Historically, NHL off-seasons don’t provide earth shaking news. NHL GMs tend to avoid league altering moves due to their conservative nature.

But that changed this summer thanks to Daniel Brière and the Philadelphia Flyers. They single-handedly changed the economics of player contracts when they signed Anaheim Ducks centre Leo Carlsson to a five year, $90 million offer sheet on July 3. This changed the way teams, players and agents approach contracts moving forward.

The rising salary cap along with a new era of player empowerment have led to skyrocketing salaries and teams betting on their players of all stature.

Star players are getting paid at levels we’ve never seen. Macklin Celebrini ($18.8 million AAV), Carlsson ($18 million), Connor Bedard ($15 million), and Cutter Gauthier ($13.5 million).

Even depth players like Justin Sourdif ($6.35 million), Luke Evangelista ($7.25 million), and Ville Koivunen ($4 million) are making money that used to be be used on star players.

How does this relate to the Calgary Flames? There are three players whose future contracts have drastically changed over the last couple months: Morgan Frost, Matvei Gridin and Zayne Parekh.

Frost is going to hit free agency at the perfect time. The 27 year old centre has one year remaining on his contract with the Flames. The 2026-27 season has the potential to be a career year for Frost. He will be the Flames number one centre at five on five, play on the top power play unit, and likely get significant time in 3 on 3 overtime. 50+ points within reach for the talented centre.

If he can hit new career highs, Frost will be in for a significant raise on his current $4.375 million salary. Before Carlsson signed his offer sheet, it was within the realm of possibility that the Flames could sign Frost to a reasonable extension. Say 5-6 years at $5-6 million AAV. But that is no longer the case.

Because he will be 28 years old, a top six centre, and a unrestricted free agent, Frost’s next deal will be massive. Likely a salary and term that we didn’t think was possible in April.

The top UFA centres available in July of 2027 feature Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan O’Reilly, William Karlsson, Tyler Seguin, Barrett Hayton, Pavel Zacha, Andrew Copp, and Phillip Danault. But as we know, NHL teams don’t let their players get to UFA status anymore. Because of that, the crop of free agent centremen is likely to be thin.

Between a thin UFA class and rising salary cap, a guy like Frost will get some serious interest from multiple teams.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Frost sign at least a 7 years x $7 million contract next summer.

Would the Flames be comfortable signing Frost to that big of a contract? There is a lot to like about Frost. His skill, face-off ability, and leadership qualities all make him someone you want to keep long term. But do you want to do that on a seven year term? This is going to be one of the more interesting stories to follow this season.

Matvei Gridin is eligible to sign an extension with the Calgary Flames in the summer of 2027. If he can continue to play at, or better, than the pace he finished the 25-26 season, he will be primed to sign a huge contract extension. Just look at some of the deals that have been handed out to young wingers.

Cutter Gauthier, who is only entering his third full year in the NHL, signed a six year deal with an AAV of $13.5 million.

Ryan Leonard, who put up 45 points in 75 games, signed an eight year deal with an AAV of $10.5 million.

Noah Ostlund, who has only played 68 games in the NHL, signed an eight year contract with an AAV of $6.6 million.

If Gridin puts up 50-60+ points in his sophomore season, he could be in line for a massive contract.

The final player this effects is Zayne Parekh, who like Gridin, is eligible to a sign a contract extension with the Calgary Flames next summer. In the past it would be viewed as crazy to sign a player like Parekh to a max term contract because of how little NHL experience the player has.

But that changed this summer. And the best contract to look at as a comparable is Zeev Buium.

Buium signed an eight year contract with an AAV of $9.38 million. Buium and Parekh have a very similar background. They were both selected in the first round in 2024. They both had prolific junior careers. And they’ve both had their struggles early in their NHL careers. Buium has only played in 76 NHL games putting up 26 points. Buium struggled last season, especially in his own end under head coach Adam Foote.

Parekh has the potential to be a more productive player this season than Buium was last year, especially if Parekh is running the Flames top power play unit for a full season. If that happens, Parekh is in line for a massive second contract. With that way things are going, Parekh’s next contract could start with a 10 or 11.

The contract landscape has drastically changed in the NHL over the last few months and the Calgary Flames are going to have to deal with this with as soon as January 2027. It’s going to be fascinating to see how Conroy approaches the next contracts for Frost, Gridin, and Parekh.