In the National Hockey League, salary arbitration is a tool used by players and teams to ensure that compensation is equitable and in line with the market. It’s the subject of an entire chunk of the CBA.
Let’s check out Article 12: Salary Arbitration!
Arbitration eligibility
The amount of service needed to qualify for salary arbitration is laid out in Section 12.1. It’s a very familiar table, as it turns out:
| ELC signing age | Pro Years Required |
| 24 or older | 1 |
Functionally-speaking, a player becomes eligible following the length of their entry level contract plus another year.