Breaking: 25 year old center placed on waivers just days before arbitration.

A National Hockey League tool may have just introduced another tactic to their restricted free agent negotiations.

So here's a little background to set the stage for this story, first the Minnesota Wild have been involved in contentious negotiations with their 25 year old center Jordan Schroeder, Schroeder wants a one way deal and the Wild don't want to give it to him. According to a report from Wild insider Mike Russo of the Star Tribune, those negotiations got even more contentious today when the Wild placed Schroeder on waivers. Schroeder wants a one way deal, the Wild don't want to give it to him.

It's a gamble for Minnesota, Schroeder could simply be claimed here for any of the teams in the NHL who feel they can reach a deal with him, but if he clears waivers, as he had done previously during the season, it would provide the Wild with another negotiation tactic in arbitration. It's not hard to see how an argument like "no other team was willing to pick you up on waivers" would be a powerful argument to present to an arbitrator. Russo believes this is in fact the motivation behind the move from Minnesota.

Thus, eight days before a potential hearing, the Wild likely feels this would strengthen its case that Schroeder is a minor-league depth player and does not deserve the one-way contract he's seeking.

It's an interesting tactic by the Wild, and one that may be used by other teams in the future when it comes to lower-end restricted free agents.

[pub]