Aston-Reese files for salary arbitration taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

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Zach Aston-Reese

Zach Aston-Reese was one of 17 players around the league to elect salary arbitration on Sunday, the NHLPA announced.

Arbitration is a way for players and teams to settle contract disputes. An arbitrator listens to the case from both the player and team and sets the player's salary. Arbitration hearings will be held from Aug. 11 to 26. An exact schedule of hearings will be announced at a later date.

Both the team's side and the player's side must submit all evidence which will be used in the hearing 48 hours before the hearing. Each side receives 90 minutes to present its case, with time for rebuttals. The arbitrator then issues a ruling within 48 hours.

Because Aston-Reese turns 27 later this month and therefore in his final year of restricted free agency, he's only entitled to a one-year contract if it does go to arbitration. Since this is a player-elected arbitration case, the Penguins would only be allowed to walk away from the ruling and make Aston-Reese an unrestricted free agent if the settlement is in excess of $4,538,958. Since Aston-Reese's settlement wouldn't be that high, any ruling from the arbitrator will be binding for next season.

Electing arbitration often creates pressure to get a deal done sooner. Neither side wants to sit through a hearing while the team rips the player's performance, impact and popularity to try to convince the arbitrator why the player deserves a lesser salary. It's awkward for all parties involved. Filing for arbitration gives the player a little more bargaining power because he knows the team will likely want to settle on a deal before the hearing date.

Here's a primer I previously wrote on the salary arbitration process.

Aston-Reese was last a restricted free agent in 2019, and he elected salary arbitration then as well, but reached an agreement on a deal with the Penguins shortly before the hearing was set to begin.

The deal Aston-Reese signed in 2019 was a two-year contract that carried an average annual value of $1 million.

Aston-Reese scored a career-high nine goals and recorded 15 points in 45 games last season. For the second year in a row, he ranked No. 1 in the NHL at preventing scoring chances, while facing an above-average quality of competition. 

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JFRESHHOCKEY

Aston-Reese and Radim Zohorna are the Penguins' two restricted free agents. I asked Ron Hextall last week where contract negotiations stand with both players.

"Zohorna, I would expect to get done in the next little while," Hextall said. "It's not a real difficult one, we just kind of put it off until after free agency here. And I anticipate getting something done with Zach in the near future hopefully as well. He's got arbitration rights, so hopefully we'll get something done before that."

According to CapFriendly, the Penguins are projected to have $2,596,795 in cap space for next season, a figure that assumes recent signings Dominik Simon, Michael Chaput and Taylor Fedun start in the AHL.


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