Update: Bouma, Jooris, Byron File For Salary Arbitration

It’s been a quiet few days for the Calgary Flames, but there could be some minor news brewing later today.

The deadline for players to file for salary arbitration is today at 3pm MT. Per the CBA and their levels of experience, five Flames restricted free agents are eligible to file: Josh Jooris, Drew Shore, David Wolf, Lance Bouma and Paul Byron.

UPDATE: per NHLPA, Bouma, Byron and Jooris have filed for arbitration.

Of these five, arguably Bouma and Jooris have the most interesting cases for arbitration.

Bouma had a great year, fueled in part by an incredibly high shooting percentage. He more than doubled his previous season high for scoring, generating 16 goals and 34 points and generating a ton at even-strength. He was on a one-year “show me” contract, with a cap hit of just $775,000. He was also a key contributor on the penalty kill and a key shot-blocker.

Jooris came into camp as a second-year pro and impressed enough to nearly make the team out of camp. He ended up playing 70 games in the show, scoring 12 goals and 24 points in a secondary role that saw him play in basically every situation and with basically every player on the team. The only right-handed center throughout much of the season, he was hugely relied-upon buy Bob Hartley late in games for face-offs in the defensive zone. Jooris was in the final year of his entry-level deal last season, and I believe is only arbitration eligible because of the age at which he signed his first deal.

Byron also has a pretty interesting case, given that he was incredibly versatile and useful for the Flames when he was healthy. He scored 19 points in 57 games, just four fewer points than Mason Raymond (and his $3.15 million cap hit) generated in the same number of games. Byron made just $600,000 last year on a one-year “show me” contract from the Flames.