It may have been NHL owners who wanted to reduce the maximum contract term, but teams are now the ones rushing to lock in players on eight-year deals before the max drops to seven years on Wednesday.
Washington Capitals 21-year-old forward Ryan Leonard and Noah Ostlund, 22, of the Buffalo Sabres have taken advantage of the situation, locking in their futures on eight-year extensions this week before the deadline.
Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson has also signed an eight-year, $86 million contract on Tuesday, though that deal fell more in line with the expected term for a 28-year-old pending unrestricted free agent.
The Vancouver Canucks also got an eight-year deal done with 20-year-old defenceman Zeev Buium last week, with the Pittsburgh Penguins raising eyebrows with an eight-year extension for winger Ville Koivunen in August.
Leonard received the biggest deal among the young players to lock in with a total value of $84 million for a $10.5 million average annual value. Buium signed for $75.04 million ($9.38 million AAV) with the Canucks, Ostlund received a $52.8 million extension ($6.6M AAV) from the Sabres and Koivunen signed for a cap hit of just $4 million on his $32 million contract as a restricted free agent.
Leonard has appeared in 84 career games, Buium has played 76, Ostlund has dressed in 68 games and Koivunen has just 47 career games under his belt.
“Today feels like a gold rush in the NHL: The introduction of more restrictive contract rules at midnight and the expectation of a surging salary cap for years to come is creating a bonanza for young players with talent and a willingness to lock into a guaranteed payday,” TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston wrote on X.
“What’s so interesting is that it’s the league that pushed to curb max deals back down a year in new CBA but it’s the teams more than the players pushing to get eight-year deals done before tonight,” TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun added. “Rising cap/salaries effect.”
It remains unclear how many more eight-year deals will be handed out before the deadline.
Anaheim Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier headlines the unsigned RFAs remaining along with Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli, Detroit Red Wings blueliner Simon Edvinsson and Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Alexander Nikishin, whose name has been floated in trade rumours throughout the off-season.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports Tuesday could be an important deadline for Gauthier, but because another change to contracts that will take effect Wednesday comes in regards to front-loading contracts.
Prior to this week, several of the league’s young stars opted to sign shorter-term deals this summer, with Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard both inking five-year contracts after Leo Carlsson signed a five-year offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers that was eventually matched by the Anaheim Ducks.
A total of nine players - Buium, Cale Makar, Ville Koivunen, John Marino, Tyson Foerster, Eetu Luostarinen, Ivan Demidov, Alex Tuch and Darren Raddysh - signed eight-year contracts this summer before Ostlund, Batherson and Leonard inked their deals in quick fashion.
Tuch ($10.5 million AAV) with the Washington Capitals and Raddysh ($8.5M AAV) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, inked their new deals as part of sign-and-trades ahead of unrestricted free agency.
Makar signed a record-setting eight-year contract worth a total of $163.8 million last month, which carries a jaw-dropping average annual value of $20.4 million. Makar’s cap hit fell just under the maximum allowable salary of $20.8 million, which is 20 per cent of the current salary cap.
Marino, Foerster, Luostarinen and Demidov also inked extensions that will kick in next summer.
As of Wednesday, the max term for players re-signing while under contract will be seven years, while the maximum for players signing with new teams will be six years.
