A couple monster contract extensions last week really punctuated the point that October was signing season in the NHL.
In the aftermath of Connor McDavid inking his long-awaited extension with the Edmonton Oilers one day before the season began, we saw no fewer than six eight-year contracts signed in the days and weeks that followed. Here’s a quick look at each of the half-dozen deals.
|
Player |
New deal total value |
AAV of new deal |
Previous free agent status |
|
Jack Eichel |
$108 million |
$13.5 million |
UFA, 2026 |
|
Kyle Connor |
$96 million |
$12 million |
UFA, 2026 |
|
Martin Necas |
$92 million |
$11.5 million |
UFA, 2026 |
|
Thomas Harley |
$84.696 million |
$10.587 million |
RFA, 2026 |
|
Logan Cooley |
$80 million |
$10 million |
RFA, 2026 |
|
Lane Hutson |
$70.8 million |
$8.85 million |
RFA, 2026 |
When it comes to players who were on the precipice of unrestricted free agency, each signing seemed to reinforce the notion that — despite a salary cap that’s set to spike substantially in the coming years — we’re not about to see any kind of UFA free-for-all any time soon.
Instead, teams are using this newfound breathing room to lock up pending UFAs who appear quite content to forgo the possibility of maximum dollars on the open market in exchange for the peace of mind and security that comes with re-upping for eight years.
At the other end of the age spectrum, it’s easy to wonder if the idea of bridge contracts for players coming out of entry-level deals is officially dead. The eight-year pacts for Cooley and Hutson only cemented the idea that clubs are happy to take the risk of doling out big dollars to a young player if it means there’s a very good chance that player’s contract will look like a bargain in the near future.
Of course, all these deals have some kind of ripple effect on teams and players across the league. With that in mind, let’s explore a few pressing questions that resulted from the spate of October extensions.
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What does Cooley’s deal mean for other high-end forwards coming off their ELC?
Glance at the NHL scoring charts right now and you’ll see three players — Leo Carlsson, his Ducks teammate Cutter Gauthier and Chicago’s Connor Bedard — all producing at better than a point-per-game clip. Like Cooley, all three are in the final year of their entry-level deals. And though he’s not off to the same start as the aforementioned players, Blue Jackets centre Adam Fantilli — who scored 31 goals last year — is also RFA-eligible next summer.
Cooley’s deal certainly figures to be a bit of a market-setter for all of them, especially the centres. Bedard will likely still nudge past him a little bit based on pedigree and the fact he’s the most productive of the four centres (Bedard, 144 career points; Cooley, 121; Carlsson, 92; Fantilli, 87).
Of course, the Ducks seem to be perpetually dealing with RFA contract negotiations, and they’ll have to hammer something out with both Carlsson and Gauthier before the start of next season.
As of Wednesday morning, Gauthier was tied for the league lead with 10 goals. That’s pretty good leverage.
How will the UFA winger market be impacted?
When you look at the list of players who could conceivably hit the open market in 2026, you could make a case that three wingers — Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin and Alex Tuch — represent the three most intriguing players.
Panarin is kind of in a bucket of his own because he just turned 34. Kempe and Tuch, though, are both 1996-born wingers like Kyle Connor, who just put his name on a deal for almost $100 million.
Maybe Tuch doesn’t quite get to that $12-million AAV, but Kempe must know — especially as the crop of potential UFAs narrows — he can command very similar money to what Connor signed for.
While Connor certainly has better offensive numbers overall, it’s worth noting their goal totals are more similar than you might expect. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Connor has 161 goals compared to 145 for Kempe.
Will Dallas follow the Harley/Jake Oettinger blueprint with Jason Robertson?
Remember those bridge deals we said might be dead? Well, that wasn’t the case a few years ago, and the Dallas Stars, in particular, were fond of kicking the can a bit with their young players while the cap stayed stubbornly still.
Jake Oettinger, Thomas Harley and Jason Robertson all signed three- or four-year deals in their early 20s. Oettinger got his eight-year deal last October; now Harley has his.
Is Robertson next?
Martin Necas’ deal will surely come up as a talking point between Robertson’s camp and the Stars. Both wingers were born in 1999, and Robertson has two 40-goal seasons, plus a 35-goal showing last year on his resume, while Necas has never hit the 30-goal mark.
That said, Necas was a point-per-game player last season and is off to a roaring start this year.
As for Dallas’ internal structure, Mikko Rantanen — who inked a deal last March for the exact same term and dollars as Kyle Connor just did — sets the bar with a $12-million AAV. Could Robetson really pass by that?
Another consideration when looking at the Stars’ books is the fact that Tyler Seguin — who accounts for a $9.85 cap hit — is in the final year of his deal. That at least gives the Stars some wiggle room when deciding how best to approach the Robertson situation.
Let’s also surface the name of two other wingers who, like Robetson, can become RFAs next summer: Pavel Dorofeyev and Trevor Zegras.
Dorofeyev is one year younger than Robertson, and he’s following up a 35-goal breakout campaign in Vegas last year by netting nine goals so far this year. Zegras, meanwhile, is coming off a three-year bridge deal he inked in Anaheim and has an impressive 15 points through his first 13 games as a Philadelphia Flyer. Would one strong year of production be enough to convince the Flyers to go all in on an offensive talent like Zegras, or would they need to see more? Zegras isn’t UFA-eligible until 2028.
Does Lane Hutson’s deal mean Ivan Demidov takes less, too?
Hutson was just the latest young Hab to focus more on helping the team out a bit rather than squeezing it for every last dollar. Montreal now has Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle and Hutson signed long-term on deals that skew team-friendly.
Next up, rookie sensation Ivan Demidov.
Though he’s only played 15 NHL games, Demidov is extension-eligible next summer ahead of potentially becoming an RFA in 2027.
There’s obviously no rush here, but Hutson and Cooley are both very recent examples of players on entry-level deals signing their big extensions long before they ever attain RFA status.
Demidov has been lauded not only for his obvious skill but also for his willingness to do the little things that help the club win. Will that extend off the ice, too?
As for young defencemen who’ll be coming out of an entry-level deal next summer, Detroit’s Simon Edvinsson, the Kings’ Brandt Clarke and Simon Nemec of the Devils are all guys to keep an eye on.
None of those players is Hutson’s equal, but it will still be interesting to see how the teams and players approach a second contract in the current landscape.
from Sportsnet.ca
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