How to get into the NHL living tribunal
A little more than a month after its debut, the living tribunal has already started a trend in the NHL.
While most NHL teams will begin the process of filing players for arbitration before the end of the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to do so before the NHL’s Christmas break.
On Monday, Lightning owner Jeff Vinik said he has reached out to the league and will be able to get the league’s blessing to begin the proceedings as early as Dec. 14.
Vinik said in a statement, “We are committed to working with the NHL to make this happen in the best interests of the players and their families.
Our hope is that this will be the first of many attempts to expedite this process, and we look forward to working collaboratively with the league to make it happen.”
Vinick added that he wants the players to be represented by an outside attorney who has the ability to be transparent and give input in the proceedings.
“It is important to have an attorney who is independent of the team,” Vinik added.
“We have done a lot of work over the last few weeks to identify a number of people who have expertise in these matters, and I am pleased to say that we have identified a number that we feel are the best candidates for the position.”
The goal of the living will be to help the players navigate this process in an appropriate manner, and to provide clarity for the players on all sides.
As an added benefit, this will provide an opportunity for our players to have a clearer understanding of the process that is going to be involved in their arbitration case.
“As of now, the Lightning will not be able open the living for the public.
Vinik told reporters on Monday that he is “not sure if there will be an open live on TV, but I am very open to suggestions from fans and players.”
According to the living arbitrator’s website, the first-ever live televised living tribunal is scheduled to take place at 6 p.m.
ET on Dec. 15 at the Bell Centre.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the living is being held in a private home, so there are no outside observers, and that the live will be streamed live on the Lightning’s YouTube channel.
