National Hockey League: Salary Arbitration 2010
Be it a player or the team, with the National Hockey League they are not satisfied with the Salary being paid may use Salary Arbitration as a mechanism to end disputes by the 5th of July deadline of any year. Teams have until the beginning of the Arbitration process to sign a contract with a player to avoid arbitration. To qualify for Salary Arbitration, a player must have been with the NHL a minimum of four seasons, unless the player joined the NHL after the age of 20.
After a player files for Salary Arbitration cases are heard by a neutral third party by the end of July or beginning of August. Once the Arbitrator delivers a verdict on the player’s new salary, the team has 48 hours to either acquiesce to the terms of the verdict or raise a player’s salary or they can chose to let the player go in which case the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. The original team however does get a draft pick from the new team that signs the player as compensation. Which draft picks the original team receives as compensation is a function of the new salary of the player in question.
A team can also file for Salary Arbitration but only once in a player’s career and not demand a reduction greater than 15 of the player’s salary that he was being given. The player asking for a salary increase is not similarly restricted.
The evidence presented in Arbitration process includes the player’s statistics, the number of games played, injuries, illnesses and the duration a player has been with a team and the NHL. Somewhat less quantifiable, but the player’s contribution to the team’s success, his leadership and public appeal are also presented to the Arbitrators as evidence. The Salary Arbitration is the only avenue open to restricted free agents to negotiate the terms of their agreements.
A bit of a jump from last year’s 20, this year, 31 players in the National Hockey League have filed for Salary Arbitration. The National Hockey League Players Association released the list of the 31 players who have filed for arbitration with their teams. Hearing would be heard starting from the 20th of July.
The Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals lead the list with three players from each filing for arbitration. There were no players from the San Jose Sharks or Phoenix Coyotes.
One of the more notable names in the list was the Stanley Cup winners, Chicago Blackhawk’s star goaltender. Taking over Cristobal Huet as the number 1 goal tender in the NHL and protecting the net for the Blackhawks as they took home the Stanley Cup, Antti Niemi has a good case for a raise from his previous 827,000 dollars. With his accolades the goalie looks set for a deal as high as 3 million dollars.
The Vancouver Canucks forward, Mason Raymond could also be one of the big winners in this year’s Salary Arbitration. He scored 25 goals and 28 assists in 82 games, while being signed for just 760 thousand dollars. Mason is looking for a 2.2 million raise and who knows, he might just get it too.
Their cases may not even go to arbitration. They are valued players and their pay checks don’t quiet reflect their worth. Something Raymond’s agent spoke of too. He said the underlying issue in arbitration is always what the appropriate position among comparable players would be. Mason Raymond in comparison is rather obviously underpaid, that however is not necessarily true for all the 31 players of who have filed for arbitration.
Even if it’s settled in favour of the players, it always leaves a lingering bad taste and it’s not always settled in the players favour either. In that event you not only get no pay increase, you also get told by your team in imaginative ways why you are not good enough. Keeping that in mind, going into arbitration is an important decision for a player and no trivial matter for the team either. Before the 20th of July, a lot of acceptable deals would be signed between players and teams.
Tags: