Ottawa Senators F Mike Hoffman in Line For Bigger Pay Raise Following Kyle Palmieri Deal?
Ottawa Senators are set to face F Mike Hoffman in salary arbitration for a second year in a row if a deal cannot be reached soon. Club-elected in 2015, the Sens only asked for a one-year deal in which Hoffman was awarded $2 million dollars (teams can only file for club-elected salary arbitration once, while players have no restriction on how many times they can file).
As pointed out by TSN‘s Craig Button, the Ottawa Senators made a monumental mistake opting for a single year opposed to a two-year deal in 2015. The reason for this is because no arbitrator is going to award a big contract for one excellent 27-goal season. In a two-year scenario, you add 10 percent to that $2 million, and Mike Hoffman would have carried a $2.2 million dollar cap hit in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
This is where Ottawa dropped the ball.
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If negotiations break down and the two parties end up once again in front of an arbitrator, Hoffman can ask for a two-year deal after posting 27 goals in 2014-15 and 29 goals (59 points) in 2015-16. It’s conceivable that he could fetch a deal in the $5 million-plus dollar range.
Ottawa should take notes from the New Jersey Devils. They did with Kyle Palmieri what the Sens should have done with Mike Hoffman last summer. Palmieri posted 30 goals (57 points) in a breakout year after coming over from the Ducks.
The Devils inked the young forward to a five-year deal carrying a $4.65 million dollar cap hit. New Jersey has chosen to pay a premium now because they expect Palmieri to outplay that cap hit just shy of $5 million dollars. They did the same thing with Adam Henrique when they locked him to a six year $4 million dollar cap hit.
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What is Ottawa Senators F Mike Hoffman Worth?
Hoffman’s agent received a little extra leverage to work with today following the Palmieri deal.
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After all, Mike was in the same position after very similar production just a year ago. Goals are a rare commodity in today’s NHL, and Hoffman has proven himself capable of filling the net in back-to-back years.
There’s also one more twist to this story. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, Hoffman could ask for a one-year deal and would become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Long story short, Hoffman walks if they are unable to hammer out a long-term deal.
Ideally, a five or six-year contract makes the most sense. No GM is handing out max deals for two years of productivity as promising as it may be. At the conclusion of a 5-6 year deal, Hoffman will be 31-32 years old, and Ottawa could begin working on an extension (if they choose) before the deal expires, or allow him to hit free agency.
Milan Lucic, Kyle Okposo, David Backes, and Loui Eriksson all fetched $6 million/year in free agency, while Alex Radulov signed for $5.75 million/year. Andrew Ladd received $5.5 million/year, and Frans Nielsen snagged $5.25 million/year. Kyle Okposo might be the closest player of the bunch to a comparable for Mike Hoffman. An argument could be made that his name deserves to stand alongside the others in that top-tier above.
Realistically, Ottawa Senators F Mike Hoffman should receive an annual average salary (AAV) in the $6 million dollar range.
That number could drop slightly with longer term, or raise with shorter term. 5yrs x $6 million or 6yrs x $5.75 million is a safe estimate for how a contract should look once the dust settles.
It’s important for the Senators to get a deal done sooner rather than later. There’s no way they can enter the 2016-17 season with such a similar roster. Until Ottawa can re-sign Mike Hoffman and Cody Ceci, it’s difficult to gauge the cap situation to make those necessary moves.
Next: Ottawa Senators: 5 Potential Upgrades
So while teams like Florida have done most of their grunt work for the offseason seven days into free agency, others such as Ottawa are perhaps just getting started?
Most recent rumors suggest GM Pierre Dorion is interested in looking for upgrades in both his forward and defense group. Look for the Sens to potentially target an upgrade on Marc Methot to play alongside Erik Karlsson, and/or look to add more top-six skill.