ANAHEIM, Calif. – Two Anaheim Ducks exercised their contractual restricted free agent rights and filed for salary arbitration by Saturday’s 2 p.m. Pacific deadline.

Goaltender Lukáš Dostàl and defenseman Drew Helleson were two of 11 NHL RFAs to exercise their player option by the player deadline. Teams can make their own arbitration filings by Sunday at 2 p.m. Pacific, but the Ducks will not need that option.

Of the Ducks eight qualified restricted free agents, only Dostál, Helleson and Judd Caulfield were eligible for arbitration, and Caulfield signed a standard player contract with the AHL San Diego Gulls last week.

Arbitration hearings will be held between July 20 – Aug. 4.

The positive in arbitration filings for the Ducks is that it takes away the threat of another team signing their player to an offer sheet, which Anaheim would have the chance to match or receive draft pick compensation for. The Ducks’ five other RFAs could be subject to offer sheets, but Anaheim also has plenty of cap space to match potential offers.

For the player, it puts a bit more pressure on the team to get a deal done prior to hearings, when the player’s dollar value becomes set and lessens the team’s negotiating leverage. Arbitration can only award one- or two-year contracts, which then means the player would have another year or two of bargaining power and the team would have to deal with the process all over again.

Verbeek said he figured Dostál would file for arbitration rights, if simply for the protection.

“We’re working on that. We’re starting to work on that stuff a little more harder now,” Verbeek said about negotiations on Tuesday. “We’re going to work to negotiate a deal long before (arbitration).”

Dostál is coming off a two-year, $812,500 per season contract. With a steady rise, stellar 2024-25 season and entering next year as Anaheim’s clear-cut No. 1 goalie, the 25-year-old Czech is due for a raise.

AFP Analytics projects a short-term contract of one year, $3.97 million or a long-term contract of five years, $5.2 million per season. 

Dostál has unrestricted free agent rights in 2027, which again puts the onus on Verbeek and the Ducks for a long-term deal and avoiding a short-term arbitration decision.

Helleson’s arbitration filing is intriguing in its own right, because it makes one wonder how either side values the 24-year-old right-handed defenseman.

Helleson is coming off a three-year, $925,000 entry level contract where he only became a regular NHLer in that third season. He had a breakout in Anaheim this year, earning the trust of former head coach Greg Cronin to lock down the right side of the third defensive pairing.

Helleson earned a fifth-place vote for the Calder Trophy, was the first-man out for All-Rookie honors and led all NHL rookie defensemen in plus/minus. The former Boston College Eagle scored four goals and added nine assists.

Moving forward with a stacked defensive development pipeline and a new coaching staff, it’s hard to know where Helleson fits into the future of the Ducks.

Helleson is three years away from UFA status, so he has less bargaining power than Dostál. However, with that future in jeopardy, it might be a smart move to choose arbitration for Helleson, if just to see where he stands. However, arbitration can get acrimonious, with the team’s usually providing the negative angle to try and tamp down the salary reward.

AFP Analytics projects just a one-year, $874,125 contract, which is basically his qualifying offer the Ducks made to retain his rights and lower than his ELC. However, a one-year prove-it contract likely makes sense for Helleson’s situation.