Blackhawks sign Spencer Knight to three-year extension

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed goaltender Spencer Knight to a three-year contract extension with a $5,833,333 million cap hit.

Knight is entering the final year of his three-year contract with a $4.5 million cap hit that he originally signed with the Florida Panthers, and was set to become a restricted free agent next summer. The Blackhawks lock him up until he’s 28 at a projected 5.61% of the salary cap in 2026-27. There are no signing or performance bonuses with this contract, but since the 2028-29 season buys up one year of unrestricted free agency for Knight, that year does have a modified no-trade clause.

Knight will get a raise of $1,333,333 million with the new contract, and earn the highest annual salary of his career when it kicks in. His cap hit will also be the 17th-highest among goaltenders next season, with his closest comparable being Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson’s $5.85 million cap hit.

Knight got into the most games of his NHL career in 2024-25, a significant amount of progress after missing the end of the 2022-23 season due to entering the NHL Player Assistance Program to help with his obsessive compulsive disorder, and playing the entirety of the 2023-24 season in the AHL. He started the season with the Panthers, where he had a 12-8-1 record, a .907 save percentage, two shutouts, and a 3.89 5v5 goals saved above expected in 23 games.

However, as the Panthers looked to improve their blueline for another Stanley Cup run at the trade deadline, Knight was dealt to Blackhawks as part of the return for Seth Jones, instantly becoming the starter in Chicago. In 15 games, he had a 5-8-2 record, an .896 SV% and a 4.63 5v5 GSAx, with his numbers as a whole being a 17-16-3 record, a .902 SV% and a 8.52 5v5 GSAx in 38 games.