McMichael July 25 Arbitration Hearing

[stljrs]

Will be interesting to see if a deal can be made prior. Would kind of suck to acquire the guy and then have to go talk (poop) on him in arbitration. Not a good way to start off a relationship.

[OlderndWiser]

I have a bad feeling that this guy has illusions of grandeur and probably wants $7m - $8m. He also may be mad because he's not going to get to play center. Hope I'm wrong but we'll soon find out. May be a 1 year arb deal and wait for the offer sheets to come next year. Don't see him here long term.

[hockey jedi]

Is this like night court? Can we go and watch?

[UMR-alum-05]

Nobody is going to talk any ish about anyone.

The Blues will say "we think the player is worth X because Iof these reasons and this data...." And the McMichael camp will counter with what they believe.

The arbiter will decide. Case closed.

That's if it gets that far.

[zamadoo]

I have a bad feeling that this guy has illusions of grandeur and probably wants $7m - $8m. He also may be mad because he's not going to get to play center. Hope I'm wrong but we'll soon find out. May be a 1 year arb deal and wait for the offer sheets to come next year. Don't see him here long term.

I feel this way as well. Could be a trade candidate. Maybe I'm mistaken, but the Blues seemed way more into the McTavish acquisition than McMichael. Said again about having versatile players, so I do think they like this player as a fit, but maybe he was also just a good value exchange for Kyrou. Seems like a similar type of player but with more bite to his game. Is he really going to sign for top-6 money though? Do we see him as Schwartz?

[son_of_foolsgold]

I too believe that CM would never have been acquired if the Blues knew that the McTavish trade was happening...it's too bad, because CM is a better player than MM

[stljrs]

I agree with others that CM probably wants to get paid and his numbers just don't support a huge payday. Certainly not 7M range, even in todays inflated market.

MM and CM are completely different players. CM may have played Center but he's a winger and more of a perimeter player. MM is a big strong center who plays in the dirty areas. We have no one like him and haven't for quite some time.

We were requiring a NHL player back in any Kyrou trade and the team was determined to move on. We gave up a middle six winger and got one back plus other pieces. We definitely gave up some goal scoring for hopefully a better all around game.

[stljrs]

Nobody is going to talk any ish about anyone.

The Blues will say "we think the player is worth X because Iof these reasons and this data...." And the McMichael camp will counter with what they believe.

The arbiter will decide. Case closed.

That's if it gets that far.

Obviously I've not attended one of these, but anecdotally they are brutal. Management has to make the case they should be awarding as little as value as possible which means you aren't saying good things. It's flaws and weaknesses versus the possible comps. It can fracture a relationship with the player. It's why both sides generally prefer to avoid it.

[LGB73]

I have a bad feeling that this guy has illusions of grandeur and probably wants $7m - $8m. He also may be mad because he's not going to get to play center. Hope I'm wrong but we'll soon find out. May be a 1 year arb deal and wait for the offer sheets to come next year. Don't see him here long term.

I said this in a previous post but he seems hung up on being a center. Someone in his camp(agent, family, whomever) should get in his ear and tell him he can be an NHL middle 6 winger or an AHL center, which would you like to be?

[TheJackBurton]

Will be interesting to see if a deal can be made prior. Would kind of suck to acquire the guy and then have to go talk (poop) on him in arbitration. Not a good way to start off a relationship.

This wont' be a normal arbitration hearing, if it gets to it.

We have no history with this player, and he has no history with us.

He's been a Blue for 3 weeks, barely even knows anyone. How personal can it get when you've likely only talked to the new GM 2 or 3 times?

This will strictly be numbers based, something along the lines of "players who put up these numbers are making this and we have settled at this amount" so absolutely nothing personal at all.

[Frank Underwood]

Don't like 95% of these get settled before the arbitration hearing? There is a system in place, the player/agent files for arbitration to protect their situation. It's only a potential issue if it makes it to a hearing, which it almost certainly won't.

[Army's Mom]

Nobody is going to talk any ish about anyone.

The Blues will say "we think the player is worth X because Iof these reasons and this data...." And the McMichael camp will counter with what they believe.

The arbiter will decide. Case closed.

That's if it gets that far.

There have been several cases, historically, that get contentious, which is precisely why so many teams come to terms before the hearing.

[TheJackBurton]

Nobody is going to talk any ish about anyone.

The Blues will say "we think the player is worth X because Iof these reasons and this data...." And the McMichael camp will counter with what they believe.

The arbiter will decide. Case closed.

That's if it gets that far.

There have been several cases, historically, that get contentious, which is precisely why so many teams come to terms before the hearing.

The one's that do I'd guess have a really low percentage of players extending those teams.

However, this is what they negotiated, how are you going to get upset when this is what your representatives negotiated for you and you agreed to?

[BalotelliMassive]

1 year @ 5.5 million is my estimate

[son_of_foolsgold]

I have a bad feeling that this guy has illusions of grandeur and probably wants $7m - $8m. He also may be mad because he's not going to get to play center. Hope I'm wrong but we'll soon find out. May be a 1 year arb deal and wait for the offer sheets to come next year. Don't see him here long term.

I said this in a previous post but he seems hung up on being a center. Someone in his camp(agent, family, whomever) should get in his ear and tell him he can be an NHL middle 6 winger or an AHL center, which would you like to be?

A lot of you fools have declared that McMichael can't play center...really? So you are an expert on that? He has in the past.

[TruBlueFan_1970]

I posted in another thread that I wondered if he is seeing the outrageous contracts and betting on himself for a 1-year deal, so that he is offer sheet eligible next year when another cap bump happens. I have nothing to back that up, other than my own gut feeling based on three things. First, there was an interview before being traded where he said he wanted to be a Capital for a long time. Lots of player say those things though. Second, when we acquired him, he said he feels most comfortable at center and was looking forward to the opportunity. I'm paraphrasing a bit there. Finally, we then go acquire McTavish and seem to have anointed him to the 2C role and McMichael isn't dumb and probably sees Dvo as the 3C.

Put those three things together and my conspiracy is that he wanted to be with the Capitals as a center. They traded him where he thought he would be a center. He now is going to be mostly a winger with the flexibility to be a center. Centers get paid more and the cap is going up. All this to say he and his agent might be entertaining a 1-year deal, not for it to get nasty with the Blues, but more to set him up for a big payday next offseason.

I like the player and hope we sign him to 4-5 years, as his speed and tenacity are needed, along with his skill. If he won't sign longer term, he'll become trade bait.