{"id":372764,"date":"2026-07-27T18:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=372764"},"modified":"2026-07-27T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:57:18","slug":"top-players-could-start-trying-to-shorter-term-deals-to-maximise-their-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/top-players-could-start-trying-to-shorter-term-deals-to-maximise-their-value\/","title":{"rendered":"Top players could start trying to shorter-term deals to maximise their value"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Top players could start trying to shorter-term deals to maximise their value<\/strong><\/h2>\n

104.3 The Rating<\/a><\/strong>: Mark Lazerus, talking about Connor Bedard\u2019s five-year deal. He was a fair shorter deal, with the Chicago Blackhawks in search of eight years. $15 million a season may look like rather a lot now, but with the salary cap expected to maintain climbing at a superb jump, it won\u2019t look like rather a lot towards the top of the deal. Top players could start trying to shorter-term deals to maximise their value.<\/p>\n

** NHLRumors.com transcription<\/em><\/p>\n

Lazerus: \u201cThe term was really the sticking point, right? Because, you realize, the team desires to sign him up for so long as you may. Like Connor McDavid signed for eight years out of his entry-level deal. Leon Draisaitl signed for eight years. Jack Eichel signed for eight years. That\u2019s been the brand new norm.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless it wasn\u2019t that way back that guy signed bridge deals so that they could maximize their value. With the cap going up, as often because it is, we\u2019re talking like eight, nine, $10 million a yr now. Players need to begin taking shorter-term deals to maximise their value so that they can stick with it and never be grossly underpaid.<\/p>\n

NHL Rumors: Jason Robertson, Philadelphia Flyers, and Alex Ovechkin<\/p>\n

So at one point, Bedard apparently wanted a shorter turn than five. The Hawks were pushing for eight. They got here to a compromise at five, which is cheap. And you realize, Kyle Davidson made his case to Connor Bedard that the team must have stability and continuity. Must project that to its fan base. Must project that to other free agents. Must project that to the team itself. And Connor Bedard, you realize, agreed with it. So he was willing to take a few more years to offer Kyle Davidson that type of continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Host: \u201cAnd he\u2019s so young, Mark, that he’ll get back in the marketplace, and he will likely be,\u00a0 mean, he will likely be hitting his prime when this contract ends\u201d<\/p>\n

Lazerus: \u201cHe\u2019ll be 26 years old. The Hawks only bought out one yr of unrestricted free agency. It\u2019s going to cost a ton of cash five years from now.\u00a0 However the hope is that you realize, from the Blackhawks standpoint is, the cap will likely be so high by then.<\/p>\n

You already know, so lots of us are still caught on this flat cap mentality, right? After COVID, and the cap just mainly plateaued. It might go possibly 1,000,000 dollars yearly, and so many teams were in these cap crunches, and no one could keep their stars. That you simply see $15 million, and also you\u2019re identical to, oh my god, that\u2019s a lot money within the NHL.<\/p>\n

But the very fact is, by you realize five years from now, when he’s 26, he\u2019s going to be probably just like the seventeenth highest paid player within the league. And he thoroughly could be the fifth best, you realize, in the highest five within the league by way of actual ability and success.<\/p>\n

So that is going to be the price of doing business now. The cap is is soaring. There\u2019s no reason, you realize, famous last words, but there\u2019s no reason to think it\u2019ll stop anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Has Connor Hellebuyck played his last game for the Winnipeg Jets?<\/p>\n

And we’ve to get out of this whole like, you realize, you bought to begin excited about percentage of the cap as an alternative of the number itself. And this number in a few years is like going to be like 11 and a half, 12% of the cap, and that’s a superb deal in your absolute best player when 20% is the max.\u201d<\/p>\n

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