How New UFA Contracts May Tear Some NHL Teams Apart

Can certain locker rooms handle the ballooning salaries for lesser players?

The rise of massive unrestricted free agent contracts is set to reshape the NHL landscape, and there will be teams that can’t handle the dominoes that fall as a result.

As the NHL salary cap explodes and players sign for deals bigger than any in league history, some players are going to get paid, and many of those players will get offered exponentially more than others on their respective teams. In some cases, the deals handed out will be to NHLers who aren’t as good as some of their teammates, and that has the potential to create real animosity.

At the very least, monster contracts for players who are hitting the market at just the right time will create complex dynamics in the locker room. Look no further than in Minnesota, where the team offered Kirill Kaprizov $16 million per season and he’s turned it down. Should the winger eventually sign a deal that is worth more than $16 million, insiders are wondering how the locker room will handle him taking such a big piece of the pie and making more than twice the salary of any other player on the team.

How will the Wild locker room handle Kaprizov making over $16 million when the next closest forward makes $7 million?

Kaprizov is, no doubt, a star. But is he hamstringing the Wild by pushing the organization as far as he can with his contract extension ask?

While teams aim to retain talent and compete, these high-dollar deals carry the potential to fracture team chemistry if not managed carefully.

Jealousy Among Players Is Inevitable

Big money deals in sports are as much about timing as it is about talent. The salary cap plays a huge role in what a player will get, and those who lock in for longer terms often watch as players in the following seasons zoom by them.

Many times, the players who take advantage of a changing financial landscape make out like bandits, while a player who got a fair deal at the time becomes underpaid. One example is in Winnipeg, where Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele recently signed similar $8.5 million deals, and Kyle Connor is about to zoom past them with an extension that could be in the $12-$14 million range. On one hand, both Scheifele and Hellebuyck should be happy for Connor and glad that the Jets retained him. On the other hand, how well will they handle the discrepancy in salaries? Maybe it’s no big deal. Perhaps it’s an issue.

For some NHL clubs, there will be hurdles to overcome.