IN THE MATTER OF A SALARY ARBITRATION BETWEEN: CHRIS STEWART -AND- THE ST. LOUIS BLUES BEFORE: NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ARBITRATORS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF A COMPENSATION REQUEST FOR CHRIS STEWART Team 15, Counsel and Agent TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….…....…………1 II. OVERVIEW PERFORMANCE OF THE PLAYER……………………….…….......2 III. NUMBER OF GAMES PLAYED AND INJURY HISTORY………….……….…...2 IV. CAREER-TO-PLATFORM STATISTICS …………………....…….………....….. 3 V. PLATFORM-STATISTICS……………………………………....…………………...3 VI. OVERALL CONTRIBUTION TO THE CLUB………………………...……………4 VII. COMPARABLE PLAYERS………………………………………………..………...5 a. Mr. Stewart compared to Mr. Versteeg …………………………………………..6 b. Mr. Stewart compared to Mr. Wheeler …………………………………………...7 VIII. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………..…………8 I. INTRODUCTION This brief will provide admissible evidence pursuant to the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”),1 between the National Hockey League (“NHL”) and the National Hockey League Players Association (“NHLPA”), to assist in quantifying Chris Stewart’s (“Mr. Stewart” or “the Player”) monetary value to the St. Louis Blues (“the Blues” or “the Club”) for the 2013-2014 NHL season. It is recognized that Mr. Stewart is eligible for salary arbitration to determine his compensation with respect to the 2013-2014 season. To that end, the Player has exercised this option and can only be compared to forwards with the same arbitration rights. This brief will provide a framework that is capable of awarding appropriate value to Mr. Stewart’s offensive contributions to the Blues. In awarding value to a forward, such as Mr. Stewart, NHL experience and points per game (“Pts/G) carry the most weight in appreciating a player’s worth to their Club. In this context, Mr. Stewart’s valuation will consider: overall performance, number of games played, injury history, length of service, and his overall contributions to the Blues. Mr. Stewart will also be objectively compared against two additional forwards by specified statistical filters with respect to their career-to-platform and platform- seasons in order to validate his positioning in the NHL marketplace. The salaries of the comparable forwards will frame the narrow range to assign Mr. Stewart’s value. On behalf of the Player, Mr. Stewart, we respectfully submit that $4,500,000 is an accurate and equitable assessment of his value to the Blues for the 2013-2014 season. 1 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, between the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association, September 16, 2012- September 15, 2022, s. 12.1(a)-(c), p 57. 1 II. OVERVIEW ASSESSMENT OF THE PLAYER Mr. Stewart is a 25 year-old, right-handed player from Toronto, Ontario who will turn 26 in October 2013. Mr. Stewart is 6’2”, 231lbs., as of the beginning of the 2012-2013 NHL season. In the 2006 NHL Entry Draft (“Entry Draft”) the Colorado Avalanche (“the Avalanche”) selected Mr. Stewart, in the first round, 18th overall.2 The Player’s high selection in the Entry Draft is the partial result of the high value teams place on his style of play. Mr. Stewart is one of the purest power forwards in the NHL with a rare combination of power, size and skill that allows him to consistently create scoring situations. Mr. Stewart remained with the Avalanche until February 19th, 2011 when the Blues acquired him via a player transaction.3 Aside from his NHL experience, Mr. Stewart was selected to represent Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships after the 2010-2011 NHL season. Mr. Stewart scored 2 goals and 2 assists in the 7 games in which he played.4 III. NUMBER OF GAMES PLAYED AND INJURY HISTORY Mr. Stewart has played five seasons in the NHL accumulating 319 games, 154 of which were with the Blues.5 During the 2008-2009 season, Mr. Stewart split his playing time between the Avalanche and their American Hockey League (“AHL”) affiliate. During the 2010-2011 regular season, Mr. Stewart suffered a broken left hand and was forced to miss 21 games.6 Mr. Stewart has since played in all games over the past two seasons, with the exception of a three game suspension for a hit from behind in 2011-2012. It is the 2 The Sports Network online: <http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=5722>. 3 Ibid. 4 NHL.com, Statistics: http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8473485#&navid=nhl-search. 5 Ibid. 6 Supra note 2. 2 Player’s submission that playing on a consistent basis increases the Player’s worth to a team. This offers the Blues an offensive pillar in their lineup on consistent basis and lends itself to the longevity of a player’s career. IV. CAREER-TO-PLATFORM STATISTICS Table 1: Mr. Stewart’s Career Performance7 Season Team GP G A P TOI PIM PPG GWG S S% Hits 08-09 Avalanche 53 11 8 19 12:19 54 1 1 98 11.2 80 09-10 Avalanche 77 28 36 64 16:41 73 3 5 221 12.7 100 10-11 Avalanche 36 13 17 30 17:29 38 5 3 95 13.7 56 10-11 Blues 26 15 8 23 15 7 2 67 22.4 11-12 Blues 79 15 15 30 15:26 109 2 1 166 9.0 112 12-13 Blues 48 18 18 36 15:49 40 6 3 97 18.6 41 NHL Totals 319 100 102 202 15:33 329 24 15 744 13.4 389 * Red font in Table indicates platform season. Mr. Stewart’s comprehensive analysis will use both, career-to-platform statistics and his platform-season statistics to determine the most appropriate positioning for Mr. Stewart in the current marketplace. Mr. Stewart has recorded career highs in his 2009-2010 platform-season with 28 goals, 36 assists for a total of 64 points, which equates to 0.83 Pts/G in 77 games played.8 While he failed to surpass this performance since 2009-2010, he has remained consistent by matching his 28 goals in the subsequent season between the Avalanche and the Blues. 9 Mr. Stewart’s career scoring statistics suggest that he is a proven and balanced point producer. The theme of offensive consistency is apparent throughout his career and little weight should be placed on the outlying 2011-2012 season (see Table 2). Moreover, Mr. Stewart’s career-to-platform statistics speak to the reliability of his statistical pace during his platform- season. 7 Supra note 4. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 3 V. PATFORM-SEASON STATISTICS Mr. Stewart played 48 games in his platform-season, which is a sufficient sample to gauge his contributions to the Blues and to determine an appropriate salary. Mr. Stewart was on pace to surpass his career highs in goals per game (0.38), points per game (0.75) and S% (18.6) during the current platform season however he was restricted by the shortened lockout schedule.10 Mr. Stewart’s career-to-platform statistics support the possibility of an increase in Pts/G totals in this platform-season. To that end, Mr. Stewart’s platform-season can be relied upon to measure the valuable impact his offence has on the Blues’ success. VI. OVERALL CONTRIBUTION TO THE CLUB The Blues began the 2012-2013 season with a 10-7-2 record. Mr. Stewart’s ice-time increased steadily over each month of the season, which demonstrates that Mr. Stewart was entrusted with ice time in crucial situations of the game.11 Mr. Stewart accounted for 23pts (0.79Pts/G) in the final two months of the season during a 19-10 record to complete the season and clinch 4th place in the Western conference. Of the team leading 18 goals Mr. Stewart scored in this platform-season, 11 of them were scored to break a tie in the game.12 Accordingly, it should be acknowledged that Mr. Stewart had 8 more points then the second leading point producer on the Blues last season, despite six forwards averaging more TOI per game than him. It is highly valuable when a player is able to create and maintain offence against top defensive competition, as revealed by his Relative Corsi quality of competition of 0.672 and an offensive zone finish of 51.2%.13 The Blues rely upon Mr. Stewart for his offensive talents but also for his physical play. Mr. Stewart was the only player in top 50 NHL scorers who registered 4 fighting 10 Ibid. 11 NHL.com, Statistics: http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8473485&view=splits 12 Ibid. 13 Behind the Net Hockey Analysis and Statistics online: <www.behindthenet.ca>. 4 majors.14 Due to Mr. Stewart’s impact on to the Blues success, he should be compensated accordingly. VII. COMPARABLE PLAYERS The Player’s positioning in the NHL marketplace is the most influential factor when assigning their value to a Club. Thus, the search for and selection of comparable players to determine a players positioning in the NHL marketplace is the most pivotal stage in the salary arbitration process. In order to arrive at the group of players who best compare to the Player in question an objective statistical criteria must be employed. Mr. Stewart is an elite power forward in the NHL who consistently creates scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates through his skill and size. The selection of objective search filters allows for a more comprehensive comparison of a forward’s offensive characteristics. The objective filters that we employed are based both on, career-to-platform statistics and platform-season statistics which are as follows: games played (“GP”) +/- 25%, goals per game (“G/G”) +/-15%, points per game (“Pts/G”) +/-20%, shooting percentage (“S%”) +/-30%, and time-on-ice (“TOI”) +/- 5:00/G.