New York Islanders Calvin de Haan Arbitration Player’s Arguments

New York Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan filed for arbitration on July 5th. If the negotiations go the distance and an arbitrator has to step in what does the team argue de Haan is worth?

In filing for arbitration New York Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan may face a day where he has to argue what he’s worth and hear his team indicate why he isn’t.

Actually, the order that arguments are presented could be flipped. The Islanders might go first and de Haan might go second. It’s all up to a coin toss. Literally. According to Article 12.7 (c)(i):

"“The NHL and NHLPA shall flip a coin to determine which party shall begin the process set forth in the subsection (ii) below.”"

That’s not important. It’s just a funny clause in the collective agreement that I wanted to share.

Want your voice heard? Join the Eyes On Isles team!

Write for us!

The Player’s Argument

When de Haan and his team steps, up to the plate, what’s the case that they make? The market value for a defenseman like Calvin de Haan is absurdly high. With players like Kris Russell, Karl Alzner and Dmitry Orlov getting deals ranging between $4-$5.1 million, de Haan’s ask is going to start in that region.

The team’s goal is going to be to knock that number down. It’s not in their best interest to pay $5 million to what will, at best, be a second pairing defenseman. de Haan, on the other hand, is going to show how he’s worth every penny.

Must Read: The Team's Argument In de Haan Arbitration

There are only a few things players and teams can present to argue their cases. This is captured in the NHL’s CBA in Article 12.9 (g)(ii) (A-H).

Team de Haan’s Case

The first argument is to show de Haan’s increased production since he entered the league in 2011-12. With 25 points this season, de Haan increased his production by over 50% from the previous season. Even though his average ice-time was cut from 20:38 to 19:51 in 2016-17.

More from Editorials

• Islanders key to success: Load management with goalies
• Islanders Zdeno Chara trending in the right direction
• Islanders: Semyon Varlamov Deserves Benefit of the Doubt
• Islanders Ilya Sorokin becoming number one goalie
• Islanders Zach Parise Was Quiet in Return to Minnesota

With that in mind, it’s important to look at comparable around the league. Players that are similar in age, production, and number of games played. The four better examples are: Danny DeKeyser, Dmitry Orlov, Andrew MacDonald and Morgan Rielly.

All four have signed deals of $5 million or more within the last few years. All of these players have comparable production and service in the league. Even when it comes to de Haan’s contribution to the competitive success of the club, de Haan is better than some of the names already provided.

*All OPS & DPS stats taken from the player’s Hockey-Reference.com page.
*Cap Hit taken from CapFriendly.com.

OPS and DPS stand for the player’s offensive and defensive point shares. Which is a way of quantifying just how impactful a player’s offensive and defensive play was to his team’s point margin.

de Haan betters both MacDonald and Reilly on the defensive end and matches up to Detroit’s Danny DeKeyser. The market value for Calvin de Haan is clearly set at $5 million.

Next: Can Ladd Be A Productive Player Next Season

Calvin de Haan’s team is clearly going to establish that the market value for his client is at the $5 million mark. The New York Islanders will do it’s best to counter. It’s up to the arbitrator to award a deal, but de Haan’s team will likely get the arbitrator to see their case and award him something between $4 to $4.5 million.