Kirby Dach has filed for salary arbitration, and it didn't go down well with Montreal Canadiens fans, so it's worth putting the decision into context.
After a fairly quiet weekend in Montreal, Kirby Dach’s decision to file for arbitration sent shockwaves in Habs land on Sunday night. After yet another tough season for the forward who’s been plagued by injuries for years, the Montreal Canadiens tendered him a qualifying offer worth $4 million. In itself, that decision created some chatter as pundits and fans alike wondered if the player was worth that kind of money.
However, Dach did not sign the qualifying offer and instead filed for arbitration. The reaction online was instantaneous, with hordes of fans asking how Dach could think he would be worth more than $4 M given his track record. The fact that he filed for arbitration doesn’t necessarily mean that he believes he should be earning more than that.
After reviewing the wording of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, it appears much more likely that there was a clause in Dach's qualifying offer that he didn't like, as suggested by Maxime Truman from Dans Les Coulisses and by TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie, who wouldn’t go into details on the matter. Marco D'Amico also explained the possibility in a recent episode of the Starr and D'Amico Show.
Generally speaking, qualifying offers are straightforward one-way contracts for established NHL players; however, in some cases, a team can submit a qualifying offer that’s actually a two-way contract, which provides for one NHL salary and one minor league salary in the event that the player is waived and lands in the AHL.
Article 10.2 of the CBA reads as follows:
A Club's Qualifying Offer must be a One-Way Qualifying Offer if the applicable Player has: (A) actually played (excluding games missed for injury, illness or disability) 180 or more NHL Games in the previous three (3) NHL Seasons, (B) played at least sixty (60) NHL Games in the previous NHL Season, and (C) not cleared Waivers in the period between the 12th day prior to the commencement of the previous Regular Season and the end of a Club's previous Playing Season. For purposes hereof only, a goaltender is deemed to have played an NHL Game when he was dressed and on the bench as a backup. In all other cases, a Qualifying Offer may be a Two-Way Qualifying Offer.
There are therefore 3 conditions a player must meet to be entitled to a one-way contract qualifying offer: having played at least 180 games in the NHL in the last three seasons (Dach has played 96), having played at least 60 games in the previous season (Dach played in just 37 games last season, and finally, having not cleared waivers. Dach falls short of meeting two of those three conditions, making it possible for the Canadiens to make him a two-way contract qualifying offer.
From the team's standpoint, that would be a logical move. It stops you from losing an asset for nothing by not qualifying him. But it also forces him, if he wants to avoid agreeing to a two-way contract by accepting the qualifying offer, which he can still do until July 15, when the offer expires, to consider accepting less than what the team was forced to offer. Given that Hughes is a former agent who knows the CBA by heart and is trying to maximize his flexibility under the cap by signing his players to team-friendly deals, the move shouldn’t surprise or shock anyone. It shouldn't be seen as the Habs sending a message to Dach either; it's simply good cap management.
By electing to file for arbitration, Dach isn’t guaranteed a ruling that would be equal to or above the qualifying offer; far from it, since the qualifying offer is inadmissible evidence before the arbitrator. Article 12 of the CBA provides:
In any salary arbitration that takes place pursuant to this Section 12.3(a), the Salary Arbitrator may not award the Player a Paragraph 1 Salary that is less than eighty-five (85) percent of the aggregate sum of Player's Paragraph 1 Salary plus Signing, Reporting and Roster Bonuses in the final League Year of his most recent SPC.
In other words, the arbitrator could decide that Dach’s next contract will have a salary equal to 85% of his earnings last year of his contract. Looking at Puckpedia, Dach’s salary last season stood at $4,000,000, meaning that the arbitrator’s award could go as “low” as $3,400,000.
Eric Engels has confirmed that the Canadiens offered Dach a two-way contract last night. It is the only logical reason why Dach would be willing to file for arbitration and risk earning less than the qualifying offer he received.
Both parties are still free to negotiate and sign a new deal before the start of the arbitration hearing, so that could still happen. If it’s after July 15, when the qualifying offer expires, it could be for less than the $4 million currently on the table.
This will be a fascinating story to watch as the arbitration date approaches.
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