NHL Rumours from the Desert and What to Expect on Superstar’s Extension

Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours, Viva Las Vegas style. Everybody is beginning to make that transition from off-season vacation mode, to hockey, hockey…hockey. What better way to lead those discussions than by talking about one of the league’s superstars. So, read along, as we breakdown the situation on the contract negotiations between Jack Eichel and his Vegas Golden Knights.

NHL Rumours and What It’ll Take for Vegas to Stay Lucky With Eichel

Rumour: Frank Seravalli of the Bleacher Report suggests Eichel’s value, and the fact that the Golden Knights might have a problem.

Analysis: There’s no denying Eichel’s superstar status throughout the league. That means he’s going to get paid as such. But it doesn’t take a ‘capologist’ to realize, Vegas doesn’t have much room.

We will begin with what Seravalli started the discussion with by stating. He said that there is no update on the contract talks themselves. Moreover, he then got down to the bare bones of situation.

It is an interesting time in the NHL. Big names like Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, even Mitch Marner, have recently set the bar for big money contracts. Now, the 2026 pending free agent class is sure to reset that benchmark. Players such as Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, and also Eichel, are about to go into another stratosphere of big money NHL contracts. Furthermore, what adds to the lustre of the situation, from a league perspective, is the raising salary cap and overall revenue. The idea is the cap is supposed to go from $95.5 million in 2025-26 to $104 million in 2026-27, and continue its ascend to $113.5 million the following campaign.

The little bonus from an individual player point-of-view is that this means the maximum salary will go up. However, no one is really that close to the 20% of the salary cap threshold.

In any sense, as Seravalli has suggested, Eichel is going to command big money. Look for his annual cap hit to come in as high as $15 million. Now, not that it matters necessarily to Vegas, but that would only account for 14.4% of the $104M amount. Still, that’s not the point from Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon’s perspective. He needs to make the dollars work now.

Vegas’ Complicated Salary Distribution Situation

As it stands here in August, Vegas would nearly be over the salary cap ceiling for next year. Yeesh! They are currently sitting at a little over $103M allocated to 22 roster players. However, it is known that veteran star defenceman Alex Pietrangelo will be headed to long-term injured reserve. Therefore, they will be able to get some cap relief. Rather tha n being $7.6M over the cap, they should be under by over a million. That is barring replacing his roster spot with a cheap replacement.

If we compare their roster composition from now to next summer, including Eichel, they have seven unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents. Also, Alexander Holtz is a current unsigned RFA. You could argue that a lot of those free agents aren’t going to command tangible raises. Perhaps as an exception would be Pavel Dorofeyev, who’s currently only 24. However, Eichel is currently making $10M, so a lot of the raise in Vegas’ cap spending will be allocated to him specifically. But will they have enough to pay him?

We will end by saying that there is a good thing for Vegas. That is they do have their top end will taken care of. Guys like Shea Theodore, Adin Hill, Tomas Hertl, and the aforementioned Marner, are all locked up for term. Mark Stone becomes a UFA before the 2027-28, and will likely be subjected to reduction from his current $9.5M paycheque. In any case, there is lots to consider. But McCrimmon and crew have a proven track record for success. Look for them to find a way to nail down Eichel for the long run, and stay among the class of the NHL’s Western Conference.