Much like Ryan O’Reilly and the Colorado Avalanche, the Winnipeg Jets are trying to get a deal done with one of their own and would rather not use a qualifying offer to get it done.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports the Jets have filed for club-elected salary arbitration with forward Michael Frolik. He’s set to become a restricted free agent on July 1. By going to arbitration, that means the Jets are opting not make a $1.9 million qualifying offer to Frolik and will look to get a new deal worked out before the two sides wind up in a hearing.
Frolik is coming off a three-year deal that paid him $7 million. While that works out to a $2.333 million cap hit, he was paid $1.9 million last season. He had a solid season scoring 15 goals with 42 points and continued to be one of the better penalty killers in the league.
According to CapGeek, Frolik is a year away from becoming an unrestricted free agent and can only elect to a one-year award in arbitration. There he can either win his case and get a raise on his $1.9 million or he could lose and wind up seeing his salary fall as low as $1.615 million (85 percent of $1.9 million).
That said, don’t expect arbitration to be an issue. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports says Frolik’s agent Allan Walsh is working on a long-term deal with the Jets.