As free agency wraps up after yet another silly season that has lasted approximately 2 weeks, it is time to break down the sneaky good and the obviously awful contracts awarded by the GMs of the greatest sim hockey league ever to exist.
Things didn't get quite as crazy as I had predicted, but very close... Let's finish up this recap by analyzing the forward haul of 2026.
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS TO TAMPA - 4 x $6,750,000 - Even the most stacked teams in this league have time for Nuge. He's not an imposing sim presence, but contributes well at both ends of the ice. His PH is sky-high, so he's a valuable power-play cog (I think?), and his DF is usually solid, so he's at the very least a good option for the PK also. Seems as if he's been around forever, but at 33 he should have a few kicks at the can left in him. The SB was pricey, but he's a nice add that instantly improves the Lightning's squad for 2026-27. GRADE B+
BOONE JENNER TO WINNIPEG - 3 x $4,600,000 - Jenner always has solid rates across the board. He's light this year on scoring, but features good numbers in the other categories. He is also always a very versatile player, as he can play both Left Wing and Centre this season. I like the 3-year term on this signing. Kind of like Nuge, 3 or 4 years, I think is the sweet spot for guys this age. A nice and tidy addition to Doc's powerhouse Jets roster. GRADE A
MARK SCHEIFELE TO SAN JOSE - 3 x $15,000,000 - There is a lot to both like and dislike about this signing/the structure of the contract. I think the $15 million a season dollar amount was close to being fair given how elite of a player Scheifele is, combined with our climbing salary cap. The SB was high, but may have needed to be even higher had Sumit wanted to squeeze a 4th year out of Scheif. So, I'm okay with that. You don't have a shot at picking up great players like this that often, so I kind of would've liked to see that 4th year tacked on, but at the end of the day, with Toby not putting up as big of a fight as we'd thought and hoped for, this signing overall is a win for Sumit. GRADE B+
BROCK NELSON TO ANAHEIM - 1 x $10,000,000 - Dev has cap space, or at least coming into free agency he had plenty of it, so to break this one down, you really only have to calculate the fact that it's going to cost him $15,000,000 (10m base + 5m SB) for a season of Nelson. That dollar amount equates to a good 2nd-round pick. Which I think is fair to good value for one year of Nelson and his very solid rates. He might be on the 2nd line for the real-life Avs, but he rates as a 1st liner here. If he repeats his production from this past year, Dev will hold his hometown rights, which is always a nice little advantage if needed. GRADE B+
CHRIS KREIDER TO VEGAS - 2 x $6,000,000 - Joe was very active early on in free agency before smartly withdrawing himself as things got crazy over time. Kreider has great top-6 rates, but is aging. So, I think the salary was great, given his fantastic numbers across the board, and the term was equally sensational given his elderly physical limitations. I didn't love how Kreider was never multi-positional when I employed him in Detroit, but that is such a minor detail in the grand scheme of things. GRADE A
KYLE PALMIERI TO DALLAS - 2 x $5,000,000 - We have a Junya sighting! Another older player who was locked up somewhat early on in free agency, Palmieri actually features both better passing and better defense than Kreider does. I do prefer Kreider overall, as his peripheral rates and his pedigree are a bit better (the latter meaning that I do believe he's more likely to have another good real-life season this winter than Palmieri is), but still think this is a great contract for a guy who should make big contributions in Kato's top 6. GRADE B+
RYAN HARTMAN TO COLUMBUS - 4 x $4,500,000 - Here we have a "young" by free agency standard "scoring" centreman being locked up by Jesse. Most of Hartman's ratings fall into the "okay" category, other than his 81 scoring. I'm not super sure whether that would make him a 2C or a 3C. A great contract for a 2C, but a bad one for a 3C? Because that would be team-dependent, I think we approach this signing either from the fact that Hartman is "young", making this a good contract, or from how much the SB bonus was, making this a bad one. I think the pros and cons overall even out with this one. GRADE B
ALEX WENNBERG TO ST.LOUIS - 5 x $5,250,000 - A year ago I built the most defensive-possible team that I could assemble, while still having plenty of scoring throughout. The results were mixed/inconclusive, as I did have the best goal-differential in the East, but only barely slid into the 2nd wildcard spot. The results led me to believe that DF is important, but maybe slightly overrated amongst BRHL GMs. Either way, a forward like Wennberg with an 85 DF who can still put up points has to be considered very valuable. I definitely thought he'd command more attention and money, especially being only 31 years young. So, I chalk this one up as a big win for Eric given that Wennberg can centre both a PP and a PK unit this season. GRADE A
BRAD MARCHAND TO SEATTLE - 2 x $11,360,000 - This one is tough to handicap. No one wants to dole out a contract with a 20-plus million dollar AAV, but this is for someone who currently sports a whopping 95 SC. Rex did what he had to do to secure the services of the best scorer (by far) available this summer. Some of the peripherals like discipline, skating, and strength fall into the ugly category for Marchand, making this a good, but not great, signing for its dollar amount, but you can't find offense like his on the scrap heap. GRADE B+
EVGENI MALKIN TO VEGAS - 2 x $10,000,000 - One could make a lot of comparisons to Marchand and his contract when diving into the Malkin signing. I do prefer Marchand's rates over Malkin's, but of course Malkin commanded slightly less both yearly and for his bonus. Much like Marchand, he's going to spend plenty of time in the box and not contribute much in the checking or skating departments. He, of course, features plenty of offense this season, and should be a top 6 cog at even strength and be on Joe's PP1. Hard to say what next year holds, as Joe will need him to have one more good NHL season for this investment to really pan out. GRADE B
JORDAN EBERLE TO DALLAS - 2 x $8,000,000 - Junya returned from the dead this free agency to grace us with his presence. As minimal as it was, it was a treat to have him around for a couple of weeks. He didn't target anyone too flashy during silly season, but the additions of Palmieri and Eberle were moves that should keep his Dallas Stars in the thick of things in the competitive Central. The price tag to land Eberle was certainly high. He has decent SC, but doesn't have much else to offer, and is undoubtedly nearing the end of the road. Junya needed to add, but didn't get a deal here. GRADE C
JACK ROSLOVIC TO NY RANGERS - 5 x $5,000,000 - Roslovic was a UFA who I had pegged as a must-watch this summer. He's only an okay player, with pretty blah rates. But the two pros/attractions to him as a potential add this summer were his age and the fact he landed with the Leafs. The latter meant that both the Leafs' homers and those who figured he'd be given a spot in Toronto's top 6 would have interest. I'm not sure what his real-life deployment will be with the Leafs, but given his weak peripherals, it'll likely have to be a prime-time role for multiple years to make this signing any type of a bargain. GRADE B-
VICTOR ARVIDSSON and JONATHAN HUBERDEAU TO MINNESOTA - 1 x $6,000,000 and 3 x $6,800,000 - Toby took no prisoners this free agency. He made sure he competed for the services of many players, and stocked up no matter what their cost, their age, or their rates were. And in doing so, he really added maybe the most amount of depth of any of our BRHL squads this summer. These two signings are polar opposites in my opinion. Arvidsson had a great season and sports fantastic offensive rates because of it. I see a decline this year, so both the term and dollar number are fantastic. Huberdeau had a season to forget, so giving him $6.8 million makes me want to puke, but according to people smarter than me, he got very unlucky, and these supposed hockey Einsteins believe a massive rebound could happen. So, the Arvidsson signing deserves major accolades, and the Huberdeau one, although terrible to the naked eye, could prove astute within months. GRADES A+ for Arvidsson and B for Huberdeau
CHRISTIAN DVORAK TO OTTAWA - 2 x $11,000,000 - Here is another one of our juicy signings with plenty to unpack. We'll start with who Dvorak is currently. His age right now as a UFA is appealing, and his defence and faceoff abilities are both very good for this season. If we were talking about a 3-million-dollar contract, I might even compliment his decent DU and DI rates too, but we're assessing this off of 11 million freakin dollars, so who cares that those are solid rates. Now for what he will become over the next 1-2 seasons... and it's iffy at best. The only way this signing will end up being remotely decent is if Dvorak were to be locked into a top 6 role with the Flyers long-term. But given the fact Danny Briere seems determined to find a top-flight centre based on what he just offered up for Leo Carlsson, I think Dvorak's time in Philly's top 6 is very limited. Brayden's saving grace is that this is only a 2-year contract. GRADE C-
JT MILLER TO SAN JOSE - 3 x $10,589,168 - After diving deep into the Dvorak signing, I briefly thought this JT Miller deal was actually a really good one, but then I double-checked the SB for it, and it comes in at a whopping $14.5 million. That still doesn't necessarily make it a terrible one, though. Miller has always showcased stellar rates across the board, and although they may be down this year, they're only down slightly. The 3-year term, I think, is an excellent timeline for his age. With a league injury setting of "very low," I think Miller is very valuable, but he for sure loses some of that value if the setting gets jacked up as we expect it to. GRADE B