IN THE MATTER OF A SALARY ARBITRATION
BETWEEN:
CARL GUNNARSSON
-AND-
BEFORE: NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ARBITRATORS’
BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF A COMPENSATION REQUEST FOR THE CLUB
Team 15, In-house Counsel Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club Toronto, Ontario
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….…....…………1
II. OVERVIEW ASSESSMENT OF THE PLAYER ………..…..……...…….……...... 2
III. NUMBER OF GAMES PLAYED AND INJURY HISTORY………….……..……..2
IV. CAREER-TO-PLATFORM STATISTICS……………………………..……....…….3
V. OVERALL CONTRIBUTION TO THE CLUB………………………...……………4
VI. COMPARABLE PLAYERS………………………………………………….………5
a. Mr. Gunnarsson compared to Mr. Demers ……………………………………….6
b. Mr. Gunnarsson compared to Mr. Wilson……………………………………...... 7
VII. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………..………....8
I. INTRODUCTION
This brief will provide admissible evidence pursuant to the regulations 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 Carl
Gunnarsson’s (“Mr. Gunnarsson” or “the Player”) value to the Toronto Maple Leafs (“the Leafs” or “the Club”) for the 2013-2014 season.
It is recognized that Mr. Gunnarsson is eligible for salary arbitration to determine his compensation with respect to the 2013-2014 NHL season. To that end, the Player has exercised his option pursuant to article 12.2 of the CBA and can only be compared to defensemen with the same arbitration rights. As a result, the Club hereby elects for a one-year award2, at a salary to be determined by an arbitrator.
This brief will provide an overview of Mr. Gunnarsson’s on-ice performance for the
Club. The overview will include: an overall assessment of the player, number of games played and his injury history, as well as his overall contributions to the Club, with an overarching emphasis on the player’s career-to-platform statistics. In recognition of the totality of Mr.
Gunnarsson’s on ice performance for the Club, he will be objectively contrasted against two defensemen by specified statistical filters to justify his positioning in the NHL marketplace.
These comparable defensemen’s salaries will frame the narrow range in which to assign value to the Player in question.
The Leafs respectfully submit that an award of $2,000,000 will appropriately compensate
Mr. Gunnarsson for the reasons discussed herein.
1 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, between the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League 2 Ibid, s.12.9(c), p. 62.
1 II. OVERVIEW ASSESSMENT OF THE PLAYER
Mr. Gunnarsson is a 27 year-old, left-handed defenseman from Orebro, Sweden, who will turn 28 in November 2013. Mr. Gunnarsson is 6’2”, 196lbs., as of the beginning of the 2012-
2013 NHL season. In the 2007 NHL Entry Draft (“Entry Draft”), the Leafs selected Mr.
Gunnarsson in the 7th round 194th overall.3 It is worth noting that his late selection was a partial reflection of the value that all 30 NHL teams had assigned to Mr. Gunnarsson and his defensive style of play.
Prior to the NHL, Mr. Gunnarsson played a significant portion of his career in the
Swedish hockey league for Linkopings Hockey Club.4 Having since transitioned to the NHL, his statistics have remained consistent from those that earned him the 7th round selection at the Entry
Draft. This is to serve as a backdrop when assessing the worth of Mr. Gunnarsson’s style of play to the Club.
III. NUMBER OF GAMES PLAYED AND INJURY HISTORY
Mr. Gunnarsson has played four seasons in the NHL accumulating 224 games in the league, all of which have been with the Leafs.5 During the 2009-2010 season, Mr. Gunnarsson split his playing time between the Leafs and their American Hockey League (“AHL”) affiliate.
Since then, he has remained on the Leafs roster. However, he has not played a complete NHL regular season in his four years with the Leafs due to several injuries.
During the 2009-2010 season, Mr. Gunnarsson missed 22 games with a hyper-extended elbow. Once again, during the 2011-2012 seasons he missed 6 games because of several injuries: 1game for a hand injury, 3 games for an ankle injury, and he missed the last 2 games of the season with a separated shoulder. This theme continued into the most recent platform
3 Nhl.com, Statistics: http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474125#&navid=nhl-search. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.
2 season, where in a shortened schedule he missed eleven games because of two separate incidents of hip injuries.6 The long-term effects of these hip injuries are still to be determined.
While all of his injuries have been treatable, it is the frequency of injuries combined with the amount of games missed which ultimately diminish the value of the player. If Mr.
Gunnarsson were able to remain injury-free, he would be more valuable to the Club.
IV. CAREER-TO-PLATFORM STATISTICS
Table 1: Mr. Gunnarsson’s Career Performance7 Season Team GP G A Pts Pts/G +/- TOI PIM Hits GvA TkA 09-10 Leafs 43 3 12 15 0.35 8 21:26 10 46 36 8 10-11 Leafs 68 4 16 20 0.29 -2 18:14 14 63 44 24 11-12 Leafs 76 4 15 19 0.25 -9 21:42 20 114 65 34 12-13 Leafs 37 1 14 15 0.41 5 21:16 14 78 32 11 NHL Totals 224 12 57 69 0.31 2 21:12 58 301 177 77 *Red font indicates platform season.
During Mr. Gunnarsson’s previous platform-season, in 2010-2011, he had the most productive statistical season of his career. Mr. Gunnarsson recorded career highs in: goals (4), assists (16), and his giveaway-to-takeaway ratios were his best (-20), despite being allotted the lowest average time-on-ice (TOI) in a season (18:14).8
Mr. Gunnarsson was subsequently compensated with an appropriate two-year contract at an annual cap hit of $1,325,000.9 This award was not only appropriate as a result of his career high numbers, but most notably his platform statistics were measured over a 68 game period, second most games played in a season over his career. The 68 games played by Mr. Gunnarsson were sufficient to gauge his contribution to the Club and to determine suitable remuneration.
In contrast, the current platform-season is based on 37 games played, which is just under half of, what would otherwise be, a regular 82 game season. Mr. Gunnarsson’s 2012-2013
6 Tsn.ca, Statistics: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=5218. 7 Supra note 3. 8 Ibid. 9 CapGeek.com, Statistics: http://www.capgeek.com/player/1212.
3 increased point totals should be acknowledged, however, nominal weight should be placed on this season taking into consideration that he played in a mere 37 games. Furthermore, it is unwarranted to make statistical projections on what Mr. Gunnarsson’s offensive numbers perhaps could have been, had he remained healthy for the entire regular season, especially when taking into consideration the small sample size of games played. The Player’s offensive pace is unsupported by any of his prior statistics and therefore it should not advance his worth to the
Club or positioning in the NHL marketplace.
As a result, career-to-platform statistics will be a more accurate representation of his appropriate marketplace positioning for 2013-2014. The figures, which his previous contract was built on, in combination with his career-to-platform statistics, should justify only a modest pay increase at our requested $2,000,000.
V. OVERALL CONTRIBUTION TO THE CLUB
Table 2: Summarized, Team goals against 2011-2012 & 2012-201310 Teams Goals Against Tampa Bay 415 Carolina 396 Toronto 387 New York (Islanders) 387 Florida 386
Mr. Gunnarsson was developed as a stay-at-home defenseman to compete against the opposing teams top offensive units. Accordingly, Mr. Gunnarsson has received the 2nd most TOI over the past two seasons, being paired typically with team captain Dion Phaneuff.11 While Mr.
Gunnarsson’s quality of competition statistics (1.42) suggests that he plays against strong
10 NHL.com, Statistics: http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?season=20122013&gameType=2&viewName=goalsAgainst ; see also http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?season=20112012&gameType=2&viewName=goalsAgainst 11 NHL.com, Statistics: http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20132TORSASALL&sort=avgTOIPerGame&viewName=summ ary;http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20122TORSASALL&sort=avgTOIPerGame&viewName=su mmary
4 competition, this has not resolved the team defense issue by allowing the third most goals against in the entire NHL over the past two seasons.12 It is also worth noting, that Mr. Gunnarsson’s
Relative Coris ranks 403rd in the league which indicates that the Leafs are being outshot, per 60 minutes of even strength play, while he is on the ice.13 Mr. Gunnarsson finishes his shifts 55% of the time in his defensive zone, which ranks him the 3rd worst of the Leafs’ 10 defensemen.14
These statistics would suggest that Mr. Gunnarsson was regularly hemmed in the defensive zone by the opposing team.
VI. COMPARABLE PLAYERS
The Player’s positioning in the NHL marketplace is the most influential factor when assigning their value to the Club. Positioning does not follow a strict linear hierarchy according to a particular statistical category, but rather, it is relative to the salaries of player’s that are most similar to the player in question.
As a result, the search for and selection of comparable players 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. Gunnarsson is a stay-at-home defenseman that relies on his defensive contributions to compensate for his below-average offensive statistics. The selection of objective search filters allows for a more comprehensive comparison of valuable defensive characteristics. The objective filters that have been employed are based on career-to-platform statistics and are as follows: games played (“GP”) +/- 25%, TOI +/- 4:20/G, points per game
12 Behindthenet.ca, Statistics: http://www.behindthenet.ca/nhl_statistics.php?ds=41&s=13&f1=2012_s&f2=5v5&f4=D&f5=TOR&c=0+1+3+5+2 +4+6+7+20+10+8+11+12+13+14+15+16+32+33+34+29+30+31+35+36+37+38+39+40+47+48+49+50+51+52+53 +54+55+56+63+67+57+58+59+60+61+62+64+65+66+41+42+43+44+45+46# 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid.
5 (“Pts/G”) +/-15%, hits +/- 25%, and Take-aways (“TkA”) +/- 30%.
Table 2: Statistics for Comparable Players15 Player GP G A Pts Pts/G +/- PIM TOI/G Hits GvA TkA Carl 37 1 14 15 0.41 5 14 21:16 78 32 11 Gunnarsson NHL Totals: 224 12 57 69 0.31 2 58 21:12 301 177 77 Jason 22 1 2 3 0.17 -4 10 18:37 32 12 6 Demers NHL Totals: 205 11 50 61 0.3 12 81 17:35 241 120 61 Ryan 12 0 3 4 0.33 4 8 18:30 17 6 5 Wilson NHL Totals: 199 7 54 61 0.31 20 145 18:06 335 100 86
Table 3: Contract Data16 Player 2013-2014 Cap Hit Date Signed Ryan Wilson $2,250,000 June 25, 2012 Carl Gunnarsson $2,000,000 Pending Arbitration Jason Demers $1,500,000 June 27, 2013
a. Mr. Gunnarsson compared to Mr. Demers
Jason Demers (“Mr. Demers”) is a 25 year-old, right-handed defenseman from Dorval,
Canada whom was drafted in the 7th round, 186th overall in the 2008 Entry Draft by the San Jose
Sharks (“the Sharks”).17 Similar to Mr. Gunnarsson, Mr. Demers broke into the league during the 2009-2010 season where he split time with the Sharks and their AHL affiliate. Since that time, he has remained with the Sharks playing only 19 games less than Mr. Gunnarsson has over his career (see Table 2). Mr. Demer’s most recent platform season was shortened due to an injury, therefore, little weight should be placed on the platform-statistics, and more emphasis should be placed on career-to-platform statistics.18
Mr. Gunnarsson and Mr. Demers are similar in offensive statistics, in regards to goals, and assists, which amounts to a 0.01 Pts/G difference throughout their career (see Table 2). It
15 Supra note 3; see also Jason Demers and Ryan Wilson. 16 Supra note 11; see also Jason Demers and Ryan Wilson. 17 NHL.com, Statistics: http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474218#&navid=nhl-search. 18 Supra note 6, http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=5601.
6 should be noted that Mr. Gunnarsson plays approximately 4 minutes more per game than Mr.
Demers does. However, ice time is awarded at the coach’s discretion and is relative to the depth of that position for the specific team. Furthermore, Mr. Gunnarsson and Mr. Demers, have a comparable physical presence on the ice, which is highlighted by their career-to-platform hits. In regards to defensive contributions, Mr. Gunnarsson and Mr. Demers have an equivalent ability to repossess the puck from the opposing team, as seen by their take-away statistics.
Mr. Gunnarsson and Mr. Demers have both completed a two-year contract, which was their second career NHL contract at similar salaries. Mr. Demers was compensated in June 2013 for similar statistical contributions as Mr. Gunnarsson, at a salary of $1,500,000.19 This signing illustrates the current NHL marketplace and the worth Mr. Demers and players alike.
Mr. Demers and Mr. Gunnarsson are the most comparable players in terms of statistical contributions, previous contract composition, style-of-play, and length of service. In consideration of these similarities, Mr. Gunnarsson should be compensated in the narrow range of Mr. Demers remuneration. It is the Club’s recognition of Mr. Gunnarsson’s ice-time and
2012-2013 statistics have allotted him an increase to $2,000,000.
b. Mr. Gunnarsson compared to Mr. Wilson
Ryan Wilson (“Mr. Wilson”) is a 26 year-old, left-handed defenseman from Windsor,
Canada. He was acquired by the Colorado Avalanche (“the Avalanche”) from the Calgary
Flames via player transaction in 2008.20 Like Mr. Gunnarsson, Mr. Wilson split his first
season between the Avalanche and their AHL affiliate; however, he has since remained with
the Avalanche on a full-time basis. Mr. Wilson’s most recent platform-season was shortened
due to an ankle injury, therefore, little weight should be placed on the platform-statistics, and
19 Supra note 9; See also Jason Demers. 20 NHL.com, Statistics: http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8473700#&navid=nhl-search
7 more emphasis should be placed on career-to-platform statistics.21
The stay-at-home style of play is reinforced by identical points per game over their
career, which is expressed over a difference of 25 games played in favour of Mr. Gunnarsson
(see Table 2). Mr. Wilson serves as comparable to player to Mr. Gunnarsson; however, Mr.
Wilson’s physical contributions add more value to a stay-at-home defenseman. Mr. Wilson’s
puck management should be valued ahead of Mr. Gunnarsson because not only does he have
more take-aways but he also losses possession of the puck less than Mr. Gunnarsson (see Table
2). Accordingly, Mr. Wilson should represent the position in the marketplace that Mr.
Gunnarsson should not exceed.
VII. CONCLUSION
This brief has assessed Mr. Gunnarsson’s value with respect to his overall career performance, NHL experience, injury history, his overall contributions to the Club, and it has identified two comparable players who best frame the current market value. The head-to-head comparisons demonstrate the appropriate selection of comparable players, which frame the current market value for Mr. Gunnarsson. Mr. Gunnarsson should be compensated in the range of Mr. Demers, but less than the salary of Mr. Wilson because of his increased physical contributions. In consideration of the totality of Mr. Gunnarsson’s contributions leading up to this arbitration, it is respectfully submitted that the Leafs compensation request of $2,000,000 is both fair and justified.
21 TSN.ca, Statistics: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=5415
8