Minnesota Wild forward Jordan Schroeder was one of 24 players to file for salary arbitration this summer.
In most cases, the team and player will be able come to an agreement before they have to go through the unpleasantness that is the arbitration process.
For the Wild and Schroeder, that process seemed to get started on Tuesday afternoon. It was then that the Wild placed the 25-year-old forward on waivers.
It was most likely an arbitration ploy, and perhaps even a message to Schroeder, to demonstrate that the team feels he should only get a two-way contract instead of the one-way deal he is seeking
Arbitration ploy to demonstrate player should be on a two-way contract.
— Craig Button (@CraigJButton) July 19, 2016
Schroeder, originally a first-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks back in 2009, has spent the past two years playing in the Wild organization where he has spent time bouncing back and forth between the AHL and NHL.
He is coming off of a contract that paid him $600,000 in the NHL and $125,000 in the AHL this past season.
Assuming he clears waivers -- and it would probably be a pretty big surprise if he did not clear -- he will still be a restricted free agent with the Wild.
His arbitration hearing is scheduled for July 27.
In 26 regular season games for the Wild in 2015-16 Schroeder scored two goals and added two assists while playing just a little more than nine minutes per game in a fourth-line role. He had 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 40 games in the AHL playing for the Iowa Wild.
Even though he has been a consistently productive player in the AHL, he has never really been able to find a spot as a regular in an NHL lineup.
His career-high for games in a season is 31, a number he reached in his rookie season with the Canucks. In 107 NHL games he has scored 11 goals.