Two down, one to go.
The Pittsburgh Penguins entered this month with three restricted free agents to deal with: Simon Despres, Nick Spaling and Brandon Sutter. General manager Jim Rutherford agreed to contract terms with Despres two weeks ago, paying the defenseman $1.8 million over two years.
That left Spaling and Sutter, with the former choosing to file for salary arbitration while the latter declined. Perhaps the threat of the arbitration process pushed things along regarding Spaling, because the Pens announced Thursday they signed the 25-year-old to a two-year, $4.4 million contract.
Earlier this week, Spaling had reportedly asked the arbitrator for $2.85 million a year, with the Penguins countering at $1.65 million. The contract ends up being slightly closer to the team’s number, although it does tack on a second year, which benefits the player. In the end, it seems to be a true case of splitting the difference.
However, Spaling should consider himself fortunate to be making this much. He rode an elevated shooting percentage (15.3) to a career-high 13 goals and 32 total points in 71 games with Nashville last year. In June, Spaling was traded with Patric Hornqvist to the Penguins in exchange for James Neal.
For perspective, the NHL average shooting percentage last season was 8.8. Unless we assume that Spaling can maintain some semblance of that success, he’ll probably be overpaid over the course of his contract.
Judging by his below-average possession numbers over his four-year NHL career, Spaling isn’t a safe bet to maintain his offensive production. The Predators were consistently outshot and out-attempted with him on the ice, never getting close to the Corsi break-even point. He also was on the ice for about a third of Nashville’s power-play time last season, which won’t happen in Pittsburgh.
On the other hand, Spaling’s addition does help the depth of the Penguins’ bottom-six forwards. He was a penalty-kill regular for the Predators and he faced stronger competition than most of his teammates, which may help explain some of his puck-possession struggles.
There will be plenty of time to debate Spaling’s merits, but now the Penguins can move their full focus to Sutter, who is still vulnerable to an offer sheet from another club. Pittsburgh would have the right to match any offer in that situation, but that would drive Sutter’s price higher than what it projects to be, which is well above what Spaling received.
According to CapGeek.com, the Pens have about $4.2 million left under the 2014-15 NHL salary cap.
(Photo credit: Pittsburgh Penguins)
