Salary Cap Deep Dive: Chicago Blackhawks
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Central Division, first up are the Blackhawks.
Chicago Blackhawks
Current Cap Hit: $76,837,976 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Nolan Allan (one year, $825K)
F Connor Bedard (one year, $950K)
D Kevin Korchinski (one year, $918.3K)
D Artyom Levshunov (two years, $975K)
F Frank Nazar (one year, $950K)
D Sam Rinzel (two years, $941.7K)
Potential Bonuses
Bedard: $3.5MM
Korchinski: $1MM
Levshunov: $3.25MM
Nazar: $900K
Rinzel: $500K
Total: $9.15MM
Bedard’s second contract has long been a discussion point. Frankly, it was already being speculated about before he even signed his first deal. But while he has led Chicago in scoring in each of his first two NHL seasons, he hasn’t been as dominant as some thought he might be. Still, he’s tracking to be worth $10MM or more on a long-term deal, an amount that could go up if he gets closer to the point-per-game mark this season. However, knowing there are big jumps coming to the cap for at least the next two years, this might be a case where a bridge deal makes sense, setting him up to cash in a couple of years from now when he’s ideally more established as an elite player. A bridge agreement would still likely run past the $7MM mark. He should hit his $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses while the ‘B’ ones are unlikely.
Nazar earned himself a quick recall and never looked back as he got better as the second half of the season went on. He just signed a new deal which we’ll get to later on but for here, some of his four ‘A’ bonuses should be achievable.
Levshunov played enough to officially burn the first year of his deal but not accrue a season toward UFA eligibility, meaning the Blackhawks still have seven seasons of club control. Assuming they push him to play the full NHL season this time around, he should have a chance at a couple of his ‘A’ bonuses and could have him in a position to bypass a bridge deal and sign a long-term contract. It’s a bit early to predict that one but we’ve seen post-ELC contracts for key blueliners push past $8MM in recent years. Rinzel got his feet wet at the NHL level late last season and was quite impressive, putting him in line to have a full-time spot barring a rough training camp. Like Levshunov, it’s too early to predict a deal (he’s only nine games into his pro career) but if he progresses as expected, his second contract could be pricey while his ‘A’ bonuses will be reachable.
Korchinski was a regular with Chicago in his first professional season but spent the bulk of last season with AHL Rockford. He could go back to the IceHogs but if he stays with the Blackhawks, it’s likely to be in a third-pairing role. If that happens, a short-term second contract would make sense for both sides, one that should check in below $2MM. He has four A’ bonuses in his deal but it seems unlikely he’ll reach any unless he plays a bigger role than expected and is quite productive. Allan split time between the NHL and AHL last season as well although he played twice as many NHL games as AHL ones. He had limited minutes when he was in the lineup and projects to have a similar role this season. That has him in line for a bridge contract in the $1.5MM range.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
G Laurent Brossoit ($3.3MM, UFA)
F Jason Dickinson ($4.25MM, UFA)
F Nick Foligno ($4.5MM, UFA)
G Spencer Knight ($4.5MM, RFA)
F Sam Lafferty ($2MM, UFA)
F Ilya Mikheyev ($4.038MM, UFA)*
D Connor Murphy ($4.4MM, UFA)
F Lukas Reichel ($1.2MM, RFA)
D Shea Weber ($7.857MM, UFA)
*-Vancouver is retaining an additional $712.5K on Mikheyev’s deal.
When Chicago re-signed Foligno to a short-term contract, they knew they were likely to be paying a bit of a premium for him. But he wound up playing a fair-sized role while being reasonably productive. He seems like a candidate to be moved by the trade deadline and if he wants to take one last chance at a Stanley Cup when he’s nearing the age of 39, it will need to be a much cheaper deal although some of that can be recovered with some reasonably achievable bonuses. Dickinson was kept at a similar premium and after a couple of decent seasons, last year was a step in the wrong direction as he dealt with injuries while his output was closer to the other years in his career. If he remains that type of player next season, his next deal might be closer to half of this amount.
It wasn’t always pretty for Mikheyev last season but he did put up a 20-goal performance and took a regular turn on the penalty kill, a reasonable showing for someone acquired as a cap dump. It would be surprising to see him beat his current price tag next year but a multi-year agreement in the $3.5MM range wouldn’t be shocking. Lafferty had a particularly rough season with Buffalo last year and a repeat of that performance could have him in PTO territory next summer. Assuming he goes back to the level of previous seasons, a small dip in pay would be more realistic. Reichel seems to be tracking in the wrong direction as his ice time dropped to under 12 minutes a night last season with middling offensive numbers. With him not being UFA-eligible until 2029, another two-year bridge deal might be coming his way, one that would likely check in below $2MM per season if this season is similar to last.
Weber is with his fourth different organization since it was determined that his playing days were over back in 2021. He’s LTIR-eligible but with how far Chicago is below the cap, they shouldn’t need to put him on there. He’ll quietly come off the books next year and that will be that.
Knight was the centerpiece of the Seth Jones trade back around the trade deadline. For a player who was touted as a future starter at the time he was drafted, he has less than 100 NHL appearances over parts of six seasons. Still, he showed last season that he could still be on that trajectory. He isn’t UFA-eligible until 2028 so another short-term deal is possible, one that should check in a little above his current price tag. Meanwhile, a long-term agreement likely pushes past $6MM per season. Brossoit didn’t play at all last season due to a knee injury. Assuming he’s cleared for this year, he might have to start in the minors which wouldn’t bode well for his future earnings. But if he’s able to stay healthy in the minors, he could still surpass the $1MM mark on a one-year deal next summer. If he’s up in the NHL and fares well, something a little less than this might be doable.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Andre Burakovsky ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Louis Crevier ($900K, RFA)
F Landon Slaggert ($900K, RFA)
G Arvid Soderblom ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Teuvo Teravainen ($5.4MM, UFA)
Burakovsky was acquired from Seattle in a cap-clearing move this summer. He isn’t the 61-point forward he was a few years ago with Colorado but they’ll be counting on him to be a floor-raiser in the middle six. That’s a fair bit of money for someone in that role but they’re clearly comfortable paying it. Teravainen was brought in to be a floor-raiser himself last summer and was one of the team’s top point-getters. They have to be pleased with how the first year went and if Teravainen can stay around the same point total, he could probably land another three-year pact in this price range. Slaggert has been up and down since turning pro but the one-way nature suggests he might be eyed as a regular in Chicago this season, albeit in a limited role. If he can stick as even a fourth liner, arbitration eligibility could give him a shot at doubling this in 2027.
Crevier has shown some promise in his limited time on the third pairing over the past two seasons and his size (six-foot-eight) is something that few blueliners possess. He may ultimately be someone with limited overall upside but if he can carve out a niche as a physical penalty killer and hold his own on the third pairing, he can carve out a reasonable career for himself. If he does that over the next couple of years, he could land closer to the $2.5MM mark.
Soderblom bounced back relatively well last season after a 2023-24 campaign that was nothing short of a disaster. Even though the overall numbers weren’t great (he didn’t have the greatest of teams in front of him, after all), Chicago saw fit to give him a longer look. He should have the inside track on the backup spot over Brossoit and will need to take another step forward if he wants a shot at beating this contract two years from now.
Five Key Stories: 8/11/25 – 8/17/25
We’re now past the midpoint of August and training camps are starting to get closer. We saw a handful of moves on the transaction front over the past seven days, several of which are highlighted in our key stories.
Going For 20: Long-time NHL veteran Jack Johnson isn’t ready to call it a career just yet as he has signed a tryout deal with Minnesota. The 38-year-old was an every-game regular as recently as 2023-24 but his second stint with Columbus last season saw him reduced to a much lesser role with playing time very limited when he did get in the lineup for his 41 games. Johnson has 342 points in 1,228 games with six different teams over 19 seasons and will look to make it an even 20 if he can secure a contract from the Wild, a team that moved Declan Chisholm at the draft and didn’t re-sign veteran depth defender Jon Merrill.
Bridge For Evans: Seattle took care of their last remaining restricted free agent, working out a two-year bridge deal with defenseman Ryker Evans. The contract carries a cap hit of $2.05MM. The 23-year-old wrapped up his first full NHL campaign last season and it was a good one that saw him pick up 25 points in 73 games while logging over 19 minutes a night of playing time. Evans also played for Canada at the Worlds in May, notching a pair of assists in eight outings. The deal is slightly front-loaded with his required qualifying offer in 2027 checking in at an even $2MM; that offer will also come with salary arbitration rights. By going with a bridge agreement instead of a long-term pact, Seattle projects to enter the season with nearly $4.6MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.
Johansen Grievance Ruling: While it took quite a while – the better part of a year – a ruling has been made in the Ryan Johansen grievance for the termination of his contract. Philadelphia acquired him in 2024 and after he cleared waivers, he was assigned to the AHL where Johansen asserted there was an injury (a nagging hip issue), leading to the rescinding of the assignment. However, the Flyers then terminated Johansen’s contract last August, citing a material breach of contract. The hearing went to an arbitrator who has sided with Philadelphia, meaning that Johansen’s deal will not be restored in part or in full on the books. Johansen’s contract being added retroactive to last year’s books would have caused a bonus overage penalty for the Flyers which would have then rolled onto their 25-26 numbers. Johansen didn’t play at all last season and remains an unrestricted free agent although it would be surprising to see him sign now.
Calling It A Career: Veteran defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has decided to retire at the age of 35. He was a late bloomer, not really establishing himself in the NHL until he joined Pittsburgh at 26 but wound up becoming a reliable depth option who could step in and play on the third pairing for several years, including the 2021-22 campaign that saw him play in a career-best 78 NHL games. Ruhwedel spent most of last season with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford and rather than seek out what would likely have been a PTO deal, he has decided to hang up his skates now. He ends his career with 50 points in 369 NHL games over parts of 13 seasons, a solid run for a player who was never drafted.
Detroit Adds A Defenseman: The Red Wings have added some extra depth on the back end, signing veteran Travis Hamonic to a one-year, $1MM contract. The 35-year-old was a high-quality shutdown defenseman in his prime but he has seen his role scaled back in recent years to that of a depth defender lately. Hamonic was battling Jacob Bernard-Docker for playing time with the Senators for the bulk of the last two seasons and that battle is now set to continue with Detroit’s other signing on the blueline this summer being Bernard-Docker after he was let go by Buffalo.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig-Imagn Images.
Snapshots: Janmark, Puistola, Kotkaniemi
With the Oilers adding some extra depth up front this summer, there should be some good battles at training camp next month. To that end, Allan Mitchell of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that winger Mattias Janmark’s roster spot could be in some jeopardy. The 32-year-old had a 25-point campaign just a couple of years ago but since then, he has only managed six goals and 24 assists combined, including only two goals in 80 games last season. While his speed and defensive game are assets, they could free up $1.15MM in cap space by waiving and demoting him to the minors, lowering his cap charge to $300K. That would certainly give them some extra breathing room on the salary cap with PuckPedia currently projecting them to open the season at barely $225K under the Upper Limit. Carrying one less roster player would help in that regard and Janmark being that casualty would maximize their flexibility.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Still with the Oilers, it appears as if they at least thought about bringing in another forward from Europe to add to their depth as they did with David Tomasek. Forward Patrik Puistola acknowledged to Nerikes Allehanda’s David Hellsing that he was aware of some speculation that Edmonton was readying a contract offer for him although a formal offer never ultimately materialized. Puistola was drafted in the third round by Carolina back in 2019 with his rights being moved to the Oilers in 2023 although those rights have since lapsed, making him an unrestricted free agent. After a strong season with SHL Orebro last year and four goals at the Worlds for Finland, Puistola could be someone to keep an eye on to come to North America next year.
- The Maple Leafs have hired Mikael Kotkaniemi as a European Scout, Kotkaniemi announced on LinkedIn. He has been a coach in Finland for the better part of the last two decades including at the Liiga level and most recently coached Finland’s Under-18 program. This will be Kotkaniemi’s first scouting role and the first time working for an NHL franchise.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Washington Capitals
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Metropolitan Division, last up are the Capitals.
Washington Capitals
Current Cap Hit: $91,375,000 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Ryan Leonard (two years, $950K)
Potential Bonuses
Leonard: $1.5MM
As expected, Leonard joined the Capitals once his college season came to an end and while he was largely a regular moving forward, they limited his minutes. That probably won’t be the case this season as a middle-six role seems likely. That should give him a chance to maybe hit one or two of his ‘A’ bonuses worth $250K apiece.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
D John Carlson ($8MM, UFA)
F Brandon Duhaime ($1.85MM, UFA)
F Hendrix Lapierre ($850K, RFA)
F Connor McMichael ($2.1MM, RFA)
F Sonny Milano ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Alex Ovechkin ($9.5MM, UFA)
D Trevor van Riemsdyk ($3MM, UFA)
After a rough first half in 2023-24, Ovechkin was better down the stretch that year and carried it over into last season where he went back over a point per game and broke Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. Even at this stage of his career (he’s 39), he still provided above-average value on his contract, something he has largely done even as the most expensive winger in NHL history in terms of total earnings. There has been plenty of speculation as to whether Ovechkin will want to play beyond the upcoming season and if he did, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Capitals ponder offering a deal with some incentives if they wanted to try to load up for one last kick at the end. Alternatively, returning to finish his career back home in Russia is a very realistic possibility as well.
McMichael had to settle for a bridge deal last season with cap space pretty tight for a Capitals team that spent all of the year in LTIR. The good news is that he had a career year and remains a key part of their long-term plans. With arbitration rights next summer, he’s well on his way to tripling his current price tag if he winds up around the 55-point mark again. Milano missed most of last season due to injury and ran hot and cold in the first year of the deal. As a bottom-sixer counted on to produce as a secondary scorer, that’s a hard niche to maintain. Barring a 15-goal, 30-point season or somewhere thereabouts, Milano could find himself making closer to half of this on his next contract.
Duhaime’s first season with the Capitals was a successful one as he locked down a bigger role and set a new personal best in points. He’s still someone who is more of an energy player than a scorer though which won’t help his value. That said, as an effective bottom-six checker, he should be able to push past the $2MM mark on his next agreement. Lapierre didn’t do much in limited action last season and if it weren’t for the fact he’s now waiver-eligible, he’d probably be on the outside looking in at a roster spot. But waiver eligibility should give him a long leash and now it’s up to him to establish himself as an every-game regular. If he can do that, doubling this contract could be realistic.
Carlson continues to be an above-average offensive performer who can still be counted on to play big minutes. It’s telling, however, that GM Chris Patrick indicated back in the spring that there were no plans to hold offseason extension talks. He’ll be 36 when his next deal starts and while a decline is bound to happen at some point, he still could get a multi-year pact in the $6MM or so range. With what they have tied up in their back end already, perhaps that’s not something they’re willing to do just yet. As for van Riemsdyk, he has fit in well on their third pairing for the last several seasons. Being a right-shot defender, the side that’s always highly coveted, a small increase even heading into his age-35 year seems reasonable.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Anthony Beauvillier ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Declan Chisholm ($1.6MM, UFA)
F Nic Dowd ($3MM, UFA)
D Dylan McIlrath ($800K, UFA)
F Justin Sourdif ($825K, RFA)
Dowd has been a slow developer but he has worked his way from a depth player to a trusted checker who has reached double-digit goals in five straight years. That was enough to more than double his current AAV in exchange for a reasonable two-year term at 35. It would be surprising to see him beat that in 2027 unless the point production heads more toward the 40s than the mid-20s. Beauvillier rebounded a bit after a tough 2023-24 campaign and his playoff showing certainly helped his marketability as well. Barring him getting back to the 40-point threshold, it’s difficult to see his market being too much stronger two years from now. Sourdif is an interesting case with just four NHL games under his belt. The Capitals paid a fairly high price for him (a second-round pick plus a sixth) so they clearly feel he’s capable of being a full-time contributor. If he is, he’ll have arbitration rights in 2027 which would set him up nicely for his next contract.
Chisholm came over from Minnesota at the draft and quickly signed with Washington looking to avoid an arbitration hearing. Last season was basically his first as being a regular so he didn’t have a great case to make for a big raise. But he looks like a late bloomer and if he continues as a regular with the Capitals, he could move past the $2MM mark next time. McIlrath has primarily been an AHL player in recent years, leading to this price just above the minimum. He’s likely to be in a reserve role this season once again which should keep the cost low moving forward.
Signed Through 2027-28
G Charlie Lindgren ($3MM, UFA)
F Dylan Strome ($5MM, UFA)
It took a few years for Strome to establish himself but he has turned into quite the center in recent years for the Capitals, posting a point-per-game showing last season. That type of production for the price of a second liner is quite the bargain. If he can stay around this level of points over the next three seasons, his price tag could move more into the $8MM to $9MM range on his next contract.
Lindgren didn’t have the best of seasons in 2024-25 but his body of work with Washington has been that of an above-average backup. This price comes in a little below the top of the backup market so if he can bounce back a bit relative to last season, Washington should do fine here.
PHR Mailbag: CHL-NCAA Movement, Salary Cap, Goaltending, Bruins, August 15 Free Agents
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include a look at salary cap spending, several goaltending questions, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in one of our next two columns.
BlackAce57: I don’t know if it’s something that’s been happening for a while or a growing trend, but are more Canadian junior players going to US colleges when they turn 18 now that NIL is a factor? Do you think this will keep increasing?
This isn’t something that has been going on for very long now. It’s actually the first year where CHL players are no longer viewed as professionals by the NCAA, thereby making players from those leagues eligible to go to college. NIL money aside, simply changing the eligibility to allow major junior players to go play Division I hockey was going to create a big group of people wanting to make the change. The ability to potentially be paid much more than what the CHL-allowable stipend is (between $50 and $150 in Canadian dollars per week) only intensified that interest.
I don’t expect this to be something that keeps increasing to any sort of significant degree. In reality, there are only so many spots available each year as there are only so many Division I teams and there will still be USHL and USHS players vying for some of those. That means there has to be some sort of a limit on the movement in the grand scheme of things.
Having said that, I suspect we will see even more turnover in the NCAA than we’ve seen in recent years since the transfer portal came into play. There will still be activity there while more players than we normally see will graduate to the pros after a year or two of eligibility. Then, there will be efforts to try to get that top recruit which could result in some players getting cut.
I think what we’ve seen this year is the start but there shouldn’t be a huge jump next year. I expect we’ll see an incremental jump in transfer activity over the next couple of years, a good chunk of which will probably come from the CHL before the volume of annual movement starts to settle. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if the CHL is able to do anything to retain some of its top talent or if it will settle in as a league that skews a little younger age-wise compared to what it has been in the past.
yeasties: With the cap going up so much and many teams apparently choosing to maintain a working reserve this year, do you think GMs will maintain this discipline over the long term, or will teams eventually spend up to the cap again?
I’m not sure how much of the underspent cap is something that came from a choice or rather just from a lack of options. This wasn’t a great UFA class and it’s that market that has a tendency to drive prices upward. Not every team has had to contend with it yet either. If you had a team with a lot of core players on long-term deals already, the bulk of the heavy lifting cap-wise is already done, making it easier to have that cushion. We’re only a few months into this higher Upper Limit projection so a lot can and will change.
It’ll be interesting to see how many teams are able to keep those reserves. Per PuckPedia, there are 13 teams with $2.1MM or less of cap space already. For teams near the higher end of that, even one injury can derail a lot of those plans and odds being odds, there will be injuries. The ones with a million or two more (of which there are four) should have more wiggle room on the injury front while the rest should have ample cap room no matter what. That is a little abnormal compared to what we’ve seen.
I do think it’s a sign of things to come, however. The reality is that not every team is going to be willing to spend to the max as that’s a pretty significant year-over-year increase in player costs. Ideally, profits should be going up as well to offset that but some teams are much more profitable than others; not all will increase revenues at a rate that matches or exceeds the increase in costs. I can see a scenario a few years from now where we’re talking about budget room more often as fewer teams aim to spend to the ceiling and instead will work within a budget with potentially room to spend if they find themselves in contention.
I’m also curious to see what the impact of significantly restricting double-retention trades in the new CBA will be. As a refresher, right now, teams can trade a player with retention with that player getting immediately rerouted with further retention to another team. That type of trade has become quite common leading up to the trade deadline in recent years. But this season will be the last of those as starting in 2026-27, there will be a 75-day in-season requirement before a player whose contract has already been retained on once can be moved with retention again.
Knowing that the double-retention option is going to largely be off the table, teams will need to have considerably more cap space banked by the trade deadline. I expect that some squads will place a higher target on their cap room to start the season to account for that, meaning fewer will spend so tight to the cap. So, I don’t think this is an outlier but rather the beginning of a new shift in spending policy, one that will take a few years to really establish itself.
PyramidHeadcrab: Now that rosters have settled a bit, who has the…
– Worst goaltending roster?
– Best goaltending roster?
– Best goaltending prospects?
– Goaltender most likely to find an extra gear in 25-26?
1) I’m going to go with Columbus, especially as a team that feels it has playoff aspirations. Elvis Merzlikins has shown that he’s not a capable starter and hasn’t been for several years now. While they re-signed Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro, they haven’t actually improved the back end which could have been a way to improve the goaltending. Meanwhile, Jet Greaves had quite the finish to last season but before that, he had merely been okay in limited action while his AHL numbers are decent but not necessarily dominant. Is he the solution? I’m not certain about that yet and if you have questions about both goalies heading into the season, that’s not ideal. There are teams with similarly iffy goaltending (especially in that division) but playoff hopes breaks the tie here.
2) This might be a surprise on paper but I’m going to go with Toronto. Anthony Stolarz showed that his 2023-24 breakout wasn’t a fluke and he was quite impactful when healthy. Joseph Woll wasn’t quite as impactful but was above average as well. Both were in the top 11 league-wide in Goals Saved Above Expected, per MoneyPuck. The fact that they’re among the lowest-spending teams at the position makes things more impressive. There are teams with a better starter but also a much weaker backup. An injury to the top dog would be a huge issue but for the Maple Leafs, going to Woll as a near-term starter wouldn’t be a massive drop-off. Add to that a roster that looks more inclined to play a defensive game and it bodes well for them for the upcoming season.
3) For the single-best goalie prospect, I’ve seen no reason not to pick Yaroslav Askarov. He has been highly touted for quite some time now and while he’s in for a rough year in San Jose this season, I think he can still be a franchise netminder. But you said prospects, as in plural. The Sharks would still be up there with Joshua Ravensbergen getting added in the draft but I might lean ever so slightly to the Red Wings who are headlined by Trey Augustine and Sebastian Cossa. Cossa is coming along well in the minors while Augustine has been a strong NCAA goalie with a solid showing internationally as well. Michal Pradel was one of the better goalies in this draft class and he’s in the mix too. Goaltending has been an issue for Detroit for a while but the future looks bright there.
4) I’m going to pick Spencer Knight in Chicago. This is his first season as being an undisputed number one goalie and he’s still relatively unproven with fewer than 100 appearances in the NHL. It’s also a contract year in which he’ll be looking to cement the notion that he is their starter of the future. I don’t think the Blackhawks will be particularly good this year but I expect Knight to steal some games and make the team a lot more competitive night in and night out than they have been the last couple of years. I think that will qualify as finding that extra gear.
VonBrewski: Again with Boston….no direction by MGT.
They have the draft capital to go and get a McTavish or Rossi. They might need to move some salary (hello, Korpisalo) to get it done.
I think you’re making an incorrect assumption on this one. Boston’s draft capital is better than what it was but assuming you don’t want them moving their own first-round picks, having an extra Toronto and Florida first-rounder isn’t good enough to be the foundation of an offer for either player, at least one that Anaheim or Minnesota might be inclined to take. And with $2MM in cap space per PuckPedia, it would take much more than clearing Joonas Korpisalo’s $3MM to afford the players on the deals they’re looking for. They’re not willingly signing long-term deals around the $5MM mark.
Let’s look at each situation a little closer. Despite plenty of speculation, there remains no credible reporting that Anaheim has the slightest bit of interest in moving Mason McTavish or that McTavish is looking to be traded. The absence of a contract isn’t evidence of that but rather the reality that an offer sheet isn’t coming and with no arbitration rights, it becomes a staring contest. We see it every year with several players and they all wind up re-signing. The Ducks have been active this summer in terms of trying to upgrade their roster with the hopes of making the playoffs. They also have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL. Accordingly, moving McTavish for a futures-based return doesn’t make much sense on either front. If he’s moving, they’re getting a young core player back; they have no reason to accept less.
As for Marco Rossi, it has been reported that the Wild already declined a trade package that included a late-lottery first-round pick and that was before the few decent free agent center options had all re-signed or signed elsewhere. So, why would they go that route now with a package that’s probably going to have a lesser pick going the other way? (Again, assuming that you’re not suggesting the Bruins move their own first-round selections.) Minnesota has been consistent in feeling that if they were to move Rossi, they’d want an impact center coming the other way if they couldn’t land one in free agency. I don’t see a Boston middleman that fits. Elias Lindholm’s contract isn’t great, Pavel Zacha only has two years left, and the rest are either unproven or are more bottom-six pieces. For what they’re believed to be looking for in a possible trade for Rossi, I don’t think the Bruins are a match. Ultimately, it’s going to be a staring contest between Rossi and the Wild for a little while longer before Minnesota probably gets its way with a bridge deal.
Dale M: How many August 15th expiring rights were either signed, or set adrift by their drafted teams?
Did Boston sign anybody?
If we look at our list of August 15th free agents from early July, not a lot has changed. Chase McLane (Nashville) and Ryder Donovan (Vegas) remain with their respective organizations under technicalities but neither of them would qualify as notable prospects at this stage. The other 29 players all saw their NHL rights lapse yesterday.
At this point, no one has signed yet which isn’t much surprise. Players technically didn’t become free to sign until today and, well, it’s a Saturday in the middle of August; it’s not exactly a prime day for transactions. There isn’t going to be flood of signings. Honestly, I’m not sure there are going to be many signings period from this group, especially around half of them are on minor-league deals already.
There’s basically one headliner from this list that feels like a safe bet to land an NHL contract and that’s Dominic James. He spurned an offer from Chicago on the heels of a 14-goal, 30-point campaign with the University of Minnesota-Duluth and his doing so suggests he thinks he can find an entry-level pact from a team with possibly a better shot at getting to the NHL quicker. Beyond that, there are some possible AHL deal candidates (Red Savage and Aidan Hreschuk) but not much more. It’s not a great group of players to get too excited about.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Central Notes: Broberg, Holloway, Desnoyers, Mammoth
What a difference a year can make. Last summer, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway were looking at low-cost one-year offers from Edmonton, eventually leading them to sign two-year offer sheets with the Blues that ultimately weren’t matched. Both players went on to have breakout years, playing big roles in their run to the playoffs. They’re now extension-eligible and in line for much bigger deals this time around. In a recent mailbag column, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic posits (subscription link) that the players could plausibly eye a contract between $8MM and $9MM apiece. Broberg had 29 points in 68 games last season and logged 20:30 per night of ice time while Holloway finished third in team scoring with 63 points in 77 outings.
More from the Central:
- While the wrist surgery that Caleb Desnoyers underwent earlier this week ends any chance of him making the Mammoth’s roster out of training camp, there is still the matter of determining where he’ll play when he’s cleared to return. Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune notes that while there was speculation earlier that linked the center to Boston College, the expectation is now that he’ll return to QMJHL Moncton if he’s unable to secure a spot with Utah when he’s cleared to return. While he isn’t eligible to play regularly in the minors, he could actually get a few games there on a conditioning stint first before a decision is made on where to have Desnoyers suit up after that.
- Still with the Mammoth, Brogan Houston of the Deseret News examines their defensive situation. Notably, after a season that saw Utah deal with multiple injuries on the back end, GM Bill Armstrong has shored things up with the additions of Nate Schmidt and Scott Perunovich and the re-signing of Nick DeSimone. In doing so, they now have a bit more NHL-experienced depth at their disposal, assuming they’re able to get some of those players through waivers in training camp.
Flames Have Started Extension Talks With Dustin Wolf
Dustin Wolf’s first full NHL season was quite an impactful one. He became the full-fledged starter in the second half of the year and played an instrumental role in Calgary’s last-season playoff push, one that ultimately came up just short. He’s entering the final season of his bridge contract but the Flames have clearly seen enough to want to lock him up long term. Wolf told Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson that talks on that front are underway:
They’re working, that’s about all I can really tell you. There’s talks, but nothing really confirmed yet. I’d love to stay here and I think they want me to stay here, as well. So as soon as something comes to fruition where both of us like where we’re at, I’m sure it won’t be long after that point where pen will be to paper.
Wolf played in 53 games for Calgary last season, posting a 2.64 GAA and a .910 SV%. His performance was strong enough to earn him the runner-up position in Calder Trophy voting for Rookie of the Year while he also received a third-place vote in Vezina Trophy voting for the league’s top netminder. That’s quite the solid performance for a player making $850K, making him one of the top bargains in the league.
While undersized for the modern-day goaltender, Wolf has been a top performer coming up. In the WHL, he put up a .935 SV% over four seasons, winning Goalie of the Year twice and taking home the CHL Goalie of the Year title once. Then, with AHL Calgary, he had a .926 SV% in parts of four seasons with them, again twice winning the award for being the top goaltender along with being league MVP in 2022-23. Accordingly, while there’s not an overly long NHL track record to work with, Wolf’s overall track record shows that he’s someone who can be relied on to be a key goalie for the long run.
Finding the right price point on a new deal could be tricky, however, given that he has fewer than 100 career NHL appearances. Wolf still has two RFA-eligible years left after this one so a second bridge agreement probably isn’t on the table unless it was a one-year pact in the arbitration window which is a long way away. Assuming their mutual preference is a long-term contract, AFP Analytics suggests that a six-year deal worth a little over $8MM per season could make sense. While several starting netminders have landed in that range in recent years, most have had much longer track records of NHL success than Wolf currently has.
On the other hand, with at least two more big jumps in the salary cap coming over the next two years, the potential price tag could go even higher if Wolf builds on his performance in 2025-26. On the other hand, if he struggles a bit, the asking price would probably come in below that projected number. With negotiations like this with relatively untested players, it’s about finding a spot where both sides are comfortable with the risk of a possible overpayment or underpayment. We’ll see if they can find that point over the coming weeks.
Pacific Notes: Gudas, Sharks, Montour
While it looked as if Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas would need surgery to address a lingering knee issue, he noted to NHL.com’s Michael Langr that he ultimately didn’t need it and that he was able to recover simply through rehab. The 35-year-old still managed to play in 81 games last season despite the injury, recording a dozen points, 178 blocked shots, and 261 hits in just under 20 minutes a night of playing time. Now entering the final season of his three-year, $12MM contract signed two years ago, Gudas added that there have yet to be any extension talks but that he understands there are other priorities for GM Pat Verbeek to be dealing with at this time.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- The City of San Jose and the Sharks have released a Memorandum of Understanding that could keep the Sharks in town for many more years. Pending ratification from City Council later this month, the deal would see the arena undergo a $425MM renovation over a seven-year span with the city funding $325MM of that and the team $100MM. In return, the Sharks would agree to extend their stay in San Jose through at least the 2050-51 season. Their current arena is now more than 30 years old and has yet to undergo a significant renovation. Notably, it’s mentioned in the document that it is not feasible for the Sharks to stay at the renovated facility for the entire term of that agreement and that both sides will work to find a prospective location for a new arena district.
- After not making Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster, Kraken blueliner Brandon Montour opted to accept an invitation to the Worlds back in May in the hopes of improving his chances of being selected to play in the Olympics. He fared quite well in the tournament, tying for the lead in points by a defenseman with nine. Accordingly, NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger suggests that the 31-year-old may now have a viable shot at making the roster, especially with GM Doug Armstrong suggesting that in-season performance and not just their track record will go a long way toward determining the final roster. Montour had a career-best 18 goals in his first season with Seattle in 2024-25 and will look to build off that this season.
Jani Hakanpaa Fully Cleared From Knee Injury, Has Had NHL Interest This Summer
Despite seeing very little game action, last season was an eventful one for free agent defenseman Jani Hakanpaa. He agreed to terms with Toronto on the opening day of free agency on a multi-year deal before his physical revealed concerns over his recovery from knee surgery. Eventually, a revised one-year pact was agreed upon with the hope that he’d be able to return at some point in the season.
However, that return only lasted two games in November before he was sidelined once again, landing right back on LTIR. But there was a chance he could have suited up in the playoffs as the 33-year-old told Ilta-Sanomat’s Ville Touru earlier this month that he had been cleared by team doctors to suit up if he was needed. Now, he says he has been fully cleared and is looking to sign with an NHL team for the upcoming season.
When healthy, Hakanpaa has been an effective third-pairing blueliner while bringing plenty of physicality to the table. Over his 290 career NHL appearances, he has 899 hits along with 45 points in 18 minutes a night of playing time. As a big right-shot player, there would be a decent market for his services if teams feel he can legitimately step up and contribute.
Hakanpaa noted that he has had some calls this summer from NHL teams but that he wanted to wait a little to see how the market shook out first. Whether that’s a sign that the offers weren’t to his liking or that he wanted to get a sense of where he might best fit remains to be seen.
Speculatively, given the injury trouble, he’s someone who stands out as a viable PTO candidate. He isn’t eligible for a one-year deal with performance incentives as while he meets the requirement of being on IR for 100 days last season, he doesn’t meet the games played criterion of 400 NHL appearances. But with Hakanpaa being healthy (or as healthy as he’s going to be following the surgery), he could be an intriguing pickup over the coming weeks.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Pittsburgh Penguins
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2025-26 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Metropolitan Division, next up are the Penguins.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Current Cap Hit: $82,466,429 (below the $95.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Rutger McGroarty (two years, $950K)
D Owen Pickering (two years, $886.7K)
Potential Bonuses
McGroarty: $500K
Pickering: $250K
Total: $750K
The hope was that McGroarty would lock down a full-time spot last season but it didn’t happen. Instead, he spent most of the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but showed well down the stretch which could give him a chance amidst a fairly deep group of depth forwards. Even if he does play regularly, he’s unlikely to hit his two ‘A’ bonuses.
Pickering might be in the mix on the back end but their offseason defensive depth additions make it likely as things stand that he starts in the minors. With 25 NHL games last season, he’s tracking towards a bridge deal, especially if he spends a good chunk of the year in the AHL.
Signed Through 2025-26, Non-Entry-Level
F Noel Acciari ($2MM, UFA)
D Alexander Alexeyev ($775K, RFA)
D Connor Clifton ($3.333MM, UFA)
F Connor Dewar ($1.1MM, UFA)
D Mathew Dumba ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Kevin Hayes ($3.571MM, UFA)*
F Danton Heinen ($2.25MM, UFA)
F Blake Lizotte ($1.85MM, UFA)
F Evgeni Malkin ($6.1MM, UFA)
F Anthony Mantha ($2.5MM, UFA)
D Ryan Shea ($900K, UFA)
G Arturs Silovs ($850K, RFA)
F Philip Tomasino ($1.75MM, RFA)
*Philadelphia is retaining an additional $3.571MM on Hayes’ deal.
Potential Bonuses
Mantha: $2MM
Let’s face it, this is quite the long list and that’s by design for GM Kyle Dubas who is setting up for maximum flexibility over the next couple of summers.
One part of that flexibility will be the end of Malkin’s contract. A deal that took way longer than expected to hammer out, giving him four years at the age of 35 seemed to carry some risk but it has held up alright as he has notched 200 points in 232 games over that stretch although he is slowing down now. With that in mind, he might not provide a particularly strong return on this final season but overall, they did reasonably well on this contract. Malkin’s future with Pittsburgh and the NHL in general will be in question after this as the Penguins might not want to keep a player who would be 40 on a team that’s trying to rebuild while Malkin may not want to go elsewhere after spending what will be 20 years with the Penguins. If he does, a one-year pact with lots of performance bonuses will be the deal other teams will offer.
The hope was that a change of scenery for Hayes might get him going after a tough year in St. Louis but instead, his role was reduced further and his performance dipped more. It’s hard to see that changing but his track record is still good enough that he could land around $3MM or so on another short-term deal as long as this season is around how he did last year. Mantha comes over from Calgary following an injury-riddled year that caused him to miss the final 69 games due to ACL surgery. When he’s on, he can be an effective top-six piece but has done so sporadically to the point where he needed a one-year deal last summer coming off an inconsistent season. If he rebounds, he could get back to the $4MM range but that’s far from a given. His bonuses are fairly simple; he’ll receive $250K at every ten-game increment he plays from 10 to 80.
Heinen was acquired from Vancouver as part of the Marcus Pettersson trade last season and did okay with his new team. He’s capable of putting up decent production from a bottom-six role which earned him this contract last summer but he’s not far removed from having to take a PTO either. If he hovers around the 30-point mark again, he could command a similar price tag to this on the open market next summer. Acciari’s first two seasons in Pittsburgh haven’t lived up to expectations. More of an impactful player offensively in 2022-23, his production the last two years hasn’t added up to that mark. He’s still a physical fourth liner who can kill penalties and win faceoffs but barring an uptick in output this season, Acciari is likely heading for a small dip in pay.
From a point-per-game perspective, last season wasn’t bad for Lizotte but the injury bug got him again for the second straight year. While he can be a 30-point player when healthy, he needs to show he can stay in the lineup for closer to a full 82 games to have a shot at besting this deal next summer. Tomasino had some decent moments after being picked up from Nashville. It’s too early to say that he could be part of their longer-term plans which is why the one-year pact made sense for both sides. He was non-tendered to avoid arbitration rights in June before re-signing and that could be his fate again unless there’s an uptick in his production. Dewar also went through the non-tender process six weeks ago but, like Tomasino, quickly re-signed. After seeing low minutes in Toronto, he fared better down the stretch but will need to be more of a third liner than a fourth if he wants to get to another level in terms of his contract instead of going year-to-year at only a bit above the league minimum.
Dallas signed Dumba last summer, feeling that he could still be a serviceable second-pairing player. That didn’t happen. Instead, he struggled in a very limited role before being scratched entirely in the playoffs and traded away with draft compensation for taking on the final year of his deal. It’s possible that he rebounds but it’s also possible that he has a very limited role again. At this point, he’d be hard-pressed to reach half of what he’s making now. Clifton wasn’t able to establish himself as more of a third-pairing option with Buffalo in his two seasons with them before being moved in an offseason swap as well. He’s a more reliable option than Dumba at this point and his market should be okay next summer, just with a price tag closer to the $2MM mark instead of more than $3MM once again.
Shea is a success story from Group Six free agency. While not many of those players find better opportunities elsewhere, he did just that, going from never seeing NHL action in Dallas to playing in 70 games with Pittsburgh over the last two seasons, landing him two straight one-way deals. With still a limited role, it’s hard to see him going much higher than this but it’s still a nice turnaround for someone earmarked as a full-time AHLer just a couple of years ago. Alexeyev hardly played at all last season, leading to a non-tender from Washington. He’ll need to at least establish himself as more of a viable sixth option or he could be heading toward two-way offers moving forward. He’s still arbitration-eligible but unless he breaks out and has a big year, he’s a safe bet to be non-tendered again next offseason.
Silovs was brought in via a recent trade with Vancouver to take a run at a full-time NHL backup spot. He had that going into last season with the Canucks but struggled mightily. However, he had a solid year with AHL Abbotsford before playing a key role in their Calder Cup victory, making it unlikely he’d slip through waivers. If he can establish himself as being at least a suitable full-season backup, doubling this price tag with arbitration rights is doable.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Justin Brazeau ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Sidney Crosby ($8.7MM, UFA)
D Erik Karlsson ($10MM, UFA)*
F Thomas Novak ($3.5MM, UFA)
D Parker Wotherspoon ($1MM, UFA)
*-San Jose is retaining an additional $1.5MM on Karlsson’s contract.
Crosby is quietly beginning a new contract with the Penguins this season although it’d be easy to miss that considering he has had the same cap hit since 2008, a price tag he has provided significant surplus value on. At 38, he might still provide plenty of value on this contract coming off a 91-point season which shows he still has plenty left in the tank. He’s been featured in plenty of trade speculation given that he’s nearing the end of his career and the Penguins aren’t close to contention but with full trade protection, Crosby will get to decide his fate. But no matter where he winds up (and staying in Pittsburgh remains the overwhelmingly likely outcome), he’s a safe bet to continue to provide positive value money-wise.
Novak was brought over near the trade deadline in a trade with Nashville. He didn’t come close to reaching the 40-point mark for the third straight year, instead barely amassing half of that despite some solid underlying numbers. If he can even get into the mid-30s offensively, this deal should hold up well given the high demand for centers. Brazeau was a full-time minor leaguer just a couple of years ago and only has one full NHL season under his belt. However, he did well enough to land this deal in free agency. If he puts up another couple of double-digit goal campaigns, he should be able to push past $2MM in 2027.
Karlsson hasn’t been able to come close to reaching 100 points again as he did in his final season in San Jose but he has remained one of the better offensive blueliners in the NHL. His defensive warts notwithstanding, he’s someone who can still handle big minutes and while his price tag is an overpayment for his current performance, it’s probably only a few million above market value at most. If he’s still an above-average offensive threat two years from now, a two-year deal even at 37 could be doable, albeit at a significantly lower price tag. Wotherspoon had his best showing last season with Boston, holding his own in 55 games with the Bruins to earn the first seven-figure deal of his career. If he can remain a capable third-pairing player over his time on this contract, doubling this price tag could be doable.