NHL general managers prioritize salary cap efficiency to extend their team’s contention window. While players on entry-level contracts can make valuable contributions, their impact is typically limited. Signing a talented player to a long-term contract in the hopes of their continued development into an elite player can be the key to success. Hot and cold streaks can significantly impact a player’s value throughout the season, and depending on when to sign the player during that streak could play a significant factor in discussion stages.
Related: 2023 NHL Free Agency Tracker
While some get their extensions midseason due to the fear of potentially waiting till the offseason and getting more significant pay from another team, some wait till the end of the season and see how the team’s and individual performance play out. In this instance, we will see some of the most note-worthy performances in the salary cap era of players who left it all on the ice and were generously awarded for their efforts. Some of these contracts, to this day, are great as the team and players are performing well; for others, it’s up to you to decide.
Johnny Gaudreau, Left Wing, Columbus Blue Jackets
Signed July. 13, 2022: Seven years, $68,250,000 (9.750M cap hit)
Coming off back-to-back down years where previously, in the 2018-19 season, Johnny Gaudreau put up 99 points, Gaudreau was looking to bounce back in the final year of a six-year extension he signed in 2016, and boy, was it a season to remember. Gaudreau and the Flames would finish the 2021-22 season with 111 points and lead the Pacific Division. He would finish the season with 40 goals and 75 assists for 115 points, which tied him with Leon Draisaitl for second in the league for most points. He would finish fourth in Hart Trophy voting and unfortunately fall to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the 2022 Playoffs (4-1). The offseason is one to remember for Flames fans as the team hit a massive turning point.
Gaudreau entered free agency and was met with high praise on the open market after finishing with 115 points, though for general manager at the time Brad Treliving, it was more challenging than expected to get him back. After numerous reports of where he was interested in going and how hard it was for the Flames to get him back, Gaudreau chose the Columbus Blue Jackets and signed his seven-year contract there. His time in Columbus hasn’t been the greatest. Last season, he finished with 74 points, but the team finished last in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference. This season has not looked good either, as they currently stand last in the Metropolitan Divison, and Gaudreau is on pace for 52 points, his lowest since the 2020-21 season.
Nazem Kadri, Center, Calgary Flames
Signed Aug. 18, 2022: Seven years, $49,000,000 (7.0M cap hit)
After a turbulent time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nazem Kadri’s move to the Colorado Avalanche could not have been any better for his career. His first two seasons were rather average for Kadri, where he would finish for over 30 points both seasons, though it was year three and the final year of the contract he signed in Toronto. Not only did his offense but his defense shine during the 2021-22 season. Kadri would finish the season with 28 goals and 59 assists for 87 points, finishing third in team points. The Avalanche would go on to win the Stanley Cup that postseason, and Kadri, while not being the MVP of the playoffs, played a significant factor as he would finish with seven goals and eight assists for 15 points and net a crucial game-winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lighting in the finals to put the Avalanche up 3-1 in the series.
Kadri would go into the offseason with momentum and be offered the most prominent contract he ever signed with the Calgary Flames. After losing Gaudreau and eventually trading Matthew Tkachuk for Jonathan Huberdeau, Calgary saw Kadri as the next piece in the retool. Like Huberdeau, Kadri’s time in Calgary has been rough, even going as far as trade rumors with one year in. Kadri finished last season with 24 goals and 32 assists for 56 points as the Flames went on to miss the playoffs. This season hasn’t been going so well for the Flames; though he is on pace for 65 points, the Flames’ play leading to the trade deadline could play a factor in the rest of the season.
Jeff Skinner, Left Wing, Buffalo Sabres
Signed June. 7, 2019: Eight years, $72,000,000 (9.0M cap hit)
After being traded from the Carolina Hurricanes, the team that drafted him, Jeff Skinner, was in the final year of a contract extension he had signed, heading to a new team, and he didn’t disappoint. Skinner finished the 2018-19 NHL season matching his career-high 63 points while scoring 40 goals and 23 assists. Skinner would sign this massive extension, which would go sour for the Sabres, but the contract has recently started to look more bearable.
The following two seasons for Skinner would be one to look away from, as he would finish with his lowest total career production in those two seasons. 2019-20 finished with 14 goals and 23 points, and 2020-21 finished with even lower totals of 7 goals and 14 points. However, things have started to look bright for Skinner and this extension. Skinner matched his career-high 63 points to finish the 2021-22 season and broke out for a career-high 82 points to finish the 2022-23 season. With 33 points to start the 2023-24 season, Skinner is on pace to finish with 60 points on a reasonably disappointing Sabres team.
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Contract extensions can be integral to a team’s future, and not willing to lose a potential cornerstone of the franchise to help keep the team winning. Determining when you pay somebody during a contract year could be crucial; who knows how their play could be in the future?
