There is a new rhythm to NHL contract planning: before one record number settles in, another one is already on the board. For front offices, the fast-rising salary cap has turned long-range budgeting into a moving target, and the Columbus Blue Jackets have felt the squeeze as sharply as anyone.
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said the organization had to discard the five-year financial model it completed in February and start again because player salaries are accelerating so quickly. Columbus signed center Adam Fantilli on Sept. 24 to a six-year, $82.5 million contract carrying a $13.75 million annual cap hit, a figure that would have been almost unimaginable for a player at his stage only a short time ago.
Record contracts reset the board
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Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl established the previous high-water mark on Sept. 3, 2024, agreeing to an eight-year, $112 million deal worth $14 million per season. He was 28 at the time, with 850 regular-season points in 719 games and 108 playoff points in 74 appearances.
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Fantilli came in only $250,000 below Draisaitl’s annual figure. The 21-year-old had produced 67 goals and 140 points across 213 NHL games entering this season, without yet appearing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov then pushed the ceiling upward before this season, signing an eight-year extension at $17 million annually.
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On July 3, the Philadelphia Flyers signed Anaheim Ducks forward Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $18 million-per-season offer sheet. Anaheim matched it six days later.
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San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini reached a five-year agreement on July 29 with an $18.8 million average annual value.
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar took the market beyond $20 million on Aug. 28, signing for eight years at $20.4 million per season.
Oilers CEO and president Jeff Jackson recalled that Draisaitl’s representatives had predicted the deal would age well as the cap rose. At the time, $14 million was the League’s largest annual number. They were right, Jackson said.
Jackson described this offseason as the point at which the market finally burst open. Rising revenue, rapid cap growth, elite players reaching contract windows and the Carlsson offer sheet all contributed, in his view. Players have also become more willing to seek numbers that would have seemed out of reach in previous negotiations.
Columbus reshapes its payroll
Fantilli’s extension is only one part of Columbus’ calculation. Defenseman Zach Werenski, a Norris Trophy winner, can sign his next contract beginning July 1, and his price could move beyond $20 million per season.
With Fantilli secured and a major Werenski commitment looming, the Blue Jackets did not retain enough flexibility to meet the likely price for Kirill Marchenko, who was headed toward restricted free agency after this season.
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Columbus traded Marchenko to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept. 28.
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Forward Matthew Knies came back to the Blue Jackets as part of the return.
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Marchenko subsequently signed a six-year Toronto contract worth $12.5 million annually.
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Knies is under contract at a $7.75 million annual figure through the 2030-31 season.
Waddell said he still remembers losing sleep early in his career while negotiating over $5,000. Now, he noted, the arguments are measured in millions, and he expects the financial landscape to keep changing.
The next group is lining up
The current in-season salary cap is $104 million, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement allows an individual player’s average annual value to reach 20 percent of that figure. That places the present maximum at $20.8 million.
Quinn Hughes can sign a new deal with Minnesota at any point this season. If he remains unsigned after July 1, he can reach unrestricted free agency, opening the possibility of a bidding fight. Hughes won the Norris Trophy with the Vancouver Canucks in 2023-24 and was dealt to the Wild on Dec. 12, 2025.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, the reigning Hart Trophy winner, is also playing the final season of his current agreement. He can extend with Tampa Bay now or become an unrestricted free agent if no deal is completed.
Werenski, Edmonton captain Connor McDavid and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews become eligible to sign new contracts with their present clubs on July 1. With next season’s cap projected at $113.5 million, the individual limit would rise to $22.7 million annually.
If those players wait until the summer of 2028 and reach unrestricted free agency, a projected $127.5 million cap could place the maximum near $25.5 million. That is why Makar’s $20.4 million mark may not remain among the League’s five biggest cap hits for long.
Werenski said Makar’s agreement has established the market for defensemen approaching new deals. He called the development good for the League, for blue-liners and for players whose negotiations are approaching over the next couple of years.
Wild forward Matt Boldy said that $20 million would have sounded enormous three years ago, but now appears entirely reasonable.
Value contracts look different in a rising-cap NHL
Boldy is also part of the reason Minnesota can contemplate a Hughes extension while carrying Kaprizov’s $17 million cap charge. The 25-year-old is in Year 4 of a seven-year, $49 million contract with a $7 million annual value.
He recorded 42 goals and 85 points in 76 games last season, then opened this season with two goals and one assist in seven games through Thursday. Boldy signed during the pandemic-driven flat-cap period, when the cap was $83.5 million in the first year of his contract. It is expected to sit $30 million higher next season.
Since last season ended, 32 players have signed for more than Boldy’s $7 million annual figure. Thirteen of those players are 22 or younger, illustrating how aggressively clubs are now paying for projected growth rather than only past production.
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Washington Capitals forward Ryan Leonard: eight years at $10.5 million per season.
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Boston Bruins center Fraser Minten: seven years at $7.2 million per season.
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Vancouver Canucks defenseman Zeev Buium: eight years at $9.38 million per season.
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Anaheim Ducks defenseman Tristan Luneau: six years at $7.2 million per season.
Those are bets on the cap as much as they are bets on the players. What looks expensive against today’s production can become a favorable number once the cap catches up around it.
Canucks forward Brock Boeser said the changing figures reflect both the League’s growth and its expanding fan base over the past five years.
Cap growth will eventually cool
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman expects the extraordinary year-over-year increases to slow after the League fully recovers from the flat-cap years caused by the COVID-19 financial hit. He said that process should take roughly two more years, after which cap increases should more closely follow revenue growth.
Until then, teams will keep revising their spreadsheets, stars will keep testing the upper edge of the market, and middle-of-the-lineup players should see larger paydays as well. New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes noted that the top salary has changed four times in a year and expects the money to continue rising throughout NHL lineups.
