The NHL salary cap is projected to rise to about $92.5 million for the 2025-26 season amid record-breaking revenues. Naturally, as the cap goes up, player salaries do, too.
The NHL operates in a hard-cap environment, which means every penny counts. But the uncertainty of the upcoming cap increase and the expiry of the current collective bargaining agreement following the 2025-26 season means all parties must tread more carefully.
Here’s the latest on the NHL’s biggest pending UFAs in the Western Conference entering the summer of 2025. Salary information is according to PuckPedia.
Mikko Rantanen, RW, Colorado Avalanche
Current cap hit: $9.25 million
The longer it takes for the Avalanche to re-sign Rantanen, the more worrisome the situation gets.
Rantanen has been indispensable to the Avalanche’s success in recent seasons. The word from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun is Rantanen is looking for a contract worth around $14 million per season. That would tie him with Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl as the most valuable player in the NHL based on cap hit.
When Auston Matthews signed his current deal with the Maple Leafs, it represented a little over 15.06 percent of the entire cap. Should Rantanen receive his asking price, assuming a $92.5-million cap ceiling, it would be equivalent to 15.14 percent of the cap.
For the Avs, the cost may be well worth it. The Avalanche invest a lot of their cap into their top six forwards and top four defensemen – none of them have a cap hit lower than $4 million. Coach Jared Bednar also really rides his best horses. Nathan MacKinnon and Rantanen rank first and third, respectively, in ice time per game among NHL forwards.
The Avalanche can offer more total money than anyone because they can offer one more year, but allocating so much cap to a small group of players is the same philosophical debate the Leafs had (and continue to have) with their ‘Core Four.’ The difference is the Avs have proven they can win with this group of players.
There is no word of an extension between Rantanen and the Avalanche, and should he switch teams – it still seems farfetched at the moment – it will present a seismic shift across the league landscape. For now, the Avs’ focus is making a deep run in the playoffs.
Related: Will The Avalanche Be Able to Re-Sign Rantanen While Keeping Their Core Intact?
Brock Boeser, RW, Vancouver Canucks
Current cap hit: $6.65 million
Goal-scorers get paid, and Boeser has a 40-goal season under his belt, one of just 35 players to accomplish the feat over the past five seasons. Boeser has stated his desire to stay, though management doesn’t seem as enthusiastic, at least not publicly.
Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos speculated that Boeser is looking for a max-term deal worth $8 million per season, not unlike the eight-year, $70-million contract Travis Konecny signed this past summer, and Konecny has never scored 40 goals.
There is some debate about whether Boeser is a perennial 40-goal scorer or just an occasional 40-goal scorer when he manages to stay healthy and get a little more puck luck. While his two-way play has improved, it’s hard to justify an $8-million price tag for Boeser when he’s not scoring goals because he doesn’t affect the game with his other skills nearly to the same degree. He’s on pace for 30 goals this season.
The Canucks have been winning games, but the top of their lineup is rather thin. They’re already looking for another top-six forward, and losing someone of Boeser’s caliber compounds the problem. The Canucks are more than likely making the playoffs, and they’ll need Boeser’s scoring prowess.
Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford has proven quite ruthless in shipping out players if he doesn’t see their long-term value with the club, but there aren’t a lot of players available at the moment who can offer what Boeser provides.
The Canucks are having an up-and-down season, and extending Boeser seems secondary to figuring out how Elias Petterson and J.T. Miller can work together.
Related: Could A Rift Between Canucks’ J.T. Miller And Elias Pettersson Lead To A Trade?
Mikael Granlund, C, San Jose Sharks
Current cap hit: $5 million
Granlund has aged like fine wine. He’s turned into a reliable center when neither the Wild nor Predators could decide if he was better on the wing or in the middle, and he’s on pace for a career season at 32 years old.
His strong play has put him in a position to cash in big one last time. To date, he has never signed a contract longer than his current four-year pact.
There are good reasons for the Sharks to keep or trade Granlund, who has no trade restrictions in his contract. There has been no news on a potential extension, and there’s no doubt the absolute worst move for the Sharks would be to walk him to free agency. Even if, by some Sharknado-level force of nature, the Sharks find themselves in a playoff spot, this is not the time to sacrifice a long-term strategy for risky, short-term gains.
Keeping Granlund ensures they have a veteran center who can continue to shelter and mentor Macklin Celebrini. We’ve seen firsthand with Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks how tough this league can be for young centers if they’re not properly insulated, and Granlund’s ability to play the wing adds a lot of roster flexibility.
Trading Granlund, however, would keep the Sharks on track in their rebuild. They’ve improved by leaps and bounds, but this team will be led by Celebrini and Will Smith (and possibly Thomas Bordeleau) down the middle for seasons to come, not Granlund.
Related: NHL Calder Trophy Tracker: Celebrini, Michkov And Hutson Begin To Separate
Jamie Benn, LW, And Matt Duchene, RW, Dallas Stars
Current cap hits: $9.5 million for Benn, $3 million for Duchene
Benn set a new franchise record and played his 1,143rd as a Star on Dec. 18. Benn is Mr. Dallas Star, and not only is he 72 points shy of becoming the 49th player to score 1,000 points with a single franchise, but he’s also the fourth-longest tenured captain behind Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Gabriel Landeskog.
Back in October, Benn reportedly turned down talks to discuss an extension, intending to play out the season, but it’s really hard to fathom Benn playing anywhere else.
If he returns to the Stars, it’ll likely be a short-term contract at a huge discount to his current $9.5-million cap hit, and that doesn’t sound too difficult to accomplish. Benn returns to a team that will remain very competitive for seasons as he searches for his first ring, and the Stars retain their captain at a discount.
The more costly contract will be Duchene’s. Following a surprising buyout by the Predators, Duchene has been excellent with the Stars on a secondary scoring role, though it was a little curious that coming off a 65-point season, the Stars and Duchene only agreed to a one-year deal.
Duchene will turn 34 in January, and this might be his last chance to cash in on a big contract. However, he’s signed two of them before, and neither panned out.
Duchene said money was not the No. 1 factor when he signed the one-year extension with the Stars, and perhaps that still holds true. Like Benn, he’s still searching for his first Cup. Staying with the Stars would be the most logical decision. He had the longest playoff run of his career with them last season, and there are no guarantees moving to a new team would lead to more individual or team success.
So far, there has been no word on an extension for Duchene as the Stars prioritize their Cup quest.
Related: NHL Power Rankings: Each Team’s Ultimate Wish On Their Holiday List As Capitals Soar To No. 1
Nikolaj Ehlers, RW, And Neal Pionk, D, Winnipeg Jets
Current cap hits: $6 million for Ehlers, $5.875 million for Pionk
If you needed proof that contract years give players more juice, look no further than Ehlers. The Danish right winger is on pace for his best season yet, but there are legitimate questions about whether he has a future with the Jets.
There doesn’t seem to be the same kind of urgency to get Ehlers signed as they did with Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, a hint that the Jets don’t see Ehlers as part of their core.
Now in his 10th NHL season and already proven that he’s a legitimate top-six winger, it’s curious that Ehlers has only averaged more than 17 minutes per game just twice. The analytics rate Ehlers as an elite play-driver, but no matter if it’s Paul Maurice, Rick Bowness or Scott Arniel behind the bench, he never seems to get the ice time his biggest supporters believe he should.
Pionk is also on pace to have a career season, and it seems he is likelier between the two to return to the Jets. I don’t know if losing their entire right-side defense in Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers in one summer left them traumatized or not, but they might really want to hang onto Pionk. He’ll be hard to replace, either internally through their prospect pool or via trade and free agency.
The Jets’ dilemma is they need Ehlers and Pionk for their playoff run. Letting them leave via free agency would leave gaping holes in their lineup, and those holes will be difficult to replace via trade because the Jets have always been reluctant to make risky trades involving futures. Winnipeg is also not perceived to be a desired destination by free agents.
There probably won’t be much surprise if Ehlers leaves in free agency since both sides never seemed to embrace each other fully, but allowing Ehlers and Pionk to walk is something the Jets may not afford to happen if they wish to keep their competitive window open.
Related: Bridge Deals That Burn: Four NHL RFA Defensemen Are In Line For Big Raises
Other Notables
Taylor Hall, LW, Chicago Blackhawks ($6 million cap hit)
Frank Vatrano, LW, Anaheim Ducks ($3.65 million cap hit)
Gustav Nyquist, RW, Nashville Predators ($3.185 million cap hit)
Jeff Skinner, LW, Edmonton Oilers ($3 million cap hit)
Jonathan Drouin, LW, Colorado Avalanche ($2.5 million cap hit)
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