Brooks Liach Arbitration

Today kicked off the beginning of the 2007 Arbitration Hearings, with the Washington Capitals and Brooks Liach on the top of the list. A restricted free agent may file for arbitration if negotiations between the player and the team holding their rights reach a stalemate. This off-season 30 players filed for arbitration on July 5th, 11 of those cases have since negotiated a new agreement.

In front of the Salary Arbitrator each side makes their case, with a great deal of attention paid to statistics and the compensation of other players with similar statistics and history. Within 24 hours the Arbitrator will fax the decision to both parties, and the team has 48 hours in which they must decide to agree or "walk" from the decision. If the team elects to walk from a decision the player becomes a Unrestricted Free Agent.

Brooks Liach

Year	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
2003-04	OTT	1	0	0	0
	WAS	4	0	1	1
2005-06	WAS	73	7	14	21
2006-07	WAS	73	8	10	18
Career		151	15	25	40

Brooks Liach was drafted in the 6th round of the 2001 draft by the Ottawa Senators, and made his first appearance in the NHL during the 2003-04 season. It was post lock-out that Liach made an extended showing in the NHL. At 24 years old, with 151 NHL games under his belt, Brooks has accumulated 40 pts.

At the hearing the Liach camp may point to the Columbus Blue Jacket's recent resigning of 24 year old Alexander Svitov, who went for $2.25 over 2 years, to set the benchmark.

Alexander Svitov

	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
2006-07	CLS	76	7	11	18
Career		179	13	24	37

On the other hand the Capitals can reference Vernon Fiddler's resigning with Nashville, 2 years $1.7 million.

Vernon Fiddler

	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
2006-07	CLS	72	11	15	26
Career		148	23	21	44

In the end, I'd expect the decision to be closer to Fiddler's deal then Svitov's. Somewhere around $800,000 a year. Alexander Svitov received a more lucrative contract from the Blue Jackets because he's a past top draft pick (#3 overall in 2001) and has the potential to develop into a first line NHL forward.