20 NHL Players Filing for Salary Arbitration
(Photo: nhl.com)
With the NHL Awards and Draft over and the “Free Agent Frenzy” period calmed down to a dull roar, the main focus for the NHL has become addressing individual players’ salaries while finding a way for teams to fit under this year’s $69 million salary cap.
For some players, this financial tug-of-war has led them to file for salary arbitration. Basically, if a player (specifically, an RFA) disagrees with his current salary for the upcoming season and feels he should earn more money, he and his team can each propose an amount and argue their cases at a hearing. The deadline for filing arbitration was July 5th, and the hearings come later in the summer, generally at the end of July and into August. During the hearings, a neutral third party listens to each side and then tries to find a happy medium and settle the player’s salary. If both the player and his team agree on this amount, problem solved. If not, the player may become an unrestricted free agent. Either way, a final decision must be made within 48 hours of the hearing’s conclusion.
(Of course, if the salary can be settled before the hearing, both sides can save themselves the trouble of having to go through the entire arbitration process. There’s plenty more to focus on in the offseason, after all.)
Twenty players have filed for salary arbitration for this upcoming season. And with the salary cap set lower than expected for 2014-15, the hockey world could see some fairly big moves in the next few weeks.
Here’s the current list of players:
Arizona Coyotes– Brandon McMillan
Boston Bruins– Matt Bartkowski
Dallas Stars– Cameron Gaunce, Antoine Roussel
Minnesota Wild– Justin Fontaine
Montreal Canadiens– Lars Eller, P.K. Subban
Nashville Predators– Mattias Ekholm
New York Islanders– Kevin Poulin
New York Rangers– Derick Brassard, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello
Pittsburgh Penguins– Nick Spaling
Toronto Maple Leafs– Cody Franson, James Reimer
For a more detailed explanation of salary arbitration, click here.
