Ten players and their teams couldn’t agree on Type 2 contracts this season, forcing league arbiter Mary Howarth Arden to make decisions, it was announced this morning. Madrid and Berlin were hit hardest.
Lady Arden of Heswall, as she is known in England, also serves as a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. She is 72 years old.
Madrid was the team most effected with 5 players given one-year contracts at higher salaries than General Manager Tony B would like. The Royals players are:
- Simon Despres, D, 75 OV for $3.7 million*
- Loic Lamperier, RW, 77OV for $3.62 million*
- Gareth Roberts, RW, 79 OV for $4.76 million
- Chris Kreider, LW, 81 OV for $6.18 million
- Darcy Kuemper, G, 82 OV for $6.29 million
Three Berlin defensemen also won arbitration:
- Tim Erixon, D, 74 OV for $3.08 million*
- Matt Donovan, D, 75 OV for $3.96 million
- Erik Gudbranson, D, 75 OV for $4 million
Also going to arbitration were
- Stockholm’s Olli Maatta, D, 86 OV for $6.91 million
- Prague’s Andrey Vasilevskiy, G, 80 OV for $4.94 million
Lady Arden’s decisions reveal the value of either experience or positions in Websim. Despres, a 29-year-old defenseman, was awarded more money than Lamperier, a 25-year-old winger on the same team even though Lamperier’s OV rating is 2 points higher and his PO rating is 6 points higher.
And to show how much arbitration hurts, Berlin and Andrey Bykov agreed to a one-year deal for $5.1 million yesterday. Today, Lady Arden gave Madrid’s Kreider $1 million more than that and Kreider’s OV rating is 3 points lower than Bykov’s 84 OV. It is true that Berlin has a lot of prestige, so that was likely a factor in Bykov’s decision. But Gothenburg has much lower city attributes than Madrid, and less prestige. Which means Tony B should really be burning when he learns that the Frolunda are paying Petr Vrana (a 84 OV winger like Bykov) just $5.5 million, albeit on an attractive long-term contract with a player option.
*Can be sent to the farm at 10 percent of his salary.
