Most interesting contract on every team in the Metropolitan Division

Welcome to the contract-maxing era of the NHL.

No, this entire off-season wasn’t just a dream. We did, in fact, see record-breaking after record-breaking contract being handed out, and there is no sign of it slowing down.

The salary cap is only projected to keep jumping year after year.

However, after seeing all of these deals come through, many are starting to rethink the contract environment.

Maybe it’s thinking about how much top players will demand in the coming years, or which contracts look like bargains, or whether the latest deal signed was fair market value. All in all, the shifting landscape has made for some interesting discussions about players' contracts.

In the first two editions of this series, we looked at the Pacific and Central Divisions. Now, it's time to discuss the most interesting contract on every team in the Metro Division.

Carolina Hurricanes: Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven

General manager Eric Tulsky has to be happy that Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven decided to sign their extensions in the summer of 2025, with one year remaining on their entry-level deals, and not 2026.

We now live in a world where young players are getting handed the bag for showing any significant potential less than 100 games into their NHL career, a bill that Blake and Stankoven certainly fit. But because Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet for $18 million annually didn’t come until this year, Tulsky managed to sign the duo to eight-year deals for a total of $11.117 million annually — Blake at $5.117 million, and Stankoven for $6 million.

But imagine what they could've demanded from the Hurricanes this summer if they had waited. When they were still on their entry-level deals last year, both Blake and Stankoven put up career highs in goals and points during the regular season.

Then they tore it up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Blake led the team in scoring with 20 points in 19 games, while Stankoven was fourth with 16 en route to the Hurricanes winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Now, with Blake and Stankoven entering the first year of these new contracts, they already look like two of the biggest steals in the NHL.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Kirill Marchenko

This has been a long off-season for Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell, mainly because of all the trade rumours and contract negotiations surrounding the team’s star players.

One was Kirill Marchenko, the Russian winger who is entering the final year of a $3.85 million AAV deal and poised to become a restricted free agent after the season.

The contract itself has worked out tremendously in the Blue Jackets' favour, with Marchenko putting up 58 goals and 141 points in 155 games over the last two seasons, setting him up for a massive pay bump.

However, that deal might not come in Columbus.

Over the summer, Marchenko’s agent Daniel Milstein went public and said that it’s unlikely that Marchenko will be re-signing in Columbus, which led to his name being a popular one in trade rumours during the off-season.

But as training camps are set to open, Waddell said Marchenko is in Columbus and told him, “I’m going to play my butt off here.”

Considering there is one year left on Marchenko’s deal, Waddell’s long summer of hearing the noise will likely continue into the season until a contract extension is signed or the forward is traded.

New Jersey Devils: Jake Allen

When the former general manager of the New Jersey Devils, Tom Fitzgerald, signed Jake Allen to a five-year deal on July 1, 2025 at $1.8 million annually, people scratched their heads because of the term handed out to a then 35-year-old goaltender. But given Allen was the backup behind Jacob Markstrom — a good backup at that — lowering the AAV to give more term made sense.

Fast forward a year with the team now under new general manager Sunny Mehta, and this deal has heads turning for a different reason. Markstrom is gone after being dealt this off-season to the Florida Panthers, making Allen the projected No. 1 goalie when the season begins.

While that might make some fans concerned, it doesn’t seem like Mehta is.

There might be two reasons behind this.

First, the goaltender position can fluctuate drastically year-to-year, so even if the Devils wanted to get a “top-notch goalie” making over $8 million AAV, it doesn’t guarantee they will be good. Look at the Hurricanes.

They won the Stanley Cup using two goalies that combined to make $3.525 million against the cap.

Second, when Mehta’s name popped up as a potential general-manager candidate this summer, the biggest attraction was his knowledge and use of analytics. So, there may be some data not made public which is telling him Allen is the guy for the job.

If that’s the case, and Allen has a great year, this contract at such a low AAV could help them build a better roster to win the Stanley Cup.

New York Islanders: Matthew Schaefer

It’s funny to think that nobody — probably not even the New York Islanders organization — expected Matthew Schaefer to be as good as he was during his unanimous Calder Trophy-winning season as he tied Brian Leetch’s NHL record for most goals by a rookie defenceman with 23.

Let’s be honest, though: there is really nothing interesting about a player’s entry-level deal. The interesting part is picturing what comes after the first contract in the NHL.

So, considering how special the first-overall pick looked in just one season, it’s safe to assume general manager Mathieu Darche wishes he could’ve signed Schaefer to an extension this summer instead of having to wait until next year.

Well, Darche has no choice but to watch another cycle of defencemen get paid under the rising cap, knowing Schaefer’s price tag is only going up with every deal that is signed. Just look at the contract the Vancouver Canucks gave Zeev Buium for $9.38 million annually over eight years with only 76 NHL games played in his career and 26 points.

On top of those 23 goals mentioned earlier, Schaefer finished with 59 points.

At least for one more season, Darche can watch each game and appreciate the talent from his franchise defenceman before preparing to back up the Brinks truck next summer.

New York Rangers: Braden Schneider

This might be the most interesting contract on this list.

Prior to this season, Braden Schneider, the New York Rangers 19th-overall pick from 2020, was on a two-year deal paying him $2.2 million AAV. During those two seasons, he mainly played on the third pair, putting up six goals and 21 points in year one and two goals and 18 points in year two.

Rangers general manager Chris Drury extended a qualifying offer to Schneider, a restricted free agent, before the deadline in late June, then agreed with the 24-year-old on a raise to $5.5 million on a one-year deal in July.

Drury also traded for defencemen Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi, making the Rangers the highest cap-dedicated team to blue liners this season. As of now, Schneider is still only projected to play third-line minutes again, and that’s before considering the minutes 2026 fifth-overall pick Albert Smits might consume.

Maybe we get to a point in the season where the Rangers feel they can’t afford to be paying a third-pairing defenceman over $5 million and look to trade Schneider. If not, at the bare minimum, the Rangers will have to extend a qualifying offer of $5.5 million to Schneider next off-season.

Philadelphia Flyers: Matvei Michkov

Talk about picturing what a contract will look like for a player coming out of their entry-level deal. Matvei Michkov put up a tremendous rookie campaign with 26 goals and 63 points in 80 games, but the Philadelphia Flyers' 2023 sixth-overall pick did a 180 last season.

He came into training camp out of shape, according to head coach Rick Tocchet, and had all of his stats go backwards. Michkov finished with 20 goals and 51 points and saw his ice time decrease by almost two minutes per game.

While a lot of players would kill for a 51-point season, the expectation for a player like Michkov is much higher. It seems, however, Michkov realized last year was a wake-up call and has taken his off-season program more seriously this summer.

If Michkov goes out there this year and impresses, his next contract will reflect that. But his season looks like last, he will still get paid, but way less than the Flyers probably hoped for when they drafted him.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Ville Koivunen

47 games and 14 points.

That’s all it took to convince Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas that Ville Koivunen was worth a long-term commitment before he signed him to an eight-year deal at $4 million per season this summer. Koivunen, 23, has spent over 60 per cent of the last two seasons in the AHL, where he has been producing at a point-per-game rate.

Seeing a deal like this in the NHL is fascinating for multiple reasons, but mainly because we never see such a big bet on a kid that hasn’t cracked an NHL lineup full time yet.

Dubas is following the exact strategy that Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos has with his young prospects: offer money up front and hope it will look like a bargain on the back end.

It certainly worked for Anthopoulos when he gave Ronald Acuna Jr. an eight-year, $100 million deal in 2019. Koivunen probably isn't going to win the Hart Trophy like Acuna Jr. has won the National League MVP, but if he can become a top-six player who produces 40-50 points per season, it would be a win.

On the other hand, if Koivunen flops in the next two years, the Penguins can buy him out in the summer of 2028 and would never have a dead cap hit of more than $750,000 against them for the following 12 seasons.

Washington Capitals: Ryan Leonard

Continuing the trend of players getting paid without a ton of NHL games under their belt, we have Ryan Leonard of the Washington Capitals, whose ink might not even be dry yet on his new eight-year contract worth $10.5 million annually.

Leonard, the eighth-overall pick from 2023, has appeared in just 84 games, but broke out in his first full season with the Capitals last year with 20 goals and 45 points. What makes Leonard’s contract interesting is the fact general manager Chris Patrick felt the need to get the eight-year deal done before the old CBA expired.

Everyone can see Leonard has the talent to become a top-tier player in the NHL, but with the Capitals' loaded forward group this season after bringing in the likes of Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner, Leonard is projected to play on the third line. That might prevent a massive breakout season from happening, and could’ve saved the Capitals some cap space.

Most interesting contract on every team in the Central Division

Most interesting contract on every team in the Pacific Division