In 2027, there could be a massive number of free agents who could demand a ton of money. With a lot of time left for extensions, there's a chance they won't hit the market. But if they do, will the Utah Mammoth pursue? Funnily enough, 2026 was supposed to be a massive year for unrestricted free agents around this time last year. However, it was quite the opposite, with a significant lack of superstars hitting the market. This actually led to more trades than usual. But with how extensions have been lately, it wouldn't be surprising to see at least one superstar hit the open market and become an unrestricted free agent.
In 2027, there could be some massive unrestricted free agents
Most of these teams that still have these players under contract will no doubt attempt to sign them to extensions. But as it stands now, Jason Robertson, Nikita Kucherov, Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and even Sidney Crosby have contracts that expire at the end of the 2026-27 season. Crosby is one player who's almost certain to stay in Pittsburgh, given how long he's been there. Meanwhile, Makar, Roberston, and Hughes are all still relatively young, and all are some of the best players in the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild will definitely try to re-sign their superstar players. Finally, Kucherov is a bit on the older side at 33, but the 2026-27 season was his fourth straight season of 113 points or more, which is insane. Kucherov also won the Hart Memorial Trophy.
The Tampa Bay Lightning would be extremely dumb not to try to re-sign Kucherov. The problem, though, for these four teams is simple: these players could easily ask for 17+ million a year. Leo Carlsson and Macklin Celebrini both secured massive deals that will get them 18 million and 18.8 million a year, respectively. With how great these players are, they could also ask for that contract, especially the younger ones. This is why it wouldn't exactly be stunning to see at least one of these superstars become an unrestricted free agent.
The Mammoth are not in need of a superstar player at the moment, but they don't quite have that kind of caliber of player on their team. Utah may be more interested in keeping its team together and hoping that players like Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, or Tij Iginla can develop into that caliber of player. But it is simple, many teams would love to have either Robertson, Hughes, Makar, or Kucherov, including Utah.
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