Leo Carlsson’s reign as the league’s highest-paid player lasted all of 26 days.
The hockey world was rocked after Carlsson signed an offer sheet worth $18 million per season in early July, and Macklin Celebrini’s subsequent massive five-year extension worth $94 million ensured the NHL’s financial landscape would be changed forever. Celebrini’s new deal, which kicks in for the 2027-28 season, will carry an AAV of $18.8 million, clearing Carlsson’s contract by almost a million dollars per season.
Make no mistake about it, Celebrini is worth every penny in this new market. The San Jose Sharks forward isn’t the best player on the planet right now, but he’s not far off and may get there sooner rather than later. Celebrini just turned 20 and is coming off a 115-point season, to go along with an Olympic debut where he regularly looked like the best player on the ice. If the market has been reset, Celebrini is fully deserving of being at the top of it.
That said, this market shift comes at a less than ideal time for the Sharks. The cap may be rising, but Celebrini’s extension is still a big number, and players like Will Smith, Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson will have new deals coming on the horizon as well. San Jose will have to navigate this world and try to make sure it can fill out the rest of its roster with enough talent so it can compete with other teams that have locked in their cores at a much smaller number.
The reality is that teams who have their top talent secured for years to come at a fraction of what players like Carlsson, Celebrini and Bedard will be making shortly are going to have an edge when it comes to roster flexibility. It’s simply a matter of circumstance and timing that are going to make some contracts that were signed prior to this summer look like major steals.
Let’s take a look at some deals that should end up as absolute bargains when compared to this new going rate for high-end players.
Lane Hutson – Eight years remaining, $8.85 million AAV
Ivan Demidov – Eight years remaining, $9.15 million AAV
There is arguably no team better set up from a financial perspective with their core than the Montreal Canadiens. The timing of the extensions for Hutson and Demidov worked out perfectly for the Canadiens, as both could’ve theoretically waited until after the Carlsson offer sheet to extend. Instead, Hutson inked his new deal last October, and Demidov signed his just days before Carlsson. Montreal also secured eight years of term for each player before that will no longer be an option come September, with Demidov’s deal not even kicking in until 2027-28.
Demidov is still only 20 and Hutson 22, so Montreal is getting two elite players for the majority of their primes at a combined cap hit equal to Carlsson’s AAV and less than Celebrini’s. Add in the fact that Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky are all also signed long term for under $8 million per season in their mid-20s and the future looks very bright for the Canadiens.
Wyatt Johnston – Four years remaining, $8.4 million AAV
Johnston signed his extension well over a year ago, and it’s already aging like a fine wine. The Dallas Stars couldn’t lock him up for eight years, but he’s still secured for another four seasons at just $8.4 million per year. That’s a great price for a top centre who seems to only be getting better every year, and it’s given the Stars the ability to acquire Mikko Rantanen and also retain Jason Robertson, at least for the time being. Dallas should remain one of the league’s elite teams through the remainder of Johnston’s deal, and he’s still only 23, so expect him to take on even more responsibility and ice time in the coming years.
Over the past three seasons, Johnston has gone from 65 to 71 to 86 points, but it’s his production in the playoffs that makes him even more important. Johnston already has 22 playoff goals over the course of four post-seasons, which is more than the likes of Paul Kariya, Marcel Dionne, Owen Nolan and Keith Primeau on the all-time list.
Brandon Hagel – Six years remaining, $6.5 million AAV
You really have to question why the Chicago Blackhawks were so eager to trade a 23-year-old Hagel to the Tampa Bay Lightning. All Hagel has done since joining the Lightning is score more than a point per game in each of the past two seasons, and that includes a 90-point campaign in 2024-25. He has become an elite talent and even earned a spot on Canada’s Olympic team last February.
That production makes the eight-year extension the Lightning signed Hagel to, which still has six years remaining on it, look like a very shrewd move. The $6.5 million cap hit is just a drop in the bucket when you consider where the cap is going, and it gives Tampa flexibility going forward. That could be critical when it comes to an incoming Nikita Kucherov extension. Coming off a Hart Trophy, he seems likely to get a raise on the $9.5 million he’s earning now, and the Hagel deal is going to make Kucherov’s new contract more palatable.
Jake Sanderson – Six years remaining, $8.05 million AAV
Tim Stutzle – Five years remaining, $8.35 million AAV
Losing Brady Tkachuk this off-season was a tough blow, but Ottawa Senators fans can take solace in the fact that they still have a good young core under team control for years to come at a great price. Sanderson scored at a 66-point pace last season, which included 14 goals, and he’s averaged nearly 25 minutes of ice per game over the past two campaigns. Meanwhile, Stutzle already has a 90-point season to his credit and scored more than a point per game again last year. The Sens don’t have a perfect roster, but they boast a top centre and bona fide No. 1 defenceman locked up for well under current market value. Those are a couple of great pieces to keep building around, and there’s no reason the Senators should take a step back in 2026-27.
Matthew Knies – Five years remaining, $7.75 million AAV
After months of hearing his name in trade rumours, Knies appears to be sticking around, and that’s a good outcome for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Knies has a skill set few possess in the NHL today, given that he can fill the scoresheet with regularity while bringing a major physical element to the game. He’s also still only 23 and has a lot of room to get even better. Just last season, Knies recorded a career-high 66 points while battling an injury all year long on a really bad Maple Leafs team. A healthy Knies in a better situation has off-the-charts potential, and his $7.75 million cap hit is a steal for what he brings to the table.
Dylan Guenther – Seven years remaining, $7.14 million AAV
Utah bet on Guenther’s talent when they inked him to an eight-year extension back in September of 2024. Up to that point, Guenther only had 24 goals across parts of two seasons with the Arizona Coyotes but has taken off since the team moved to Utah. The 23-year-old tallied 27 and 40 goals respectively over the past two campaigns and is proving to have one of the best and quickest releases in the NHL. He’s also proving to be incredibly clutch. Of Guenther’s 91 career goals, 20 have been game winners.
No one would be surprised if Guenther is a 50-goal scorer one day, and the Mammoth securing him for the next seven seasons for less than half the price of Celebrini is a huge win for the franchise.
Lucas Raymond – 6 years remaining, $8.07 million AAV
Moritz Seider – 5 years remaining, $8.55 million AAV
With Dylan Larkin possibly having played his last game for the Detroit Red Wings, the faces of the franchise for the next half-decade should be Raymond and Seider. The Wings may be struggling to end a lengthy playoff drought, but at least they have two huge pieces of their core locked up for the foreseeable future. Raymond has averaged 27 goals and 76 points over the past three seasons, and Seider has the all-around game that could make him a Norris Trophy winner someday.
If Larkin ultimately gets traded and Alex DeBrincat walks in free agency after next season, Detroit will have plenty of cap space to spend on talent thanks to the suddenly very team-friendly deals Seider and Raymond are on.
Matt Boldy – 4 years remaining, $7 million AAV
The 2026 post-season was Boldy’s coming-out party, and it’s hard to believe the Minnesota Wild will have him at their disposal for another four seasons at just $7 million. Boldy dropped 42 goals in the regular season and added seven more in 11 playoff games, as the Wild won their first series in more than a decade. The 25-year-old was also a key member of the U.S. team that won a gold medal at the Olympics.
What makes Boldy’s contract so critical for the Wild is that it’s allowed them to retain Kirill Kaprizov on a huge deal, and they should be able to sign Quinn Hughes with an extension this summer as well. If Minnesota didn’t proactively secure Boldy at a great number, it would be much harder to make all the puzzle pieces fit.
Logan Thompson – 5 years remaining, $5.85 million AAV
The goalie market won’t be impacted as drastically in this new financial world because it’s an entirely different position, but Thompson’s deal is still worth highlighting. With a position that’s tough to predict and forecast, Thompson is starting to put together a solid body of work that only a handful of goaltenders can rival. In more than 200 NHL games, Thompson owns a .912 career save percentage, and his worst statistical season is still a very strong .908. He also played 58 games last year and led the league in goals saved above expected with 29.3, proving he is more than capable of handling a true starter’s workload.
When you consider the average save percentage league-wide last season was .896 and Thompson is making less than the likes of Philipp Grubauer, Jordan Binnington and Adin Hill, the Washington Capitals are in a pretty good place between the pipes.
Jackson Blake – 8 years remaining, $5.11 million AAV
Logan Stankoven – 8 years remaining, $6 million AAV
If there was a team that could challenge the Canadiens for best roster construction from a cap perspective, it’s the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s in large part to proactively securing Stankoven and Blake for eight years in the summer of 2025. Both then proceeded to score more than 20 goals this past season, and Blake finished with 53 points, but their performance in the Hurricanes' Cup run proved their real value. The duo combined for 18 goals and 36 points in 19 playoff games, playing a critical role in Carolina’s second Stanley Cup title. The Canes still have almost $10 million in cap space, and having Blake and Stankoven in the fold long term at a cheap number helps ensure Carolina will still be able to pursue any top name in the coming years available via free agency or trade.
