There are big-name players whose contracts will expire following the 2025-26 season. Arguably, none are bigger than Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and Minnesota Wild left winger Kirill Kaprizov.
Even though the two forwards are in separate divisions and don’t share the same agents, they could affect the outcome of each other’s new contracts, for better or worse.
McDavid and Kaprizov have been eligible to sign new deals since July 1 but haven’t yet. However, whoever signs their contract extension first will likely set the table for the other star player.
McDavid, 28, already has 1,082 points in 712 regular-season games and 150 points in 96 playoff games. He’s won the Art Ross Trophy five times, the Ted Lindsay Award four times, the Hart Trophy three times, the ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy once and the Conn Smythe Trophy once. After back-to-back Stanley Cup final losses, he’s focused on winning it all multiple times.
Kaprizov, 28, has 386 points in 319 NHL games, and in only 25 playoff games, he’s put up 21 points.
It’s no surprise that both of these players will receive groundbreaking contracts and could set financial records in the NHL. But what remains unclear is how much these players will earn.
The current bar for the highest-paid NHL player by season is McDavid’s Oilers teammate, Leon Draisaitl, whose new deal carries a $14-million cap hit. There’s a great possibility that McDavid and Kaprizov will exceed that number, especially with the rising salary cap in consideration.
McDavid is considered the best player in the sport by some margin. With that, he’ll likely be paid as such, unless he takes a page out of Sidney Crosby’s book and accepts a lower-than-expected cap hit for the team.
Nonetheless, with Draisaitl’s $14-million cap hit to reach, McDavid will likely surpass that by a few million, possibly a range of $16 million to $18 million.
But what if Kaprizov and the Wild come to terms for a contract that pays him $15.5 million or $16 million per season? That could force the range for McDavid’s contract to go even higher, just out of respect for him being the best player in the NHL.
Furthermore, Wild owner Craig Leipold said an agreement between the team and Kaprizov is “not that far off,” according to The Athletic.
https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/mcdavid-talks-contract-and-oilers-my-belief-has-never-been-higher
In addition, this situation goes both ways. McDavid could be the one to restrict Kaprizov’s contract if GM Stan Bowman and the Oilers put pen to paper quicker than the Wild and GM Bill Guerin.
If Edmonton’s captain were to take a relatively team-friendly deal, between $14 million and $16 million, that would likely force Kaprizov to cash in a lower cap hit than his camp might’ve planned initially.
Of course, there are other factors that go into each player’s situation, and one player signing first won’t be the only basis for the next player’s contract.
Based on some calculations and assumptions done in The Hockey News’ 2025 Money & Power issue, a Wild player pays a higher percentage of their contract in taxes than in Edmonton (47.91 percent to 47.01 percent).
Kaprizov’s agent, Paul Theofanous, has also secured some massive contracts for other star players, such as Artemi Panarin’s $$1,642,857 average annual value with the New York Rangers and Sergei Bobrovsky’s $10-million cap hit with the Florida Panthers. McDavid signing a team-friendly contract doesn’t mean Kaprizov will as well (and vice-versa), but it could make it more difficult.
As for other pending UFAs, such as the Winnipeg Jets’ Kyle Connor, Vegas Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel, Colorado Avalanche’s Martin Necas and Rangers’ Panarin, if their camps have any concerns about teams using McDavid’s next deal as a comparable, they may want to set the bar themselves.
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