Performing well in important contract years can raise a player's value significantly ahead of their next deal. Adam Proteau lists players on the Hurricanes, Penguins, Maple Leafs and Panthers who started strong.

The business of professional hockey always is a focus when we talk about the game. 

It’s true wins and losses are the ultimate metric for all players over the long term, but we’d be lying if we suggested that even the earliest results for the NHL’s pending class of UFAs didn’t have an eventual impact on their financial status when they’re looking for a new deal. They most certainly do.

Indeed, players struggling at the end of their contracts understand fully how a dry spell on offense or a terrible performance on defense can significantly hamper their next payday, and the opposite is true of players thriving in a contract year – they’re creating bigger cap hits for themselves with every goal and assist or denied goal or assist.

Here are four examples of NHLers who’ve strengthened their UFA negotiating leverage next summer with excellent starts to the regular season:

1. Brady Skjei, D, Carolina Hurricanes

There are going to be many veteran defensemen becoming UFAs at the end of this season, including Calgary’s Noah Hanifin, Vancouver’s Tyler Myers, Detroit’s Shayne Gostisbehere and Carolina’s Brett Pesce. However, it’s another Hurricanes blueliner, 29-year-old Skjei, who has had the best start of that particular group of looming free agents. 

Skjei leads all NHL defensemen in assists (five) and points (six) through four Canes games. He’s also averaging the second-highest time on ice per game of any Carolina D-man, with 19:55.

While many expect Carolina GM Don Waddell to retain Skjei’s services beyond this season, there’s no question the Hurricanes will be feeling a cap crunch that forces them to move either Skjei or Pesce. If he can get more from dealing Skjei and keeping 28-year-old Pesce, you can bet the house Waddell will do exactly that. 

The Canes have arguably the NHL’s very best defense corps, but the cap is designed to thin out depth just about every season, and it should surprise no one to see Carolina move on from one of Skjei or Pesce. Right now, thanks to his hot start to the year, Skjei stands to get a notable raise on his $5.25-million cap hit this season.

2. Jake Guentzel, LW, Pittsburgh Penguins

The 29-year-old Guentzel has a cap hit of $6 million this season, and he’s recorded five assists and six points in three games so far. 

Sure, he isn’t scoring goals at the 38-goal-per-season plateau he’s reached in each of the past two years, but his assist numbers are excellent, and he’s part of an offensively dynamic Penguins team that doesn’t need him to finish scoring plays all the time.

Should the cap upper limit rise to the $87-million or $88-million mark next summer, the Pens will have about $18 million in cap space – more than enough to give Guentzel a healthy raise on his current contract, although they have only 15 players signed through 2024-25. 

Guentzel is in his prime, and he’s a proven winner at the highest levels. While most Pittsburgh fans and media expect Pens GM Kyle Dubas to keep Guentzel in the fold, there would be no shortage of teams lining up to pay him $7 million to $9 million per season for the next seven or eight years.

3. William Nylander, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs

It isn’t just Nylander’s two-points-per-game average through Toronto’s first three games this season that gives him increased leverage in contract negotiations – it’s the way he’s amassed all his points that makes him stand out. 

The 27-year-old’s goal against Minnesota Saturday had panache and power to spare; it was a goal-of-the-season candidate, and it took outstanding vision and skill to pull off.

As Nylander was scoring that goal, you could envision his agent cackling with glee, knowing full well how much money Nylander was assuring himself of with those type of plays. 

Nylander’s current $6.96-million cap hit is currently one of the best-value pacts in the league. With the cap rising, the Leafs likely will be using most of the additional space to bump up Nylander’s salary to upwards of $9 million to $10 million. If Nylander wanted more than that, he’d likely be orchestrating his exit out of Toronto, but we expect his love for the city and team will keep him in Blue and White for many years to come.

4. Sam Reinhart, RW, Florida Panthers

The Panthers have stumbled out of the gate this season, but you can’t blame any of that on Reinhart, who generated three goals and four points in three games while averaging 21:05 of ice time per game. 

Florida has roughly $28 million in cap space next season if the upper limit rises, but they have only 10 players signed for 2024-25, and that might make the 27-year-old Reinhart too pricey for the Panthers to hang onto.

Reinhart’s current cap hit of $6.5 million is a bargain, especially considering how valuable he was in Florida’s stunning Stanley Cup playoff run last spring. He posted eight goals and 13 points in 21 playoff games last year, and if he can produce at least 30 goals as he did last season and 82 points as he did in 2021-22, Reinhart will get in the area of a 50-percent raise in free agency next summer. 

That kind of payday may not come from Florida, but some team out there will value him to that degree in no small part because he’s an extremely effective two-way force coming into the prime of his career.