Wild Bound For Arbitration With RFA

The Minnesota Wild are bound for arbitration with one of their two remaining restricted free agents (RFA). Both Filip Gustavsson and Calen Addison are still unsigned, but after the amazing seasons Gustavsson had, he is going to get the higher payday for this season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ilya Samsonov took things to arbitration and he was awarded $3.55 million AAV for one season. As Gustavsson had a better season, his expectation is that he can get a similar number. The difference between the two is that Samsonov will be heavily leaned on while Gustavsson still should split the net with Marc-Andre Fleury unless there is a clear separation between the two this season.

Gustavsson's arbitration hearing is set for August 4, but he might get an even clearer picture after Jeremy Swayman has his hearing on July 30. With the Wild paying nearly $15 million to Zach Parise and Rya Suter for the next two seasons, they likely went in fairly low after just one great season by Gustavsson. Arbitration definitely works in favour of the Wild's young goaltender, but it won't be detrimental to the team.

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