July 1 brings a different kind of NHL shopping spree.
Yes, free agency is the headline act for players whose contracts have run out. But there’s another lane opening up, and it’s the one reserved for stars who are still under contract for another season yet eligible to lock in their next deal now. That group is usually where the league’s biggest money conversations live.
At the top of that list sits Cale Makar.
The Colorado Avalanche defenseman is entering the final year of a six-year contract that carried a $9 million cap hit, and the case for a massive extension is obvious. Makar is fresh off a season in which he posted 79 points, a number that qualifies as a “down year” only because his standard is so absurdly high.
He already owns multiple 90-point seasons, along with a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe Trophy and two Norris Trophies. According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, he could even wind up as the highest-paid player in the NHL, ahead of Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and his $17-million average annual value.
Quinn Hughes belongs in the same financial neighborhood.
The Minnesota Wild defenseman is one of the most electric skaters in the sport, and his arrival helped push the team into Stanley Cup contender territory. Hughes is at the end of a six-year deal that paid him $7.85 million against the salary cap, and the next one should be far more expensive.
At 26, he’s the kind of blueliner who can eat huge minutes and still pile up offense, with the source pointing to the possibility of 90-point production from the back end. Bill Guerin is going to have to open the wallet wide if he wants to keep that momentum going.
Nikita Kucherov is another star who can cash in this summer.
The Tampa Bay Lightning winger just won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP, and he’s closing in on the end of an eight-year contract that paid him $9.5 million per season. At 33, he’s still producing like a superstar, coming off his sixth 100-point season and finishing with 130 points and 44 goals, which matched his career high. A raise feels like the natural next step.
Sidney Crosby also becomes extension-eligible on July 1, and that alone is a reminder of how long he’s been at this level.
The Pittsburgh Penguins captain signed a two-year extension in September 2024 at his symbolic $8.7 million per season, and now he’s back in position to add more years if he chooses. Crosby scored 29 goals and 74 points in 68 games this past season at age 38, still producing at a high level while moving deeper into the final chapter of an extraordinary career.
Macklin Celebrini rounds out the group.
The San Jose Sharks center is only 20, but he’s already making noise after a 115-point regular season in his sophomore campaign. The source says it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s the best player in the NHL next season, and that gives San Jose every reason to try to lock him up as long as possible.
He’s listed lower on the board because he’ll be an RFA on July 1, which means the Sharks still control his rights and the odds of him leaving are very slim. He can sign his first standard NHL contract this summer as his entry-level deal expires in 2027.
In Other News...
Pirates Dream Trade Comes With One Massive Catch
If the Pirates are going to swing big at the trade deadline, Adley Rutschman is the kind of name that would make sense on paper. The Orioles catcher brings the sort of all-around value Pittsburgh has been chasing for years, with enough offense to help the lineup and the kind of defensive reputation that can steady a pitching staff. Former Pirate Josh Harrison has already weighed in on the appeal, and journalist Noah Hiles has pointed out why the fit is so obvious if Baltimore ever makes him available.
The catch is the price, and it is not just about what it would take to pry him loose in July. Rutschman is still in arbitration, which means any deal would have to be weighed against how long Pittsburgh could realistically keep him in the picture before the next wave of roster and labor questions complicates everything. For a club trying to build carefully, the idea of paying premium prospect capital for a player who may not come with the long runway most deadline targets do is exactly the sort of dilemma that makes this one so intriguing. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Suddenly Have A Paul Skenes Problem They Can't Ignore
Paul Skenes has hit a rough patch that the Pirates can no longer treat like a blip. His last start was especially jarring, as he was tagged for eight runs in four innings, and the bigger concern is that his fastball has not looked like the same pitch that helped define his rise earlier this season. For a club that has built so much of its pitching identity around him, the drop in performance has quickly become a bigger organizational issue.
The numbers on the radar gun have only sharpened the concern, with Skenes averaging 96.3 mph and dipping into the 93-94 range later in games, a departure from his usual power profile. Pittsburgh now has to decide how aggressively to respond, whether that means managing his workload more closely or digging deeper into what is behind the downturn, and the ripple effects could be felt by the rest of the rotation if he needs time away. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Fans Dread Where Paul Skenes Trade Talk Could Lead
Paul Skenes has spent much of this season giving the Pirates exactly what they hoped for when they brought him to Pittsburgh, even if the results have not always matched the hype. Through 17 starts, he has a 6-8 record and a 3.62 ERA, numbers that reflect both the strain of a tough year and the reality that the club still leans heavily on him every time he takes the ball.
Still, the trade chatter is not going away, mostly because Skenes is nearing arbitration eligibility and the Pirates have long operated with one of the games leanest payrolls. Ben Cherington has repeatedly said the team does not intend to move him, and Skenes has made clear he wants to win in Pittsburgh, but for a fan base that has seen too many stars become what-ifs, the concern is less about what has been said and more about how long that stance can hold if the season keeps drifting. [Read more 🡒]