In today’s NHL rumour rundown, we look at the Vancouver Canucks’ hesitancy when it comes to Kiefer Sherwood‘s next deal. We also look at how much the Colorado Avalanche may need to pay to get Cale Makar‘s extension done next offseason. Finally, Ilya Samsonov is heading back to Russia to play in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Sherwood & Canucks Not Talking Extension Yet
The Canucks signed Sherwood to a two-year deal in 2024, and given how he has performed in his 90 games with the team, he has greatly outperformed his $1.5 million annual salary. Sherwood’s biggest asset when joining them was his physicality. Sherwood took his hitting to a whole new level last season, setting a new single-season record of 462, which is 79 more than the previous record.
He put up solid points, too, setting a career-high of 40. Sherwood was better than his contract showed, and in 2025-26, he is off to a blazing start, tied for the league lead in goals, and the deal looks even better.
Unfortunately for the Canucks, the deal is up at the end of this season, and if they are going to want to keep Sherwood around, it is going to cost them a lot more money by the looks of things.
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Very predictably, the Canucks are reportedly not looking at contract extensions right now. Sherwood is one of the top players in the league to start the season and has all of the leverage. The price could be astronomical if they looked to get a deal done now.
On Inside Sports, David Pagnotta had stated that the Canucks are hesitant to get into those conversations right now, as they aren’t sure they are willing to hand out the $5 million or more it may cost to get the deal done.
Makar’s Next Contract Set To Be Gigantic
On both The FAN and 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman spoke about Makar’s next contract now that the Avalanche have gotten Martin Necas’ deal done. Friedman stated, “I really think if Cale Makar comes in under [Kirill] Kaprizov, that is a huge victory for the Avalanche.”.
He then went on to talk about how, as far as he knows, everything is good and everybody is happy, though he hasn’t directly asked. The Avalanche have some big contracts already, but they are committed to keeping Makar in town.
Since the big extension for Nathan MacKinnon, every single roster move and transaction has been with Makar’s next contract in mind.
On the podcast, Friedman noted that the way a negotiation like this was going to happen was going to start with the Avalanche saying something along the lines of, “We all know you are worth [x] amount, but would you consider taking less than that for the sake of the team?”.
Makar is going to be able to ask for whatever he wants, and he will get it. For the sake of winning, there is a very good chance that his deal comes in below the maximum allowable 20 percent of the cap, but the question is going to be, how much does he leave on the table?
Samsonov Returns to Russia
After being selected 22nd overall in 2015, there were a lot of eyes on Samsonov as a prospect with the Washington Capitals. Eventually, the Capitals had a choice to make and opted not to qualify him, which would have cost north of $3 million, and he ended up with the Toronto Maple Leafs at $1.8 million.
Samsonov had a great start to his Maple Leafs tenure, but in his second season, he wasn’t able to get the results he did in the year prior. He then went unsigned by the Leafs and ended up with the Vegas Golden Knights last season.
Samsonov was unable to secure an NHL contract this past offseason and has not signed a two-year deal with HC Sochi, the league announced. While this doesn’t necessarily mark the end of Samsonov’s NHL career, the Russian goaltender could stick around in the KHL rather than return to the NHL.
