Flyers avoid arbitration, sign Schenn to four-year deal
Flyers bosses don’t do arbitrations. Not their style. Too much leftover angst. Too many reminders from the Eric Lindros era of how relationships with top players can deteriorate in spats over money.
In fact, the last top player to go as far as an arbitration was Lindros cohort John LeClair 16 years ago. The Flyers lost that case, LeClair being handed a one-year judgement of $7 million during the summer of 2000, a record for an NHL arbitration award that would stand for the next 11 years.
That memory might have been another reason for general manager Ron Hextall to reach an 11th hour accord with Brayden Schenn and his agent, Don Meehan Monday morning. With an arbitration hearing scheduled at 9 a.m., Hextall and Meehan finally signed off on an agreement about 45 minutes afterward, securing Schenn to a four-year contract worth a reported $20.5 million.
Not only did that enable the team and Schenn to avoid the arbitration process, but it puts Schenn in the same safe salary neighborhood as fellow “core player” teammates Sean Couturier and Wayne Simmonds ... only better.
chriCouturier has five years remaining on a deal that pays him an average of $4.33 million, Simmonds has three years left on a cap-friendly deal paying him $3.975M annually. Schenn’s average contract value is reported to be $5.125M.
He should have plenty of
time to earn it.
“I’m happy with a four year deal; obviously it’s a fair number,” Schenn would say later. “Everybody’s going to have their ups and downs throughout 82 games. But the consistency, you just have to try to find it as much as you can throughout the year. I feel like I’m continuing to get better on both ends of the ice.
“I still feel like I can get better defensively and get more reliable. That’s something I definitely have to improve upon.”
The contract could be accorded to Schenn’s rising scoring stature. Last season he registered 26 goals and 59 points in 80 games. His versatility is also a factor, as the Flyers have used him on the wing on the top line and as a second-line center. Schenn’s durability is also a factor; he’s missed just three regular season games over the last four Flyers seasons.
Curiously, however, despite Schenn having the fourth-highest annual average value on the club (behind Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek and Mark Streit), Hextall seemed to slide left with an answer when asked directly if he considered Schenn a “core” forward.
“Brayden is a very good young player who’s gotten better every year,” said Hextall, who went on to say that term “core player” is one difficult to define. So he wouldn’t try.
“The good thing for us and Brayden is he’s gotten better every year,” Hextall said. “He’s a hard worker and he’s starting to figure out some of the little intricacies of the game. He had his best year to this point this past season, so hopefully he continues to build on that. I believe he will.”
Schenn’s camp was believed to be seeking an AAV of about $5.5 million, but for a short-term deal. Instead, Hextall, who was believed to be offering more than a million per year less, came up in salary and extended the term until an agreement was reached.
Presumably before breakfast.
“We had talked prior on our way in,” Hextall said. “We got into a pretty good conversation and we ended up settling at 9:45.”
Hextall added the arbitrator “was patient with us,” allowing Hextall and Meehan to continue negotiating outside of the hearing room while Schenn waited and wondered inside.
By settling, everyone avoided a lot of possible angst.
“It’s part of the business,” Schenn said. “Whatever happens, happens with the arbitration. I don’t think whatever is said is meant or anything . ... it’s just part of the business.
“As a player taking it to arbitation I don’t think it’s anything against you.”
The deal would take the 24-year-old Schenn to pending unrestricted free agent status at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. But Schenn did not receive a no-movement clause for this deal, something Hextall wouldn’t bend on in negotiations.
“It is what it is; if they didn’t give me that no-movement clause it’s not a big deal. Even if you have a nomovement clause teams can find a way to force a trade on you. So I’m happy with it and I hope I can play out the whole contract.
“At four years they’re showing confidence in me; they believe in me,” Schenn added. “I’m going to continue proving myself. I feel I’m getting better year after year.”
If the Schenn numbers are accurate this deal would leave the Flyers with just $1.39 million left in cap space, according to payroll tracking site generalfanager.com.
Only restricted free agent defenseman Brandon Manning remains unsigned. The Flyers had extended a qualifying offer to retain his rights, and Manning opted for arbitration. A hearing is set for Aug. 2.