IN THE MATTER OF SALARY ARBITRATION BETWEEN:

DERICK BRASSARD

-AND-

THE NEW YORK RANGERS

SUBMISSION ON BEHALF OF DERICK BRASSARD

TEAM 28

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 2

I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ...... 3

A. Overall Performance In Career ...... 3

B. Overall Contribution to Team Success ...... 4

II. VALID COMPARABLE PLAYERS ...... 5

A. Sam Gagner- Arizona Coyotes- $4.8 Million Salary ...... 5

B. Jeff Skinner- Carolina Hurricanes $5.725 Million Salary ...... 7

III. CONCLUSION ...... 8

2 I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

In accordance to article 12 of the NHL collective bargaining agreement, this brief

will analyze the overall value of Derick Brassard in support of a $5.1 million salary

demand. Brassard’s potential, overall post-season and regular season performance, and

his place as a second-line center for a Stanley-cup contending team justify an arbitration

award above the $5 million mid-point. In comparing Sam Gagner’s $4.7 million cap hit

to Jeff Skinner $5.725 cap hit, we have demonstrated in the following brief that

Brassard’s numbers do support his salary demand for a $5.1 million arbitration award1.

A. Overall Performance In Career

SEASON TEAM GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG S S% 2008-2009 BLUE JACKETS 31 10 15 25 12 17 3 0 1 59 17 2009-2010 BLUE JACKETS 79 9 27 36 -17 48 4 0 0 125 7.2 2010-2011 BLUE JACKETS 74 17 30 47 -11 55 6 0 3 183 9.3 2011-2012 BLUE JACKETS 74 14 27 41 -20 42 5 0 3 125 11.2 2012-2013 BLUE JACKETS 34 7 11 18 -2 16 1 0 1 63 11.1 EC RED BULL 2012-2013 SALZBURG-AUSTRIA 6 4 1 5 6 2012-2013 RANGERS 13 5 6 11 3 0 2 0 0 25 20 2013-2014 RANGERS 81 18 27 45 2 46 7 0 4 159 11.3 2014-2015 RANGERS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NHL TOTALS 404 81 144 225 -37 230 28 0 12 752 10.8

Derick Brassard is entering his 8th NHL season, and second full-season with the

New York Rangers.

In the 2010-2011 season, Brassard recorded 47 points in 74 games, good for 4th

in the Blue Jackets. In the 2011-2012 season, Brassard recorded 41 points in 74 games,

good for 3rd in scoring on the team. In his last season with the Blue Jackets, 2012-2013,

Brassard scored 18 points in 34 games before recording 11 points in 13 games for the

1 http://www.capgeek.com/

3 Rangers, ending the season with a 0.56 pts/game average2. These stats indicate that even though Brasard recorded 0.64 points per game and 0.56 points per game in his last two full seasons with the Jackets, Brassard was still 3rd and 4th in scoring on a team that finished 24th in 2010-2011 and dead last in 2011-2012. During the 2013-2014 season,

Brassard finished the season with 18 goals, 27 assists and 45 points3. Brassard was the

4th top scorer on the Rangers, despite playing the 12th most minutes, averaging 15:47

TOI and a +2 rating. Brassard was also tied for third on the team for game- winning goals, with 4 during the regular season4.

Furthermore, Brassard played an instrumental part on the Ranger’s power-play during the 2013-2014 regular season, recording 18 power play points, good for third among all players, while averaging 2:31 PP minutes per game. During his early NHL career thus far, Derick Brassard has been an extremely durable player. He has not missed more than a combined 21 games during the past 5 seasons, from the 2009-2010 season through the 2013-2014 season. In a given season, he has never missed more than 8 games, as he played 74 games in both 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Brassard has been a remarkably durable player during his career thus far5.

B. Overall Contribution to Team Success

Derick Brassard was part of a very effective line last year for the New York

Rangers with Mats Zucarello and Derick Pouliot. During the 2013-2014 post-season,

Derick Brassard recorded 12 points in 23 games (4th among rangers’ forward), as well as scoring 2 game-winning goals, good for second among all skaters. Although on paper the

2 http://www.nhl.com/ice/search.htm?tab=all&q=brassard&x=0&y=0 3 http://www.nhl.com/ice/search.htm?tab=all&q=brassard&x=0&y=0 4 http://www.nhl.com/ice/search.htm?tab=all&q=brassard&x=0&y=0 5 http://www.nhl.com/ice/search.htm?tab=all&q=brassard&x=0&y=0

4 Brassard-Zucarello-Pouliot made up the Ranger’s third line, they were often the best line

on the ice. Brassard’s line recorded 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in their series

win against the Penguins during the 2013-2014 post-season, almost willing the Rangers

to victory6. Zuccarello and Pouliot’s, Brassard’s linemates finished third and eighth

among forwards in points for the post-season. In fact, the top three rangers forwards in

plus/minus during the duration of the 2013-2014 post-season were the complete line of

Benoit Pouliot (+8), Mats Zuccarello (+7), and Derick Brassard (+4)7.

Furthermore, after the departure of Brian Boyle and Brad Richards, Derick

Brassard will play an even more integral part in the Rangers lineup. Clearly the Rangers

see Brassard as their second line center for the 2014-2015 season, and he should be paid

accordingly. This season should see a substantial boost in Brassard’s point production

with his talent potential and increased role with the New York Rangers.

II. VALID COMPARABLE PLAYERS

A. Sam Gagner- Arizona Coyotes- $4.8 Million Salary

SEASON TEAM GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG S S% 2011-2012 OILERS 75 18 29 47 5 36 6 0 0 149 12.1 2012-2013 OILERS 48 14 24 38 -6 23 4 0 1 113 12.4 KLAGENFURTER 2012-2013 AC-AUSTRIA 21 10 10 20 8 2013-2014 OILERS 67 10 27 37 -29 41 1 0 1 143 7 2014-2015 COYOTES 1 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 3 0 NHL TOTALS 482 101 194 295 -78 246 30 1 7 1,007 10

Sam Gagner, currently a member of the Arizona Coyotes, was a second-line

center for the Edmonton Oilers when he signed his current three-year deal at a $4.8

6 http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?navid=nav-sts-indiv# 7 http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?navid=nav-sts-indiv#

5 million cap hit8. Gagner finished the 2013-2014 season with 10 goals and 27 assists for

37 points in 64 games, good for a 0.55 points per game average9. Gagner only recorded 6 power-play points, despite his 18;22 TOI average, and his 2:36 average power-play ice- time per game10.

Gagner finished the 2013-2014 season with the Oilers ranking 9th in all Oilers’ in average ice-time per game. This is still a significant stat, as the Oilers lacked a lot of depth down the middle last season. One of the reasons that the Oilers did not rely on Sam

Gagner as much as they would have wanted is his minus-29 stat, second-worst on the team behind Nail Yakupov. In fact, the Oilers judged Sam Gagner to be so disposable to their team that they traded him away to Arizona, while not even having a proper number two center going into the season. The Oilers would rather take a gamble on unproven

Mark Acrobello or Leaon Draisaitl than have Gagner anchor their second line for another season.

Furthermore, Gagner’s 2013-2014 0.55 point per game average is lower than

Brasard’s 0.56 point per game average, despite Gagner averaging almost three minutes more per game11. Gagner’s 1 power-play goal, and 1 game –winning goal last season is dwarfed by Brassard’s 7 power-play goals and 4 game-winning goals12.

In summary, Brassard’s contribution and importance to the New York Rangers was much greater than Sam Gagner’s important to the Edmonton Oilers, as supported by the stats above. For this reason, the $5.1 million salary arbitration award for Derick

Brassard, the $0.43 million more than Gagner’s current $4.8 million is more than

8 http://www.capgeek.com/ 9http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474040&docid=TeamPlayerBio:47038#&navid=nhl-search 10http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474040&docid=TeamPlayerBio:47038#&navid=nhl-search 11http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474040&docid=TeamPlayerBio:47038#&navid=nhl-search 12http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8474040&docid=TeamPlayerBio:47038#&navid=nhl-search

6 justified. Brassard’s overall performance, his potential, and his importance and position

on the Rangers’ roster validates s this $0.3 million jump to $5.1 million.

B. Jeff Skinner- Carolina Hurricanes $5.725 Million Salary

SEASON TEAM GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG S S% 2010-2011 HURRICANES 82 31 32 63 3 46 6 0 2 215 14.4 CANADA-WC- 2010-2011 A 7 3 3 6 3 8 0 0 1 2011-2012 HURRICANES 64 20 24 44 -8 56 4 0 5 210 9.5 CANADA-WC- 2011-2012 A 8 3 2 5 3 4 1 0 0 2012-2013 HURRICANES 42 13 11 24 -21 26 5 0 0 159 8.2 CANADA-WC- 2012-2013 A 8 2 2 4 4 2 0 0 2 2013-2014 HURRICANES 71 33 21 54 -14 22 11 0 6 274 12 NHL TOTALS 259 97 88 185 -40 150 26 0 13 858 11.3 Jeff Skinner is the 22 year-old winger/center for the Carolina Hurricanes making

$5.725 million per year starting during the 2013-2014 season. Skinner’s 54 points in 71

games exceeded Brassard’s 45 points in 82 games, but there are several reasons why

Brassard’s salary should be closer in value to Skinner13. Firstly, Skinner’s position as a

top-six forward allowed him almost two minutes more of ice-time per game than

Brassard (17:10), while playing 3:08 on the first power play unit. Skinner’s offensive

production has been greater than Brassard, but Skinner has also played a more central,

offensive role on his team than Brassard14.

However, in analyzing Skinner’s offensive production there are still some inconsistencies

to be noted. Skinner scored 41 of his points against Eastern Conference teams, but only

13 points against tougher opposition of the Western Conference. Skinner also finished the

season with a minus-14 rating, third-worst among all Hurricanes skaters15.

13http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8475784&docid=TeamPlayerBio:41179#&navid=nhl-search 14http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8475784&docid=TeamPlayerBio:41179#&navid=nhl-search 15http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8475784&docid=TeamPlayerBio:41179#&navid=nhl-search

7 Furthermore, for all Skinner’s point-production, he has not once helped the

Hurricanes qualify to the post-season, nor is Skinner a proven playoff performer, unlike

Brassard. In addition, Skinner is injury-prone with known concussion issues, which places his career in jeopardy.

For these reasons, although Skinner scores more points than Brassard, Brassard has helped his team qualify for the post-season, Brassard has performed in the post- season, he is also a durable player, and is a number two center on a Stanley-cup contending team. For the aforementioned reasons, our salary demand of $5.1 million for

Brassard is validated, the $0.6 million between Skinner and Brassard`s salary being more than made up by a number of factors outside of point production.

III. Conclusion

Pursuant to the evidence submitted above, we feel that Brassard’s salary demands of $5.1 million are perfectly justified. Brassard’s salary is justified by his position and rank as a number two center on a Stanley Cup contending team in a high-pressure hockey market. Brassard’s cap value should be somewhere in between a $4.7 million Sam

Gagner and a $5.725 million Jeff Skinner, as demonstrated by Brassard’s stats in comparison to the aforementioned players. Brassard as a number two Rangers center justifies his salary differential over Gagner, and his overall value to his team justifies a salary closer to that of Jeff Skinner. Brassard’s overall performances and value to his team, both in post-season and regular season play validate his salary demands of $5.1 million.

8