On Sunday, an independent arbitrator granted Jacob Trouba a one-year contract worth $5.5 million. As one of the top RFA Defensemen of this class, his contract very clearly sets the stage for other young defensemen heading into arbitration.

This past season, Trouba played in 55 games scoring three goals, getting 24 points and averaging 21:54 TOI per game. Of course, offense isn’t why he’s paid that much money as he’s seen as more of a two-way defenseman. At 24 years old, Trouba is one of the hottest commodities on the right-side and due to that, he was able to command $5.5 million. The only hit against his value is that he’s only played more than 65 games in one of his five NHL seasons.

Brandon Montour finds himself in a similar situation to Jacob Trouba. He too is 24 years old, and reportedly $3 million separated from his team. The only difference is Montour just played his first full NHL season putting nine goals and 32 points in 79 games, after only playing in 27 games last season. He averaged around 20:28 of TOI per night, a solid step up from 17:23 he averaged the previous season. His team heads into arbitration hoping to pay him $1.5 million over two years and Montour wants $4.75 million for one year. Much like Trouba, it wouldn’t be surprising if we see him get somewhere in the middle at around $3 million.

RELATED: TROUBA CONTRACT UPDATE: ARBITRATOR DECIDES ON $5 MILLION OFFER

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Cody Ceci, like Montour and Trouba, is a right-handed defenseman and 24 years old. Ceci is coming off an underwhelming season both in terms of individual and team performance. In 82 games, he scored five goals and got 19 points but played a substantially larger role than the other guys on the list averaging roughly 23:18 TOI per night. His last contract paid him $2.8 million over two years, and even though he may not have put up points comparable to Montour or Trouba, it would not be surprising to see him come in somewhere between the two. He surely wouldn’t come in at less than $3 million, and we could expect to see him come in at around $3.5-$4 million due to market demands.

Finally, Brady Skjei is the same age as the other defensemen on this list and the only main difference is his handedness being left. In 81 games, he scored four times and added 21 helpers for 25 points on a rebuilding Rangers squad and played an average of 21:03 a night. He will surely be a mainstay on the blueline in the big apple, and with around $19 million in cap space, they can afford to fork out a bigger contract. Considering he is the coming off his ELC, it may not be surprising if the Rangers try to offer him similar money to what Anaheim is offering Montour. It may also be smart to offer him a contract comparable to Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom who received a seven-year deal at $4.167 million AAV.

Overnight, Jacob Trouba went from being worth about $3 million to $5.5 million and anytime a major domino falls and receives that kind of pay increase, you will see the ripples across the entire league. All these defensemen are comparable in age, point production, and deployment and should command similar price tags or at the very least, a nice increase in pay. If you’re a young RFA defenseman this summer, you can thank Jacob Trouba.

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