Mike Hoffman Has Tuesday Deadline to File for Arbitration

Mike Hoffman lead the Ottawa Senators in goals last season. His status for next season is still uncertain, and the Senators would hate to allow a blossoming sniper like Hoffman to take his talents to another team.

Although they have the right to match any offer that another team gives Hoffman as a restricted free agent, a big fear is that contentiousness is brewing between the two sides with the failure to come to any agreement.

Tuesday is the deadline for Hoffman to file for arbitration. The Senators would prefer to get a deal done before then, but as of now the two sides appear far apart.

Perhaps they can avoid a second straight offseason with an arbitrator by coming together to get a contract for Hoffman finalized, but as things stand right now, it appears increasingly likely that Hoffman will take the Senators to arbitration again.

A team can only take a player to arbitration once, but a player can take a team to arbitration unlimited times.

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Last offseason, Hoffman took the team to arbitration wanting a 1 year deal worth $3.4 million. The Senators offered him a 1 year deal for $1.75 million. Hoffman was awarded a 1 year deal worth $2 million by an arbitrator.

Although Hoffman insisted that there were no hard feelings, it’d be easy to empathize with him if he loses arbitration for a second straight year. The Senators got a huge discount on his production last season.

Of the 29 other players who scored as many goals as Hoffman did, only Mark Scheifele, Kyle Palmieri, Nikita Kucherov, and Johnny Gaudreau were paid less than Hoffman.

After his 29 goal season, Hoffman looks like he’s just scratching the surface of his potential. The speed is there. The finishing ability is present. Consistency is the next variable in the equation.

Having said that, Hoffman is already underpaid relative to his current production. The Senators would be wise to ensure that a rising star like Hoffman feels appreciated by the franchise he’s impressively performing for.

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If they go to arbitration again, it will be up to that independent arbitrator to determine how much money Hoffman will make next season. He certainly deserves a raise. How much of a raise he’ll get remains to be seen.