SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks leading scorer Macklin Celebrini will likely be one of the NHL’s highest-paid players by the time the 2027-28 season begins.
It’s just a question of when Celebrini and the Sharks can come to an agreement on a contract extension, whether that’s this offseason or sometime next year.
After finishing as the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer, Celebrini said Saturday that while he hasn’t thought too much about his next contract, he’s open to signing an extension as soon as this summer.
The Sharks and Celebrini can sign a new deal as soon as July 1, as the 19-year-old centerman’s three-year entry contract expires after the 2026-27 season.
“I haven’t really talked about it, and there’s a lot of stuff that goes into it,” Celebrini said of a new deal.
Celebrini’s next deal, perhaps depending on the length, could make him the second or third highest-paid player in the NHL.
This season, Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl had the league’s biggest salary cap hit at $14 million, but Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov will start an eight-year, $136 million deal that will carry an NHL-best cap hit of $17 million.
Celebrini could request up to 20% of the cap, which is projected at $113.5 million for the 2027-28 season. The cap for this past season was $95.5 million, and is expected to rise to $104 million next year.
Celebrini was two days removed from breaking Joe Thornton’s single-season scoring record with 115 points in 82 games.
This is the last offseason that players re-signing with their own teams can ink eight-year contract extensions. Starting in mid-September, when the new collective bargaining agreement fully takes effect, the maximum contract length will be seven years.
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