The Best And Worst Contract On Every Canadian NHL Team

As the 2026-27 NHL season approaches, Courtney Nielson reflects on which players on the league's seven Canadian franchises are providing the most and least value relative to their salary. View More Video Transcript Well, you know, my mind initially went to Kyle Connor, Ryan, but, you know, he just signed a eight-year extension that kicks in this year. So I, I can't imagine he'd wanna move. It does feel like he's a little different than some of the other guys there. But if I'm an Ottawa fan, I'm getting extremely worried that Jake Sanderson could be the next guy on this list of guys who want out, you know? It'll probably be dependent on how strong Ottawa comes out of the gates this year. We'll see how much of a boost William Eklund and some of the other additions they made this summer can kind of, you know, replace Brady Tkachuk. But if I'm Steve Stamkos, if I'm Travis Green, I am slapping a big old C on Jake Sanderson's jersey because, you know, and not that that would even keep him there because Brady Tkachuk left, but- Right you know, do whatever you can to make him sh- make sure this kid feels welcome. There you go. And, and it's still a rising star, right? Like, Jake Sanderson has already been fantastic for the Senators. He'll probably be even better this season. Michael Augello, any names come to mind for you? Yeah, by the way, that C stands for "see ya." but no, I, I, I would say, I mean, the low-hanging fruit here is Auston Matthews, but I think Auston Matthews and his camp have made it pretty clear, and the way John Chaika and the Leafs responded with all the changes that they made, that if they're good, if they're competitive, he wants to stay in Toronto. He's, I think he's always wanted to stay in Toronto. The problem is certain Canadian players didn't wanna stay in Toronto, so I, I don't think it is an American thing. I think it's all about winning, and it's all about, you know, they, these players like Quinn Hughes and Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk, they all let their organizations know years ahead that they weren't gonna re-sign contracts, so they did allow those teams to trade them and get returns for them. I'm sure those teams would rather have those players who are star players, but they didn't, like, leave them in for unrestricted free agency and leave them hanging. Close