New York Islanders All Eyes On Calvin De Haan in 2017-18

The New York Islanders defenseman will be the center of attention in the 2017-18 after asking for top dollar in the offseason. Everyone wants to know if he’s actually worth it.

During the 2017 offseason New York Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan’s contract that was paying him $1.966 AAV had expired. The negotiations between him and the team went nowhere and de Haan filed for arbitration.

Both he and the team would have to present their cases to a third party who would decide what the player was to be paid for a single year.

It’s not a great process when it comes to fostering relationships. The team will present evidence as to why its player isn’t worth what the player believes he’s worth. Your employer will present an argument as to why you aren’t that great of an employee. You’re good, they still want you, but you aren’t that good to merit a raise.

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What Was He Looking For?

Leading up to the negotiations we were told via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that the team was hoping to pay de Haan $1.95 million while de Haan’s cap was looking for $5 million for a single year.

To be fair to the de Haan’s camp that’s not a far-fetched number. That’s approximately what the market value is for a 26-year-old defenseman who put up 25 points and had played just over 270 games in the NHL.

But before the arbitrator could put out a ruling and even before both parties had to sit down with the arbitrator the two sides hammered out a single year $3.3 million deal. It was a show me

It was a “show me” deal. Similar to what Ryan Strome signed two seasons ago. The New York Islanders aren’t sure what they have in Calvin de Haan just yet so they don’t want to pay him top dollar. And rather than go through the slog of arbitration de Haan took the $1.3 million raise.

2017-18 Not A Good Start

So now here we are with three games into the 2017-18 season, is de Haan going to be worth the money. Through 82 games, and hopefully a long playoff run, will de Haan be worth the $5 million he was asking for?

With three games played the answer is certainly no. de Haan, along with partner Dennis Seidenberg have looked to be the worst defenders on the Isles roster at the moment.

Often caught flat-footed, out of position, or just making mental mistakes that were far from the de Haan from 2016-17.

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Were only three games in, de Haan still has plenty of time to turn this around. He has the time to right the ship and get back to his 2016-17 ways and maybe earn that big $5 million payday he wanted a few short months ago.