July 5th is an important date for restricted free agents. Colin Stephenson has reported Russian winger Pavel Buchnevich and Jacob Trouba have filed for arbitration and a date and time will be set in the near future for a hearing.
Buchnevich, who comes off an entry level contract with $925k a year for 3 seasons, is hoping the arbitrator awards him for his performance resulting in a nice raise. The Rangers are still allowed to negotiate an extension with the player though.
The Rangers just acquired Trouba this offseason and a deal is expected to be worked for 7 years in the range of 7.5 to 8M.
More important, the filings for arbitration means Jeff Gorton will be able to use a second buy out window later this summer. According to page 345 of the CBA, the buy out window opens 48 hours after the arbitrator has reached a conclusion or 48 hours after both sides come to an agreement. There has been speculation about Brendan Smith as a buy out candidate. The Rangers can save almost 3.5m in cap space this upcoming season. The cap hits in case of a buy are for Smith are as follows:
2019-20: $970,833
2020-21: $3,145,833
2021-22: $1,145,833
2022-23: $1,145,833
With the signing of Panarin and the pending signings of RFA’s DeAngelo and Lemieux (not arbitration eligible) still to be done, Pavel Buchnevich and Jacob Trouba did Jeff Gorton a huge favor.