Forwards
Connor McDavid
The best player in the game today is still unsigned beyond the 2025-26 season. The Oilers just dropped $14 million a season on McDavid’s partner in crime Leon Draisaitl, so McDavid himself will be in line to become easily the highest paid NHLer in short order. More than likely McDavid ends up back in Edmonton, but if he wanted to play the field and sign with the highest bidder, he could be in line for a mind-blowing contract by NHL standards.
Artemi Panarin
The veteran forward is still somehow getting better even as he enters his mid-30s. His age is going to limit his term, but if he’s still posting three digit point totals by 2026 then his dollar value may be even higher than his current $11.6 million cap hit.
Jack Eichel
Eichel turned 28 shortly after the 2024-25 season kicked off. He’s been hovering around 30 goals and 70 points during his time with the Golden Knights. With teams in desperate need of top centers across the league, if Eichel tests the free agent waters he could be in line for a rather large contract. Or Vegas could continue to work their cap and somehow manage to keep Eichel, because they always figure something out.
Alex Ovechkin
Ovechkin is staring down Gretzky’s goalscoring record, which he could very well hit during the 2024-25 season, or at worst early in the 2025-26 campaign. He’ll be 40 when his current contract expires and has expressed interest in playing in the KHL before retiring, so the end of Ovechkin’s days in the NHL could be on the horizon. If he does sign another NHL deal, it will probably be a short-term extension with the Capitals, but if he wanted a change of scenery for one last year, his AAV could be through the roof barring his play doesn’t slip much further.
Kirill Kaprizov
Kaprizov will be 29 when 2026 rolls around. Does he want to continue to waste away in Minnesota or join a team with a chance to win? He’s making $9 mil a season at the moment, so considering he’s a perennial 40-goal, 100-point player, if he chooses to go to market and sign with the highest bidder, he’s likely in for a sizable payday as well no matter where it is.
Martin Necas
After trade rumors dominated the 2024 offseason, Necas signed a bridge to stay in Carolina. If he can keep the pace that he started the 2024-25 season with over the span of the next year-and-a-half, betting on himself may have been the right call, because he’d be in line for a huge payday if he can remain a point-per-game scorer.
Kyle Connor
Kyle Connor has sat at or above a point-per-game clip for the last six seasons, has 504 points in 544 career games as of this writing, and will be 28 when his contract expires in 2026. He’s one of the league’s most underrated players and will see a healthy raise from his current $7.1 million a season.
Patrik Laine
Laine may not be the force he once was earlier in his career, but he still sits around 20-30 goals and 50+ points, so he won’t have a problem landing a new deal, but it may be less than his current $8.7 million cap hit he signed back in 2022.
Evgeni Malkin
Malkin will turn 40 shortly after the start of 2026 NHL free agency. Considering the Penguins seem intent on keeping the band of Crosby, Letang and Malkin together as long as they want to be, any new deal signed will probably be in Pittsburgh.
Defense
John Carlson
John Carlson is already a veteran of 1,000 NHL games and will be 36 by the time 2026 rolls around. His point totals have already begun to dip, which isn’t necessarily unexpected given the miles on his body. If he chooses to hang around for another couple seasons after this contract, be it in Washington or elsewhere, it will probably be on a shorter term, lesser dollar deal.
Jacob Trouba
The trade rumors surrounded 30-year-old Jacob Trouba during the 2024 offseason, but he ultimately remained in New York. It could be an early indication that when 2026 rolls around and it’s time to ink a new deal that the contract will be coming from a team not named the Rangers. Considering his physicality and leadership skills, unless his caliber of play takes a nosedive over the following few seasons then it’s possible he could still see a decent aav on his next contract.
Cam Fowler
Fowler is in his 16th season with the Ducks, and with all that suffering to his name, maybe with all that suffering to his name, he’ll finally be able to play for literally anybody else besides the Ducks in the near future. He’ll be 34 when his contract ends and if his offensive production remains around the 40-point mark he’ll have no problem landing another semi-decent contract when his current one expires.
Mattias Ekholm
Eklhom has found a second wind to his career in Edmonton. He’ll be fresh off his 36th birthday when the 2026 offseason starts, which doesn’t bode well for a long-term deal, but if he’s still got gas left in the tank some team will give him one last kick at the can for his nearly 1,000 games of experience.
Goaltending
Thatcher Demko
Demko may be one of the more underrated goalies in the NHL, but he’s pretty consistently in the top ten of most statistical categories. He signed a reasonable 5x$5 mil contract back in 2021 but if his play stays on the same trajectory he could very well double that cap hit since goalies are cashing in on $8-plus million aav deals in 2024.
Sergei Bobrovsky
The end of that seven-year, $10 million aav contract the Panthers signed back in 2019 is in sight. Hard to call it a bad deal since it ultimately landed the organization a Stanley Cup, but Bobrovsky will be 38 at the end if his current deal. Even if he can still go at a high level, expect both the cap and term to come way down, whether he closes his career out in Florida or joins whatever other Cup team is desperate for a solution in net in 2026.
Stuart Skinner
26-year-old Stuart Skinner is in a fascinating situation in Edmonton. On the whole, his numbers have been fairly mediocre, but good enough to hold down the fort for the top heavy forward group. Considering Edmonton’s track record of bums in the crease, Skinner may be the best they can do unless they find a serious upgrade elsewhere. Though with nearly two full seasons left to play before his contract is up, there’s plenty of time for this ship to turn in either direction, good or bad, for Skinner.
RFAs
Jason Robertson
25-year-old Jason Robertson signed a two-year, $7.75 million aav bridge deal that will carry him until 2026. It helped the Stars navigate the salary cap in the short-term and gives Robertson an even bigger chance to earn in a few years. If he’s still a 30-40 goal scorer in 2026 as a 27-year-old, he’ll be getting paid big time, be it from the Stars or someone else’s offer sheet.
Trevor Zegras
Even though it feels like Zegras has been around forever now, he’s only 23 years old. He’s been on the trade block for much of the last season, so it’s quite possible his next deal won’t come with the Ducks, but between injuries and sputtering play, it’s not looking good for him to get any kind of payday beyond his current $5.75 million cap hit.
Connor Bedard
It’s almost set in stone that Bedard will sign a long-term extension with the Blackhawks, but could you imagine another rebuilding team like San Jose throwing a gigantic offer sheet at him to steal him away for their own purposes? Unlikely, but a fun, chaotic thought nonetheless.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nbssports.com
brotherlypuck.com 