- Adam Vingan of the Tennessean: The arbitration hearing dates for Predators RFAs Colin Wilson, Craig Smith and Taylor Beck have been scheduled, but those dates may not be needed.
“It’s just a process,” Poile said after the final day of the team’s development camp. “It’s probably actually good it’s been done because we know they’re going to be signed. It’s just how much, and it gives both sides a chance to prepare as best possible for an arbitration or maybe for a settlement. We’re all going to know in the next couple weeks; everybody should be signed.”
Wilson made $2.5 million, Smith made $2 million and Beck made $550,000. Calle Jamkrok doesn’t have arbitration right and remain unsigned as well.
“By the end of July,” Poile said, “hopefully all of our players will be signed.”
- Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post: The Capitals have arbitration dates set for Braden Holtby and Marcus Johansson.
“It’s a pressure point that forces parties to negotiate and hopefully the conversations pick up as you get closer to that, and parties become more realistic,” General Manager Brian MacLellan said Saturday, the final day of Capitals development camp.
Holtby is schedule for July 23rd, and Johansson is scheduled for July 29th.
““I think we’ve made an aggressive offer with Holtby, hoping to get it done sooner than later,” MacLellan said. “I like what we’ve offered. We’ve offered a term deal with a good salary. The total dollars is pretty significant. Unfortunately, I guess you play it out. If you’ve got to go to arb, you’ve got to go to arb. It’s part of the process.”
MacLellan said they made a “competitive” offer to Johansson and added that they are monitoring for similar players who are working on deals.
“There’s a few guys in his range that we’re monitoring and we want to get a better indication of what that salary level is coming in,” MacLellan said. “We’ve made him an offer and we feel it’s competitive for what these guys are going to get. If necessary, we’ll go to the arbitration with him too.”
MacLellan has also made an offer to RFA Chris Brown, and he thinks he’ll have him signed shortly.