NHL Salary Arbitration Tracker: Key Dates and Settlements Revealed

The NHL’s salary arbitration season is heating up, with hearing dates officially announced and one player already securing a deal ahead of schedule. Buffalo Sabres forward Payton Krebs made headlines by agreeing to a four-year contract worth $18 million, which translates to a $4.5 million salary cap hit, prior to his scheduled hearing on August 1. This agreement marks a significant increase from Krebs’ previous cap hit of $1.45 million, following a noteworthy season where he achieved personal bests in goals (12), assists (27), and points (39) over a full 82-game slate.

Early settlements are common during this period, which runs from July 20 to August 1 in Toronto, as both parties often prefer to negotiate before arbitration hearings commence. This year, 15 restricted free agents have opted to allow an independent arbitrator to determine their contract terms, with both sides submitting salary requests that the arbitrator will consider, typically awarding a figure that falls somewhere in between.

One of the most compelling cases this season is Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson. After earning $7.75 million in his previous contract, Robertson is in line for a substantial raise following an impressive 96-point season. Notably, the record for the highest arbitration award stands at $7.5 million, granted to future Hall of Famer Shea Weber back in 2011.

Here’s a breakdown of the upcoming salary arbitration dates, according to puckpedia.com:

• Monday, July 20: Jamie Drysdale (Philadelphia), Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg)
• Wednesday, July 22: Trevor Zegras (Philadelphia)
• Thursday, July 23: Jet Greaves (Columbus)
• Saturday, July 25: Xavier Bourgault (Ottawa, settled for one year at $850,000), Jason Robertson (Dallas), Connor McMichael (St. Louis)
• Monday, July 27: Cole Sillinger (Columbus)
• Tuesday, July 28: Nick Robertson (Pittsburgh)
• Wednesday, July 29: Braden Schneider (N.Y. Rangers), Ronan Seeley (Carolina)
• Thursday, July 30: Alex Jefferies (N.Y. Islanders), Kirby Dach (Montreal)
• Saturday, August 1: Akira Schmid (Florida), Peyton Krebs (Buffalo, settled for four years at $4.5 million average)

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.