HabsWorld.net -- 

The Habs will once again have another year without a case going to
arbitration as the team announced on Saturday morning that they inked forward
Ryan White to a one year contract.  Although financial terms were
not officially disclosed,

TSN is reporting that the deal is worth $700,000, a modest $12,500 raise on
what he earned in 2012-13.

White’s turbulent campaign last year has been well documented; his needed
physical and aggressive play was too often overshadowed by incidences where he
went over the edge.  He played 26 games with Montreal last year, posting a
career low in goals (one) and assists (zero) while adding a career high in PIMS
with 67.  He did, however, demonstrate significant improvement at the
faceoff dot, going from 49.2% in 2011-12 to 54.5% this past year.  When you
consider his success rate two years ago was 40.6%, it’s an even more impressive
leap.

Despite his repeated transgressions, he did have the trust of the coaching
staff to play a regular shift when he was in the lineup as he averaged over nine
minutes per game during the regular season, one minute of which was spent
shorthanded.  White also added 50 hits; his hit-per-game average was second
best among Montreal forwards (Brandon Prust was first).  He also played in
a trio of postseason contests, duplicating his regular season numbers (1-0-1)
while adding 23 PIMS.

White’s qualifying offer (QO) was $721,875 (a CBA-mandated 5% increase on the
$687,500 he earned last season), or $21,875 less than he wound up signing for. 
Although many believed that his qualifying offer had to be one-way since his
last deal was, that may not have been the case.  Here’s an excerpt from the
CBA with regards to QO’s (Sec 10.2(a)(iii)):

A Club’s Qualifying Offer must be a One-Way Qualifying Offer
if the applicable Player has: (A) actually played (excluding games missed for
injury, illness or disability) 180 or more NHL Games in the previous three (3)
NHL Seasons, (B) played at least sixty (60) NHL Games in the previous NHL
Season, and (C) not cleared Waivers in the period between the 12th
day prior to the
commencement of the previous Regular Season and the end of a Club’s previous
Playing Season. For purposes hereof only, a goaltender is deemed to have played
an NHL Game when he was dressed and on the bench as a backup. In all other
cases, a Qualifying Offer may be a Two-Way Qualifying Offer.

In White’s case, he didn’t meet each of the criteria:

A – 83 GP in the past three years (criterion was 180)
B – 29 GP this past year (criterion was 60; even pro-rated for the lockout
White’s games played percentage would be lower)
C – Did not clear waivers

As a result, the Habs were allowed to offer him a two-way deal as a
qualifying offer for $721,875 as noted above.  Given that he signed for
less than that, it’s likely safe to assume that management gave him the two-way
offer to start.

White now becomes the 46th player signed by the team out of the limit of 50
with one other RFA still to sign – Dustin Tokarski, who likely will sign by next
Saturday when QO’s automatically expire.  However, the team has four
players inked that are eligible for contract slides so by the time Tokarski
signs, they will have 43 contracts counting against the limit.  The Habs
now have 22 players under contract for a cap hit of $62,528,333 (this does not
include Jarred Tinordi who may start the year with the team due to Alexei
Emelin’s injury but does include all potential bonuses).

White’s Stats