Quoting: pharrow
while that maybe, the point here is that he's not worth the amount people on here are suggesting he is.
Well, then I don't know why you decided to respond to me because that point doesn't really have anything to do with what I was saying. I was saying that if he reaches arbitration, regardless of what the salary ends up being, he'll probably be moved because players who go through arbitration often get moved anyway, and he's one of the few tradeable assets a win-now team that just missed a 24 team playoff has to improve themselves.
Quoting: pharrow
Frankly, I don't think you have to "trash" him to make this point. Simply pointing out contracts on guys like Rust and Kapanen make your argument.
There is no need to bash the guy to get there.
Yeah, but then Labanc would just say "not only did those guys put up the same numbers as me on better teams (with both players occasionally playing with elite centers), Rust's contract was signed two years ago at 3.5 million (probably not all that much less than what he'll ask for), while Kapanen is underpaid since he didn't have arbitration rights when his contract was signed", all of which is true even though it doesn't necessarily say why Labanc should get paid. It's tough to win an arbitration case based solely on comparables because, unlike in normal negotiations when certain contracts can "set the market" and both agents and GMs are aware of that, arbitrators don't care, they've only got like 48 hours to get this thing done.
Of course, I'm being a bit hyperbolic when I say "trash", I'm not saying someone's going in there and being like "Kevin Labanc is a terrible hockey player, he's not a good member of this team, he has no work ethic". But, players have to sit there and hear exactly why a team doesn't think they are worth as much money as they are, that's an inherent part of the process. And while maybe that's not "trashing" per say, that can be difficult for players to hear, and everyone perceives criticism differently, especially when it could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
There's other factors too- if the player wins arbitration, the team simply might not have the cap space to afford him. Arbitration contracts are usually for only one year, so there's the impending sense that these guys have to do it all over again in a year and they'd rather just not. Idk, it's not like I'm an expert in NHL arbitration, literally all I was saying is that if he goes to arbitration, there's a good chance he gets moved after that, because usually they do.