked the 30 goal mark, and three players cracked 40.The number of 30 goal scorers has been cut in half in just three years, despite there being just as many goals per game per team in 2011-2012 as there was last year. There are several reasons for this, but here’s a big one:
– In 2011-2012, 19 defencemen cracked the 10 goal mark, and four scored 15 or more.
– In 2013-2014, 28 defencemen cracked the 10 goal mark, and six scored 15 or more.
– In 2014-2015, 32 defencemen cracked the 10 goal mark, and 10 scored 15 or more.