Brave face for free agent Hoffman after arbitration

If Mike Hoffman was disappointed with the outcome of his first NHL arbitration experience, it certainly doesn’t show.

A very upbeat Ottawa Senators winger said on a conference call Tuesday he was pleased to have the arbitration over with and was always going to accept the arbitrator’s number. That number is $2 million US on a one-year contract, making Ottawa’s top goal scorer (27) from last season one of the club’s bargain contracts for 2015-16. Hoffman’s Octagon representatives had sought $3.4 million while the Senators requested $1.75 million.

“You know, if the number was $1.7 (million) or $3.4 (million), that’s the number that you take,” Hoffman said. “I’m not really surprised, that’s how arbitration goes. It’s over now and I’m just really glad we finally get it done.”

Hoffman, 25, will be a restricted free agent again next summer, and is slated for UFA status by 2017, but he says his motivation remains unchanged by the events of the past few days.

“I was telling myself before going into arbitration, whatever the number was, outcome was, it’s not going to change the way I approach the upcoming season,” Hoffman said. “I’ve had one full year in the NHL, and I still need to prove something to not only myself but to everyone else — fans, coaching staff, that I’m a legit player and not just a one-year guy.”

It helps, Hoffman admits, that two years ago he was just another late-round pick (130th overall, 2009) on a two-way contract, trying make the jump to the NHL. Today he’s earning $2 million on his first one-way deal. He has made the NHL.

“At the end of the day, I’m playing a sport I love for a living,” Hoffman says.

“We have a great team, we had a great run last year ... I really enjoyed the last part of the season and fans did too. That’s what matters.”

If he comes close to repeating his 27-goal, 21 assist season, which helped him finish sixth in Calder Trophy voting, Hoffman will have no trouble gaining a longer team deal in the months ahead.

“I think every player playing would like security,” Hoffman said. “But not every player gets it. I’ve been on one-year contracts the last couple of years, so this doesn’t really change anything for me.

“I know I need to come and have another strong season, help out our team as much as we can.”

Some players have been known to suffer from hearing their shortcomings in an arbitration hearing. Today, though, players tend to be well briefed by their lawyers on what to expect. Hoffman falls into that category.

He said he has always evaluated the best and worst of his own play, so “I didn’t take it too bad” hearing comments about his two-way game or the drop off in production late in the season.

“We still have a good relationship with management and everything so I don’t think any negativity came from arbitration,” he says.

While he only ranks 12th in salary on the current roster, Hoffman can expect to get every opportunity to retain a top-six position. He admits he needs to work on his defensive game, if he is to remain a top-six guy when the team is leading late in a game.

“Yeah, that’s something you need to push for,” Hoffman says of his second-line role. “There’s a lot of competition, a lot of good player. So I need to come in and round out my game a bit. My offensive side is always gonna be there. But there’s two sides to the puck in a game so I need to work a bit on my defence as well.”

Hoffman is spending the summer training at home in Waterloo.

NO GREENING BUYOUT

With their final arbitration case done, the Senators did have a 48-hour window to conduct a salary buyout, but the buyout most often discussed publicly – that of forward Colin Greening – is not available to Ottawa as Greening’s average salary is below the new benchmark of $2,985,625 as set out in the CBA. AGM Pierre Dorion said on TSN1200 Tuesday Greening’s contract falls about $10,000 short. The final two years of Greening’s deal produce an AAV of $2.975M. No other buyouts are planned, according to Dorion and GM Bryan Murray.