Bergenheim Headed for Arbitration

Winger Sean Bergenheim in going to have his salary decided by an arbitrator. After apparently getting the advice from his agent, the much beloved (only slight sarcasm) Mark Gandler, Sean and the Islanders will have a meeting with the 3rd party in order the reach a conclusion. The nature of the process is for the Islanders to present their case why Sean shouldn't be paid as much as Sean's agent feels, and Gandler is going to argue why he should. Few times in the past have things gone as amicably as Trent Hunter's arbitration hearing last season, which of course we know led to Trent signing on for a 5 year extension. In Islanders history, the worst case i can recall is Milbury making then Islander goalie Tommy Salo cry at a hearing...pause for laughter...

Here is what Greg Logan to say about the Bergenheim situation:

I asked his agent about it recently, and there was no progress two weeks ago. The Islanders have made a qualifying offer, and I will be surprised if it doesn't go to arbitration. That doesn't mean there will be bad blood. Mark Gandler, the agent, said that as long as the Isles hire a counsel to make their case instead of having the GM testify, everything will be fine.

My take on that is perhaps Gandler feels without the GM present, he will have an easier sell on the arbitrator...maybe say that Sean is a former 1st round pick and that he has shown steady improvement in his two full seasons...ah yes, only 2 seasons. Why is that? Well on the advise on Gandler, Bergie held out for a one-way contract for more money at the beginning of the 2006-07 season and due to Islanders policy, since he was not signed by the time training camp started,
he would not be allowed to sign that season. Maybe it is time for Sean to get a new agent? Just my two cents.

Lets look at this realistically.

In the year of the holdout, Sean started in Russia, playing only 9 games before going to Finland and playing 36, putting in 16 goals and having 17 assists for 33 points and 80 penalty minutes. Sean's stats were O.K. last season. In 78 games he had 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points and 62 PIM. Hardly worthy of a bank-breaking deal. Now i know Bergie's role will be increased on this season's squad, especially with the organizational youth movement, so you cannot think the arbitrator will award him the same salary of $500 thousand. I think Sean can be compared to Jon Sim, who was injured early last season and missed just about the entire year.

In 2006-07, Sim had 17 goals, 12 assists, 29 points and 60 penalty minutes, all while playing the game in a similar style to Sean. After that year, Jon signed with the Islanders for $700K. Sean has more offensive upside and i think him being a first-round pick will help his case. He hustles night in and night out and you will never call him a drifter. I think all these things considered, Sean gets awarded somewhere between $950K - $1.125 million in arbitration.

I really do like Sean and think he brings a great amount of grit and energy to the team, i hope that much is clear in this post. What i don't like is the game his agent continuously plays and the amount of problems he has already caused Sean in his young Islander career.