The weekend celebration of our nation's birth is closing out today, but could another celebration be for the Utah Mammoth fans? Restricted free agent Jack McBain remains without a new contract after the free agent frenzy and NHL Draft trades have passed. Yesterday, McBain elected not to file for salary arbitration.
Bill Armstrong does not seem to be worried about McBain's contract situation, and with McBain not electing to file for arbitration, it shows that his party feels things are close to a conclusion. The Toronto native is coming off a 2-year contract, with a yearly cap hit of $1,599,999. This is a fair value for a depth forward with size.
At age 25, McBain is coming off a statistical career season where he scored 13 goals and 27 points. With a better management of ice time, McBain was able to provide a solid 200-foot game, registering a plus-8 in the last two seasons. His durability is unquestioned, having played in all 82 games in 2 of the last 3 seasons.
Armstrong focused early on improving the top 6 forwards with the acquisition of JJ Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres. Free agency opened, and the goal was to improve the depth on defense and goaltending, but the bottom 6 forward group was strengthened with the signing of Brandon Tanev. Still, down the middle, could be a weakness.
Locking up McBain would be the successful completion of a strong summer in Utah for the Mammoth and Bill Armstrong. McBain will solidify the defensive side of the forwards while providing size and scoring depth. Do not be surprised if McBain becomes a 20-goal scorer in the coming seasons with the improvement.
I would predict that a contract gets done by the end of this week, but it would cap off a great holiday weekend if a contract is announced today/