Marcus Johansson and the Washington Capitals couldn’t agree to terms this summer and ultimately an arbitrator has decided what his contract should be.
The 24-year-old forward was awarded a one-year, $3.75 million deal for the 2014-15 campaign, per the Monumental Network. He put in an arbitration request of $4.75 million and the Capitals had countered at $3 million.
He was coming off of a two-year, $4 million deal and earned a little under $2.2 million in 2014-15. Johansson has recorded over 40 points in each of the last three 82-game campaigns and posted a career-best 47 points last season.
He might have trouble replicating that level of success in 2015-16 though. That’s because the summer additions of T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams coupled with the rise of Andre Burakovsky might result in Johansson playing primarily on the third line. His power-play ice time might also drop from his average of 2:55 minutes per game last season.
Still, the fact that the settlement is near the middle will provide the Capitals with some breathing room from a cap perspective. Washington has a little under $500K in space remaining, per General Fanager, but that’s with three goaltenders on its roster. Moving netminder Justin Peters ($950K) to the minors would put Washington in a more manageable position.