The biggest NHL headline on Wednesday centered on Macklin Celebrini, and it landed with a jolt. The San Jose Sharks locked up the 20-year-old with a five-year deal worth $18.8 million AAV, a contract that now makes him the league’s highest-paid player.
That kind of number changes the conversation fast. San Jose is still building, and the Sharks do have a young core they believe can grow into something real. But the contract also puts a massive chunk of salary-cap weight on one player for years to come.
That’s where the Vegas Golden Knights come into the picture. In recent seasons, the teams lifting the Stanley Cup have tended to share one trait: they manage the cap cleanly.
The Carolina Hurricanes, the most recent champions, didn’t have a single player making more than $10 million AAV. The Florida Panthers followed the same blueprint, with Aleksander Barkov leading the way at $10 million AAV.
Vegas has already lived that model. In 2023, Jack Eichel was the Golden Knights’ top-paid player at $10 million AAV.
That kind of balance matters because it lets a team spread the money around, build depth, and stay strong across the lineup. Whether it’s the blue line or the forward group, that structure has been part of the championship formula.
Celebrini may still become the kind of player who can swing a playoff series or deliver in a Game 7. But the contract itself creates a long-term challenge for San Jose. It becomes harder to keep developing players on similar terms when one massive deal is already sitting on the books, along with contracts like Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba.
And the Sharks aren’t the only Pacific Division team handing Vegas a little breathing room. The Anaheim Ducks just gave Leo Carlsson a five-year deal worth $18 million AAV. The Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks also don’t look like teams ready to push hard against the Golden Knights in the near future, which gives Kelly McCrimmon more room to operate.
None of that means San Jose will be easy to play against. The Sharks still have plenty of young talent, and the rising salary cap will soften some of the pain. But Celebrini’s deal does create a real team-building headache, and that’s exactly the kind of thing Golden Knights fans can point to as this rivalry keeps rolling.
Vegas still has to deal with a dangerous player in Celebrini. The question is what San Jose has to give up around him to make the rest of it work.
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Robin Lehner is part of the backdrop too, even if he did not make the final cut, and that alone says something about how tightly packed the franchises crease history has become. Thompson brought steadiness and an All-Star nod, while Hills value came into sharp focus during the 2023 Stanley Cup run, when Vegas needed answers in goal and found them, leaving the order of this list as much a reflection of timing as talent. [Read more 🡒]