NHL Most Valuable Assets

A 115-point season at 19, breaking Joe Thornton’s franchise record, with 45 goals and 70 assists in 82 games, and a Ted Lindsay Award nomination from the players. He was drafted first overall in 2024 and has already produced two seasons that would headline most careers. He plays this season on the last year of his entry-level deal, then begins a five-year, $94 million extension he signed in July, an $18.8 million cap hit that is the largest in NHL history. No player combines his level, his age and his years of control.

The Art Ross Trophy with 138 points, 48 goals and a league-leading 90 assists in all 82 games, his sixth scoring title, tying Howe and Lemieux for second all-time. A fifth Ted Lindsay Award ties Gretzky’s record. He lost the Hart to Kucherov by ten voting points. He signed for two years at $12.5 million, which against a $104 million cap is the largest discount any star has given his club.

The Calder Trophy at 18, as the first overall pick of 2025 played 24:41 a night from opening night and led the Islanders in ice time, plus-minus and power-play goals. Fifty-nine points and 23 goals, tied for the most ever by a rookie defenceman. Two more seasons at $975,000 for a number-one defenceman who turned 19 on September 5.

A Norris finalist and a First Team All-Star again, on a Presidents’ Trophy team that won 55 games. He plays this season on the last year of a $9 million deal, then begins the eight-year, $163.2 million extension he signed in August, the largest contract ever given to a defenceman. The extension is priced at what he is worth. A 27-year-old at his level under contract into his mid-thirties is still a franchise.

The Rocket Richard Trophy with 53 goals, 127 points in 80 games, and a plus-57 that led the league. His 97 even-strength points are the most by any player since Gretzky in 1990-91. A Hart finalist for the fifth time. Five more seasons at $12.6 million, a number that was the top of the market when he signed and now sits well below it. Age is the only discount.

Seventy-eight points in his second season, after a Calder-winning 66 as a rookie, playing close to 24 minutes a night. He signed an eight-year extension at $8.85 million before the season, so Montreal holds the most productive young defenceman in the league at a second-pair price for eight years.

A 101-point season and the Selke Trophy in the same year, as captain of a 106-point team. Four more seasons at $7.875 million, a contract signed in 2021 that now pays a first-line centre and the league’s best defensive forward at the price of a second-liner.

Fifty-one goals, second in the league behind MacKinnon by two, and a Second Team All-Star. He is 25, signed through 2030-31 at $7.85 million. Fifty-goal scorers under contract for five years at that number do not exist anywhere else in the league.

Seventy-five points in 69 games in his third season, leading Chicago in scoring for the third year running, on a team that finished 31st. He signed a five-year, $75 million extension in July. The price is at the top of what a 21-year-old has been paid, which trims the surplus, but five years of a franchise centre entering his prime, on a team that has started adding around him, is a cornerstone.

Eighty-six points, a fourth straight season of growth, from 41 to 65 to 71 to 86, as a two-way centre playing over 20 minutes for a 112-point team. Signed through 2029-30 at $8.4 million. He is 23, with 263 points in 328 games.

The Hart Trophy, 130 points in 76 games at 1.71 a game, the best rate in the league, and a First Team All-Star. Tampa Bay also swept the Vezina and the Jack Adams. He is 33 and entering the last year of a $9.5 million contract. As a player he is second in the world. As an asset he is one season of MVP-level hockey at a bargain price, then a new contract in his mid-thirties.

Seven more seasons at $14 million for a 30-year-old who has scored at better than a point a game every season since 2018-19. Edmonton finished second in the Pacific. The play is top-six in the world; the term, into his late thirties, is the risk.

A Norris finalist and a Second Team All-Star as captain of a Buffalo team that ended the longest playoff drought in league history at fourteen years and won the Atlantic Division with 109 points. Six more seasons at $11 million.

Traded to Minnesota in December for Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a first-round pick. He is 26, a Norris winner two years ago, and plays 2026-27 on the last year of a $7.85 million contract with an extension unsigned. The play is top-three at the position and the price is a steal. Where he plays in 2027 is not yet known.

The Norris Trophy and a First Team All-Star selection, on a Columbus team that missed the playoffs at 92 points. He is 29, with two seasons left at $9.583 million, a contract signed in 2022 that now undercuts the market by half.

The largest contract in league history, eight years and $136 million, begins this season. He was among the league leaders in goals through midseason for a 104-point Minnesota team. He is 29. At $17 million for eight years every dollar of on-ice value is paid for; what is left is the certainty of an elite winger through 2034.

Sixty-two points in 82 games at 20, a Calder finalist, in his first North American season after the most productive under-20 career in KHL history. Two more entry-level years on a team that already has Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson and Slafkovsky signed long-term.

Forty-five goals and 96 points in 82 games, a First Team All-Star, leading a 112-point Dallas team in scoring. He is 27 and unsigned, having filed for salary arbitration. Dallas holds his rights, and the award will land near the top of the winger market. Until it does, the asset is a first-team winger whose price is not yet set.

Forty goals at 23, 183 points in 227 career games, on a Utah team that reached the playoffs for the first time. Signed through 2032-33 at $7.143 million: seven more seasons of a forty-goal winger at a second-line price.

Forty-one goals and 69 points in 76 games, leading Anaheim in both, at 22. He is an unsigned restricted free agent who turned down four years at $13 million a year. The number he signs for will be higher, and Anaheim, having just matched an $18 million offer sheet for Carlsson, has shown it will pay.

Thirty goals and 73 points in 82 games in his fourth season, the first overall pick of 2022 now producing like one. Signed through 2032-33 at $7.6 million.

Sixty points and 23 goals in 82 games as a rookie, a Calder finalist, the third overall pick of 2024 on an Anaheim team that made the playoffs. Two more entry-level seasons.

Sixty-seven points in 70 games as a 21-year-old first-line centre. Philadelphia signed him to a five-year, $90 million offer sheet in July, with $85.3 million of it in signing bonuses, and Anaheim matched. At $18 million he carries the highest cap hit in the league this season before he has had a 70-point year, so the surplus is gone. The asset is five years of a number-one centre who is not yet 22.

A hundred points for the fourth straight season, a Second Team All-Star, on a Boston team that returned to the playoffs with 100 points. He is 30, signed through 2030-31 at $11.25 million.

Twenty assists in the 2026 playoffs, the most of anyone, for the Cup finalist, then the first year of an extension at $13.5 million. He is 29. The number is the market rate for a first-line centre and the term is long.

Toronto finished 28th with 78 points and won the McKenna lottery. Matthews is 28, on $13.25 million through 2027-28, a 69-goal scorer three seasons ago and now the veteran centre a rebuild is timed around. The club holds him for two seasons on a market contract, after a losing year.

Over 23 minutes a night on New Jersey’s top pair at 22, signed in October to a seven-year deal at $9 million. The production has not yet matched Hutson’s or Schaefer’s. The minutes, the age and the term make him a top-pair defenceman locked in through his prime.

Twenty-four goals and 59 points in 82 games, his second straight full season, from the third overall pick of 2023 and a Hobey Baker winner. Unsigned as camp opens, with Columbus working toward a five-year deal. A 21-year-old centre with two seasons of 54 points or more is the kind of asset clubs do not let leave.

A Second Team All-Star and the offensive engine of Edmonton’s blue line, signed through 2028-29 at $10.5 million. He is 26.

Forty-three points in an injury-shortened 54 games, then the first season of an eight-year, $80 million extension. Third overall in 2022, a top-six centre at 22 on a team that reached the playoffs. The term buys his whole prime.

Ottawa’s first-line centre at 24, signed through 2030-31 at $8.35 million, on a 99-point team that made the playoffs. Ottawa traded Brady Tkachuk to Florida in June for two first-round picks and more, so the club is his now.

Fifty-nine points in 69 games at 20, the fourth overall pick of 2023, with one more entry-level season before his second contract. Celebrini’s running mate on the most valuable young core in the league.

The Vezina Trophy and a First Team All-Star selection for a 106-point team. He is 32, with two seasons left at $9.5 million. Goaltenders age unpredictably and the term is short.

First overall in June after 51 points in 35 games as a Penn State freshman, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a Hobey Baker top-ten finalist, a year after a 129-point WHL season. Toronto won the lottery from 28th in the standings. He has not played an NHL game. Three years of entry-level control on the first pick of the draft is an asset most general managers would take over a first-line veteran.

A Vezina finalist for a 100-point Boston team. He is 27, signed through 2031-32 at $8.25 million: six seasons of a top-three goalie in his prime.

Led the 2026 playoffs with 29 points as Vegas reached the Final and lost in six. That was the first season of an eight-year, $96 million contract. He is 29; the term runs to his mid-thirties at a market price.

A Stanley Cup champion at 24, signed through 2031-32 at $7.42 million. Carolina’s top-line winger for six more seasons at a middle-six price.

The Second Team All-Star goaltender, at $5.85 million through 2030-31. Washington missed the playoffs at 95 points; he was not the reason. Five seasons of a top-five goalie at well under the starter’s rate.

Among the league’s top goal scorers through midseason on Minnesota’s wing, at 25, on $7 million through 2028-29. Three more seasons of a first-line scorer at a price the market has left behind.

Twenty-six goals and 63 points as a rookie, leading all first-year players in goals, then 51 points in 81 games in his second season. One more entry-level year. The second season was a step back from the first.

Detroit’s leading winger at 24, signed through 2031-32 at $8.075 million. Detroit finished on 92 points and missed the playoffs again; he is the piece the next team is built around.

Florida paid two 2026 first-round picks, a conditional 2029 first and a 2027 second to take him from Ottawa in June. He is 26, with two seasons left at $8.2 million. The price Florida paid is the market’s statement of his value.

The starter for a 112-point team, 27 years old, signed through 2032-33 at $8.25 million. Seven seasons of a first-line goalie in his prime.

The first-line centre of the Stanley Cup champions, signed through 2031-32 at $9.75 million. He is 29, with six seasons left on a contract that has aged into a bargain.

A Vezina finalist for a 91-point team that missed the playoffs. He is 31, signed through 2031-32 at $8.25 million. The term runs to 37, which is the risk. The play is top-three at the position now.

A 103-point season at 33, fifth in the league, for a Winnipeg team that missed the playoffs at 82 points. Signed through 2030-31 at $8.5 million. The production is top-five; the age is the discount.

Dallas signed him to an eight-year extension at $10.6 million that begins this season, locking in their top-pair defenceman at 25 through 2033-34.

Detroit’s number-one defenceman at 25, carrying the heaviest minutes on the team, signed through 2030-31 at $8.55 million.

A 6-foot-5 centre at 24 on a 90-point playoff team, signed through 2029-30 at $6.25 million. Four seasons of a first-line-sized centre at a third-line price.

Second overall in June after 33 points in 43 SHL games for Frölunda at 18, the most by a player under 19 in that league since the Sedins in 1998-99. San Jose took him and Keaton Verhoeff in the top nine of the same draft. He has not played an NHL game.