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Two members of the Calgary Flames' active roster filed for arbitration in advance of Friday afternoon's deadline.
With all due respect to Sam Bennett, I think it's fair to say David Rittich is the headliner.
Rittich is coming off a very strong season where he won 27 games in just 42 starts (64.2%) and posted a .929 save percentage at 5v5. That number equalled Frederik Andersen, John Gibson, and Andrei Vasilevskiy while besting the likes of Carey Price, Braden Holtby, Tuukka Rask and Henrik Lundqvist. Not bad!
Bennett put up 27 points in 71 games, which equates to ~31 per 82, while averaging a little more than 13 minutes per game. He also provided some energy and physicality.
Both have respectable cases if an arbitration hearing becomes necessary, however, there are key sticking points against them. Rittich didn't play a ton of games, and what Bennett brings to the table doesn't show up as much on the scoresheet.
I think it's likely the Flames lock up both players prior to an arbitration hearing. Filing could just be used as a tool by the player's camps to put a clock on negotiations, so to speak, and give incentive to speed things along.
Not to be lost with the arbitration news: the Flames will now have another buyout window next month.
The Flames need to clear cap space and they want to remain contenders. The best move to dump money without hurting the team is buying out Michael Stone, which would save them $2.33 million this season (via CapFriendly).
I know Stone is a Brad Treliving guy. I also know he's at best the team's 4th RHD, and paying him $3.5 million to play that role while up against the cap would be ludicrous.
I expect the cord to be cut in a month's time.
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