2012 Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada Kyle Quincey v. Detroit Red Wings Submission on Behalf of Kyle Quincey Midpoint: $3.75 million Submission by: Team 7 1 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION AND REQUEST FOR HEARING DECISION............................................3 II. THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF KYLE QUINCEY......................................................3 A. The 2011/2012 Season...........................................................................................................3 B. Previous Seasons Performance...............................................................................................4 C. Playoff Performance...............................................................................................................4 D. Contributions to the Detroit Red Wings.................................................................................5 III. COMPARATIVE DEFENSEMEN'S SALARIES.....................................................................5 A. Mike Green.............................................................................................................................6 B. Andrej Sekera.........................................................................................................................7 C. Shea Weber.............................................................................................................................9 IV. PREVIOUS INJURIES............................................................................................................10 V. KYLE QUINCEY'S ROLE AS A DETROIT RED WING IN THE COMING YEARS..........11 VI. PAST COMPENSATION........................................................................................................12 VII. CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................12 2 I. INTRODUCTION AND REQUEST FOR HEARING DECISION This is a brief looking at the contributions of Kyle Quincey as a defenseman in the National Hockey League (NHL) for an arbitration hearing governed by the National Hockey League Player's Association Collective Bargaining Agreement. This Brief will specifically address criteria concerning: his overall performance, comparable defensemen's salaries, previous injuries, his role as a Red Wing in the coming years, and his past compensation. Looking at these criteria this arbitration panel should rightfully find that Kyle Quincey is entitled to a salary exceeding the midpoint of $3.75 million and he respectfully requests this panel find he is entitled to an award of $4.25 million. II. THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF KYLE QUINCEY A. The 2011/2012 Season1 Quincey started the 2011/2012 season playing defense for the Colorado Avalanche. In Colorado, Quincey dressed in 54 games accruing 5 goals and 18 assists for 23 points. Known as a two-way defenseman, Quincey contributes to his team’s success in many different ways. Aside from points, Quincey plays a lot of minutes every game, finishing the season with an average time on ice per game of 21 minutes and 51 seconds. Although the average time on ice per game was calculated over the entire season, using his end of season time on ice per game statistic would have ranked him number one on the Avalanche Roster. While playing a major percentage of his ice time with Colorado, Quincey was able to maintain a -1 plus/minus rating, despite playing on a team that had an average of goals-for per game of 2.43 and an average goals-against per game of 2.66. During the final 18 games of the season after the trade to Detroit, Quincey maintained an even plus/minus rating, and tallied 2 goals and 1 assist to the team’s totals. 1 All statistics are from NHL.com unless otherwise indicated. 3 However, it is very important to not only consider how many points a player contributes but when they contribute to the team. Quincey is a pressure player, and he comes through for the team, scoring a 3 of his 7 goals while the game was tied and 2 of his goals while playing in one- goal games. B. Previous Seasons Performance Quincey has a unique experience to offer the Detroit Red Wings. Quincey was drafted by Detroit in 2003 working his way through the Wings development system, learning from defensive icons such as Nicklas Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider, and Chris Chelios, when he finally cracked the NHL roster during the 2006/2007 playoffs. Quincey was picked up on waivers by the Los Angeles Kings in 2008 and made an immediate impact.2 In his first full season in the NHL Quincey contributed 4 goals and 34 assists on a Los Angeles team that finished 26th place. Quincey scored 11 more points than any other defenseman on the team, finishing first in game-winning goals and shots. He played the 2009/2010 season for the Colorado Avalanche, continuing where he left off, finishing second in both scoring and plus/minus among defensemen, while finishing first in shots and time on ice per game. After his first two seasons in the league, it was clear that Quincey was a top caliber NHL defensemen, however he faced a setback during the 2010/2011 season. During that season Quincey missed a total of 64 games due to a combination of injuries, the most severe being a shoulder injury costing him 53 games.3 However, it was clear that the injury would not have lasting issues on his performance with last season’s performance quickly returning to pre-injury form. C. Playoff Performance It is clear that when discussing the Detroit Red Wings, one is discussing a team who is 2 Kyle Quincey Player Page, TSN.com, http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=3471 . 3 Kyle Quincey Player Page, TSN.com, Supra note 2. 4 looking to make a run for the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings have not missed the playoffs since the 1989/1990 season, making playoff experience a key attribute for a player on their roster. Quincey has a total of 24 games of NHL playoff experience, 18 of which were played for the Red Wings. In his playoff career his has 2 assists, a plus/minus of even, 26 hits, 28 blocked shots and an average time on ice per game of 13:23. These statistics are even more impressive considering that 13 of these games were played in his rookie campaign, when he stepped up after only having played 6 games with the NHL club during that regular season, yet helped the team to the conference finals. His previous experience proved valuable in the 2009/2010 playoffs, spent with Colorado, where he maintained a +2 plus/minus, 14 shots, 15 blocked shots, and 22:06 time on ice per game despite the team losing in 6 games. These stats show that he does the little thing right, and works hard in the post-season, when combined with the experience of a conference final, Quincey has a lot to offer during a playoff run. D. Contributions to the Detroit Red Wings Quincey has made many contributions to the Detroit Red Wings organization, playing a total of 31 games with Red Wings and 201 games with the AHL affiliate. Quincey’s most notable contribution was the 2006/2007 post-season. The Red Wings drafted Quincey in to the league, developed him, and have seen his regular season and post-season production. Based on all of this information they decided that he was a good fit, and that he will be an important part of the revamping defense in Detroit. III. COMPARATIVE DEFENSEMEN'S SALARIES Quincey has proven to be affective and game changing two-way defenseman. He has produced strong statistics on both offense and defense over his career. When looking at comparable players there is a strong indication that Quincey deserves a raise above the midpoint. 5 A. Mike Green Mike Green is a 26 year old defenseman for the Washington Capitals. After the 2011/2012 Season Green was eligible for arbitration but declined. Going into negotiations Green was making $5 million.4 He was able to negotiate a contract worth an average of $6.08 million. His 2011 season statistic totals are low because he spent a large portion of the season injured with a concussion. However, his average statistics are quite close to Quincey's. Their stats are best compared by Time On Ice given Green's injuries.5 Time On Ice Statistics Kyle Quincey Shifts/Game: 28.3 Goals/Game: 0.10 Assists/Game: 0.26 Points/Game: 0.36 TOI/Shift: 0:46 TOI/Goal: 224:50 TOI/Assist: 82:50 TOI/Point: 60:32 Mike Green Shifts/Game: 23.5 Goals/Game: 0.09 Assists/Game: 0.12 Points/Game: 0.22 TOI/Shift: 0:54 TOI/Goal: 224:27 TOI/Assist: 168:20 TOI/Point: 96:11 Platform Season Statistics GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GWG S Hits BkS GvA TkA TOI/g Kyle Quincey 72 7 19 26 -1 89 4 0 1 168 101 94 35 24 21:51 Mike Green 32 3 4 7 +5 12 3 0 1 64 27 44 30 23 21:02 Even Strength, Power Play, and Shorthanded Statistics Kyle Quincey ES GOALS: 3 PP GOALS: 4 SH GOALS: 0 ES ASSISTS: 11 PP ASSISTS: 6 SH ASSISTS: 2 ES POINTS: 14 PP POINTS: 10 SH POINTS: 2 ES POINT %: 53.8 PP POINT %: 38.5 SH POINT %: 7.7 ES TOI/GAME: 17:12 PP TOI/GAME: 2:21 SH TOI/GAME: 2:18 Mike Green ES GOALS: 0 PP GOALS: 3 SH GOALS: 0 ES ASSISTS: 3 PP ASSISTS: 1 SH ASSISTS: 0 ES POINTS: 3 PP POINTS: 4 SH POINTS: 0 ES POINT %: 42.9 PP POINT %: 57.1 SH POINT %: 0.0 ES TOI/GAME: 17:08 PP TOI/GAME: 2:43 SH TOI/GAME: 1:10 4 Mike Green player page, Capgeek.com, http://capgeek.com/players/display.php?id=853. 5 Mike Green player page, tsn.com, http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=4600. 6 Quincey's statistics are much higher that Green's simply because Green played less games, but even compared on a game by game basis Quincey had a better season. The time on ice statistics show how these players contributed offensively per game and how many minutes of ice time it took them to contribute. Quincey had more goals per game and assists per game and it took him less time on ice to get both assists and points. He was relied on by his teams to play more shifts per game and inevitably more ice time per game than Green.