"David Poile says he has no idea how long Friday's hearing in regard to a grievance filed by the NHL Players Association will last.

It became obvious Thursday, though, that it won't take as long as originally expected.

Three of the prominent players involved in the matter — Matt Halischuk, Nick Spaling and Cal O'Reilly — were among four who signed contracts with the Nashville Predators and, therefore, were removed from the proceedings.

Only the status of left wing Sergei Kostitsyn and minor league forward Linus Klasen remain in dispute, but Klasen already has a deal in place to play in Sweden in 2011-12, so the outcome in regard to him is irrelevant. The hearing is set to take place Friday in New York before independent arbitrator George Nicolau.

"We're told that it's a two-part situation," Poile, the Predators general manager, said. "I don't know how long it is supposed to take.

"We've been told that a ruling won't come [Friday]. I don't know when that will happen either."

Halischuk, Spaling and O'Reilly all got NHL-only deals. Halischuk got two years for $1.425 million ($600,000 and $825,000, respectively), Spaling got two years for $2.1 million ($1 million and $1.1 million) and O'Reilly got one year at $1.05 million.

Also, Chris Mueller signed a two-year, two-way pact, which will pay him an NHL salary of $550,000."