Report: Two prominent RFAs seeking big money deals

This could get ugly. Don’t count on a deal before arbitration.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Report: Two prominent RFAs seeking big money deals
Keystone Press

With Mika Zibanejad, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Tomas Tatar and Colton Parayko all inked to big ticket deals before heading to salary arbitration, the spotlight shines brighter on a pair of Minnesota Wild RFAs Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund as they prepare for their hearings next week.

Now, a report from StarTribune writer and Minnesota Wild insider Michael Russo indicates that the pair appear destined for arbitration given their high salary demands.

From Russo:

It’s believed Niederreiter and Granlund are seeking long-term contracts north of $6 million annually.

Yikes. That’s a lot of dough. Especially when you consider that the team only has about $15 million in cap space left and still needs to sign recently acquired RFA Marcus Foligno, as well. The team is also reportedly hoping to sign UFA Matt Cullen.

For what it’s worth, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher doesn’t seem concerned to be working under such tight pressure. He agreed that a deal could come down “at the 11th hour,” saying, “If you look around the league, negotiations tend to go right down to the arbitration day or the day before or the day after the hearing sometimes even.”