Colorado Avalanche star Cale Makar secured his future (and more) with a monumental eight-year, $163.2-million contract last week. It will make him the highest-paid player in the entire NHL when the contract kicks in next year, and it has undoubtedly changed the financial landscape for players across the league. So, what does it mean for the Philadelphia Flyers?
We’ve already seen a whole lot of the contractual environment in the NHL change this summer. Whether it was the $18-million AAV of the Leo Carlsson offer sheet from the Flyers, or other teams being willing to offer sheet players leading young restricted free agents getting millions more than projected — things have changed. Macklin Celebrini viewed signing a five-year contract with an $18.8-million AAV as a team-friendly contract and doing the Sharks a favor.
And now, with Makar taking as close to the maximum salary allowed as possible without it being the maximum salary allowed, we’re entering a new threshold. He has set a benchmark on what one of the best players in the world at his position should be making. Makar’s new deal will take up 17.97% of the Avalanche’s salary cap when it starts. (Leo Carlsson’s mega offer sheet came in at 17.31%, just for a frame of reference.) That is the most in the NHL’s salary cap era and that record just keeps on getting broken year after year.
The NHL finally has to pay its star players. The best hockey players of their generation are seeing salaries finally in the same realm as other sports stars around the world. So, again, what does it mean for the Flyers?
Could Porter Martone or Matvei Michkov reach something similar?
The two names that of course come to the front of our minds are Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov. Namely, because they are still on their entry-level contracts and what their next deals could come at is still a complete mystery.
For Martone, he is entering just the second year of his contract (duh), but if he continues playing even close to what we saw during the 19 games of NHL experience he had last season and playoffs, then it certainly feels like his next contract could be one of these megadeals. If Martone scores something like 65 points next season while contributing in all three zones and is clearly a top-six winger, and then maybe explodes in a massive breakout campaign for the 2027-28 season, putting something up like 40 goals and 90 points, then there is a conversation to be had.
If that is him — a winger who is large, physical, and scores over a point per game — then wouldn’t he be considered one of the top 20 or so wingers in the world? Maybe there could be an even larger breakout and we’re talking about him being one of the 10 or so best in his position by the time he could sign a contract. Of course, that could be as soon as next summer and that would mean Martone is an All-Star in his rookie season — so that would be great.
It just doesn’t feel impossible to imagine that world where Martone is at that level — or we can at least stretch our imagination to that. Would that then warrant him something in that 15% cap percentage realm? Not the best in the world like Makar’s 18%, but the level lower? By the time his next contract is scheduled to kick in, the NHL could have a cap ceiling of $130 million. That would mean we’re talking about something like a $19-million AAV on Martone’s next contract.
It’s the same conversation for Matvei Michkov.
Michkov’s earning power has suffered a hit due to the disappointing sophomore season, but if he comes back in a meaningful way next season and puts up more than a point per game while doing all the little things the coaching staff wants him to do, then he should be getting a whole lot of money. And if it’s not for his next contract — since the sample of him being a dominant player would be one season fewer — then maybe the next.
Say Michkov breaks out. Could they reasonably agree on something with an 8.5% cap percentage. Trevor Zegras’s new deal comes in at 8.77%, for reference. So, in a similar vein of having a small sample size but a very good sample at that, would something at that percentage for three or four years be feasible? And then after that, since we’re talking about the megastars edging close to the maximum salary, if Michkov plays at that level or even close to it, we could be seeing something similar with a cap percentage of at least 13%. But, that’s just fantasy booking the next several years.
Either way, now that we have established that NHL stars can truly get a whole lot of money, what about anyone that the Flyers want to add to make this team so much better?
Flyers’ ideal No. 1 is going to get paid
We all know the Flyers are trying to make a big splash and fill one of the major holes on their roster so that they can realistically compete for a Stanley Cup. Whether it is a No. 1 center or a No. 1 defenseman, they are on the hunt for it.
They already tried to do it with the Carlsson offer sheet. That is the most obvious example of why it is going to be so much more expensive than we thought to get one of these players, since it was. But even if they go down a different route, it’s going to get pricey.
If they opt for a trade, maybe of someone like Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid, it is going to be mind-blowingly expensive eventually. This trade will not just to have this player for the remainder of the contract. Hopefully, there is a contract extension (if this hypothetical No. 1 center is nearing free agency) and if they’re one of the top centers in the game, then we should expect something much more like Cale Makar’s new deal.
The Flyers will have to prepare themselves for that situation. They clearly had room to try and get Carlsson done. It might have cost them someone like Owen Tippett to then be able to re-sign Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, but it was a sacrifice they were willing to make. Similar sacrifices might need to be done if they were to try and get one of the biggest stars in the game, or even just an above-average No. 1 center.
The best players are just making their piece of the pie so much bigger.
Flyers could also avoid a contract like this
There is also another route. Besides Michkov and Martone, the Flyers are in position to not really be one of those teams with a cap hit over $10 million for the next few years. Players like Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras, Travis Sanheim, Jamie Drysdale, and Cam York are very good players who play in the top half of their lineup, and are all signed for at least four more years. That’s a foundation that is rock-solid.
Then, if Martone wants to Good Ol’ Canadian Boy it up like his hero Sidney Crosby has been for the past decade, or Connor McDavid has, or countless others, and then sign a deal that can give the Flyers a break, then that would be great. Maybe he’s fine with a seven-year deal coming in at a $12-million AAV after he just scored 40 goals, for the good of Philadelphia.
Michkov, too. Maybe he wants security and as soon as possible, if the Flyers are confident that he can remain a consistent player, they lock him up to a maximum seven-year deal in the middle of this upcoming season at a fairly reasonable number.
Suddenly, the Flyers have just about everyone locked up in the next couple years and a fairly good team if players reach their potential. There could be then room to go out and get a star, but it could also be not really necessary in a Carolina Hurricanes-esque way, to just get a bunch of very good players signed long-term because they believe in their own team, more than their desire to get as big a paycheck as their peers on some other team.
We’re dreaming here, but it could certainly be a possibility and Philadelphia will live in its own bubble away from the stars of the NHL making more and more and a salary over $20 million being commonplace. But, it’s also livable and we’re sure Danny Briere and his team have planned for every possibility.
