TEAM 12 Case 1: SAM GAGNER Acting for PLAYER 1 1. Introduction This brief analyzes the statistics, attributes, comparable player salaries, and other factors of Sam Gagner ("Mr. Gagner"), center forward for the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club (the "Club" or the "Oilers"), that are relevant to the estimation of appropriate salary compensation for the 2012-2013 season. The National Hockey League Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA"), Article 12.9(g) sets the criteria for evidence that may be considered in this arbitration:1 12.9 (g)(ii) The parties may offer evidence of the following: A) the overall performance, including official statistics prepared by the League, of the Player in the previous season or seasons; B) the number of games played by the Player, his injuries or illnesses during the preceding seasons; C) the length of service of the Player in the League and/or with the Club; D) the overall contribution of the Player to the competitive success or failure of his Club in the preceding season; E) any special qualities of leadership or public appeal not inconsistent with the fulfillment of his responsibilities as a playing member of his team; F) the overall performance in the previous season or seasons of any Player(s) who is alleged to be comparable to the party Player whose salary is in dispute. G) The compensation of any Player(s) who is alleged to be comparable to the party Player, provided, however, that in applying this or any of the above subparagraphs, the Salary Arbitrator shall not consider a Player(s) to be comparable to the party Player unless a party to the arbitration has contended that the Player(s) is comparable; nor shall the Salary Arbitrator consider the compensation or performance of a Player(s) unless a party to the arbitration has contended that the Player(s) is comparable. This arbitration will give particular attention to Players alleged to be comparable to Mr. Gagner that were eligible for arbitration in the summer of 2010-2011 or 2011-2012, and who were awarded 1-2 year contracts, either through negotiation with their Club or through a formal arbitration. Alleged comparable Players whose contracts began before the new CBA was 1 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. Available at http://www.nhlpa.com/about-us/cba. 2 introduced in 2005 are not valid for the purposes of this arbitration. Mr. Gagner respectfully submits that the Salary Arbitrator find that he is entitled to receive a contract with an average annual value of $3.25 million. i. Average Annual Value versus Salary When offering contracts to players, NHL teams are first and foremost concerned about the annual cap hit of the contract, rather than the player's actually yearly salary. The average annual value of the contract, or the cap hit, is the number that affects the team's overall budget for players each year. Further, NHL teams often structure contracts strategically to accommodate player preferences, reward players for giving up unrestricted free agent years, or anticipate a decrease in playing ability.2 Thus, the salary of a player for a given year only reflects his worth to the team if analyzed from the perspective of annual average value, or the cap hit. This approach also provides parity between players with one-year contracts (where annual average value and salary are necessarily the same), and players with longer contracts, whose annual salary for a given year may appear inflated or deflated when considered on its own3. For these reasons, we propose the use of the average annual value of players' contracts when making evaluations about Mr. Quincey's value on the Red Wings, and comparing his worth to similar players in the League. 2. Overall Performance Mr. Gagner has convincingly established himself as a young and talented offensive centreman who has produced impressive offensive statistics while also improving his underlying defensive statistics year over year. His performance statistics are all the more impressive given 2 Derek R. Marr. 2011. "The Puck Stops Here: Analysis of Salary Arbitration in the National Hockey League" at page 16. Available at: http://works.bepress.com/derek_r_marr/2. 3 ibid 3 his young age of 23 years old.4 In Mr. Gagner’s platform season, he produced 18 goals (4th most on his club), 29 assists (3rd most on his club), and 47 points (4th most on his club).5 Mr. Gagner’s contributions to his club’s offensive output were especially impressive in the context of the powerplay: Although Mr. Gagner only averaged the 6th most power play ice among forwards on his club (2 minutes, 27 seconds per game), he ranked third in powerplay goals scored with 6, and 4th in powerplay points with 12. Impressively, Mr. Gagner was able to produce these offensive statistics while only receiving an average of 17 minutes and 10 seconds of ice time per game, which ranked as 7th most among forwards on his club in the 2011-2012 season. Mr. Gagner’s offensive potential was displayed for all to see in the February 2nd, 2012 game against the Chicago Blackhawks when he tied an NHL record by scoring 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) in a single game.6 While Mr. Gagner’s offensive statistics have been quite consistent through his first 5 seasons in the NHL, his defensive statistics have improved and demonstrate him to be a reliable two-way player. In 2011-12, Mr. Gagner was ranked first on his club in plus/minus with a +5. To give this statistic some context, the Edmonton Oilers as a club had a combined plus/minus of -136 while, as a team, allowed 30 more goals than they scored. Further, Mr. Gagner’s plus/minus has improved from his previous two seasons where he was a -17, and -8, respectively. 3. Number of Games Played/Injuries and Illnesses Mr. Gagner has demonstrated himself to be a durable and reliable player, free of any major injuries, averaging 73 games played per season through his first 5 seasons in the NHL. It should also be noted that the injury that has caused Mr. Gagner to miss the largest number of games in his career was a hand laceration in the 2010-2011 season. This injury to Mr. Gagner’s 4 Note: Unless otherwise cited, all performance statistics are drawn from www.nhl.com. 5 Rankings provided by http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/stats 6 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012/02/03/sp-oilers-hawks.html 4 hand was caused by the skate of teammate Ryan Jones as he was leaving the Oilers’ bench7. This injury may be characterized as an accident, unrelated to Mr. Gagner’s style of play or durability on the ice. Furthermore, Mr. Gagner has completely healed from this injury as evidenced by it not affecting his games played in the 2011-2012 season. The other injuries that have affected Mr. Gagner’s career include an ankle sprain in September 2011, a knee sprain during the 2009-2010 season, and a hip flexor injury the same season.8 Each of these injuries were minor and there is no reason to suspect that any of them will have any impact on Mr. Gagner’s future performance. 4. Length Of Service Although Mr. Gagner is only 23 years old, he has completed 5 seasons in the NHL since being drafted 6th overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft. In these 5 seasons, Mr. Gagner has played a total of 366 games, which ranks second of any player drafted in the 2007 NHL entry draft, behind only Patrick Kane who was drafted first overall that year.9 To give the high number of games played at such a young age by Mr. Gagner further context, it is worth noting that only one player from the 2006 entry draft, Jordan Staal (selected 2nd overall), has presently played more games than Mr. Gagner. Further, only 7 players from the 2005 NHL entry draft played more games than Mr. Gagner to date. These statistics further reinforce Mr. Gagner’s durability and place within the NHL. Mr. Gagner has played all of these games with Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club and is familiar with the club’s system, players, coaching, and management 5. Overall Contribution The Edmonton Oilers may accurately be characterized as one of the least successful teams in the NHL in the past few seasons. This is reinforced by their statistical records the past three seasons where they respectively finished 30th, 30th, and 29th, out of 30 teams. Despite this 7 http://www.edmontonsun.com/2011/10/08/oilers-gagner-not-rushing-back 8 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=6052 9 http://www.coppernblue.com/2012/7/20/3171903/sam-gagner-edmonton-oilers-agree-on-a-one-year-contract 5 lack of success, Mr. Gagner’s statistics demonstrate that he was a contributing factor to the success the Oilers did experience while his defensive play helped limit goals against. One of the few categories in which the Oilers were among the top teams in the league in 2011-2012 was the powerplay where Mr. Gagner scored 6 goals and 6 assists despite only receiving the 6th most power play ice time among Oilers’ forwards. Mr. Gagner placed 3rd in powerplay goals on his time and 4th in total power play points despite his limited ice time. Mr. Gagner’s contribution to the Oilers’ powerplay helped them rank third in the NHL with a powerplay effieciency of 20.8%. The Oilers have additionally benefitted from Mr. Gagner being a right handed shooter.