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Who Will Be The NHL’s Next Highest Paid Player?

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Auston Matthews recent extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs has earned him the title of highest-paid player in the NHL. His new deal doesn’t kick in until 2024-25, but at that point, he will make an average annual salary of $13.25MM (CapFriendly) per season for four years. Prior to his new deal, Matthews was the fourth highest-paid player in the game behind Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Artemi Panarin.

MacKinnon’s new eight-year $100.8MM deal kicks in this season which will make him the highest-paid player in the league at $12.6MM for this year. His actual salary is much higher than his cap hit at $16.5MM, but the final four years of his deal will back-dive to $9.9MM in salary. McDavid has three years left on his current deal with a cap hit of $12.5MM while Panarin’s deal also concludes in three seasons and pays him $11.642MM annually.

With Matthews having topped MacKinnon’s new extension by over $600K annually the question now becomes, who will be the NHL’s next highest-paid player?

Connor McDavid – McDavid is the obvious answer. He is arguably the best player in the game and undoubtedly the best player in the world with the puck on his stick. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native will be 29 years old when he reaches unrestricted free agency and could essentially ask teams for a blank check and fill in the maximum salary under the salary cap. That is if he remains the best player in the world. While it seems hard to believe there is a world in which McDavid isn’t the game’s most explosive player, three years is a long time, and in hockey, it can be an eternity. There is also another Connor who could be the one to top Matthews’ extension.

Connor Bedard – It seems crazy that Bedard has yet to play a minute in the NHL and he could conceivably be the next highest-paid player in the NHL. But it could happen. Bedard signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 17th and should be a lock to make their opening night lineup. He will become a restricted free agent in 2026, the same time that McDavid becomes a UFA. It is fair to wonder how Bedard will produce once he is playing against men in the NHL, especially given that he will be playing on a bad Blackhawks team that will have its struggles. But he dominated the WHL with 71 goals and 72 assists in 57 games and obliterated the competition at the World Junior Championships with nine goals and 14 assists in 7 games. He’s a phenom, and in three years he could be paid like one.

Leon Draisaitl – Draisaitl has been one of the best bargains in the NHL since signing his eight-year $68MM contract back in August of 2017. All he has done during his six years under this contract is score 50+ goals three times, top 100 points four times, and win a Hart Trophy as well as an Art Ross Trophy. At 27-years-old Draisaitl is coming off the best season of his career having posted 52 goals and 76 assists in 80 games.

All things considered, it seems likely that Draisaitl will top Matthews’ contract two seasons from now when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The native of Cologne, Germany will be 29 years old, and the salary cap should go up substantially between now and then positioning him to cash in big with any team of his choosing. Draisaitl will likely hold onto that distinction for just one season as McDavid and Bedard will be following right behind him and could top Draisaitl to earn the title of the highest-paid player in the NHL.

Edmonton Oilers Rank Last In Salary Cap Rankings

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Daily Faceoff has ranked the Edmonton Oilers last in salary cap efficiency. This comes as no surprise after the website began its annual salary cap rankings list and after a deep dive into the numbers determined that there isn’t a team in a worse situation financially than the Oilers. It isn’t a shock given the Oilers current salary cap woes. The team finds itself with just 21 players on the roster and only $382,499 in cap space. Though finishing dead last on the list is new, Edmonton ranked second last in last year’s version of the list.

Daily Faceoff’s ranking system looks at no-move clauses, dead cap space, the quality of long-term contracts, bargain contracts, and the good deals versus the bad ones. Unfortunately, based on those criteria, it is easy to see why the Oilers find themselves at the bottom of that list. Edmonton has several problematic contracts on their books, and while they have some bargains like Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The bad deals outweigh the great ones.

Darnell Nurse is a really good defenseman; he eats a ton of minutes for the Oilers and plays a lot of tough situations. However, he does suffer a lot of mental lapses, and at $9.25 million a season, he just doesn’t bring the offensive upside you would like to see in a defenseman making that kind of money. Nurse is also likely to wear down as the miles pile up on his body. Those difficult minutes require that he play with a ton of physicality. It could take its toll on the 28-year-old when he gets on the wrong side of 30.

Some of the other bad contracts on the Oilers are goaltender Jack Campbell at $5MM per season as well as third-line winger Warren Foegele and third-pairing defenceman Brett Kulak at $2.75 million each. The contracts come in addition to the nearly $2MM per year the Oilers are still paying on the James Neal buyout.

On the surface, these contracts don’t look like outrageous overpayments because all the players listed above are still functional NHLers. However, in the flat cap era Campbell, Foegele, and Kulak are all replacement-level NHLers who could have been replaced by other players on contracts of less than $1MM per season. Couple that with the mishandling of Nurse’s previous bridge deals and it all amounts to around $10MM in inefficient salary cap spending that could lead to big problems for the Oilers down the road when they need to offer extensions to McDavid, Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard.

Winnipeg Jets To Be Patient With Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele

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Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele have been in trade rumors all summer long. And Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe says that training camp isn’t putting any pressure on the Winnipeg Jets to find a deal. Wiebe says that the Jets don’t want to make a rash decision regarding their top center and goaltender, especially following the trading of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Scheifele’s former number-two, to the Los Angeles Kings.

Instead, Wiebe expects both Scheifele and Hellebuyck to attend training camp, where reporters and fans should be able to get a much better sense of what path forward the players may prefer. The team remains open to both trades and possible contract extensions, although the price of either option would be steep. How the Jets handle Hellebuyck and Scheifele’s situation will be very interesting to follow, as it could be a strong indicator of the team’s goals over the next few years.

There’s no denying the impact that Hellebuyck or Scheifele makes on a day-to-day basis. Hellebuyck ranks second in wins over the last five seasons, behind only Andrei Vasilevskiy, and his .916 save percentage ranks sixth among all goalies with 150 or more games played in that span. He won the Vezina Trophy only four seasons ago and finished third in Vezina voting this year, marking the fourth time he’s finished in the top five.

And while Hellebuyck has been a stone wall in net, Scheifele has been the team’s goal-scorer. He netted 42 goals in 81 games last season, his first time breaking the 40-goal mark. He’s reached 272 career goals, all coming with the Jets, placing him just 56 goals behind Ilya Kovalchuk’s franchise goal-scoring record. Scheifele also ranks second in all-time franchise scoring, with 645 career points. While the Jets have tended to spread around their ice time, Scheifele continues to operate confidently as the team’s top-line center.

The Winnipeg Jets aren’t necessarily up against the cap but keeping around a Vezina-caliber starter and 40-goal-scoring top-line center beyond this season will undoubtedly come at a rich price. For a team with a lot of questions looming, decisions around Hellebuyck and Scheifele will be telling.

East Notes: Kessel, Marchand, Reinhart

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Phil Kessel is looking for his next team after winning his third Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights. Many fans have hoped that his free agency could mean a possible reunion with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kessel spent four years of his 17-year career in Pittsburgh, winning Cups in his first two years with the club. But Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dave Molinari shares that a reunion is less than likely. Molinari shares that Pittsburgh’s current roster building is focused around fleshing out their bottom-six. And while Kessel, who scored 36 points in 82 games last year, may be able to provide some exciting bottom-six scoring, he doesn’t fit the checking-line style that Pittsburgh is targeting. The Hockey News’ Nick Horwat is similarly doubtful that Kessel is set for a Pittsburgh reunion, adding that Kessel doesn’t have the defensive acumen that new Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has prioritized.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins are entering unfamiliar territory as they begin a season without Patrice Bergeron. Marchand spoke extensively about what Bergeron’s absence means for the team. NHL.com’s Eric Russo says that the Bruins winger will need to take on a larger portion of the leadership load. But when asked about the likelihood that he could take on the next captaincy, Marchand said that he’s not thinking about it much and that, regardless of the next captain, the Bruins will need to collectively lift each other up to help match Bergeron’s impact.
  • Sam Reinhart is entering the final year of his contract and beginning to consider his future with the Florida Panthers. Reinhart has never been an unrestricted free agent, signing his most recent deal as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. But despite the freedom being a UFA provides, Reinhart says he’d like to stay in Florida. Speaking to the expiring contract, he said, “It is not something I stress over or lose sleep over too much. They know I want to be here, I know they want me here.”

Boston Bruins Reportedly Showing Interest In Shane Pinto

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Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now has shared that the Boston Bruins are expected to be interested in Ottawa Senators youngster Shane Pinto. The 22-year-old’s contract situation is becoming a bit of a saga, with a recent report claiming that the Senators and Pinto were still far apart on a new deal.

The Senators currently sit with a projected $895,953 in cap space, per CapFriendly. Pinto is coming off of a rookie entry-level contract that carried a $925K annual salary and cap hit. He’s unlikely to step back from that dollar amount in his second NHL contract, especially considering his rookie-year successes. After appearing in 17 games between 2020 and 2022, Pinto finally played his rookie season last year, netting 35 points while playing in all 82 games. This ranked him eighth in NHL rookie scoring, tied with Buffalo Sabres defender Owen Power.

But despite the admirable rookie scoring, Murphy reports that Pinto landing in trade conversations in rooted in Ottawa preferring Ridly Greig. Greig was taken in the 28th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, four spots higher than Ottawa selected Pinto in 2019. He’s one year younger than Pinto and played his first full professional season last year, splitting time between the NHL and AHL. In 20 NHL games, Greig tallied nine points while scoring an additional 29 in 39 AHL games.

But the rumored price for Pinto will be high, with Ottawa looking for a high-end prospect close to breaking the NHL roster. Murphy shares that options from Boston would likely be Fabian Lysell or John Beecher. Both players appeared with the AHL’s Providence Bruins last year, with Lysell scoring 37 points in 54 games and Beecher tallying 23 points in 61 games. Acquiring high-end prospects helps Ottawa bolster their roster while not taking on too much additional cap hit, which Murphy’s source says is a priority for the club.

Dylan Sikura Signs In Sweden’s Top League

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Dylan Sikura has signed a deal with Skellefteå AIK of the SHL. No details of the contract have been released yet but it’s an exciting move for a player who has spent the majority of the last five seasons in the AHL. Sikura, 28, has appeared in 250 AHL games over that span, recording 93 goals and 207 points. This includes 44 points in 69 games last season, splitting time between the Rockford IceHogs and San Diego Gulls, who he joined partway through the year.

Sikura shared that moving to Sweden has been a long-running goal, saying:

It feels incredible to have signed for Skellefteå. I have always been interested in playing in Sweden and when the opportunity came I was very interested. I have played with two guys who played in Skellefteå (Andreas Wingerli and Filip Roos) and they loved the city and the team. I remember they always spoke highly of it.

Unfortunately, Wingerli and Roos no longer play for Skellefteå. But the team isn’t void of former NHL talent. Pär Lindholm, Oscar Möller, and Oscar Lindberg are all also NHL and AHL veterans that now suit up for the Swedish club. The team also carries a slew of NHL prospects, including the 17th-overall selection in this year’s draft, Axel Sandin Pellikka.

Sikura is optimistic that his style can gel well with this mix of veteran talent and young potential, saying:

I like to see myself as a playmaker who likes to shoot as well. Throughout my career, the power play has been a big part of my game so I hope to be able to make it work when I transfer it to the big ice surface in the SHL as well. I think I can use my speed and understanding of the game to hopefully score a lot of goals.

Skellefteå AIK came just a few games away from an SHL championship last season, losing in the finals to the Växjö Lakers, who won their second title in three years. Sikura will look to help Skellefteå push for a long playoff run again this year, but hopefully with a better outcome.

Senators Sign Jake Sanderson To An Eight-Year Extension

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The Senators have taken care of another one of their top young talents, announcing that they’ve signed blueliner Jake Sanderson to an eight-year contract extension that kicks in for the 2024-25 campaign.  The deal carries an AAV of $8.05MM, paid in equal sums each season.  GM Pierre Dorion released the following statement about the signing:

Jake’s transition to the pro game has been flawless. He’s a very mature young man who demonstrates a routine and skillful ability to play important minutes with poise. An effortless skater who holds himself to a high standard, he has the talent to be one of the best all-around defencemen in the NHL for years to come. We’re very pleased to have another significant member of our core group of players under long-term contract.

Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported just yesterday that Sanderson had switched agents from Bartlett Hockey to CAA’s Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry.  Clearly, it didn’t take too long for his new representatives to work out a new deal.

The 21-year-old is coming off an impressive rookie campaign that saw him put up 32 points and 147 blocks in 77 games.  He also ranked second on the Sens in ice time, logging just shy of 22 minutes per game; only Thomas Chabot averaged more.  That performance helped Sanderson finish sixth in Calder Trophy voting.

Interestingly, Chabot’s deal almost certainly stood as a comparable in discussions.  He checks in at $8MM per season and while Sanderson has less NHL experience (just one season compared to two for Chabot when he signed his contract), the cap has gone up since then.  While Sanderson has the higher cap hit, his cap hit percentage (9.62) actually comes in a bit below Chabot’s agreement (9.82%).

Ottawa’s young core is all locked in around a similar price point with this extension.  Sanderson, Chabot, Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and Joshua Norris are all on long-term agreements ranging from an AAV of $7.95MM (Norris) on the low end to $8.35MM (Stutzle).  That gives them a strong foundation for the foreseeable future.  They now have nearly $74MM in commitments in place for the 2024-25 campaign to 14 players with Vladimir Tarasenko’s $5MM contract being the biggest one set to come off the books.

For the upcoming season, Sanderson will still be on the books at his entry-level rate of $925K plus performance bonuses of up to $1.85MM.  Cap space is at a premium for 2023-24 as they have less than $900K in room per CapFriendly with Shane Pinto (and prospect Egor Sokolov) still to re-sign.  Sanderson is likely to hit most, if not all, of his $850K of ’A’ bonuses so if the Sens can’t free up ample cap space to fit in Pinto’s new deal, they could be looking at overage penalties which would carry over to 2024-25.  That’s an extra pressure point Dorion will need to be mindful of as he crosses a key item off his to-do list with Sanderson’s deal, allowing him to focus on Pinto in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Dallas Stars

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Dallas Stars

Current Cap Hit: $83,817,829 (over the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Thomas Harley (one year, $863K)
F Wyatt Johnston (two years, $894K)
D Nils Lundkvist (one year, $925K)

Potential Bonuses
Lundkvist: $850K
Harley: $637.5K
Total: $1.4875MM

Johnston could have gone back to junior last season but it’s safe to say that Dallas made the right call with him as he potted 24 goals in his age-19 campaign.  If he can stick in their top six and take a step or two forward offensively, he’s a strong candidate to bypass a bridge deal, especially with a big-ticket one coming off the books at the same time that he needs his second contract.

Dallas paid a high price to get Lundkvist from the Rangers last season but he wound up only playing a limited role.  They’re banking on him taking a step forward but even so, he’s a strong candidate for a short-term second contract, one that could check in around the $1.5MM range.  At this point, it doesn’t seem too likely that he’ll hit his four ‘A’ bonuses.  The Stars are banking on Harley to make the jump full-time this season after being a regular in the playoffs.  With some good numbers in the minors, he could reach one or two of his three ‘A’ bonuses but from a contract standpoint, like Lundkvist, he’s likely heading for a bridge deal as well.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

D Gavin Bayreuther ($775K, UFA)
F Ty Dellandrea ($900K, RFA)
F Matt Duchene ($3MM, UFA)
D Jani Hakanpaa ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Joe Pavelski ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Craig Smith ($1MM, UFA)
F Sam Steel ($850K, RFA)
G Scott Wedgewood ($1MM, UFA)

Potential Bonuses
Pavelski: $2MM

Duchene was a late entrant to the market which likely didn’t help his cause but he landed in a good spot here.  In a more secondary role, he could thrive and in doing so, give the Stars some surplus value while better positioning himself for a longer-term agreement next summer.  Smith struggled last season between Boston and Washington, even clearing waivers at one point in December thanks to his contract.  He’s an interesting fit in the sense that he’s not a prototypical bottom-six forward but will be in that role here.  A bounce-back showing could give him a small bump next summer but not to the level of the $3.25MM he made before.

Pavelski’s fourth season with the Stars was almost as good as his third, one that saw him set career highs in assists and points.  He came up a bit shy of the point total but still finished third in scoring in a year that saw him turn 39.  Pavelski almost certainly left money on the table to sign what should be a team-friendly extension back in January as let’s face it, the market for a center producing close to a point per game is much higher than his guaranteed salary.  The structure of this agreement is notable as the bonuses are very easy to achieve – $1MM at 10 games played and another $1MM at 20.  Doing it that way allows Dallas to squeak him in on the books this year with his base salary but it’s safe to say they’re heading for an overage penalty.

Dallas basically had to push Dellandrea to take a one-year deal to make things work cap-wise.  He’ll have arbitration rights next summer though and if he progresses as expected, his AAV should shoot past the $2MM mark.  Steel has been non-tendered for two straight years now but gives Dallas some extra depth down the middle.  However, it’s clear he’ll need to find another gear offensively if he wants a shot at a seven-figure deal as his market value the last two summers hasn’t been strong.

Hakanpaa is the type of physical depth defender many teams covet and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a right-hand shot.  Dallas actually used him on the second pairing with some regularity last season and if he’s in that role again, doubling his current price tag won’t be out of the question, especially after seeing Radko Gudas get three years at $4MM per season earlier this summer.  Bayruether returns after spending a few years with Columbus and will push for the seventh spot on the depth chart.  This is a spot on their salary hierarchy that will need to stay near the minimum moving forward.

Wedgewood had his best season, albeit in a relatively limited role for a backup by current standards as he made just 21 appearances.  His track record isn’t strong (or long) enough to command the type of money that top backups on the open market get but another showing like last year could push him closer to the $2MM mark if he looks for top dollar.  Staying in Dallas, however, would likely mean needing to leave some money on the table.

Signed Through 2024-25

F Jamie Benn ($9.5MM, UFA)
F Evgenii Dadonov ($2.25MM, UFA)
F Radek Faksa ($3.25MM, UFA)
D Joel Hanley ($787.5K, UFA)
D Esa Lindell ($5.8MM, UFA)
G Jake Oettinger ($4MM, RFA)
D Ryan Suter ($3.65MM, UFA)

After seeing his production drop sharply over the last three years, Benn had a resurgent campaign, finishing second on the team in scoring.  It wouldn’t be fair to expect that to happen again – and the deal is still very much above-market – but it’s not quite the anchor it was long ago.  Faksa’s offense just hasn’t come around.  He’s a strong defensive center that’s above average at the faceoff dot but someone in that type of role should be making about a million less.  Gone are the days of the argument of offensive potential so it’s tough to see him beating this contract in 2025.  Dadonov did well after coming over in a late-season trade but his struggles with Montreal hurt his value, allowing the Stars to sneak in with a deal that’s more than reasonable for a middle-six option.

Lindell is another player whose scoring didn’t come around quite as much as Dallas would have hoped for.  He’s still capable of logging big minutes and anchoring the penalty kill so they’re still getting a reasonable return but they’re probably expecting a bit more from him and he’ll need to produce more if he wants to land a big pay increase two years from now.  They also were probably expecting a bit more from Suter, a player who shouldn’t be logging 20 minutes a night at this stage of his career but was pressed into that spot frequently.  It’s hard to see him signing another contract at this point – he’ll be 40 when this deal is up – but if he does, it should be for considerably less.  Hanley has been a depth defender for the last few years and will continue to hover around the NHL minimum moving forward unless he can establish himself as a full-time third-pairing player.

Oettinger’s bridge contract already looks like a bargain as he was one of the top goalies in the league last season.  The backloaded structure guarantees an increase to $4.8MM for his qualifying offer (which also carries arbitration eligibility) but if he has two more years like this, he’ll be well-positioned to become one of the top-paid netminders in the league.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Mason Marchment ($4.5MM, UFA)
F Jason Robertson ($7.75MM, RFA)

Robertson is on the non-traditional bridge contract, a four-year agreement that bought out only RFA years while still having team control when it expires.  At that point, it’s going to take a substantial offer to get him on a long-term agreement.  Robertson will be owed a $9.3MM qualifying offer (plus arbitration eligibility) but it will take a million or two more if he continues on his current trajectory.  Marchment, a late-bloomer, took a step back last season while dealing with injuries once again.  There’s a power forward premium in his deal but they’d still like to see him closer to the 40-point mark to get a good return on this deal and set him up for a similar-sized agreement in 2026.

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Coyotes Invite Ryan Dzingel And Peter DiLiberatore To Training Camp

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With training camps on the horizon, the Coyotes are the latest team to get in on PTO season.  CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve invited winger Ryan Dzingel and defenseman Peter DiLiberatore to camp when it gets underway later this month.

Dzingel is a player that many will be familiar with, including in Arizona where he spent part of the 2021-22 campaign.  The 31-year-old has seen action in 404 games over parts of seven NHL campaigns, the bulk of which came back with Ottawa who drafted him in the seventh round back in 2011.  He has had some success offensively at the top level, collecting 87 goals and 101 points but in his last couple of seasons, he has been limited to more of a depth role.

Dzingel didn’t see any NHL action last season.  He cleared waivers in training camp back in October when he was with Carolina and suffered a long-term back injury just nine games into his campaign with AHL Chicago.  While he was able to return, he was limited to just 22 games in total where he notched a pair of goals along with nine assists.

As for DiLiberatore, the 23-year-old has spent his first three professional seasons at the minor league level.  He split last season between the AHL and ECHL affiliates for Pittsburgh and Vegas, combining to pick up two goals and seven assists in 53 games.  A sixth-round pick by the Golden Knights in 2018, he was moved to the Penguins as part of the Teddy Blueger deal at the trade deadline but was non-tendered back in June.

Both players will likely be looking for a two-way deal at this point to catch on with Arizona’s AHL affiliate in Tucson.  With the Coyotes kicking off the preseason in a little over two weeks with a pair of games in Australia, they’ll get a chance to make an early impression.  Once Arizona officially terminates Liam Kirk’s deal tomorrow, they’ll have three open contract slots at their disposal although Jan Jenik remains a restricted free agent and could potentially fill one of those despite his reported trade request.

Philadelphia Flyers Expected To Sign Morgan Frost

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Sept. 7: Philadelphia has officially announced a two-year contract for Frost.  The deal is indeed a $4.2MM package that carries an AAV of $2.1MM.

The Philadelphia Flyers are expected to sign their last remaining restricted free agent, Morgan Frost, to a two-year contract, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones said last weekend the two sides were working toward a resolution.  The deal, which carries a $2.1MM AAV, breaks down as follows, per CapFriendly:

2023-24: $1.45MM base salary, $350K signing bonus
2024-25: $2.4MM base salary (this amount also represents his qualifying offer in 2025)

The deal will keep Frost in Philadelphia through the 2024-25 season, at which point he will be in his last season of RFA eligibility. He’ll also have arbitration rights that time around, something he didn’t have on his side this summer.

Frost, 24, is coming off a breakout 2022-23 season, which saw him post 46 points in 81 games, finishing fourth on the Flyers in scoring. He finally arrived as a full-time top-nine NHL center after a rocky development path since turning pro in 2019. The team’s 27th overall pick in 2017, Frost missed nearly all of the 2020-21 campaign due to a shoulder injury but has rebounded nicely since then. Last season was also his first healthy campaign spent exclusively in the NHL, avoiding any minor-league assignments.

It was a particularly strong end to the season for Frost, who had eight goals and nine assists in the final 20 games of the campaign. He also managed to keep his head above water defensively – his 47.9% Corsi For at even strength was fifth among full-time Flyers forwards last season, and he did so while receiving some heavy minutes, averaging a career-high 16:21 per game. However, Frost struggled in the faceoff dot, posting a 45.8% win rate.

In the unlikely scenario that Frost stagnates in his development, $2MM is still well below market value for what he brought last season. Flyers general manager Daniel Brière doled out a slightly richer deal to budding shutdown center Noah Cates earlier in the summer, signing him for two years at a $2.65MM cap hit. Using the 24-year-old Cates as a direct comparable, it’s clear why Frost held out this long into the summer in hopes of landing a more prosperous bridge deal. This deal could also set the table for Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto, who remains without a contract for this season and posted similar production to Frost in 2022-23 (20 goals, 35 assists in 82 games).

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