The 10 best value contracts in the NHL for 2025-26
I don’t need to tell you how important a good-value contract is for NHL teams. In a salary-cap league where saving as much as you can is essential to winning, bringing in a player who is worth far more than their cap hit indicates can be a big difference maker.
So as the preseason begins, and teams are deciding on their rosters for the season while also trying to stay under the salary cap, let’s look around the league at some of the best-value contracts for this season.
To do so, I’ll be taking the contract rating system that was used in my salary-cap rankings series earlier in the summer to decide the value of each player’s contract and how much value teams are getting out of them. For an explainer on how the contract rating system works, you can learn more here. However, since there are more forwards than defensemen and goalies, it means forwards have a higher ceiling for their contract ratings, so the defensemen and goaltender ratings will be adjusted up based on how many players both positions have compared to the forwards.
One important distinction with this system is that it looks strictly at the discrepancy between the player’s on-ice value over the last three seasons and their cap hit for this season. So term won’t play a role in this, mostly due to my inability at this time to project players’ future impacts in relation to the future market. This means a great-value deal with one year left will have the same value as one with several years left. It also won’t include extensions given to players in addition to their current deals, just the cap hits for the 2025-26 season.
Also, I’m including the following three qualifications for this list:
1. Their ice-time per game in the past three seasons has to be above replacement level (384th or higher for forwards & 192nd or higher for defensemen). This way, we’re looking at players who are everyday NHLers and getting consistent ice time when they play.
2. They need to have at least one season played entirely in the NHL in the last three seasons, as well as at least 41 NHL games in that span. Like Rule #1, this helps eliminate the AHL/NHL tweeners who are going to get cheap contracts because of their lack of consistent NHL roles.
3. They can’t be on their entry-level contract. It isn’t an accomplishment when both parties only have a certain inexpensive range they can agree to.
Ultimately, the point of this list is to celebrate the contracts that could have been signed for more but for which the teams managed to get the players well under value and didn’t just grab players who are always overlooked.
10. Erik Gustafsson, Detroit Red Wings
Cap Hit: $2 million (one year remaining)
Adjusted Contract Rating: +251.67
Gustafsson was highly rated in my model, ranking eighth among defensemen based on the last three seasons of data. That’s boosted by elite production rates (sixth in 5v5 assists and points per 60), and play-driving metrics that were at top-pair or second-pair levels, with his only stat falling below that being penalty goals above replacement (143rd).
Gustafsson is the only defenseman in the top 20 to fall below $4 million in AAV, so it significantly boosts his contract rating. He was slightly disappointing last season, but a return to his 2022-24 form will make this contract a steal for a Detroit blueline full of bad contracts.
9. Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas Golden Knights
Cap Hit: $1.835 million (one year remaining)
Contract Rating: +252
Dorofeyev provided massive value for the Golden Knights in 2024-25, leading the team with 35 goals while only taking up 2.09% of their salary cap. He’ll provide that value again this season, something needed even more as Vegas squeezes tight to the salary cap after the addition of Mitch Marner.
Dorofeyev’s contract is up after this season. AFP Analytics projects his next deal to come at around $7.25 million annually for five years. A bump in salary that high makes it all the more important for the Golden Knights to get the most out of that value and win this season before needing to make room next summer.
8. Marcus Johansson, Minnesota Wild
Cap Hit: $800,000 (one year remaining)
Contract Rating: +256
Johansson has been a very consistent middle-six forward throughout his career, usually falling in the 30-40 point range so long as he’s healthy. His production has dipped into the lower end of that scope, but his play still keeps him in the middle six, largely due to his two-way play and his discipline.
Johansson’s not the kind of player who will drastically shift the game most nights, but he can chip in when he needs to and will at least hold down the fort while on the ice. For someone of his experience and reliability, you won’t find too many players better for a cheaper price.
7. Darren Raddysh, Tampa Bay Lightning
Cap Hit: $975,000 (1 year remaining)
Contract Rating: +270.31
Raddysh has come a long way from being an undrafted player. After five years in the AHL, he finally made his NHL debut in 2021-22 and didn’t establish himself as a consistent NHLer until the end of the 2022-23 season.
Now, Raddysh has put up back-to-back 30+ point seasons, has become the quarterback for the Lightning’s second power-play unit and has a strong two-way game despite his minutes. Tampa Bay has gotten a lot of value out of Raddysh at below $1 million, something they always need as a team consistently at the salary cap.
6. Brent Burns, Colorado Avalanche
Cap Hit: $1 million (1 year remaining)
Contract Rating: +277.77
Burns is the highest-rated player with a seven-figure cap hit. Admittedly, this has less to do with how little value he provided last season (0.4 goals above replacement) and more with how much value he provided the prior two seasons (24.1 GAR).
Burns at $1 million is still a reasonable value even based on his performance in 2024-25, but his contract rating is expecting him to play more like 2022-24 Burns, and that probably won’t be the case at 40 years old. Still, there is absolutely no risk to this contract for Colorado, which is great value in and of itself.
5. Dustin Wolf, Calgary Flames
Cap Hit: $800,000 (1 year remaining)
Contract Rating: +280.21
Unlike the rest of the 2024-25 season’s top rookies, Wolf was not playing on an entry-level contract, as he began the season on his first non-ELC deal, a two-year pact that was still less than seven digits. His rookie season proved he was well beyond that value by putting up numbers at the level of a consistent starting goaltender, and he finished the season as a Calder Trophy finalist, even garnering a vote apiece for the Vezina and Hart.
The Flames rewarded his stellar rookie season with a seven-year extension at a $7.5-million cap hit. He won’t provide the same value with that contract like he does at $800,000, but he will certainly grow into it and be a backbone for the Flames’ future.
4. Kailer Yamamoto, Utah Mammoth
Cap Hit: $775,000 (1 year remaining)
Contract Rating: +311.5
Yamamoto may come as a surprise on this list as he hasn’t really been at the level of a top-six forward in recent seasons like he was with the Edmonton Oilers, although my model does see some of his 2022-23 season on the northernmost NHL team help him out here.
Yamamoto doesn’t produce like he did in Edmonton, but he still drives play and defends at a top-six level when he’s in the lineup, something that helps his case on this list. When you can get even that type of play at a league-minimum cap hit, it’s easy to see how his contract rating appears to be favorable.
3. Nick Blankenburg, Nashville Predators
Cap Hit: $775,000 (1 year remaining)
Contract Rating: +313.19
Blankenburg is another example of a player who, just by providing value at the caliber of a player higher in the lineup while getting paid a league-minimum salary, gets a strong contract rating. His play definitely jumps back and forth between the level of a second- and third-pair defenseman, but he drives play really well and does it while playing against competition in the 80th percentile. That said, he still hasn’t quite established himself as an everyday NHLer, so take his success thus far with a grain of salt.
2. Mackie Samoskevich, Florida Panthers
Cap Hit: $775,000 (1 year remaining)
Contract Rating: +332.5
After a taste of the NHL in 2023-24, Samoskevich got a full-time gig last season and proved he’s an NHL mainstay. What really stood out in his game was his versatility to move up and down the lineup, often serving as the perfect replacement for the Panthers’ top guns when they were injured, particularly Matthew Tkachuk.
Samoskevich will get that opportunity again with Tkachuk out to start this season, as he’s currently slated to play on the second line with Sam Bennett and Evan Rodrigues, and it will give Samoskevich the opportunity to add more and more to his bank account with his contract up next summer. AFP Analytics currently projects he’ll get around $1.5 million annually for two years on his next deal. How much more can he add to that total this season?
1. Kaedan Korczak, Vegas Golden Knights
Cap Hit: $825,000 (1 year remaining)
Contract Rating: +346.74
Korczak still hasn’t quite established himself as a full-time NHLer with just 77 career games. Even though he only played with the Golden Knights last season, he was a consistent healthy scratch, only getting into 40 games. But when he has played, he’s shown some signs of playing like a top-four defenseman. Not only are his play driving and two-way game bordering on elite, but he also has strong playmaking ability from the back end.
The Golden Knights recognized these signs and locked Korczak up to a four-year extension with a $3.25 million AAV, which still gives him a +136.09 cap rating right now. The only caveat to all of this is that this success has come against weaker competition, so a consistent role with Alex Pietrangelo out (possibly higher in the lineup as well) will give Korczak the chance to prove himself more.
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