Mikheyev goes to arbitration with crazy contract demands

This just in courtesy of Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, restricted free agent Ilya Mikheyev has gone into salary arbitration hearings with the Toronto Maple Leafs demanding a $2.7 million annual salary. Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas has countered at just $1 million per season. 

Check it out:

Now, obviously Mikheyev and his representation are coming in high here but... $2.7 mil? That's over $100,000 per point that he put up this past season. 

The 26 year old Russian did look impressive in his first NHL season, but the fact of the matter is that he only managed to play 39 games due to injury. His eight goals and 23 points in that span is impressive, but Mikheyev is still very much an unknown quantity. Can the Leafs expect this guy to be a 40-50 point guy over the course of a full season? Maybe... maybe not. 

Again, the fact of the matter is that Mikheyev has played less than half of a full NHL season so committing big dollars to him with such a small sample size seems foolish. Add in the fact that the Leafs are in a SERIOUS cap crunch and it makes things even riskier. Frankly, if I were Dubas I'd have come in even lower than $1 million. If a guy like Joe Thornton, whom we all KNOW exactly what he brings, is only worth $750,000 then how is a guy like Mikheyev worth over $1 million? The Leafs have gotten themselves into serious cap trouble by committing big dollars and big term to potential, rather than rewarding players who have provided results. Are Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner great players? Absolutely. Have they lived up to their contracts yet? Nope. Now... comparing Mikheyev to players like Matthews and Marner might sound ridiculous, but the Leafs' approach of paying for potential rather than results is playing itself out again in Mikheyev's contract negotiations. 

Look what happened to the Edmonton Oilers over the past decade and ask them how paying for potential worked out for them? Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent Hopkins all cashed in big time before the Oilers even qualified for a playoff spot. Of the three Nugent Hopkins is the only member still left with the team and it's debatable whether or not he has lived up to his own potential.