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With Patrik Laine's contract se to expire, the Montreal Canadiens will gain major salary-cap relief in 2026. Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Cap space was king during the NHL’s flat-cap era in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Many teams around the league were navigating tricky cap crunches during that time. Good players routinely became available on the trade market because of these financial constraints, and the small group of teams that both had cap space and were in a team-building phase where buying made sense were able to take advantage of unique opportunities.
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Broadly speaking, there was a ruthless, almost obsessive focus on how much bang for the buck teams were getting on every player’s contract. Teams with multiple overpriced contracts on their books faced an uphill battle to field a contender-quality team that could fit under the stagnant cap.
Those dynamics have changed now that we’re in the early stages of a skyrocketing salary cap. Cap space on its own isn’t as valuable a weapon as it used to be — the majority of teams had significant spending power last summer (which means a more competitive buying market) and the pool of quality players available on the free-agent and trade markets was underwhelming.
Ahead of next summer, a handful of up-and-coming teams will have newfound money to play with. It will be really interesting to see how these clubs allocate those extra funds. Will they pursue potentially risky opportunities on the market just for the sake of spending that money? Will they show restraint and discipline? Are there other, more creative ways they can leverage that cap room?
In this piece, we’ll dive into teams that have overpriced contracts expiring this summer, and how these teams could potentially exercise this new cap flexibility.
Inefficient contracts expiring: Nick Foligno ($4.5 million), Connor Murphy ($4.4 million), Shea Weber ($7.86 million), Laurent Brossoit ($3.3 million), Jason Dickinson ($4.25 million), Sam Lafferty ($2 million)
Dead cap reduction: TJ Brodie’s buyout cap hit shrinks from $3.2 million to $258,333
Projected cap space (assuming a $104 million ceiling): $54.7 million (14 players signed)
Nearly $30 million will be opening up for the Blackhawks next summer, if you combine the expiration of overpaid veteran contracts, injured players (Weber and Brossoit) and the reduction of Brodie’s buyout cap hit.
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According to PuckPedia, the NHL’s 2026-27 salary cap floor is expected to be around $76.9 million. The Blackhawks, who currently have less than $50 million in cap commitments for next season, would need to spend an additional $27.5 million just to reach the floor next year.
Chicago’s first priority should be to extend pending restricted free agent Connor Bedard to as long-term a deal as possible. Bedard is in the middle of a monster breakout year, having scored 25 points in his first 16 games. It’s difficult to predict exactly how much his next contract will cost because RFA contracts are changing rapidly in this growing cap world, and we don’t know how many points Bedard will finish the season with.
Connor Bedard’s league rankings at 5v5 over the last six games, per Natural Stat Trick:
– Tied for 5th in goals
– T-4th in assists
– T-2nd in primary assists
– T-1st in points
– T-6th in shots on goal
– 4th in shot attempts
– T-1st in scoring chances
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) November 6, 2025
Roughly speaking, a long-term Bedard extension should start with a double-digit cap hit, especially since he’s comfortably outproduced Logan Cooley, who recently signed an eight-year, $80 million extension. However, even if you guesstimate that Bedard’s next deal will be between $11 and $13 million AAV, the Blackhawks will still have to spend an additional $14.5-16.5 million or so just to reach the cap floor.
Chicago only has five players over the age of 25 under contract for next year, so adding established veterans will be important. It would make sense to re-sign a quality pending UFA such as Ilya Mikheyev, who has quietly been one of the club’s best two-way wingers.
The dream scenario would be to land a co-star for Bedard to play with next summer. Andre Burakovsky has meshed well alongside Bedard in a top-line role, but most No. 1 centers have a top-flight winger on their line as well.
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Chicago was cautious and conservative in deploying its cap space last summer, but next offseason could be different. The Blackhawks are showing legitimate progress this season, and internally, GM Kyle Davidson may want to push for the team to contend for a playoff spot.
It will be interesting to see if they dip into their treasure chest of draft picks and prospects to acquire win-now help next summer, similar to what the Montreal Canadiens did with the Noah Dobson trade. Or perhaps they could take a similar approach to the Anaheim Ducks last summer, where they preserved their assets but bought low on veterans such as Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba, while also dipping into the free-agent market to land Mikael Granlund.
Inefficient contracts expiring: Ben Chiarot ($4.75 million), Justin Holl ($3.4 million), Erik Gustafsson ($2 million)
Dead cap reduction: Justin Abdelkader’s $1.06 million buyout cap hit expires
Projected cap space: $42.7 million (14 players signed)
Detroit’s trio of overpaid blue-line contracts will all expire at the end of this season.
Holl and Gustafsson were such poor fits that they’re currently buried in the minors. Chiarot has been a serviceable veteran, but he’s overmatched playing on the top pair and isn’t worth his $4.75 million cap hit, either.
Immediately, a large chunk of those savings should be invested toward a long-term extension for pending RFA Simon Edvinsson. AFP Analytics is projecting Edvinsson’s next deal could cost just under $8.5 million annually on a seven-year extension. That may sound high for a defenseman who isn’t a prolific point-producer, but RFA salaries have been rapidly inflating and there’s no denying Edvinsson is an excellent two-way defender with tremendous upside.
After Edvinsson, there will still be tons of cap flexibility for GM Steve Yzerman to weaponize. On the one hand, that should be exciting for an organization that’s taken a step this year and has a bright future. On the other hand, though, this front office has had a lot of free-agent misses. They’ve yet to prove they can spend their cap space efficiently.
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Needs-wise, Detroit could benefit from adding another top-four workhorse to help out Seider and Edvinsson (unless youngsters Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Albert Johansson take massive second-half steps). Up front, it’d be nice to add another top-six winger to take some offensive pressure off the big three of Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat. In net, the club will need to lock up a second goaltender to play alongside John Gibson as Cam Talbot is a pending UFA.
The way Yzerman allocates his cap room next summer will be a pivotal turning point for the organization. If he makes the right move or two, it could propel Detroit’s promising, up-and-coming core to the next level. Missteps, however, could lower their ceiling and potentially keep them stuck in the mushy middle.
Inefficient contracts expiring: Artemi Panarin ($11.64 million), Carson Soucy ($3.25 million)
Dead cap reduction: None
Projected cap space: $28.7 million (18 players signed)
GM Chris Drury will finally have some serious cap flexibility to wield next summer with Panarin’s mega contract expiring. Panarin is still an effective playmaker, but he’s slowed down considerably (10 points in 16 games, with all points coming in just five of those games) and clearly isn’t worth $11.64 million anymore.
The problem for the Rangers is that the stars that they were likely planning on chasing in free agency have re-signed with their respective teams already. They can’t rely on a game-changing player joining their franchise, which is very problematic, because without that kind of massive splash the Rangers’ outlook is grim. New York is mediocre now, and the core is only getting older with J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck all on the wrong side of 30. This team is shoddily constructed with too many holes — they can’t score goals, their bottom-four on the back end is below-average and their forward group will be even more bereft of offensive skill if Panarin walks.
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Newfound cap space isn’t going to get the Rangers out of mediocrity, especially when it’s in the hands of a management group with a poor track record. The more interesting storyline is whether the Rangers will accept reality and transition to some kind of retool, or whether they’ll make one more desperate push to keep the team’s win-now hopes alive with the extra money they’ll have at their disposal.
Inefficient contracts expiring: Patrik Laine ($8.7 million)
Dead cap reduction: None
Projected cap space: $27.9 million (16 players signed)
Across the league, agents I’ve talked to keep raving about how excellent the Habs’ cap situation is.
Montreal has tremendous long-term cost certainty, with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, Juraj Slafkovský and Kaiden Guhle all signed through at least the rest of this decade on contracts that should age very nicely. That situation is only bound to improve because the club’s overpriced deals are all expiring within the next couple of years, starting this summer with Laine. Laine can still do damage on a team’s power play, but his even-strength impact has been subpar and he’s struggled to stay healthy.
GM Kent Hughes can use some of this money to re-sign pending RFA Zack Bolduc to a long-term extension. Bolduc has cooled off after a hot start, but I’m a big believer in his skill set. The 22-year-old big-bodied winger scored 19 goals in 72 games as a rookie last year, despite averaging less than 14 minutes per game, and is physical, disruptive on the forecheck and an underrated two-way driver. AFP Analytics projects that a six-year deal would cost around $5.74 million annually, compared to a $3.2 million cap hit on a shorter, two-year bridge. It’s worth it for a team in Montreal’s position to pay the premium cap hit up front in order to secure further long-term cost certainty.
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In the summer of 2027, Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson’s overpriced contracts will expire. The timing of that is perfect because it’s the same offseason Ivan Demidov’s entry-level contract will expire.
Everything is lining up perfectly for the Habs cap-wise, and they’re still well stocked with tradeable assets due to their draft pick and prospects capital. That gives Hughes time over the next 18 months to seize on any other Dobson-like acquisitions for a top player on the trade market, perhaps starting with a second-line center upgrade behind Suzuki.
Inefficient contracts expiring: Matt Dumba ($3.75 million), Kevin Hayes ($3.57 million), Connor Clifton ($3.33 million), Danton Heinen ($2.25 million)
Dead cap reduction: Jack Johnson’s $916,667 buyout cap hit expires
Projected cap space: $48.8 million (15 players signed)
The Penguins will have to spend nearly $20 million next summer just to reach the cap floor. It’s possible that number could inflate further, too, if the club ends up selling any of Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell before the start of next season.
First and foremost, Pittsburgh will have to sort out Evgeni Malkin’s future. The 39-year-old center, who is off to a blistering start with 21 points in 17 games, is entering the final year of his $6.1 million AAV contract. Colleague Josh Yohe reported in the summer that the Penguins aren’t expected to make another contract offer to him, but we’ll see if Malkin and the team’s terrific start change any of that.
Beyond Malkin, the Penguins don’t have any notable pending UFAs or RFAs. That puts them in a very fascinating position, especially because they have boatloads of extra draft picks in the coming years that could always be leveraged as trade currency.
Will they dangle some of those assets to target intriguing young talent that emerges on the trade market? Will they replicate what the Sharks did with Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg a couple of years ago, where they paid those veterans a premium on AAV in free agency but kept the term modest? Would Pittsburgh consider turning to the offer-sheet route? Will they pursue more cap-dump opportunities like the Dumba and Clifton trades from this past summer, where they can gain significant draft capital for taking on undesirable contracts?
The Penguins don’t have anyone other than Ryan Graves under contract for the 2028-29 season, which means the organization has essentially zero long-term cap commitments. I’m really interested to see how GM Kyle Dubas will navigate this unique cap outlook.
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Harman Dayal is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in Vancouver. He combines NHL video and data analysis and tracks microstats as part of his coverage. Follow Harman on Twitter @harmandayal2
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