Grading the Notable Extensions Signed by NHL Players During the 2023 Season

Since the start of the new year, a few teams across the NHL have used the time to lock up some of their more influential players to long-term deals. For some, it's a reward for what they've done to that point. For others, it's an investment in their future while also, perhaps, being a means to getting a salary cap-friendly deal on the books long term.

Not all extensions are built the same, and not all general managers have the same blueprint of how they want to solidify the future of their teams. That's what makes the business side of the NHL so fascinating. Everyone has their own idea, and sometimes that idea is one they would've been better off running past a few people before putting it into action.

There are six extensions that have been signed since January 1 that we're taking a look at and passing our own judgment on how good (or bad) it was for everyone involved. In this case, we're looking at the extensions that were signed for four years or more since those are tried and true long-term commitments. No offense to Sonny Milano's three-year extension with the Washington Capitals—it's a great story that he earned his way to one just the same.

Six players, multiple years, millions of dollars being tossed around wantonly. Let's break out the red pen and hand out some letter grades.

Stats were referenced from Natural Stat Trick throughout this article.

The Bruins acquired Pavel Zacha from New Jersey over the summer in a one-for-one deal with Erik Haula going to the Devils. Haula has been fantastic in Newark, and Zacha, who didn't quite live up to the high expectations that come with being the No. 6 pick in the 2015 draft, found his comfort zone in Boston.

Zacha set a new career high in points on February 14 when he had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over Dallas, his 53rd game of the season. He's five goals shy of setting a new career high in that category, and he's been a key complement on the Bruins' Czech line with David Krejci and David Pastrnak. If there's anything he's missing playing with those two, it's not also being named David.

Zacha has been a strong player at even strength with good possession numbers, and, yes, his line has outscored opponents at a 2-to-1 ratio at 5-on-5. Putting three countrymen together helped create instant chemistry, you say? What a concept!

With Zacha locked up for four more years, now all the Bruins have to do is get David Pastrnak the extension he deserves before he can be an unrestricted free agent in July. That shouldn't be too hard...right?

Zacha in Boston gave him the change of scenery necessary to find a comfort zone with his abilities and no longer have to sweat the stress that came with being a top-10 pick in New Jersey.

He's not going to be a 70-point player, but if he becomes a steady 50-point scorer per season, it gives the Bruins a really solid depth player just entering his prime years. Plus, the money isn't a cap breaker. Win-win.

Grade: B+

Matthew Boldy, the Wild's first-round pick in 2019 (12th overall), has become one of Minnesota's most exciting players not named Kirill Kaprizov, and at nearly 22 years old, he'll be one of the Wild's cornerstone players for years to come. What his seven-year, $49 million extension says about him is that the team believes he's just getting started.

Boldy is in his second NHL season and he's already matched his output from last season through 56 games with 39 points but with 16 goals this season as opposed to the 15 he had last year. If there's a reason to pause it's that Boldy did that in 47 games last season where it took him 55 to get to 39 this year.

What the Wild can feel comfortable with is how his puck possession numbers are on par with what he did last season, as are his expected goals. Consistency is a big thing to see out of a young player, particularly one they'll be banking on to be a big producer in the years to come.

There is reason to hesitate on this deal given the limited number of games played (he just played his 100th game a week ago), the majority of his points have come on the power play this season (and 31 of 78 for his career), and his scoring rates are down just a touch from last season.

On the upside, it's still a relatively small sample size, given the contract. On the downside, it's still a small sample size to pull from. It's a major commitment in time and money from the Wild, who clearly feel like the best is yet to come.

His skill is exciting, and his explosiveness shines through often, but the Wild will need Boldy to continue to improve and see those offensive numbers increase steadily sooner than not.

Grade: C

It's been one heck of a road for Dylan Strome to find a forever home of sorts. After he was taken third in the 2015 draft by the Arizona Coyotes and then spent a few seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks after a trade, it's Washington where Strome's game has settled down, and his immense talent is getting the opportunity to flourish.

At nearly 26 years old, Strome landed in Washington as a free agent when Chicago didn't qualify him as a restricted free agent. It was an odd decision, given he had his two most productive seasons with the Blackhawks, but the Capitals took advantage of it and found a new playmaker to help set up Alex Ovechkin.

Strome teeing up Ovechkin while he continues his race to Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record was a great wagon to get hitched to because there's no more secure spot in a lineup than being the guy that can help the main goal scorer fill the net. He's been a solid possession player, and he's gotten his scoring rates back up after they slipped a bit last season.

What makes the commitment to Strome wise is that he's young, and guys like Nicklas Bäckström and Evgeny Kuznetsov are on the other side of 30 years old now. The Capitals farm system doesn't exactly have hot prospects pouring out of it thanks to years of sustained success, and landing Strome and having him fit in well helps steady out the center position as the team transitions from the Stanley Cup-winning generation to the next.

It might seem like $5 million a year is a bit pricey, but he's on pace to be a 50-point player this season, and if that's what he'll be moving ahead (and he's scored like that in previous seasons in Chicago), it's a smart signing regardless of future need at the position. Finding a similar player like that with that sort of output at his age in free agency would be asking a lot.

Grade: B

The Islanders were the first team this season to let it be known they were gunning for the playoffs when they made the blockbuster trade with Vancouver to acquire Bo Horvat. The key to getting him was to also make sure they locked him up long term, and boy did they.

Isles GM Lou Lamoriello signing Horvat to an eight-year, $68 million extension was probably about the price of doing business you'd expect for a guy who's scored more than 30 goals already this season and well on the way to 40-or-more goals with roughly 80 points, That's the kind of production any GM would feel comfortable signing a player up for more than $8 million per season.

There's a catch, though. Horvat will surpass his career-high of 61 points very soon (he's at 60 now), and that's with the Islanders having 22 more games to play. Horvat is just shy of 28 years old and has been a consistent 50-to-60-point scorer throughout his career. His career-high season, however, was in 2018-19, when he was 23. These are red flags.

The Islanders' need for an absolute No. 1 center was clear. No disrespect intended for Brock Nelson or Mathew Barzal (who moved to the wing to play next to Horvat), who have played well up the middle, but since John Tavares bolted to Toronto, it's been a mild issue. Horvat addresses that need, but buyer beware.

Paying up more for a guy while he's in the middle of a career year can make for a dubious investment long term, and the Islanders' cap situation hasn't been great for a couple of years now. If there is one positive to the deal, it's that Horvat's cap hit ($8.5 million) comes in below Barzal's on the eight-year, $73.2 million extension he signed in October ($9.15 million).

Grade: C

If there's something about the Buffalo Sabres' jump into being a playoff contender that's stood out this season, it's that they've taken care of a lot of future business with contract extensions for their young core.

Buffalo signed Tage Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson each to seven-year extensions last year, with each of them raising eyebrows across the league for different, yet similar, reasons. Dylan Cozens joined the seven-year extension club on February 7 with his $49.7 million deal to keep him in Buffalo through the 2029-30 season (ye gods).

While Thompson's contract looks like a bargain now and Samuelsson's deal makes the clearest sense within Western New York, Cozens' new deal may also be seen as a sneaky great one by general manager Kevyn Adams.

Cozens is a different type of center compared to Thompson, but in terms of raw numbers and production, the point output is eerily similar, and Cozens has steadily gotten better in each season.

After he posted 13 points in 41 games (0.32 points per game) as a 19-year-old during the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season, he improved to 38 points in 79 games last season (0.48 PPG).

This season, he's already set new career highs in goals and points with 20 and 48, respectively, through 53 games (0.91 PPG), which puts him on pace for 31 goals and 74 points. Compare that to Thompson, who put up 38 goals and 68 points last season, and, well, would you look at that, that's really similar production.

Add in that Cozens plays on both the Sabres power play and penalty kill units and is being used more and more in situations where they're trying to hold a late lead, and that's a different kind of added value to the lineup.

Cozens' growth, along with his strong possession numbers the past two seasons, points toward him being a very strong player and one who very well might've commanded more money had the Sabres gone with a bridge deal. All long-term contracts come with risk, but given the projections, this has all the marks of being a long-term steal for Buffalo.

Grade: A

The Kings locking up defenseman Michael Anderson to an eight-year extension on February 15 seemed to come out of nowhere. And when it comes to defensive defensemen, long-term deals aren't exactly common. But when you take into account what Anderson does to help open up the Kings' attack, it makes sense.

Anderson's deal coming in with a $4.125 million cap hit is no coincidence when you consider his comparison to getting this deal done was Buffalo's Mattias Samuelsson. Like Samuelsson, Anderson's game is all about hard defense.

He's physical, he makes forwards' lives miserable around the net and in corners, and perhaps more importantly, he gives Drew Doughty the freedom to lean into his offensive game more because Anderson will be behind him no matter what.

Anderson is definitively not a point scorer. His 33 career points through 174 games tell you all you need to know, but guys like him aren't being paid to put up points themselves.

Rating his game against blue liners that pile up points will have you thinking Kings GM Rob Blake has lost his mind. But wouldn't you think a former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman-turned-GM would know a thing or two about the position? Yeah, exactly.

Since Anderson's first full season in the NHL in 2020-21, he's almost exclusively been paired with Doughty, and the results have been impressive.

They've played more than 2,300 minutes together at 5-on-5, and their shot attempts for percentage together is 52.9, and their expected goals for percentage is 51.7. Having a pair that plays about 21 minutes per game together and consistently comes out on the positive end of results is a huge boon.

Over those two-plus seasons (counting this year, of course), Doughty has 102 points in 151 games from the blue line. He may not be the defender he once was, but Doughty can still produce points in a big way, and having Anderson as his partner gives him the confidence to attack the net.

There's value in that, and the Kings, like the Sabres, put that value at just over $4 million per season. With Doughty's contract going for four more years after this one, it makes all the sense in the world to keep those two presumably together to the end of that.

Grade: A