It was perhaps the most scrutinized bathroom break in Toronto. P.K. Subban was inside a downtown hotel on Friday for an arbitration hearing with the Montreal Canadiens, and he emerged from the meeting room as the hours began to drag, and he looked unhappy. That look sent a ripple of fear through the team's fanbase, and with good reason. National Post reporter Sean Fitz-Gerald takes a look at why:
What was Subban doing in the hotel? The 25-year-old defenceman became a restricted free agent last month. It was widely expected he would reach a long-term deal with the Canadiens before the two sides had to meet with an independent arbitrator. No deal was reached, so the team and the player - and their accompanying platoons of men in suits - met at a downtown Toronto hotel. It lasted for more than three hours. It has been reported Subban asked the arbitrator for an award of one season and US$8.5-million, while the Canadiens asked for a one-year contract for US$5.25-million. The process, as you could imagine, can be adversarial. Subban called it 'an educational process' when he spoke with reporters after the hearing.
So what happened? According to the rules, the arbitrator will announce a decision within 48 hours. The new contract will be for one year, since that is what both parties wanted, but the amount is up to the arbitrator. The figure does not have to be one or the other; it could fall somewhere in between what the team wanted, and what the player wanted. Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin declined to speak with reporters. 'There's dialogue and discussion and decisions were made today in relations to both of our positions,' Subban told reporters. 'Ultimately we have to live with those decisions and move on from here.'
What does this mean, long term? As was reported online - including by TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie - the two sides were free to negotiate a new contract until the arbitrator returned a verdict. It did not appear that there would be much negotiating, though, with reports suggested neither side was planning to renew talks right away. 'I think that's kind of a discussion for a later date,' Subban told reporters. 'It's not a discussion for today, obviously.'
Why would Montreal fans be nervous? Subban is a franchise cornerstone. At 25, he has already won a Norris Trophy, and he has already won an Olympic gold medal. He helped the Canadiens reach the conference final last season and is one of the most popular players in the city. The expectation was that the team would secure his rights with a long-term contract. Now, Subban will be a restricted free agent again next year (with the possibility another team will tender an offer sheet to try to pry him away). If he remains with Montreal, and if he signs another one-year deal, he would be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in 2016. That means a 27-year-old defenceman entering the prime of his career would be on the open market.
So what happens now? Subban will learn the size of his paycheque at some point over the weekend, unless there is a change of heart in negotiating before the verdict arrives. The absence of that security will unleash a torrent of possibility and fresh speculation, and not much of it pleasing for Canadiens fans. This could be the first step down the path of Subban leaving the team as an unrestricted free agent, or it could become the moment at which people point after the team has traded him away, rather than risk losing him for nothing. (There is a chance that both Subban and Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos will become unrestricted free agents in 2016, which would make that summer once of the most intriguing in NHL history.) 'I've never been through this process before,' Subban told reporters. 'To have to go through it now, obviously, I've been through many different processes before in my career, but I've ultimately come out of it stronger and ready to continue to get better.'
Post By http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/08/01/a-rundown-of-montreal-canadiens-defenceman-p-k-subbans-arbitration-hearing-and-what-comes-next/
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