Kirill Kaprizov’s new monster contract set an NHL record and was expected to be the deal that broke the market for the other unsigned superstars to follow. The Minnesota Wild’s best player signed for eight years at $17 million AAV ($136 million), and it is the largest contract signed in NHL history.
There were some worries by certain organizations and excitement by others that many of the superstars with one year left on their deals would hit the open market and become free agents next summer. But while the Wild gave Kaprizov a blank check and he signed for a massive amount, there have since been three superstars who have signed for significantly less, making the Wild look pretty bad in comparison.
Oilers, Jets, Golden Knights Got Steals Compared to Wild
Kirill Kaprizov signed his extension, with one year left on his current deal at $9 million AAV, on September 30, 2025. The league was seemingly waiting for one pin to drop before some of the other superstars and stars would use the first number as a reference on contracts. Kaprizov’s didn’t seem like the right contract for players to compare to.
Connor McDavid took a very team-friendly deal for two years at $12.5 million AAV to stay with the Edmonton Oilers. That is the exact AAV he makes on his current deal. This is seen as a rare case since the Oilers’ captain has talked about winning being the most important thing since the start.
But McDavid’s contract is an outlier, not only because it’s a short-term deal, but because the best player in the world didn’t take any more money per year and also had a blank cheque to work with.
Following McDavid’s extension on October 6, 2025, Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets and Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights both signed before their seasons started on October 8, 2025. All three of them have one final year of their current deals before the new contracts kick in for the 2026-27 season.
Connor signed for $12 million AAV for eight years, a nice raise from his $7.142 million AAV deal. Eichel signed for $13.5 million AAV, up from his $10 million AAV deal. Both don’t break their teams, even with the salary cap rising significantly, but both superstars get what they deserve as two of the league’s top players that continue to show it.
Which Stars Follow the Signing Frenzy to Begin the Season
Just because Kirill Kaprizov’s $17 million AAV contract didn’t see superstars follow his path and sign crazy deals to put their teams at a disadvantage, it doesn’t mean the next tier of stars aren’t impacted. Connor would have been a great example had he taken $14 million AAV or more, but he kept his contract reasonable for a top line player who had 41 goals and 97 points last season.
But there are other star wingers, who don’t have the same impact on their teams as Kaprizov has on the Wild, but still put up plenty of points and are impactful pieces. Some of these players whose contracts are expiring after this season include Artemi Panarin, Martin Necas, Adrian Kempe, and Alex Tuch.
Panarin is already on one of the richest deals in the NHL with the New York Rangers with an $11.642 million AAV cap hit. While he’s 33 years old, plenty of money will be thrown his way by other teams if the Rangers don’t decide to keep him around. As a Russian who didn’t take a discount to sign in New York last time, he could be the most impacted by Kaprizov’s massive contract.
Necas, Kempe, and Tuch shouldn’t see extreme contract bumps up to Connor, but they will now be close, as David Pagnotta reported Kempe’s numbers in particular have increased recently.
Teams and fans will have to adjust to the new norm of contracts being much more lucrative than we’ve seen in recent years, with the cap going up, and more and more players are going to start getting $10+ million per year moving forward.
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