r/hockey

With all the huge contracts being handed out this off-season, it's clearly a player's market with all the extra spending room teams have. But what about players that signed long contracts within the last year before the boom? Who left the most money on the table by signing away 5-8 years of their career at a bargain rate?

Consider Logan Stankoven: Former promising Stars rookie with a great performance in his first post-season. Traded to Carolina, he has another great playoff showing and they extend him for 8 years x $6M at the earliest possible moment. His contract will begin in the 26-27 season. In the meantime, Stankoven put up a career high 21 goals and followed that up with an incredible cup-winning post-season where he was voted 3rd for the Conn Smythe.

If Stankoven waited until this off-season to sign an extension, what is he worth? At least 10 million AAV? His contract was friendly to the Canes when he signed it, it's now laughably cheap. It hasn't even started yet and he's locked in until 2034.

Any other players you can think of that missed the market?

Elliotte Friedman at 2:51:31 of '32 Final Thoughts' posted Monday, July 6, 2026. Full quote:

"It was time to end the noise around the whole [Tkachuk] situation. Post-Olympics, it was time. A lot was going on and the players were tired of it. I did have someone who reached out to me — one of the players — that said the only thing he thought we should have added [to our previous discussion] was the podcast. The podcast [Wingmen] caused some problems. One player made a point of reaching out and saying that.

At 3:32:56

This is the first I've heard anyone credible say a Robert Thomas trade was actually made and that Thomas blocked it using his NTC.

It just seems obvious that if you’re Bedard, Fantilli, Celebrinni etc that you would refuse contract negotiations until July 1 when you hit RFA to use the offer sheet to get the most money from your club. What am I missing here?

Hi all! I am always on the hunt for new hockey documentaries to watch. I feel like I've seen all of the major/notable ones - any recommendations?

As we wait and see what Pat does with Leo, I wanted to see what the actual impact of signing signing has on the Ducks. I feel like this offer sheet on the Ducks could be the tipping point that removes the narrative/expectations around the league surrounding offer sheets, and we see it become something that teams strategically use to get players to bring in or create cap nightmares for other teams. We have already seen that teams are paying top dollar for their players out of RFA; bridge deals at lower AAVs become less and less prevalent.

Here's a breakdown of what Anaheim is looking at in 2028, assuming it's a $123M cap. I projected $12 million for Cutter and $10 million for Beckett (obviously could be less or more) and included the rest of the guys that are signed through the 2028/2029 season

2028/2029 Duck Roster - per Puckpedia

Contract AAV	Per Salary of $123M Cap
Leo Carlsson	$18,000,000
Cutter Gauthier	$12,000,000
Beckett Sennecke	$10,000,000
Jackson LaCombe	$9,000,000
Pavel Mintyukov	$7,200,000
Troy Terry	$7,000,000
A.J. Greer	$4,250,000
Ryan Poehling	$3,750,000
Jeff Malott	$1,850,000
Lukas Dostal	$6,500,000
Total	$79,550,000

So, here's the problem -

$79,550,000 core commitment and leaves the Ducks with exactly $42,450,000 to fill the remaining 14 roster spots.

The Average Space: $3,032,142 per player for the rest of the lineup........

In 2028, NHL players will be looking for increases in salary in all positions. The Ducks have no second pair's defence, which demands 7–10 million, while the Ducks also don't have a third pairing, which will demand 2–5 million. Additionally, the Ducks would need to pay between two and five million dollars per player for the third and fourth lines and beyond. That said, I am just putting numbers that I could see the NHL being, so obviously take it with a grain of salt, and it probably will be different.

Curious what others think about the whole situation and some players that could be targeted in the future. Overall Pat should be fired for the blunder.

Not greatest career or greatest résumee ust absolute peak.

If you could take any player at the very best version of themselves for one season (or a playoff run), would you pick Mario Lemieix over everyone else, including Gretzky?

Lemieux's combination of size, skill, vision, scoring, and ability to dominate games has always made me wonder if his peak was the highest level we've ever seen, especially considering he did it while battling injuries and illness.

I love the great one but i gotta go with mario