The NHL world is still buzzing over center Connor McDavid's two-year contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers. His two-year, $25-million deal stunned most observers.
Despite Kirill Kaprizov signing an eight-year, $136-million extension with the Minnesota Wild last week, most observers agreed it wouldn't affect McDavid's negotiations with the Oilers. They were right, but not completely in the way they expected.
It was believed that McDavid, 28, sought a salary worthy of a player of his caliber, while leaving some money on the table to give the Oilers some salary-cap flexibility to maintain a Stanley Cup contender.
Most observers anticipated the next contract for the Oilers' captain would come in between two and four years, but the average annual value was assumed to be between $16 million and $18 million. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman was among the few who predicted it would be lower, but not even he guessed that it would be the same $12.5 million as his current contract.
It's no coincidence that the Oilers announced that defenseman Jake Walman agreed to a seven-year extension worth $7 million annually soon after McDavid's deal was reported. Without the latter's extension, the Oilers might've had difficulty getting the 29-year-old Walman under contract. Mattias Ekholm also signed a three-year contract extension on Wednesday with a cap hit of $4 million, a drop from his current $6.25-million cap hit.
Soon after Kaprizov re-signed with the Wild, pundits predicted his new contract would affect other stars eligible for UFA status next summer.
Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Star Kyle Connor To Massive Eight-Year ContractThe Winnipeg Jets re-signed star left winger Kyle Connor to the richest contract in franchise history.
Winnipeg Jets left winger Kyle Connor signed an eight-year extension worth an average annual value of $12 million. Significant raises could be in line for other players, such as Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, Los Angeles Kings winger Adrian Kempe, Colorado Avalanche right winger Martin Necas and Buffalo Sabres power forward Alex Tuch.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic believes some NHL teams could use McDavid's new contract to make the argument that their stars should follow the Oilers captain's example and accept less money to help the team win. However, he believes most player agents will argue that McDavid's situation was unique, involving a player in a class by himself.
Look no further than Sidney Crosby for a good example. The Pittsburgh Penguins' captain has been underpaid for years, partly because of his superstition over his No. 87 resulting in him accepting an average annual value of $8.7 million since 2008-09, and partly because he was on an unusually long contract (12 years), the kind that are no longer available due to contract term limits imposed since 2013-14.
During those 12 years of Crosby's previous contract, player salaries have steadily climbed. Today, Cap Wages indicates that there are 45 active NHL players with higher AAVs than the Penguins' longtime superstar.
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