The 2025-26 Way Too Early Auction Review
GregIt’s November 1st, so we’re not even a full month in to the season. Is that going to stop me from reviewing the auction and judging the results? It is not. Is this kind of stupid and flawed? Absolutely. Will I do this monthly? Annually? At the end of season when it makes more sense? Who knows! But I did it now, so let’s see what we get.
Some additional notes:
- Goalies aren’t being ranked with the players, because I haven’t thought of a good way to do that yet.
- Some players (either through demotion to the AHL or being injured) have 0 points. As we all know this causes a problem with my formulas as “though shalt not divide by zero”. For the purposes of calculating the averages, I’ve simply overridden it and charged the full contract price.
- I tried not to punish anyone for a player that’s injured or a prospect that was demoted, and luckily no one signed a player over the $2m threshold forcing them to pay an injured player.
- The Average Salary for the forwards/defenseman signed at the auction was $1,085,227, while the Average Cost per Point is $312,928. For additional perspective, the league leader has 19 points so far.
- If you want to see all the players and their details, the table is at the bottom.
Top 5 Best Contracts
| Rank | Player | Team | Salary | Points | Cost Per Point |
| 5 | John Tavares | CANADIENS | $2,800,000 | 14 | $200,000.00 |
| 3 (tie) | Darnell Nurse | STARS | $500,000 | 7 | $71,428.57 |
| 3 (tie) | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | STARS | $500,000 | 7 | $71,428.57 |
| 2 | Troy Terry | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $2,200,000 | 13 | $169,230.77 |
| 1 | Brad Marchand | BLACKHAWKS | $1,500,000 | 11 | $136,363.64 |
Tavares sneaks on to the list by virtue of being the only player from the auction currently in the Top 20 in NHL scoring, and his $200k Cost Per Point is reasonable. Likewise, Terry just misses the top 25 but with an even better CPP. Nurse and Ekman-Larsson have the best CPP of any players, which is even more remarkable since they’re both defenseman and were both signed by the Stars. We’ll give top spot to Marchand, a player putting up good numbers at a good price and who’s historically put up great numbers. We’ll see if he can maintain it on a new team. Honorable mention to Burakovsky and Holmstrom, who tied for the best CPP but are forwards so it’s less impressive compared to Nurse and Ekman-Larsson.
Top 5 Worst Contracts
| Rank | Player | Team | Salary | Points | Cost Per Point |
| 5 | Scott Morrow | BRUINS | $1,400,000 | 0 | $1,400,000.00 |
| 4 | Jonathan Huberdeau | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $2,500,000 | 4 | $625,000.00 |
| 3 | Steven Stamkos | CANADIENS | $1,700,000 | 2 | $850,000.00 |
| 2 | Gabriel Landeskog | AVALANCHE | $2,900,000 | 3 | $966,666.67 |
| 1 | Sam Bennett | RED WINGS | $2,000,000 | 2 | $1,000,000.00 |
He can be buried in the minors, but I’m sure that’s not what the Bruins expected when they signed Morrow for $1.4m and have gotten 0 points from him in return. Huberdeau tops the list of most points here with 4, but he’s struggling and this could get worse. Is Stamkos an aging, broken down player who struggled last year? Yes. Did that stop the Canadiens from signing him to possibly an overly large contract? It did not. I’m just going to check quickly and see what Landeskog has done the last few years to earn a $2.9m contract….. Sam Bennett, signed as an important piece by the Red Wings, has decided to start coasting on his reputation.
Top 3 Misses on players previously under contract
| Rank | Player | Former Team | Points |
| 3 | Kyle Palmieri | PENGUINS | 8 |
| 2 | Anthony Mantha | CANADIENS | 11 |
| 1 | Dmitri Orlov | DEVILS | 8 |
For the right price, 8 points from Palmieri would be some good depth. Mantha spent last season mostly injured but joined a team where he could potentially put up big points. He is, but nobody is getting them. Defense is the hardest position to find depth on and 8 is a great amount of points, but nobody thought Orlov would bounce back. Honorable mention to Jonathan Toews, who I’m surprised nobody signed based on name alone. 6 points on the season is respectable.
Screw it, let’s rank some goalies.
Top 3 Best Goalies
| Rank | Player | Team | Salary | GAA |
| 3 | Sergei Bobrovsky | RED WINGS | $1,500,000 | 2.28 |
| 2 | Jonathan Quick | LIGHTNING | $500,000 | 1.35 |
| 1 | Logan Thompson | DEVILS | $900,000 | 1.51 |
I’ll give the nod to Thompson over Quick based on Thompson being a regular starter while Quick is a backup. Bobrovsky putting in a solid regular season as well, with a top 10 GAA.
Top 3 Worst Goalies
| Rank | Player | Team | Salary | GAA |
| 3 | Dustin Wolf | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $1,300,000 | 3.44 |
| 2 | Sam Montembeault | LIGHTNING | $1,000,000 | 3.82 |
| 1 | Jacob Markstrom | PENGUINS | $700,000 | 5.13 |
I honestly thought Wolf was one of the steals of the auction, and he might ultimately turn out to be but he certainly isn’t getting it done last year. I was also not fooled by Montembeault’s numbers last year, but he certainly did well for himself at the auction. And finally, if the playoffs started today the Penguins would better off with “no goalie” than Markstrom in net.
Auction Results and Cost Per Point for each player
| Player | Previous Team | Position | New Team | Salary | Points | Cost per Point |
| Brady Skjei | CANADIENS | D | CANADIENS | $500,000 | 3 | $166,666.67 |
| Gustav Nyquist | DEVILS | W | PENGUINS | $600,000 | 5 | $120,000.00 |
| Blake Coleman | FLYERS | W | 6 | $- | ||
| Sergei Bobrovsky | RED WINGS | G | RED WINGS | $1,500,000 | 2.28 | |
| Noah Hanifin | BRUINS | D | STARS | $1,100,000 | 0 | $1,100,000.00 |
| Sam Montembeault | DEVILS | G | LIGHTNING | $1,000,000 | 3.82 | |
| Alex Killorn | SHARKS | W | 2 | $- | ||
| Pavel Zacha | BLACKHAWKS | F | DEVILS | $1,200,000 | 11 | $109,090.91 |
| Elias Lindholm | AVALANCHE | C | AVALANCHE | $900,000 | 9 | $100,000.00 |
| Kappo Kahkonen | AVALANCHE | G | ||||
| Jared Spurgeon | BRUINS | D | 2 | $- | ||
| Torey Krug | LIGHTNING | D | 0 | #DIV/0! | ||
| Chandler Stephenson | SHARKS | C | LIGHTNING | $700,000 | 5 | $140,000.00 |
| Bryan Rust | DEVILS | W | RED WINGS | $1,700,000 | 10 | $170,000.00 |
| Timo Meier | BRUINS | W | BLACKHAWKS | $1,000,000 | 9 | $111,111.11 |
| Mackenzie Weegar | RED WINGS | D | BLACKHAWKS | $1,300,000 | 3 | $433,333.33 |
| Dougie Hamilton | BLACKHAWKS | D | CANADIENS | $2,500,000 | 7 | $357,142.86 |
| Teuvo Teravainen | STARS | F | STARS | $1,300,000 | 9 | $144,444.44 |
| Tanner Jeannot | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | W | BLACKHAWKS | $500,000 | 5 | $100,000.00 |
| William Karlsson | BRUINS | C | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $500,000 | 6 | $83,333.33 |
| Tomas Hertl | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | C | BRUINS | $2,500,000 | 11 | $227,272.73 |
| Andre Burakovsky | SHARKS | F | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $500,000 | 7 | $71,428.57 |
| Justin Faulk | CANADIENS | D | DEVILS | $500,000 | 4 | $125,000.00 |
| Chris Kreider | BLACKHAWKS | W | PENGUINS | $800,000 | 6 | $133,333.33 |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | DEVILS | D | DEVILS | $900,000 | 7 | $128,571.43 |
| Daniil Miromanov | PENGUINS | D | 0 | #DIV/0! | ||
| Kris Letang | BLACKHAWKS | D | FLYERS | $500,000 | 6 | $83,333.33 |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | STARS | D | STARS | $500,000 | 7 | $71,428.57 |
| Ilya Mikheyev | RED WINGS | W | 5 | $- | ||
| Steven Stamkos | DEVILS | F | CANADIENS | $1,700,000 | 2 | $850,000.00 |
| Jordan Eberle | DEVILS | W | DEVILS | $500,000 | 8 | $62,500.00 |
| Logan Thompson | DEVILS | G | DEVILS | $900,000 | 1.51 | |
| Artturi Lehkonen | FLYERS | W | DEVILS | $900,000 | 11 | $81,818.18 |
| Ivan Barbashev | PENGUINS | F | AVALANCHE | $900,000 | 10 | $90,000.00 |
| Jonathan Quick | LIGHTNING | G | LIGHTNING | $500,000 | 1.35 | |
| Ivan Provorov | DEVILS | D | 4 | $- | ||
| Rickard Rakell | DEVILS | W | DEVILS | $900,000 | 8 | $112,500.00 |
| Victor Hedman | AVALANCHE | D | DEVILS | $4,000,000 | 8 | $500,000.00 |
| Phillip Danault | SHARKS | C | 3 | $- | ||
| Darcy Kuemper | FLYERS | G | FLYERS | $500,000 | ||
| Jack Roslovic | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | C | 4 | $- | ||
| Mason Marchment | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | W | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $1,000,000 | 5 | $200,000.00 |
| Jake DeBrusk | DEVILS | W | DEVILS | $800,000 | 4 | $200,000.00 |
| Jamie Benn | FLYERS | F | STARS | $600,000 | 0 | $600,000.00 |
| Mika Zibanejad | DEVILS | C | DEVILS | $1,500,000 | 6 | $250,000.00 |
| Patrick Kane | CANADIENS | W | BLACKHAWKS | $2,000,000 | 5 | $400,000.00 |
| Cam Atkinson | SHARKS | W | 0 | #DIV/0! | ||
| Cam Fowler | CANADIENS | D | BLACKHAWKS | $1,900,000 | 4 | $475,000.00 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | W | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $2,500,000 | 4 | $625,000.00 |
| Michael Bunting | BLACKHAWKS | W | 4 | $- | ||
| Filip Hronek | STARS | D | STARS | $2,100,000 | 6 | $350,000.00 |
| Damon Severson | STARS | D | 3 | $- | ||
| Brock Nelson | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | C | CANADIENS | $900,000 | 4 | $225,000.00 |
| Anthony Duclair | DEVILS | W | 3 | $- | ||
| Joonas Korpisalo | BLACKHAWKS | G | ||||
| Drew O'Connor | FLYERS | W | 3 | $- | ||
| Hampus Lindholm | DEVILS | D | 1 | $- | ||
| Frank Vatrano | CANADIENS | W | DEVILS | $500,000 | 1 | $500,000.00 |
| Erik Karlsson | LIGHTNING | D | CANADIENS | $2,000,000 | 9 | $222,222.22 |
| Dmitri Orlov | DEVILS | D | 8 | $- | ||
| Petr Mrazek | SHARKS | G | ||||
| Anthony Mantha | CANADIENS | W | 11 | $- | ||
| Sam Bennett | RED WINGS | F | RED WINGS | $2,000,000 | 2 | $1,000,000.00 |
| Tyler Bertuzzi | PENGUINS | W | PENGUINS | $500,000 | 6 | $83,333.33 |
| Claude Giroux | LIGHTNING | F | LIGHTNING | $700,000 | 8 | $87,500.00 |
| Evan Rodrigues | SHARKS | F | 5 | $- | ||
| Vincent Trocheck | BRUINS | C | DEVILS | $900,000 | 1 | $900,000.00 |
| Jared McCann | BLACKHAWKS | F | BLACKHAWKS | $1,500,000 | 4 | $375,000.00 |
| David Perron | SHARKS | W | 6 | $- | ||
| Conor Timmins | AVALANCHE | D | 3 | $- | ||
| Tomas Tatar | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | W | ||||
| Kailer Yamamoto | RED WINGS | W | 1 | $- | ||
| Brad Marchand | BLACKHAWKS | W | BLACKHAWKS | $1,500,000 | 11 | $136,363.64 |
| Anton Forsberg | LIGHTNING | G | ||||
| Kyle Palmieri | PENGUINS | W | 8 | $- | ||
| Semyon Varlamov | CANADIENS | G | ||||
| Gabriel Landeskog | AVALANCHE | W | AVALANCHE | $2,900,000 | 3 | $966,666.67 |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | STARS | W | DEVILS | $500,000 | 3 | $166,666.67 |
| Jacob Markstrom | PENGUINS | G | PENGUINS | $700,000 | 5.13 | |
| Max Domi | PENGUINS | F | 4 | $- | ||
| Linus Ullmark | LIGHTNING | G | LIGHTNING | $800,000 | ||
| John Tavares | CANADIENS | C | CANADIENS | $2,800,000 | 14 | $200,000.00 |
| Scott Perunovich | STARS | D | 0 | |||
| Jonathan Marchessault | LIGHTNING | W | DEVILS | $1,000,000 | 5 | $200,000.00 |
| Jake Allen | PENGUINS | G | ||||
| Nicholas Roy | DEVILS | F | 3 | $- | ||
| Max Pacioretty | DEVILS | W | ||||
| Brayden Schenn | BLACKHAWKS | F | PENGUINS | $1,000,000 | 5 | $200,000.00 |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | F | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $2,500,000 | 12 | $208,333.33 |
| Troy Terry | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | W | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $2,200,000 | 13 | $169,230.77 |
| Erik Gustafsson | LIGHTNING | D | 0 | #DIV/0! | ||
| Travis Sanheim | RED WINGS | D | FLYERS | $800,000 | 4 | $200,000.00 |
| Jeff Skinner | CANADIENS | W | FLYERS | $500,000 | 5 | $100,000.00 |
| Jordan Binnington | RED WINGS | G | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $1,000,000 | ||
| Reilly Smith | DEVILS | W | LIGHTNING | $500,000 | 2 | $250,000.00 |
| Anders Lee | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | W | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $900,000 | 8 | $112,500.00 |
| Ilya Samsonov | DEVILS | G | ||||
| Adam Pelech | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | D | 2 | $- | ||
| Cam Talbot | RED WINGS | G | ||||
| Player | Nominated By | Winning Bid | ||||
| Dustin Wolf | Flyers | G | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $1,300,000 | 3.44 | |
| Tony DeAngelo | Golden Knights | RED WINGS | $1,500,000 | 5 | $300,000.00 | |
| Carter Hart | Devils | G | DEVILS | $500,000 | ||
| John Klingberg | Lightning | LIGHTNING | $500,000 | 2 | $250,000.00 | |
| Andrew Mangiapane | Penguins | CANADIENS | $600,000 | 4 | $150,000.00 | |
| Filip Chytil | Red Wings | RED WINGS | $500,000 | 3 | $166,666.67 | |
| (PASS) | Blackhawks | |||||
| Zach Bolduc | Stars | STARS | $1,300,000 | 6 | $216,666.67 | |
| Ryan Donato | Bruins | FLYERS | $600,000 | 8 | $75,000.00 | |
| Simon Edvinsson | Canadiens | DEVILS | $1,000,000 | 4 | $250,000.00 | |
| Jackson Blake | Avalanche | DEVILS | $1,500,000 | 8 | $187,500.00 | |
| Ryan McLeod | Sharks | AVALANCHE | $700,000 | 7 | $100,000.00 | |
| K'Andre Miller | Flyers | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $1,100,000 | 4 | $275,000.00 | |
| Will Cuylle | Golden Knights | BRUINS | $1,800,000 | 4 | $450,000.00 | |
| Trent Frederic | Devils | PENGUINS | $600,000 | 1 | $600,000.00 | |
| Jason Zucker | Lightning | LIGHTNING | $500,000 | 6 | $83,333.33 | |
| Mackie Samoskevich | Penguins | SHARKS | $1,100,000 | 7 | $157,142.86 | |
| Collin Graf | Red Wings | RED WINGS | $900,000 | 3 | $300,000.00 | |
| Darnell Nurse | Stars | STARS | $500,000 | 7 | $71,428.57 | |
| Conor Geekie | Bruins | FLYERS | $1,200,000 | 1 | $1,200,000.00 | |
| Ivan Miroshnichenko | Canadiens | SHARKS | $1,200,000 | 0 | $1,200,000.00 | |
| Vasily Podkolzin | Avalanche | AVALANCHE | $500,000 | 5 | $100,000.00 | |
| Morgan Frost | Sharks | SHARKS | $700,000 | 7 | $100,000.00 | |
| (PASS) | Flyers | |||||
| Vladislav Gavrikov | Golden Knights | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | $500,000 | 2 | $250,000.00 | |
| Simon Holmstrom | Devils | DEVILS | $500,000 | 7 | $71,428.57 | |
| Boone Jenner | Lightning | STARS | $600,000 | 6 | $100,000.00 | |
| Bobby McMann | Penguins | PENGUINS | $500,000 | 3 | $166,666.67 | |
| (PASS) | Red Wings | |||||
| Jonas Johansson | Stars | G | STARS | $500,000 | ||
| Matthew Poitras | Bruins | SHARKS | $800,000 | 0 | $800,000.00 | |
| Josh Doan | Canadiens | PENGUINS | $1,200,000 | 8 | $150,000.00 | |
| (PASS) | Avalanche | |||||
| Scott Morrow | Sharks | BRUINS | $1,400,000 | 0 | $1,400,000.00 | |
| (PASS) | Golden Knights | |||||
| Vladimir Tsyplakov | Devils | DEVILS | $500,000 | 1 | $500,000.00 | |
| Ryker Evans | Lightning | SHARKS | $1,000,000 | 0 | $1,000,000.00 | |
| (PASS) | Penguins | |||||
| (PASS) | Stars | |||||
| Fedor Svechkov | Bruins | SHARKS | $700,000 | 0 | $700,000.00 | |
| Eeli Tolvanen | Canadiens | DEVILS | $600,000 | 2 | $300,000.00 | |
| Braden Schneider | Sharks | SHARKS | $500,000 | 4 | $125,000.00 | |
| Alex Turcotte | Devils | DEVILS | $500,000 | 3 | $166,666.67 | |
| Leevi Merilainen | Lightning | G | LIGHTNING | $500,000 | ||
| (PASS) | Bruins | |||||
| (PASS) | Canadiens | |||||
| (PASS) | Sharks | |||||
| (PASS) | Devils | |||||
| Jakob Pelletier | Lightning | LIGHTNING | $500,000 | 0 | $500,000.00 | |
| (PASS) | Lightning | |||||
| Average: | $1,085,227 | $312,928 |
