Cale Makar, Connor Bedard and Kirill Kaprizov are reshaping NHL money as hockey enters a new era of $75 million-plus contracts

The NHL’s biggest contracts are entering a new financial phase, with star players commanding numbers that would have been tough to imagine just a few seasons ago. Cale Makar, Connor Bedard and Kirill Kaprizov are leading that shift, each signing a contract worth at least $75 million.The growth is also being fueled by the league’s growing salary cap. The cap is $104 million for 2026-27 and is projected to hit $113.5 million for 2027-28, allowing teams more flexibility to get creative with long-term contracts.Cale Makar, Connor Bedard and Kirill Kaprizov lead NHL’s contract marketCale Makar has taken the NHL salary market to a new level at the top end. The Colorado Avalanche blueliner inked an eight-year, $163.2 million extension in August 2026 with an average annual value of $20.4 million. The contract kicks in with the 2027-28 season and is the richest deal in NHL history.Makar’s deal also made him the first NHL player to surpass the $20 million per year salary mark. His contract is a big upgrade from the six-year, $54 million deal he signed with the Avalanche beforehand.Timing is important because the salary cap is expected to be $113.5 million in 2027-28. So Makar’s new cap hit will eat up a large chunk of Colorado’s available payroll room.PlayerTeamContractAAVCale MakarColorado Avalanche$163.2M / 8 years$20.4MKirill KaprizovMinnesota Wild$136M / 8 years$17MConnor BedardChicago Blackhawks$75M / 5 years$15MConnor Bedard adds another big contract to the ever-growing market the Chicago Blackhawks center inked a five-year, $75 million extension in July of 2026 that has a $15 million AAV.Bedard entered the deal as Chicago's leading scorer in all three of his first NHL seasons. His $10.5 million cap hit through 2025-26 gives the Blackhawks long-term financial certainty around the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.Kirill Kaprizov was a big piece of the cap gymnastics before Makar and Bedard signed their latest deals. The Minnesota Wild forward signed an eight-year, $136 million extension in 2025 with a $17 million AAV starting in 2026-27.It was the highest annual average in NHL history at the time. Makar has since exceeded that level, and Bedard’s $15 million AAV reflects the market differentials at various stages of a player’s career.Kaprizov’s contract also came at a time when the league was preparing for back-to-back salary-cap increases, giving an early glimpse of how higher league revenues and greater payroll flexibility could impact negotiations for elite players.The deals together are reshaping the top of the NHL pay scale. Cale Makar, Kirill Kaprizov and Connor Bedard are among the players who have set financial benchmarks that future negotiations will no doubt be compared to.The challenge for NHL teams will be how to balance these record-setting individual contracts with their ever more competitive roster-building demands. The increasing cap gives players more room to grab a bigger piece of league-wide revenue.The $75 million contract is not an extraordinary ceiling anymore. The latest deals from Makar, Kaprizov and Bedard show the league’s financial landscape has entered an era where nine-figure deals and $15 million-plus annual values are part of the conversation around the league’s biggest stars.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.