Red Wings RFA Joe Veleno Among 14 Players Electing for Arbitration; Berggren Does Not
Red Wings RFA Joe Veleno elected for salary arbitration, one of 14 players across the NHL to do so. That list that does not include Detroit RFA Jonatan Berggren.
Red Wings restricted free agent Joe Veleno elected for arbitration, according to a report by the NHLPA. He is one of 14 players to do so, including Carolina Hurricanes stars Martin Necas and Jack Drury, as well as Buffalo Sabres starting goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukonnen.
Veleno, 24, is no stranger to long contract negotiations. He played last season on a $825,000 prove-it deal he signed in August, just before training camp. That contract was cheaper than his entry-level contract, but it gave him the runway to show his value to the Red Wings with a career-best 28-point season. Now, he can choose to leverage that performance if he feels he deserves more money than Detroit offers him, a right he did not have last season.
Negotiating leverage isn't the only reason players elect for arbitration. It also ensures urgency to negotiations, guaranteeing that players will get a contract by the end of arbitration hearings — this year, that's August 4. For teams, player-elected arbitration prevents other organizations from giving players an offer sheet, which a team would have to match in order to retain the offered player. If a team elects for arbitration, players can still sign an offer sheet elsewhere.
The last Red Wing to file for arbitration was Jake Walman, recently traded to San Jose, in 2022. Detroit avoided going to a hearing with a one-year contract, leading to the three-year extension he signed four months later. Technically, Alex DeBrincat was headed for an arbitration last year because Ottawa elected for it before trading him to the Red Wings. Detroit, however, avoided it by giving him a four-year extension.
Detroit's other free agent with arbitration rights this offseason, Jonatan Berggren, did not elect for arbitration. Detroit has until tomorrow to elect for arbitration itself, should it choose to.
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