Free agent Weegan files for salary arbitration, but Petrovic does not
Panthers restricted free agent defenseman MacKenzie Weegar filed for arbitration ahead of the league-wide 5 p.m. deadline on Thursday, the NHL Players’ Association announced. Florida defenseman Alexander Petrovic did not file for arbitration.
Some restricted free agents can elect to have their salary determined by a third-party arbitrator if the player and team cannot come to an agreement. Contracts are often settled before arbitration is reached.
Last year, 30 players filed for arbitration, and only one case (Vegas’ Nick Schmidt) was not settled before arbitration. This year, 44 players filed for it. Hearings would be held in Toronto from July 20 to Aug. 4. Contracts can only be one or two years in length.
By filing for arbitration, Weegar is not eligible to receive an offer sheet from another team. The Panthers extended a qualifying offer to Weegar last week. It had to be worth at least $708,750. In his first full NHL season last year, Weegar had two goals and six assists in 60 games while playing mostly on the third pairing with Petrovic.
Petrovic’s case is more interesting. He made $1.85 million last season, and the qualifying offer the Panthers extended had to be worth just as much. But where Petrovic fits on Florida’s blue line is a question.
Petrovic would be one of seven Panthers defensemen to return from last season, and the team signed Russian defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich to a one-year, $925,000 contract to play a shutdown role. Keith Yandle, Aaron Ekblad and Mike Matheson are locks to be in the lineup, and Mark Pysyk played in the team’s topfour most of last year.
Ian McCoshen is still on his entry level contract, but can be sent to the AHL without waivers. And Weegar will be cheaper than Petrovic.
This offseason, there have been two RFA defensemen that signed contracts with a cap hit between $1.85 million and $3 million. Dallas signed Stephen Johns to a threeyear deal worth $2.35 million annually. Edmonton signed Matthew Benning to a two-year deal worth $1.9 million annually.
Johns and Benning both had more goals and points than Petrovic last season. They also played almost three more minutes per game than Petrovic, who was also a healthy scratch for eight games in November. Both played on the power play (Petrovic didn’t) and Johns was a main penalty killer for the Stars.
Petrovic finished last season with two goals and 11 assists while averaging 14:39 of ice time per game. mdefranks@sun-sentinel.com; On Twitter @MDeFranks.