Arbitrator Awards Ducks’ Ewen a Retroactive Raise

Mighty Duck forward Todd Ewen was awarded a retroactive salary of $435,000 for last season by arbitrator Claude Foisy in a ruling announced Monday. Now the Ducks must decide whether to offer him a 10% raise to $478,500 next season or allow Ewen to become an unrestricted free agent and bid for him on the open market.

“We would like to re-sign Todd,” said Pierre Gauthier, the team’s assistant general manager. But the Ducks will wait until reviewing the arbitrator’s written opinion to decide whether to make a qualifying offer that will guarantee them the right to match all offers. If they don’t offer him a 10% raise, he can sign with the highest bidder, and the Ducks would receive no compensation if he chose to sign elsewhere.

The award, which will be pro-rated because of the lockout-shortened NHL season, gives Ewen a $50,000 raise after the 1993-94 season, when he led the team with 272 penalty minutes and had a career-high nine goals and nine assists. The $385,000 figure submitted by the Ducks offered no raise. Ewen requested $525,000, or $90,000 more than the arbitrator awarded.

This summer, the Ducks balked at giving left wing Garry Valk a 10% raise over his $430,000 arbitration award, ultimately winning their gamble that he could be re-signed as a free agent for less. But Ewen, often a commodity in trade discussions and the team’s sole enforcer since the trade of Stu Grimson, would almost certainly draw more interest from other teams.

“This is the dirty part of sports. I can’t go and say, ‘Guess what, I’m worth this.’ I’m worth what teams will pay,” Ewen said. “All I can do is keep my work ethic, make sure that’s as constant as possible.”