14 NHL free agents elect for salary arbitration with team.

The opening of free agency in the National Hockey League was on July 1st but, despite a flurry of activity over the past several days, there remain a large number of players still in search of a new contract.

Among those free agents is a sizeable group of restricted free agents who have very limited negotiating power, with their rights being controlled by one of the many teams in the NHL. One of the options those players can have however is the ability to bring their team before a neutral arbitrator to work out a new contract, an option that 14 players in the NHL have selected this summer already.

First let's take a look at the list of players who have elected for salary arbitration and the team's they currently represent:

Jake Christiansen (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Connor Dewar (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes)
Ty Emberson (San Jose Sharks)
Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers)
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres)
Beck Malenstyn (Buffalo Sabres)
Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets)
J.J. Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes)
Spencer Stastney (Nashville Predators)
Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings)
Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders)

In many of these cases the teams and players involved in the process will come to an agreement before ever setting foot before the arbitrator. In fact it is in the best interest of both parties to do so, as the arbitration process has at times led to ugliness between player and team as both try to argue their case before the arbitrator.

The decision to elect for salary arbitration does have a tangible benefit for the teams themselves as well however, with the players who elect to do so no longer being eligible for offer sheets from rival teams. Offer sheets are not commonly used in the NHL, but teams with a player who has elected for arbitration don't have to concern themselves with that possibility at all.

The arbitration hearings for these players will take place between the period of July 20th and August 4th, assuming of course that an agreement isn't reached beforehand.