NHL Restricted Free Agents Have Scheduled Salary Arbitration Hearings: A Super Simple Explainer

What’s the Big News?

According to PuckPedia (a website that tracks hockey salary information), the NHL has set the hearing dates for all restricted free agent players who asked for salary arbitration. Think of it like a planned meeting with a referee to decide how much a player gets paid.

What Are These Fancy Terms? (ELI5 Style)

• NHL: The National Hockey League, the big professional ice hockey group.
• Restricted Free Agent (RFA): A player whose old contract ended, but their original team still has special rights to keep them. It’s like a toy that’s almost yours, but your friend gets first pick.
• Salary Arbitration: When the player and team can’t agree on pay, they ask a neutral person (an arbitrator) to decide a fair salary. Like asking a teacher to settle a allowance disagreement.
• Offer Sheet: An offer from a different team to sign the player. But if a player chooses arbitration, they can’t take these (more below).
• UFA (Unrestricted Free Agent): A player who is free to sign with any team, no strings attached.

The Hearing Schedule and Already Solved Cases

There were 15 player-elected hearings scheduled between July 20 and August 1. “Player-elected” means the player chose to go to arbitration.

However, three cases are already resolved:

• The Ottawa Senators and Xavier Bourgault
• The Buffalo Sabres and Peyton Krebs
• The New York Rangers and Braden Schneider

They made a deal before the hearing, so no referee needed.

Important Point: Players and teams can reach a deal at any time before their hearing. It’s like settling an argument before going to the principal.

Big Rule: No Offer Sheets Allowed!

Callout – Important Point: Because these players elected salary arbitration, they are ineligible to sign an offer sheet (an offer from another team). They must work things out with their current team or let the arbitrator decide.

How Long Will the New Contract Be?

Through arbitration, players can only be awarded:

• A one-year contract, or
• A two-year contract

In player-elected hearings, the team decides whether it’s one or two years. But there’s a catch:

• If a player is only one year away from becoming a UFA, they can only get a one-year deal.

List of Player-Elected Hearing Dates

Here are all the scheduled dates and players (with their teams). An asterisk (*) means a deal was already reached ahead of the hearing.

• Monday, July 20: Jamie Drysdale (Philadelphia Flyers)
• Monday, July 20: Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg Jets)
• Wednesday, July 22: Trevor Zegras (Philadelphia Flyers)
• Thursday, July 23: Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Saturday, July 25: Xavier Bourgault (Ottawa Senators)*
• Saturday, July 25: Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars)
• Saturday, July 25: Connor McMichael (St. Louis Blues)
• Monday, July 27: Cole Sillinger (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Tuesday, July 28: Nick Robertson (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Wednesday, July 29: Braden Schneider (New York Rangers)*
• Wednesday, July 29: Ronan Seeley (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Thursday, July 30: Alex Jefferies (New York Islanders)
• Thursday, July 30: Kirby Dach (Montreal Canadiens)
• Saturday, August 1: Akira Schmid (Florida Panthers)
• Saturday, August 1: Peyton Krebs (Buffalo Sabres)*

* A deal has been reached ahead of the hearing.

Summary

To wrap it up: 15 NHL restricted free agents chose salary arbitration, and their hearing dates run from July 20 to August 1. Three of them (Bourgault, Krebs, and Schneider) already signed deals with their teams. These players cannot sign offer sheets from other teams. Any arbitration award will be a one- or two-year contract (the team picks the length, unless the player is one year from UFA). Both sides can still agree on a contract anytime before the hearing. The list above shows exactly who is scheduled when.

FAQ

Q1: What does “player-elected” arbitration mean?
A: It means the player himself chose to go to arbitration to settle his salary, rather than the team making that choice.

Q2: Can a player still sign with another team during this process?
A: No. Because they elected arbitration, they are not allowed to sign an offer sheet from another team.

Q3: What happens if they don’t reach a deal before the hearing?
A: A neutral arbitrator will listen to both sides and decide the player’s salary for either one or two years (with the team picking the length, except for players close to UFA status).

Q4: Why do some names have an asterisk in the list?
A: The asterisk marks players (Bourgault, Schneider, Krebs) who already reached a deal with their teams before the hearing, so their hearing is no longer needed.

Q5: Who decides if the contract is 1 or 2 years?
A: In player-elected hearings, the team decides. But if the player is only one year away from becoming a UFA, the award can only be one year.