Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter has filed for arbitration ahead of Wednesday's deadline, Michael Russo of The Star Tribune reports.
However, Russo notes negotiations between the Wild and the restricted free agent have begun. Both parties would meet with a neutral arbitrator to reach a deal before the season if discussions continue through the summer.
Niederreiter, 24, is in prime position to vie for a considerable raise, coming off a career-best season in which he notched 25 goals and 32 assists in 82 games, despite averaging just 15 minutes of ice time per night.
Minnesota has over $15 million in cap space this offseason, according to CapFriendly, with Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and the newly acquired Marcus Foligno in need of new contracts.
Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.