Seven Contracts That'll Make You Forget About the Cap Crunch

Every summer, a handful of GMs look like geniuses because they locked in players at numbers that look like highway robbery three years later. This list identifies the seven best bargains on NHL rosters heading into 2026-27, the kinds of deals that separate contenders from pretenders when the playoffs arrive. These are the contracts that make you wonder how the other team's front office let them slip away, and they'll be central to which franchises are still playing in June.