Boll, Stralman file for Arbitration

According to Aaron Portzline's Twitter feed, both RFA winger Jared Boll and D-man Anton Stralman have decided to file for arbitration. Signs are that Boll is looking for a 2-3 year deal, and Porty seems to think he will get a deal done before the hearing.

Stralman seems to be more of a question mark, and with some reason. Point producing defensemen going to arbitration over the last three seasons have almost always received a positive award from the arbitrator, or were settled prior to hearing for a nice contract extension. In Stralman's case, I'd guess he's looking at a raise from his current $750,000 salary to the $1.5 - 2 million dollar range, and there's several players (Milan Jurcina, Carlo Colaiacovo, etx) in that salary range that they'll likely offer up as comparables. That's where things get interesting - if Stralman is signed to a new deal, or given an arbitration award, and the team does complete a trade for another puck moving defenseman such as Bieksa or Ehrhoff, does Stralman become potentially tradable? If I had to guess, I'd say yes, he does. He's got a lot of potential in Arniel's new system, but he could also be very attractive to teams looking for blue line help at a reasonable rate.

Hearings will be scheduled by the NHL this week, and teams normally have a 2-3 week window before the hearings take place to attempt to settle on a contract beforehand.

For a good look at the arbitration process, check out the Mock Arbitration that Copper & Blue did for former Jacket Gilbert Brule.