IN THE MATTER OF A SALARY ARBITRATION BETWEEN: ONDREJ PAVELEC -AND- THE WINNIPEG JETS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF THE WINNIPEG JETS HOCKEY CLUB Ottawa Team 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW A. Club’s Position ...................................................................................................... Page 3 B. An Introduction to Ondrej Pavelec ..................................................................... Page 3 1. Pavelec as a Top Defensive Prospect .............................................................. Page 4 2. Pavelec Emerging As a Potential Starter ....................................................... Page 5 II. COMPARABLE PLAYERS A. Selection of Comparable Players ......................................................................... Page 6 B. Comparison of Comparable Players ................................................................... Page 7 C. Ondrej Pavelec v. Comparable Players .............................................................. Page 7 i. Ondrej Pavelec v. Tuukka Rask ......................................................................... Page 7 ii. Ondrej Pavelec v. Steve Mason .......................................................................... Page 8 iii. Ondrej Pavelec v. Semyon Varlamov ............................................................... Page 9 iv. Ondrej Pavelec v. Corey Crawford ................................................................ Page 10 III. CONCLUSION 2 I. INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW ! This is a matter of a salary compensation arbitration involving Ondrej Pavelec and the Winnipeg Jets pursuant to Article 12 of the 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement (the “CBA”) between the National Hockey League (“NHL”) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (the “NHLPA”). ! Under terms of the CBA, Ondrej Pavelec is a Group 2 restricted free agent. Beginning July 1, 2012, Pavelec was able to negotiate a new contract with any of the 30 NHL clubs, including Winnipeg, which he failed to do.1 As a result, Pavelec has requested salary arbitration to determine his employment compensation for the 2012-13 season. A. CLUB POSITION ! Based on Pavelec’s statistics from the 2011-12 season and his career performance, it is the Club’s position that the appropriate compensation for Pavelec for 2012-13 is $2,900,000 This brief will demonstrate, on several grounds, that this salary offer is just and equitable as it relates to the NHL marketplace for goaltenders. Relevant review of Pavelec’s career performance and platform year, in addition to comparisons with comparable NHL players will support the Club’s salary position. B. AN INTRODUCTION TO ONDREJ PAVELEC ! Ondrej Pavelec, 25 years old, was born in Kladno, Czech Republic. He is a 6’3”, 220 pound goaltender playing for the Winnipeg Jets. Pavelec was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2nd round, 41st overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.2 Pavelec signed his entry-level deal 1 2005 CBA, NHL and the NHLPA, Article 12.9(g)(ii)-(iii) 2 These stats can be found at NHL.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8471715#&navid=nhl-search 3 with the Thrashers in 2007 and has played for the organization ever since3. The following characteristics provide insight into Pavelec’s performance and contributions: • Youth and Experience: At only 25 years of age, Pavelec has played 187 games in his 6 year career. Over the next year or two, Pavelec has the potential to progress to a top starting goaltender in the NHL but requires further development. • Durability: In Pavalec’s young career, he has proven himself to be durable, only missing games in 2010-11due to of freak fainting spell. However he has shown fatigue, resulting in diminished performances towards the end of the season, including the franchise’s 2011-12 playoff run. As such, Arbitrator Foisy has distinguished that “the durability of a player must be considered not in relation of a single season but over a larger time span.” 4 • Consistency: Pavelec’s performance has been fairly consistent over his career. Since 2009-10, in his three full seasons Pavelec had a 0.906,.914 and .906 save percentage in 168 games. However, each season Pavelec’s play is inconsistent with declined performance in the last quarter of the season and in games on back-to-back nights, the prime times a hockey club needs its goaltender to produce. ! ONDREJ PAVALEC CAREER NHL STATISTICS PER SEASON (2007-2012) Season Team GP W L T MIN SO GAA SV % 2007-08 ATL 7 3 3 0 347 0 3.11 0.905 2008-09 ATL 12 3 7 0 599 3 3.60 0.880 2009-10 ATL 42 14 19 7 2317 0 3.29 0.906 2010-11 ATL 58 21 23 9 3225 4 2.73 0.914 2011-12 WPG 68 29 28 9 3932 4 2.91 0.906 3 This information can be found at capgeek.com, http://capgeek.com/players/display.php?id=365 4 Pavol Demitra and St. Louis Blues, Foisy, Arb., August 17, 2001, at p.9-10 4 1. PAVELEC AS A TOP GOALTENDING PROSPECT: THE EARLY YEARS ! Following two very successful seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ondrej Pavelec made an immediate jump to the NHL in his first year of pro hockey. Pavelec’s on-ice production has increased considerably from his rookie season. In 2007-08, he only played in 7 games for the Thrashers and then just 12 the following season. In 2009-10, Pavelec eventually made the jump to full-time NHL status and was given increased responsibility in 2009-10 when he split duties with Chris Mason, In 2010-11, Pavelec’s performance earned him preferred goaltender status for the Thrashers as he played 58 games. ! Pavelec’s performance and games played must be examined in context of the opportunities afforded to the player by the Club. As stated by Arbitrator McLaren in Flaherty and San Jose (1996), during the bargaining process, “one must look more to the player/club circumstances. When that is done, then negotiation dynamics are relevant; as are individual performance with the Club, value to the team and then, market comparisons.” 5 2. PAVELEC EMERGING AS A POTENTIAL STARTER: PLATFORM YEAR ! Ondrej Pavalec Career NHL Statistics per Season (2007-2012)6 Season Team GP W L T MIN SO GAA SV % 2011-12 WPG 68 29 28 9 3932 4 2.91 0.906 ! After a strong 2010-11 season, the Club was excited for Pavelec’s progression to a bona- fide NHL starting goaltender in 2011-12, his platform year. Playing 68 games over the season, which saw him rank 7th among NHL goalies7, Pavelec certainly solidified himself as the Club’s number 1 goaltender. During which time, the Club had adequate success with Pavelec in the net 5 Flaherty and San Jose, Arb, Flaherty., Sept 3,1996 at page 9 6 Ibid note 2. 7 These stats can be found at NHL.com, http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm 5 finishing with 29 wins and 28 losses when he started.8 However, his individual performance was far less impressive. ! Among the top 30 goalies in games played of which no Club had two goalies, Pavelec ranked 26th in save percentage and 29th in goals against average.9 Although .906 is a respectable number for a goaltender in the NHL, Pavelec’s play over the season was plagued with inconsistency. While Pavelec had 4 shutouts over the season, he also had 13 starts in which he let in 5 or more goals.10 Furthermore, Pavelec’s individual performance steadily diminished throughout the year with his worst play coming in the final month of the season. II. COMPARABLE PLAYERS A. SELECTION OF COMPARABLE PLAYERS ! To properly conduct a salary arbitration, appropriate comparable players need to be selected to determine what the player in question is worth in the NHL marketplace. When selecting comparable players for Pavelec, the Club considered young and talented NHL goaltenders who are restricted free agents exercising their arbitration rights in either 2011 or 2012. ! The criteria used to select comparable players were date of birth, years of NHL service, career statistics and platform season statistics. The comparable players chosen were Tuuka Rask, Steve Mason, Semyon Varlamov and Corey Crawford. Given the above-noted criteria, it is 8 Ibid note 2. 9 Ibid note 7. 10 Ibid note 2. 6 determined that Semyon Varlamov and Corey Crawford are the most comparable players to Pavelec. B. COMPARISON OF COMPARABLE PLAYERS ! CONTRACTUAL BACKGROUND11 Player Age Team Date Signed Platform Year New Contract AAV Ondrej Pavelec 25 Winnipeg Unknown $1,300,000 Unkown Unkown Tuukka Rask 25 Boston July 2012 $1,500,000 $3,500,000 $3,500,000 Steve Mason 24 Columbus July 2011 $905,000 $2,600,000 $2,900,000 Semyon Varlamov 24 Colorado July 2011 $821,667 $2,500,00 $2,8333,000 Corey Crawford 27 Chicago July 2011 $850,000 $3,250,000 $2,666,667 ! CAREER TO PLATFORM YEAR STATISTICS12 Player GP W L T MIN SO GAA SA SV% AAV Ondrej Pavelec 187 70 79 25 10420 10 2.99 5585 0.907 undetermined Tuuka Rask 102 47 35 11 5689 11 2.20 2831 0.926 $3,500,000/1 year Steve Mason 219 93 93 26 12426 1 2.89 6207 0.903 $2,900,000/2 years Semyon Varlamov 112 56 37 15 6567 8 2.49 3200 0.915 $2,833,333/3 years Corey Crawford 122 64 38 14 6924 5 2.51 3240 0.910 $2,666,667/3 years ! ! PLATFORM YEAR STATISTICS13 Player GP W L T MIN SO GAA SA SV% AAV Ondrej Pavelec 68 29 28 9 3932 4 2.91 2036 0.906 undetermined Tuukka Rask 23 11 8 3 1289 3 2.05 0.929 0.929 $3,500,000/1 year Steve Mason 46 16 26 0 2534 1 3.39 1355 0.894 $2,900,000/2 years Semyon Varlamov 53 26 24 0 3151 4 2.59 1564 0.913 $2,833,333/3 years Corey Crawford 57 30 17 0 3218 0 2.72 1507 0.903 $2,666,667/3 years 11 These figures can be found at capgeek.com.