New Contracts Highlight NHL’s 4 Best Never-Trade Bargain Deals – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

With the speed at which new monster extensions are coming across the NHL newswire in recent weeks, it’s easy to see where NHL salaries are headed. With a rising cap and young players gaining more and more control over their futures, it won’t be long until nearly 100 players are each making over $10 million per season.

This is the kind of trend in the league that makes you realize how grateful you should be if you’re among the teams that signed extremely productive players on extremely team-friendly deals. There are more than a few contracts that stand out as bargains.

Sure, we can say that Macklin Celebrini will be worth every penny of his new $18.8 million-per-season deal. It’s easy to argue Connor McDavid is among the best values at $12.5 million as well. That said, as good as those deals are or will be, they don’t hold a candle to some of the league’s best value contracts. Among the players who should be deemed untradeable because their deals are too good, here are four:

Cole Caufield – $7.85 Million Cap Hit

What might be the best deal in the NHL, Cole Caufield is now a legitimate 50-goal scorer. He made the leap this past season with 51, following up a 37-goal campaign at the age of 24 years old. The thought of how high his ceiling is should be one of the most exciting things going on with the Montreal Canadiens, who, admittedly, have a lot to be excited about.

Caufield is the kind of player most could see going 50 and 50 for a 100-point season in 2026-27. That kind of production at his salary is incredible value.

Honorable Mention: Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki

Zach Hyman – $5.5 Million Cap Hit

One of the best free agency signings in the past five seasons, getting Zach Hyman signed to a seven-year deal at $5.5 million should go down as the best in Oilers franchise history. Hyman has done everything the Oilers could have expected and more. He scored 31 goals in 58 games last season, has never scored fewer than 27 in a single season, and gave the Oilers a 54-goal run in 2023-24.

If there’s any kind of knock on Hyman, it’s his age. At 34 years old, he’s the oldest player on our list. Still, his cap hit is also the lowest on the list, and his price tag- one could argue that his contract is among the best values in hockey.

Dylan Guenther – $7.14 Million Cap Hit

40 goals in 2025-26 followed by seasons of 27 and 18. It’s easy to see where Dylan Guenther is headed in terms of his production. The Utah Mammoth knew they had a keeper, so they locked him up to an eight-year, $ 57 million extension. It’s among the NHL’s best bargains.

Guenther is vastly underpaid for what he is, and even more so for what he’ll become. Just 23 years old, he’s a shooter and should hit the 50-goal mark soon, if not during the 2026-27 season.

Tage Thompson – $7.14 Million Cap Hit

Making just a few dollars per season less than Guenther, Tage Thompson is also on a bargain contract that is only going to look better and better as time goes by. He’s locked in until 2029-30, which gives the Buffalo Sabers years of incredible value before having to worry about what his next salary will be.

Thompson is a regular 40-plus goal scorer who could hit 50 in any of the remaining seasons he has left on this deal. He’s the offensive driver on the Sabres, and he’s a bit of a unicorn in terms of his size and skill.

Notable Mentions:

Matthew Knies undoubtedly has a great contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but for some reason they’re toying with the idea of trading him. Perhaps not knowing how good he could be or the value they could get in return is why. It’s also why he’s not listed among our top four.

Seth Jarvis also has a great cap hit with the Carolina Hurricanes. He’s a solid value, but his $15.67M in deferred compensation until July 1, 2032 is what keeps him out of the top four.

Who would be on your list?