When a RFA and their respective organization cannot come to an agreement on a new contract, the player and his camp then can file for what it is called 'salary arbitration' where an outside force is then included in the overall contract negotiations. Often, teams do end up avoiding having to go into the arbitration process just where they can ensure that they are signing their assets to the contracts that they see fit, whether it is a bit more than they may want to pay. These issues generally arise when a player is asking for more money than what the organization is willing to pay, so prior to the arbitration date the team and the player usually meet in the middle somewhere.

* Most recent season stats are displayed, followed by the career stats underneath. *

#1) Jesse Puljujarvi – RW – Edmonton Oilers

Contract: $3M – 1 Year remaining

As a former fourth overall draft pick, I think we all expected a lot more on the offensive side of the game at this point for Puljujarvi, not necessarily because of his own talents and skills, but based on the history of players being taken early in the draft usually tend to develop quicker. This hasn't been the case with Puljujarvi as he has had an up-and-down career at this point. After his ELC expired in the summer of 2019, he then went overseas to play back in Finland for the 2019-20 season. Which in the end may have helped him get back on track? This year he posted a career high in points with 36 (0.55 points-per-game). While those aren't horrible numbers for an NHL player as that would be 45 points across an 82-game season, so solid second/third line numbers. When you look at the stats of the other forwards that went in the top seven of the 2016 Entry Draft: Auston Matthews, Patrick Laine, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Matthew Tkachuk, Clayton Keller. Puljujarvi certainly fails in comparison to all those players at this moment in their NHL careers. I don't think Puljujarvi is a bad player, I don't think he got the proper development right after being drafted, outside of this season he hasn't averaged more than 15:08 of ice time. For a player that is more skill-based, you need to have them playing more than that, even his career ice time average is just under 14 minutes per game. This is a 'prove it' type of contract, and in the end, I think he is worth taking a shot on based on his own skills, the amount of time he has spent in the NHL to date, and the fact that he is possibly going to be playing with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Playing with world class players will make you worthy of cracking a fantasy roster at some point.

#2) Jesper Bratt – LW – New Jersey Devils

Contract: $5.45M – 1 Year remaining

I can see why Bratt ended up filing for arbitration, since this has been Bratt's best season by over double when it comes to overall points produced. His previous career high for points came when he was 19 years old in the 2017-18 season and he had 35 points through 74 games played. Last season we saw the Devils deploy Bratt alongside of some talented players in Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier for stretches. Based on the dramatic increase in points scored, I'm not surprised that the Devils and Bratt's camp were seeing his own contract valuation differently. Overall, $5.45M for a singular season is worth it from the fantasy perspective, realistically Bratt will remain in the Devil's top-six forward group for this upcoming season. The Devils also brought in Ondrej Palat this offseason as well, so that is another piece of the puzzle for the organization. The deeper that top-six becomes, the more beneficial it will be for each of those players to help propel them to the next level, or to help them achieve some sort of sustained success in terms of offensive production. I would be a little bit weary when it comes to adding Bratt though, like I said his numbers took a drastic jump this year, so just be a little bit cautious in terms of what you expect in terms of overall production. Overall, he should be a fine piece to any fantasy squad (format depending as always).

#3) Andrew Mangiapane – LW – Calgary Flames

Contract: $5.8M – 3 Years remaining

This is a contract that I'm not super impressed with when it comes to the overall dollars being spent here, along with the fact it is for three whole years as well. I'm sure at the end of the day the contract will be fine, but in the beginning, I think there is a lot of room to criticize this one. Outside of this season his career totals would be 178 games played, 43 goals, 34 assists, for a total of 77 points, so under a half a point-game-pace. This season he may have had 35 goals, but to begin the season Mangiapane was on fire and one point he had something ridiculous like 20 goals in 28 games played. We all knew that pace wasn't sustainable and then he proceeded to only score 15 more goals to end the season. His career high is 20 assists, which came this season as well. I feel like the Flames paid more on the potential as opposed to what he has done to date so far, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if they believe in the upside and the certainty of his development. I think at the end of the day Mangiapane is a decent hockey player, I don't think he's worth this current contract at this exact moment, but I can see a reality where he makes it look okay in the end. At this point Calgary also has a lot more money on their hands with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk no longer on the roster. With that, the Flames do need to roster players and keep their own players in their system. I would rather pay my own asset $5.8M for three years over a free agent based on the Flames' last couple of weeks, having a familiar face in the locker room is an underrated attribute for a team that has gone through a major shakeup. I think I will be avoiding Mangiapane in my salary leagues for the time being as opposed to risking overpaying for a guy who on paper had 35 goals but had 20 of them come before the All-Star break. Still a talented player, but overall, I think there are better ways to spend $5.8M in your league.

I know this one is a little bit shorter than normal, but bear with me, I recently tested positive for COVID-19, and I went through a move over the weekend as well so dealing with all of the trials and tribulations that has come with haven't been the smoothest to say the least!

If you're looking to discuss anything hockey with me, check out my Twitter account (@JamieMolloy_DH), as well as on the articles themselves!