Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those who don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
As we do each year, PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2026-27 season, though in a slightly different format than before. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.
We begin our series with a look at the Central Division, starting with the Blackhawks.
Current Cap Charge: $101,172,907
Cap Space: $2,827,093
Potential Bonuses: $9.93MM ($4MM to $6MM could realistically be hit)
Dead Cap: $2,758,333 (Seth Jones retention, T.J. Brodie buyout)
RFAs To Sign: D Ethan Del Mastro, D Kevin Korchinski
Given that Del Mastro and Korchinski weren’t regulars last season, neither player should be able to command much more than $1MM apiece. But that will cut into their limited room.
Expiring Contracts (RFA): F Ryan Greene ($950K), D Wyatt Kaiser ($1.7MM), D Artyom Levshunov ($975K), F Oliver Moore ($941,667), D Sam Rinzel ($941,667), F Landon Slaggert ($900K)
This is where things are going to get interesting. All but Kaiser and Slaggert are coming off their entry-level contracts and if the others progress as planned, they could be eyeing significant raises.
If Levshunov and Rinzel have big years, they could be eyeing some of the recent deals given to Brandt Clarke, Pavel Mintyukov, and Simon Nemec (five years apiece with AAVs over $7MM). Longer-term seven-year pacts would push the price tag considerably higher than that. Moore and Greene both profile as players who seem likelier to land bridge agreements which could land in the $3MM to $4MM range depending on the upcoming season.
As for the non-entry-level players, Kaiser still has three years of RFA eligibility remaining. They could go with a second bridge which would likely fall in the $3.5MM to $4.5MM range while a deal that eats up some UFA years could push more toward $6.5MM to $7MM. Slaggert, meanwhile, should only be in line for a small raise unless he takes a big step forward offensively this coming season.
Expiring Contracts (UFA): D Bowen Byram ($6.25MM, already extended), D Ian Cole ($4MM), D Ryan Ellis ($6.25MM), F Jordan Greenway ($4MM), F Andrew Mangiapane ($3.6MM), G Arvid Soderblom ($2.75MM), F Teuvo Teravainen ($5.4MM)
Teravainen is the notable one here. He’s coming off a down year but if he gets back into the 45-50-point range, it’s possible he lands a small raise on a multi-year pact. Greenway and Mangiapane are projected to be limited role players which should push their price tags down next summer.
Barring a standout performance, they could come in around half of that.
Soderblom has shown flashes of being a capable backup but has also struggled considerably at times. If that trend continues, it’s hard to see him beating his current deal, especially since this summer’s UFA market for backup goalies tightened up a bit. Cole continues to bounce around on one-year deals as a reliable third-pairing player.
Assuming he has a similar showing this season, his next deal should stay around that price tag. Ellis hasn’t played since November 2021 and his career is already over.
Projected Upper Limit: $113.5MM
Current Cap Charge: $70,519,574 (12 players signed)
Cap Space: $42,980,426
Potential Bonuses: $3.75MM ($1.6MM could realistically be hit)
Dead Cap: $2.5MM (Jones retention)
Depending on what happens with their RFAs, Chicago could be adding anywhere from $18MM to $30MM or so to the books. But that would still leave them anywhere from $13MM to $25MM to add a handful of other players, either via free agency or trades.
Expiring Contracts (RFA): F Sacha Boisvert ($977,917), F Anton Frondell ($986,250), F Nick Lardis ($925K)
Frondell is a potential big-ticket contract in the making. If he locks down a top-six center spot and shows flashes of being the type of two-way top pivot he’s projected to be, he becomes a strong candidate to bypass a bridge deal and sign a max-term seven-year pact. The price tag could push past the $12MM mark in that scenario.
The other two shouldn’t be as costly. Boisvert and Lardis both enter the upcoming season as potential bottom-six pieces and if they stay in that role, both will probably prefer a short-term second contract. Bridge deals for them could land in the $3MM to $4MM range, a little lower than that if their ice time is somewhat limited.
Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Tyler Bertuzzi ($5.5MM), F Patrick Kane ($8MM)
Bertuzzi has fit in pretty well over his first two seasons with the Blackhawks and is coming off a career year with 32 goals and 58 points. If he stays in that range, he could secure another three or four-year pact while pushing his price tag more toward the $7.5MM mark. However, free agency hasn’t been kind to him in the past so it wouldn’t be shocking to see GM Kyle Davidson push to sign him early.
Kane receiving a two-year deal this summer as a 37-year-old was a bit of a surprise but Chicago had the cap space to bring him back. He’d be entering his age-39 year in 2028-29 so at that point, it seems likely he’d be back to one-year deals with games-played incentives or he could just call it a career as well.
Forecasted Upper Limit: $123MM
Current Cap Charge: $54,033,324 (7 players signed)
Cap Space: $68,966,676
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: $2.5MM (Jones retention)
Depending on what happens with Frondell’s contract, RFA deals from the previous year could add somewhere between $15MM and $20MM. That’s on top of the $18MM to $30MM estimate from the 2027 RFA class. On the low end, that would leave around $35MM in cap space compared to $18MM or so on the high end.
With Frondell’s raise likely covering the entire cap increase, Chicago might be squeezed a bit more than it might seem on the cap if they’re active in the 2027 offseason adding veterans to their roster.
Expiring Contracts (RFA): None
Expiring Contracts (UFA): F Ryan Donato ($4MM), G Spencer Knight ($5,833,333), F Cole Smith ($3MM)
Donato wasn’t able to come close to repeating his breakout 2024-25 showing last season but his 30 points were consistent with other prior years. With the increases coming to the cap, it’s not crazy to think he could stay around this price point even if he remains a 30-point player. If he can become more reliable offensively, then a few million per season could be added.
Smith’s limited offense should cap his price tag at some point, especially since he’ll be 33 when this deal ends. If he remains effective, however, a small raise could be doable.
How established will Knight be at this time? If he’s the undisputed starter, a double-digit AAV isn’t out of the question. Is that viable for the Blackhawks with one of the stronger goalie prospect pools?
That’s something Davidson will have to decide. But they have high hopes for Knight and as an in-prime starter, if they don’t give him that type of raise, someone else will.
Forecasted Upper Limit: $133.5MM (8.5% increase)
Current Cap Charge: $41,199,991 (4 players signed)
Cap Space: $92,300,009
Potential Bonuses: None
Dead Cap: $2.5MM (Jones retention)
The RFA calculation from 2028-29 still applies here, although some raises could be coming to any of the 2027 RFAs who opted for a short-term bridge deal. The likely raise to Knight would cover around half of the forecasted increase but that would still leave some wiggle room to work with.
Expiring Contracts (RFA): None
Expiring Contracts (UFA): D Alex Vlasic ($4.6MM)
Vlasic has quickly become one of the better bargains on the back end, not just in Chicago but league-wide. His offensive limitations will stop him from getting into the top tier of price tags but doubling this AAV shouldn’t be out of the question.
Signed For 2030-31 And Beyond
For that season, there will be a new CBA in place so trying to forecast the cap and cap space basically becomes a guessing game. Accordingly, we’ll go back to the old Deep Dive format for players signed beyond the 2030-31 campaign.
F Connor Bedard ($15MM through 2030-31)
D Bowen Byram ($12.5MM through 2032-33)
F Frank Nazar ($6,599,991 through 2032-33)
Bedard is already one of the highest-paid players in the NHL and he’ll be hitting the open market going into his age-26 season. At this point, given the projected growth in the Upper Limit, Bedard could very well surpass the $20MM mark on his next agreement as long as his production continues to progress. Under the current CBA rules, the maximum term for a re-signing would be seven years and six years if he goes elsewhere.
If the latter happens, Bedard would probably be in line for another rather hefty contract at that time, even if he’d be expected to start to slow down by the end of it. He’s very well-positioned to cash in on the current economic landscape.
Nazar opted to sign early, likely leaving money on the table to do so but still locked in more than $46MM on his current deal. If he can get to the 60-70-point range consistently by the end of this contract, he might be able to push for around a $10MM pay day on his next deal. A max-term agreement should be doable at that time as well.
There’s no denying that Byram’s contract carries some risk given the fact he’s never been a number one before and a lengthy injury history. But the going rate for a top defenseman is only going to shoot up in the years to come and Chicago is getting his prime years. Byram will be 32 when this deal is up and if he lives up to the lofty expectations, another pay bump should be coming his way.
A max-term contract at that time could help lower the AAV a bit as by the end of it, he shouldn’t be logging top minutes.
Outlook
Cap space won’t be an issue for Chicago for the upcoming season but as is often the case with a team full of promising young talent, the flexibility will dwindle relatively quickly. Davidson can wait until next year to start bringing more veteran talent in (though Kane was a capable pickup recently) but with that young core getting expensive soon, the window to bring those veterans in won’t be open for long.
Photo courtesy of David Gonzales-Imagn Images.