Penguins forward Drew O’Connor files for salary arbitration
Share this post:
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Drew O’Connor has filed for salary arbitration as a restricted free agent.
On Wednesday, the NHL Players’ Association announced 22 players had elected to file for arbitration with O’Connor being the lone member of the Penguins doing so.
O’Connor, 25, broke through as a full-time NHLer last season. Primarily deployed on the bottom two lines, O’Connor appeared in 46 games and scored 11 points (five goals, six assists) while averaging 9:49 of ice time per contest.
The left-handed shot just completed a one-year contract that carried a salary cap hit of $750,000. He is one of five restricted free agents the Penguins hold the NHL rights to including forwards Jonathan Gruden and Filip Hallander, defenseman Ty Smith and goaltender Filip Lindberg.
The Penguins formally extended qualifying offers Friday to all five players to retain their signing rights.
Filing for arbitration doesn’t necessarily signal an impasse between a player and team and is often a procedural step that can lead to a contract agreement before getting to a formal hearing, a process that both parties typically prefer to avoid.
A deadline for teams to elect salary arbitration is 5 p.m. Thursday. Salary arbitration hearings are scheduled to be held from July 20-Aug. 4.
Undrafted out of Dartmouth, O’Connor has spent the past three seasons with the Penguins organization, primarily at the American Hockey League level with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.