Players Eligible For Salary Arbitration In 2026

Salary arbitration is a rare occurrence in hockey. The process is limited to restricted free agents, and even then, there are restrictions about which RFAs can utilize the tool to resolve contract disputes. Depending on the age at which a player signed their first NHL contract, they must have a certain number of years of professional experience before being able to elect for it (full table via PuckPedia).

Only 11 players filed for arbitration last season. None of those cases required a hearing. Nonetheless, countless more names are actually eligible to file for arbitration. That eligibility factor, in and of itself, can influence how teams handle earlier rounds of negotiations. Teams never want to be locked into an award they can’t opt out of (which is the case below the ~$5MM mark; this year’s number is yet to be decided), and the undesirable hearing process can fracture long-term relationships between team and player.

Most commonly, it will be the player electing for arbitration. Teams can also do so if the player is eligible, but there are added restrictions. They can only make two elections per year, and the player in question can still sign an offer sheet before July 5, even if the team has already filed for arbitration. A player can also only be subject to one team election in their entire career, and a salary of $2.43MM or greater in the previous season locks in the award at no less than 85% of their preceding salary. That restriction does not exist for player-elected arbitration.

Even in cases where arbitration is elected, the vast majority of them will result in a settlement before a hearing is reached. This can even happen after both sides submit their salary filings to the arbitrator, right up until the hearing begins.

There has been a consistent downward trend in the number of arbitration filings since 2022. It’s hard to imagine that number bottoming out more than last year’s, but it’s something to consider.

Here’s each team’s list of players they’ll have to be on the lookout for this summer for a potential filing:

Avalanche (6)

• F Jack Drury
• F Zakhar Bardakov
• F Taylor Makar
• F Chase Bradley
• F Ivan Ivan
• F Daniil Gushchin

Blackhawks (2)

• G Drew Commesso
• G Olivier Rodrigue

Blue Jackets (5)

• F Cole Sillinger
• D Egor Zamula
• G Jet Greaves
• F Hunter McKown
• F Mikael Pyyhtia

Blues (6)

• F Jonatan Berggren
• D Matthew Kessel
• D Leo Loof
• F Dylan Peterson
• F Thomas Bordeleau
• G Will Cranley

Bruins (4)

• D Jordan Harris
• F Riley Duran
• G Simon Zajicek
• G Luke Cavallin

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Canadiens (7)

• F Kirby Dach
• D Arber Xhekaj
• F Joe Veleno
• F Luke Tuch
• F Jared Davidson
• F Sean Farrell
• D William Trudeau

Canucks (4)

• D Pierre-Olivier Joseph
• F Nils Åman
• D Jack Thompson
• D Cole Clayton

Capitals (5)

• F Connor McMichael
• F Hendrix Lapierre
• F Ryan Hofer
• G Jesper Vikman
• G Garin Bjorklund

Devils (7)

• F Arseny Gritsyuk
• F Paul Cotter
• F Dylan Wendt
• F Xavier Parent
• D Calen Addison
• G Jakub Málek
• G Nico Daws

Ducks (6)

• F/D Ian Moore
• F Jaxsen Wiebe
• F Jan Mysak
• D Jeremie Biakabutuka
• G Vyacheslav Buteyets
• G Calle Clang

Flames (5)

• F John Beecher
• F Rory Kerins
• F Carter King
• F Sam Morton
• G Owen Say

Flyers (7)

• F Trevor Zegras
• D Jamie Drysdale
• D Emil Andrae
• G Samuel Ersson
• F Philip Tomasino
• F Jacob Gaucher
• D Hunter McDonald

Golden Knights (3)

• F Pavel Dorofeyev
• G Akira Schmid
• D Lukas Cormier

Hurricanes (5)

• D Alexander Nikishin
• F Noel Gunler
• F Skyler Brind’Amour
• D Ronan Seeley
• D Domenick Fensore

Islanders (10)

• F Max Shabanov
• F Marc Gatcomb
• D Adam Boqvist
• F Joey Larson
• F Cam Thiesing
• F Alex Jefferies
• F Daylan Kuefler
• F Liam Foudy
• D Marshall Warren
• G Henrik Tikkanen

Jets (5)

• F Cole Perfetti
• F David Gustafsson
• F Jaret Anderson-Dolan
• D Tyrel Bauer
• G Isaac Poulter

Kings (2)

• F Aatu Jamsen
• F Martin Chromiak

Kraken (4)

• G Victor Ostman
• F Logan Morrison
• F Lleyton Roed
• D Ville Ottavainen

Lightning (1)

• D Maxim Groshev

Mammoth (3)

• F Barrett Hayton
• F Michal Kunc could still be qualified, already signed in Czechia
• D Maksymilian Szuber

Maple Leafs (8)

• F Matias Maccelli
• F Nicholas Robertson
• F Jacob Quillan
• F Ryan Tverberg
• D William Villeneuve
• D Henry Thrun
• D John Prokop
• G Vyacheslav Peksa

Oilers (3)

• D Spencer Stastney
• F Roby Jarventie
• G Connor Ungar

Panthers (8)

• F Mackie Samoskevich
• D Donovan Sebrango
• F Ben Steeves
• F Wilmer Skoog
• D Mikulas Hovorka
• D Tobias Bjornfot
• D Michael Benning
• G Cooper Black

Penguins (4)

• F Egor Chinakhov
• G Arturs Silovs
• D Alexander Alexeyev
• G Joel Blomqvist

Predators (5)

• D Justin Barron
• F Dalton Bancroft
• F Massimo Rizzo
• F Ryder Rolston
• D Christoffer Sedoff

Rangers (6)

• D Braden Schneider
• G Dylan Garand
• F Brett Berard
• F Brendan Brisson
• G Hugo Ollas
• G Talyn Boyko

Red Wings (7)

• F Carter Mazur
• F Alexandre Doucet
• F Jakub Rychlovsky
• F Michael Milne
• F Wojciech Stachowiak
• D William Wallinder
• G Carter Gylander

Sabres (3)

• F Peyton Krebs
• D Michael Kesselring
• D Zachary Jones

Senators (5)

• D Jordan Spence
• G Leevi Merilainen
• F Arthur Kaliyev
• F Xavier Bourgault
• G Mads Søgaard

Sharks (5)

• F Philipp Kurashev
• D Shakir Mukhamadullin
• F Ethan Cardwell
• D Noah Beck
• G Gabriel Carriere

Stars (10)

• F Jason Robertson
• F Mavrik Bourque
• F Arttu Hyry
• F Harrison Scott
• F Kyle McDonald
• F Antonio Stranges
• D Luke Krys
• D Vladislav Kolyachonok
• D Jeremie Poirier
• G Benjamin Kraws

Wild (5)

• F Bobby Brink
• D Daemon Hunt
• F Cameron Butler
• F Bradley Marek
• G Samuel Hlavaj