Avalanche winger Marek Svatos, who had a team-leading 26 goals before he suffered a season-ending knee injury March 1, was on the list of 15 NHL restricted free agents who have requested salary arbitration. The NHL Players Association released that list Saturday.
The Avalanche and the Slovak winger, who made $1.2 million last season, still can negotiate until the date of the hearing, which will be scheduled during a July 20-Aug. 4 window. An agreement would lead to the cancellation of the hearing. Arbitration doesn’t necessarily close the matter. If the Avalanche doesn’t like the arbitrator’s award, it can “walk away” from it and Svatos would become an unrestricted free agent.
Teams also have the right under the new collective bargaining agreement to take players to arbitration, and that decision has to be made by today. The Avalanche’s remaining restricted free agents are wingers Cody McCormick and Cody McLeod. Another restricted free agent, winger Wojtek Wolski, agreed to a two-year, $5.6 million deal with Colorado last week.
