The NHL hasn’t had this many star players heading into the final years of their contracts in a long time.
As if the best player in the world, Connor McDavid, and one of the best wingers in the game, Kirill Kaprizov, weren’t enough, Vegas Golden Knights superstar Jack Eichel is your consolation prize.
Eichel has thrived in the four years since being acquired in a blockbuster trade from Buffalo, producing at over a point per game rate and winning a Stanley Cup.
Given all of the success he’s had as a Golden Knight, why wouldn’t an extension already be done? Well, it’s not that simple, but when speaking to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski for a recent article, Eichel made it clear that he wants to stay in Vegas.
“I mean, at this moment, yeah, I’d like to stay. I love the organization. I love living here. I love the guys in the room. I love the people in the city. I love the fans. It’s a great place to live. It’s a great place to play hockey. I think there’s a lot of things to love, and I’m just really happy here,” Eichel said.
“I would say it’s ‘trending.’ I don’t know how to judge the situation. For me, it’s more so about just trying to focus on preparing for the season,” Eichel added.
“I mean, at this moment, yeah, I’d like to stay.”
Jack Eichel tells me that he’s currently committed to re-signing with the @GoldenKnights rather than hitting the UFA market next summer. #NHL https://t.co/mEtjDTFKZq
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) September 10, 2025
The 28-year-old is about to enter the final season of the eight-year, $80 million contract he originally signed with the Sabres back in 2017.
Extending Eichel won’t be easy for Vegas
The Vegas Golden Knights always find a way to work their way around the salary cap to keep and acquire star players, but that doesn’t mean a contract extension for Jack Eichel will be an easy task.
With Mitch Marner now in the fold, Vegas is projected for just over $29 million in cap space next offseason, assuming Alex Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million stays on LTIR.
That’s more than enough to extend Eichel, who’s likely to command somewhere in the $13-$14 million range, though they’ll still be left with six other roster spots to fill after that.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon has been cutthroat since the day the Golden Knights came to the NHL, and you can expect he’ll be willing to make whatever difficult decisions are needed to retain their number one centerman for the long term.
