The best contracts signed in 2025 NHL free agency so far
Last week, I took a look at some of the worst contracts handed out in free agency so far this summer. That was a very easy task to do, as general managers love to go out of their way to throw money at whoever is available, and with this year’s weaker free agent class, there were quite a few doozies to choose from.
But what’s harder to find every summer are the best contracts signed in free agency. More often than not, the best-case scenario to signing a player in free agency is that you get them at their market value. Very rarely do teams find ways to sign players to contracts below market value, because teams are outbidding each other enough to raise the prices. And yet, some teams are still able to pull it off.
With that said, we’ll be looking at the best contracts handed out so far this summer, ones that saw teams nab players off the market for bargains. First, here are some honorable mentions:
Nikolaj Ehlers, Carolina Hurricanes ($8.5 million AAV x 6 years) – It may sound a bit crazy to say that the most expensive UFA contract handed out beyond July 1 is a bargain, especially when the player in question has never scored more than 29 goals and 64 points. But hear me out. Ehlers will be a fantastic fit in Carolina stylistically with their aggressive forecheck, and ideally he won’t be averaging 16-17 minutes of ice time like he was with the Winnipeg Jets. Since his rookie season in 2015-16, Ehlers has produced at a rate of 2.28 5v5 points per 60 minutes, which is tied for 23rd in the league. This guy is an elite scorer but has never gotten the minutes to show it. If Carolina just treats him like that, this contract will be great.
Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers ($6.1 million AAV x 8 years) – Out of the three big name free agents on the Panthers, Ekblad was the lowest risk to re-sign, even though it seemed like he was going to be the expendable one. But, the Panthers locked in all three, and while Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand’s deals are a bit more questionable, Ekblad’s is definitely the best in terms of cap hit and player value. The only thing keeping this contract from making the list is the eight-year term as a 29-year-old. The final few years will probably be closer to market value or below, even in a rising cap, so it hinders it a bit.
Matthew Knies, Toronto Maple Leafs ($7.75 million AAV x 6 years) – It’s only fitting that as Mitch Marner leaves the Leafs in the wake of a chaotic era of the team, largely due to how much money was allocated to their top four players, Toronto locks up Knies to the kind of contract that Marner and Auston Matthews probably should have gotten out of their entry-level deals. This isn’t the only instance of a team locking up a young player long term this summer, but it’s going to be ever-so-valuable when they can in this rising cap era, because that cap hit will look better and better every year while they’re locked up during their prime.
Jeff Petry, Florida Panthers ($775,000 AAV x 1 year) – With all due respect to Petry, this deal is very much market value, and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he only gets into a handful of games with the Panthers before getting waived. However, I’m giving this contract a shoutout because Florida has been churning value out of that third-pair defense role with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Nate Schmidt, and if there’s any hope left for Petry’s career, it’s there. That said, Ekman-Larsson and Schmidt were much better than Petry when they signed, even coming off down seasons, so I wouldn’t have your expectations nearly as high with this one.
Every discounted veteran deal
Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars ($1 million AAV x 1 year)
Brent Burns, Colorado Avalanche ($1 million AAV x 1 year)
Matt Duchene, Dallas Stars ($4.5 million AAV x 4 years)
Claude Giroux, Ottawa Senators ($2 million AAV x 1 year)
Reilly Smith, Vegas Golden Knights ($2 million AAV x 1 year)
John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs ($4,388,420 AAV x 4 years)
One of the unexpected turns of events this summer was seeing a lot of the higher-end veterans sign for very low cap hits. With the salary cap rising rapidly, it felt like the perfect opportunity for these players to cash in one more time, and yet all of them signed deals that were bargains for their teams. Whether they were one-year deals at almost no cost like Benn & Burns at $1 million AAVs and Giroux & Smith at $2 million, or Duchene & Tavares signing for four years at less than $5 million, all of them are great value contracts. Since there were so many of them, it made more sense to bundle them all together, otherwise this would have just been the list.
Of course, like every veteran that isn’t at the peak of their career, where they will really see their value is how they’re utilized. If coaches are smart and recognize when they need to be placed lower in the lineup to thrive in place of younger, better players, then these deals will bring even more value. But if they stubbornly stick them high in the lineup due to their reputation, it may have negative consequences. Burns may be the best example of this, as he was significantly overplayed on the Hurricanes. While $1 million isn’t a large cap hit, the contract becomes a problem if Burns is in the same role with the Avalanche and providing negative value on the ice.
Andrei Kuzmenko, Los Angeles Kings
$4.3 million AAV x 1 year
Kuzmenko is a weird player to evaluate. So far in his three-year NHL career, he’s had stretches where has been an elite producer, whether that’s been scoring 39 goals with the Vancouver Canucks, producing at almost a point-per-game in the back half of the 2023-24 season with the Calgary Flames or his most recent stretch with the Kings that earned him a new contract. But then he’s had other stretches where he’s been borderline unplayable, a big reason why he’s now been traded as a salary cap dump twice.
But when he joined the Kings at the trade deadline last season, he felt like a sparkplug on that top line with Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar. The trio became an electric scoring presence for Los Angeles, something they’ve desperately needed, and Kuzmenko produced at a 63-point pace alongside them. That didn’t quite work out in the playoffs, but the Kings have decided that they are willing to take another spin on Kuzmenko and hope that he continues to be a strong stylistic fit with the team. If he is, that cap hit will be a steal. If he isn’t (which, considering the sample size, is just as likely), it ends in one season.
Anthony Mantha, Pittsburgh Penguins
$2.5 million AAV x 1 year
Mantha was an honorable mention in last year’s edition of the list when he signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Flames, so it should be no surprise that he gets a spot this year by signing a similar deal for $1 million less. Yes, there is some risk in bringing him in coming off an ACL injury that limited him to just 13 games last season, but he’s been scoring goals at a high-end rate over the past three seasons when healthy, with his 5v5 goals per 60 minutes sitting 44th among forwards with 1,500 minutes of ice time. Even if he proves to have lost a few steps with the injury, the term and the Penguins’ lack of playoff aspirations means this deal is not a problem at all for the team.
It’s also a great deal because of how it allows both parties to cash in on the value later on in the season. Mantha gets to spend the first five months of the season playing on Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin’s wing and put up a ton of points, and then come the trade deadline, he’ll be an asset that the Penguins can flip for draft picks and/or prospects. And then for Mantha, on top of potentially raising his stock coming off the injury, it gives him an opportunity to let the season play out and see which teams are the true contenders instead of committing to one at the start of the season. It’s most likely a win for both player and team, with very little risk involved.
Logan Stankoven, Carolina Hurricanes
$6 million AAV x 8 years
I already touched on the importance of teams locking up their young players with high upside to long-term deals in the rising salary cap era with Knies, and the Hurricanes appeared to get the memo with Stankoven and K’Andre Miller. While there is a bit more risk with Miller’s contract as he’s a bit more of a known commodity and a bit older, Stankoven is already developing into a high-end scorer, and his style of play has proven to be perfect for Carolina, making his extension a near home run.
The biggest reason that put Stankoven’s contract on this list over Knies is that the Hurricanes got him down to a cheaper cap hit and signed him for two more years. Oh, and it’s an extension, so it doesn’t even kick in until next year. Yes, his scoring totals aren’t quite as impressive as what Knies has produced over the past two seasons, but Stankoven hasn’t exactly been playing with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner either. With Dallas, he spent the most ice time with Sam Steel and Jamie Benn (although he did also get some time with Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson), and since joining Carolina, he mostly played with Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal. Stankoven is going to develop well into this deal and will be more and more of a bargain as the cap goes up.
Pius Suter, St. Louis Blues
$4.125 million AAV x 2 years
When I had put together my buyer beware list ahead of free agency, Suter was a consideration for it. It’s not that he’s a bad player, but he was coming off a career-best season as he entered the market. On top of that, he plays a center position that is already valued highly by teams, and not only was the center market scarce of talent, that market was depleted even more with the likes of Sam Bennett, Tavares, Duchene and Giroux re-signing with their teams before July 1. This situation had the makings of an overpayment.
And yet, not only do the Blues manage to avoid overpaying for him, they actually get him at a great value. It’s certainly not the $1.6 million per year that he was making with the Canucks, but it’s still a bargain compared to some of the other centers. When Christian Dvorak is getting paid $1+ million more than Suter, that’s when you know you have him on a good contract. He has a strong two-way game and a solid scoring ability, and both of those traits give him the versatility to play anywhere in the lineup. He’ll be a great fit with the Blues as they continue to re-tool their team.
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