The Vancouver Canucks signed defenseman Zeev Buium, who was selected one pick behind San Jose Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson in the 2024 NHL Draft, to an eight-year, $75.4 million contract extension on Friday. While Dickinson still has a year before he's able to sign a contract extension himself, it does provide a fairly interesting starting point for potential negotiations when that time comes.
First note: since Dickinson isn't eligible to sign an extension until next summer, he will not be eligible to sign an eight-year contract due to changes in the NHL's collective bargaining agreement that will take effect in the near future. As a result, the maximum term he'll be able to get on an extension will be seven years.
Now that we have that out of the way, we'll focus on the contract's average annual value moving forward rather than total value, since term will have to be different for Dickinson. Buium's new contract has a cap hit of $9.38 million per season, which could end up being a steal given the way the market has been trending as of late. At just 20 years of age, his contract also sets him up for another major payday while he's in the middle of his prime.
As things currently stand, it doesn't seem controversial to say that Dickinson is nowhere near being a $9 million player at this point in time. With that being said, a major breakout season beginning this fall could see him catapult into that range by next summer. If he's able to establish himself as a legitimate top-four defenseman, and especially if he's able to contribute on special teams in one way or another, he'll enter that conversation.
As for term, it's difficult to see how the Sharks will approach Dickinson's deal and it'll likely depend on what Will Smith's next contract looks like. With Macklin Celebrini's new extension being a five-year deal, they could look to keep the majority of the young core on a similar timeline.
While Buium isn't a perfect comparison for Dickinson, it does provide an interesting starting point for discussion. Buium himself isn't necessarily good enough to justify his current cap hit this season, but given the term, the Canucks are betting on getting their value back later in the contract and the Sharks could theoretically take a similar approach with Dickinson.
