Welcome back, everyone to the world's #1 salary cap fantasy hockey article! Good luck to all this season, we've finally made it to puck drop. We had a couple big time signings yesterday along with one extension that took place as I was finishing a run. These things always happen at the best times.

Connor McDavid signs a two-year, $25M ($12.5M AAV) deal with the Oilers

Bad news to start, the 2026 free agency class will be somewhat lackluster but do check back in this upcoming July as I break down where Nick Schmaltz signs. All kidding aside, there are still some big names currently listed, but let's talk about one in Connor McDavid.

The "will he" or "won't he" re-sign speculation was silenced for at least the next two seasons as McDavid re-ups for the same AAV that he is currently structured at. He could have easily named his price, and if not Edmonton, someone would answer, but he went with the Sidney Crosby route and took less money to stay with Edmonton for the next two seasons. Arguably the best player on the planet is on maybe the best deal in the NHL.

While I've seen plenty of people out on the internet streets now saying that this puts Edmonton on a two-year timeline, keep in mind that Leon Draisaitl's deal will expire two seasons after McDavid's extension, another two-year deal could easily be on the table here. Winning the Cup mentality is how mediocre teams become "good", but it also can lead to rash spending. This is not the case with Edmonton. Good teams are relevant in the second week of May, and from there anything can happen. McDavid taking a little bit less by AAV with a rising cap will help supplement the Oilers to remain in that spot.  

For fantasy, it's Connor McDavid…don't think I need to elaborate anymore there but I will say this – This past summer I was invited into Alex McLean's awesome salary cap league, and I have had a crash course in it to say the least. While I'm not lucky enough to roster McDavid…or anyone even close to his talent for that matter, seeing that McDavid signed for the exact same AAV is a godsend for all in salary cap leagues who roster him. Ya know what, good for you guys…we're all really happy for your two points a game player!

Jake Walman signs a seven-year, $49M ($7M AAV) deal with the Oilers

If you're new here, first of all welcome. You'll find at points that I talk about the Chicago Blackhawks, who I am a fan of. You'll also find that I'm not the biggest Stan Bowman fan out there and I'm sure there's plenty of Hawks fans out there who share that sentiment for multiple reasons that we won't divulge here. When I read that Connor McDavid signed, I sent a snarky text to my Hawk Talk group that this gives Bowman the leeway to sign Brett Kulak to a 4-year $6M deal. We here call this, "Seabrooking". That said, he did offer another extension as Jake Walman will remain an Oiler. This signing makes sense to me as the Oilers did give a decent amount up for him via trade with the Sharks last season.

I am a big Walman fan and surprised he didn't find a more permanent role on his previous clubs; I haven't been as encouraged with how he seemed to fit along this Oilers blue line last season. With that said though, this does help an Edmonton defense and potentially point on the power play. 

I do like this contract for Walman, the $7M AAV for a blueliner is right under Noah Hanifin, and while I like Hanifin's game, Walman can bring a little bit more on special teams at a slightly lower AAV. For Edmonton as a whole, they are right up against the cap ceiling, but when you're trying to win a Cup, you're going to be right up against it regardless. Where I worry is of course in net to where they're going to have to make a decision this offseason on how they go about spending on a position that right now only account for $3.6M against the cap. In comparison to their other groupings, they will remain at fourth in blue line spend with Walman's extension to start next season and remain outside of the top ten for their forwards.

For those in fantasy, Walman was right outside the top 150 in most ADP lists I saw, but he's a solid player to have, especially if you're not about to have multiple top tier Oilers on your roster. For salary leagues, you'll have to navigate his pay raise but look at the bright side – at least you know what that amount is right now!

Jake Eichel signs an eight-year, $108M ($13.5 AAV) deal with the Golden Knights

The big signings don't stop! I was going to submit this in and talk about all things Minnesota Wild next week, but as the timing would have it, we have a monster extension out in Vegas as Jack Eichel will next season jump from $10M AAV to $13.5M.

I'm a fan of this deal, but in other ways I'm not. The dollar goes further in Nevada but to me this was a gamble on a player with injury history and a question mark on if the two sides meeting wanted to be about Mitch Marner's $12M. Don't get me wrong, I like Eichel as a player and even picked him as my Hart Trophy pick this season, but the thought there was a player in a contract year on a club with arguably the best top nine in the league.

Still, the cap is only going up and Eichel is crucial to how Vegas likes to play, particularly at home. Keep in mind as well, that no club had won a Cup with a player at or above $10M AAV until Eichel and Vegas did just that. I never thought we'd be in a spot to where anyone in the McDavid draft year made more than him, but here we are.

For fantasy, Eichel now has a 102-point winger next to him in Mitch Marner, and a power play that could be right at the top in the NHL this season. For those in salary cap leagues, again at least you know what the number for Eichel next season will be instead of oh say, getting 15 or so lopsided trades for Noah Dobson. Just saying, not from experience except kind of. This is also the Vegas Golden Knights that we're talking about here with the Cap. This is a club that does this better than almost anyone else in the league, if they feel that this number and term fits their team now and future outlook, then I'm going to automatically agree with their decisions.  

*Salary Cap data from PuckPedia.com  

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