The 2025-26 NHL season is officially underway and as expected, it was a busy week around the league. Here’s a rundown of the week’s key stories.
Cooley Says No: More and more often, teams are now trying to lock up their top young players to max-term deals as soon as possible, a reasonable approach with the salary cap expected to jump quicker. The Mammoth tried that approach with center Logan Cooley, however, the center reportedly turned down an eight-year, $77MM extension offer. The 21-year-old had a strong sophomore year last season, tallying 25 goals and 40 assists in 75 games, showing that he’s well on his way to being the number one center of the present and future. The offer would have made him Utah’s highest-paid forward by a significant margin but it looks like he’s either hoping for a bigger offer (or one that isn’t as long term-wise) or will wait to see how things go this season in the hopes of an improved offer coming next summer.
Big Money For Connor: With Kirill Kaprizov coming off the market last week in a record-setting deal, another top winger won’t be testing free agency in July either. The Jets will be keeping winger Kyle Connor around for the long haul, inking him to an eight-year, $96MM extension, matching the deals given to Mikko Rantanen and Mitch Marner in recent months. Notably, Winnipeg broke their long-standing policy on not putting signing bonus money or a no-move clause in contracts in order to get the deal done. Connor is coming off a career year that saw him surpass the 40-goal mark for the second time in four years while also putting up 97 points. He now joins Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele as long-term mainstays that won’t be leaving anytime soon.
Bigger Money For Eichel: While Connor’s contract was big (one of the biggest in NHL history), it wasn’t even the biggest deal signed this week. That particular distinction belongs to Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, who signed an eight-year, $108MM extension that begins next season. The $13.5MM AAV will be the third-highest in the league behind only Kaprizov ($17MM) and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl ($14MM). Eichel found another gear offensively last season, collecting 94 points in 77 games and is averaging more than a point per game since Vegas acquired him back in 2021. Once the deal kicks in, he’ll pass Marner ($12MM) as the highest-paid player on their books while Vegas now has their top middleman locked up for the long haul.
Oilers Sign Four: Throughout the offseason, progress (or lack thereof) on Connor McDavid’s contract talks dominated the discussion with some wondering if this was going to drag into the season. While it took until the eve of the campaign, the captain decided to stick around, inking a two-year, $25MM extension. As the face of the franchise and one of the elite players in the league, it’s fair to say that McDavid left a lot of money on the table relative to the deal that Kaprizov received just days earlier. But by sticking with his current cap hit, McDavid is hoping that the extra flexibility can be used to make his team as strong as possible as they look to win a Stanley Cup title.
How have they spent that money? By keeping some of the back end intact. At the same time they announced the McDavid deal, they also signed defenseman Jake Walman to a seven-year, $49MM extension. A cap dump by Detroit in the 2024 offseason, Walman turned around his fortunes last season in San Jose and became a key part of Edmonton’s back end at the trade deadline, a role he’ll have with them for the long haul now.
More of the savings from McDavid’s deal also went to blueliner Mattias Ekholm, who received a three-year, $12MM extension. It’s a big discount from his current $6.25MM price tag (between Edmonton and Nashville) but it also reflects the fact he’ll be 36 when the contract begins. A top-four fixture now, that might not be the case at the end of the deal. However, he should still be an impactful piece for another couple of years. Meanwhile, they also added to their current roster, signing UFA forward Jack Roslovic to a one-year, $1.5MM contract. Following a 22-goal season, expectations were high in the summer for a multi-year deal but one to his liking never materialized. Instead, he’ll settle for this deal and hope to boost his value heading into free agency next summer on the heels of a season in Edmonton’s middle six.
Norris Out Again: Injuries have been an issue for Josh Norris for several years now, a reality that is now impacting the Sabres once again. He’s now set to miss a significant amount of time due to an upper-body injury. Acquired at the trade deadline last year in a package deal that sent Dylan Cozens to Ottawa, Norris suffered a season-ending injury in just his third game with Buffalo. Now, his fourth regular season appearance will see him missing extended time once again. The Sabres were counting on Norris – who managed 21 goals last season in just 56 games – to be a key contributor but now, he’ll be watching from the sidelines for the foreseeable future.
Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.
I’m thinking, That after the Kaprizov contract, The Wild will have a hard time finding trade partners for awhile. Minnesota is going to get the cold shoulder in the near future.
It seems a very long time ago that Jack Eichel was on the Sabres’ roster. Many fans soured on him because of his petulance. Many people forget that he asked to be moved long before his neck injury.
I think that time heals most wounds, and I find myself feeling happy for him. He’d never have had the level of success in Buffalo as he’s had in Vegas. The Sabres are better off with the cache of players they have in return (Tuch, Krebs, Greenway, and Östlund). Vegas got the better player, but Buffalo is easier to cheer for. And Jack seems to have found happiness.