The NHL is growing richer. The salary cap is expected to increase to $113.5 million for the 2027-28 season. In December, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that the 2025-26 season salary cap is projected to increase by $4 million, putting the number at $92.4 million compared to the past season’s $88 million.
On a subsequent occasion, Bettman stated that there is even the possibility of a further increase, provided negotiations between the NHL and the NHLPA go well. In tandem with the salary cap rise, sought-after players across the league are commanding unprecedented salaries.
Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl’s new contract is worth $112 million, and Mitch Marner’s deal with the Vegas Golden Knights is worth $96 million. Teams are constantly trying to strike the most efficient deal, and according to an insider, the Detroit Red Wings have hit a major jackpot with 23-year-old Lucas Raymond.
Lucas Raymond of the Detroit Red Wings Is a Steal for His Price
Dom Luszczyszyn places the Lucas Raymond deal among the league’s 10 best contracts, putting the contract in the same echelon as those of the New Jersey Devils’ Jack Hughes and Carolina Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis, and for good reason. Drafted fourth overall by the Red Wings in the 2020 NHL Draft, Raymond accumulated 254 points in 320 regular-season games.
His most recent season was extraordinary; the 23-year-old scored 80 points in 82 regular-season games during the 2024-25 campaign. “Lucas Raymond has reached another level. That was clear to close out the 2023-24 season and confirmed the following year with a near point-per-game season. Raymond is the real deal and the Red Wings are about to benefit greatly from it.”
RAY IS HERE TO STAY 🪒
The #RedWings have signed Lucas Raymond to an eight-year contract with an AAV of $8,075,000. pic.twitter.com/Z0QHtO9K1R
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 16, 2024
In the 2022-23 season, Raymond scored 45 points in 74 regular-season games, but the following year, he scored 72 points in 82. Detroit’s front office acknowledged his proclivity to improve.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman noted that the 2024 contract had much to do with Raymond’s marked improvement. “I felt throughout the season he continued to get better. There was a significant growth from year two to year three. Actually, year two was pretty good (45 points; 17 goals, 28 assists in 74 games), production was down a little bit, but it was a good year for him and a learning season.”
In his mailbag, Luszczyszyn argues that with Raymond’s kind of contract, the Red Wings are the true winners. “Raymond is worth far more; he is yet to reach his prime, and the contract is nowhere near its end. The $8.1 million cap hit is fitting for a high-end, second-line player, and the 23-year-old looks poised to prove himself better than that.
“That’s because of his $8.1 million cap hit, an amount that will equate to a high-end second-line player during the remainder of Raymond’s deal. It’s a mark he looks likely to blow past. Raymond is already a bona fide top-line talent and looks likely to ascend to stardom as he enters his prime.”
Raymond is an indelible part of the Red Wings’ rebuild, and the team’s management deserves applause for striking such an incredible deal to retain a talent like him.
