Top 15 in points since 1998

[LALAFONTAINE]

1st Jaromir Jagr WASH R 369 205 295 500 66 226 8,514 23.07
2nd Joe Sakic COLO C 355 175 257 432 114 129 8,072 22.74
3rd Michael Modano DALL C 392 167 241 408 103 212 8,580 21.89
4th Markus Naslund VANC L 397 192 208 400 8 298 7,831 19.73
5th Paul Kariya ANAH L 386 171 221 392 12 160 8,898 23.05
6th Teemu Selanne SANJ R 391 170 212 382 0 148 8,018 20.51
6th Mats Sundin TORO C 394 169 213 382 60 332 7,856 19.94
8th Pavol Demitra SLOU L 357 156 224 380 87 118 6,926 19.40
9th Alex Kovalev NYRA R 383 162 205 367 4 389 8,670 22.64
10th Brendan Shanahan DETR L 398 170 185 355 63 530 7,318 18.39
11th Jeremy Roenick PHIL C 387 136 216 352 69 495 7,667 19.81
12th Zigmund Palffy LOSA R 326 156 193 349 61 159 6,785 20.81
13th Jarome Iginla CALG R 393 175 173 348 16 272 7,742 19.70
14th Sergei Fedorov DETR C 381 152 193 345 64 216 7,709 20.23
15th Miroslav Satan BUFF R 405 165 178 343 56 165 8,406 20.76
15th Peter Forsberg COLO C 275 100 243 343 111 284 5,821 21.17

Satan is very underrated - especially since he makes $3.5M.

[Player6600]

he has been consistent on a defensive minded team. He is very underrated.

[Jim Bob]

Satan is very underrated - especially since he makes $3.5M.

He doesn't make $3.5 million anymore.

[LALAFONTAINE]

True. How exactly does arbitration work? Are the arbitrators inclined to look at previous settlements, or do they merely look at the current signings? If the latter, I would think this helps us in this newfound era of restraint.

[Jim Bob]

Originally posted by LALALALALALAFONTAINE
True. How exactly does arbitration work? Are the arbitrators inclined to look at previous settlements, or do they merely look at the current signings? If the latter, I would think this helps us in this newfound era of restraint.

Each side makes a presentation about how much they think the player should be making. The arbitrator then comes up with a number that falls within the range between what the player is asking for and what the team is asking for.

And it's mostly based on previous contracts that have been signed throughout the league. And if Pavol Demitra's case gets finished first I can bet that Miro will be putting his award in his case.

[LALAFONTAINE]

Does previous mean in previous years, or only the current year? I'm wondering what rationale the arbitrators use because I can envision large differences between players and teams this year.

[Thumper]

Previous means in previous years as well. Satan will have a very strong case in arbitration. He has been the teams leading scorer for the last 5 or 6 seasons, having a career high in points just last year, and being in the top 15 in scoring for the last 5 years, which you pointed out. His end of season point totals have steadily gone up since he came to Buffalo, and if you look at his career stats by season, he has actually gotten better as the team around him has lost it's star players and players that couldn't be afforded.

97-98 total points: 46
98-99 TP: 66
99-00 TP: 67
00-01 TP: 62
01-02 TP: 73
02-03 TP: 75

[LALAFONTAINE]

No, Thumper, I don't mean the arbitrator looks at Satan's previous years. The arbitrator who decides this case will undoubtedly look at the salaries of other players. I'm wondering if the arbitrator limits himself to looking at contracts that were decided upon this year, or if he refers to previous year's contracts for benchmark type players as well. There are good reasons for doing either or both.

The reason I ask is because it seems there actually may be a decline in salaries, at least top-end salaries, this year.