The New York Islanders have signed defenseman Noah Dobson to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Monday.
Dobson was drafted 12th overall this past June, a pick that looks to have been among the draft's biggest steals, as he entered ranking fifth among all North American skaters and third among North American defensemen.
The 18-year-old had a monstrous year after putting up 17 goals and 69 points in 67 games for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL, while also contributing 13 playoff points en route to his team capturing the Memorial Cup.
Few things motivate people to produce at a high level like the thought of a big payday.
A number of players will be looking to prove their value this season in hopes of putting pen to paper on a multimillion-dollar deal next July.
Let's take a look at five players who should boost their production as they seek bigger deals - leaving out some superstars entering their contract years. Not only are Tyler Seguin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Erik Karlsson, and their ilk likely to enjoy continued success this season, they're probably set to cash in regardless of their performance.
The 26-year-old reportedly told the team he wasn't ready to sign an extension in June and said in July that he won't talk business once training camp opens. It looks like he'll be playing his final year in Columbus this season, and could potentially be traded.
Over the last two years, he's posted 156 points, good for seventh league-wide and tied with Alex Ovechkin for the second-most among left wingers. Another strong year would give him the opportunity to write his ticket to the team of his choosing, which appears to be what he wants most. An eight-digit contract wouldn't hurt either. Do you need more motivation than that?
Jeff Skinner, Sabres
After a down 2017-18 campaign, Skinner is poised to bounce back.
The 26-year-old joins the Sabres after largely playing on the Carolina Hurricanes' third line last season. Luckily for him, he's expected to slot into Buffalo's top trio alongside Jack Eichel.
This could be just what Skinner needs to get his numbers back up to snuff. In his impressive 2016-17 campaign, he recorded a career-high 37 goals and matched his career best of 63 points while averaging the most minutes among the team's forwards on the power play and at even strength. One should expect this kind of heavy volume in Buffalo.
Skinner is entering the last season of a six-year, $34.35-million deal, and he'll be playing more minutes alongside an elite talent with what could be his last big contract on the horizon.
Ryan Ellis, Predators
There's no getting around it, Ellis is currently playing on one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league.
The Predators blue-liner is going into the final year of a five-year, $12.5-million contract, a deal that pays him just $2.5 million annually.
Ellis comes into this season after posting nine goals and 32 points in just 44 games a year ago.
Over the last two years, he's had the 17th highest points per game total among all defensemen with at least 60 games played.
Ellis' production continues to improve and with his first and potentially only long-term contract of his career on the line, expect him to further showcase himself as one of the league's premier offensive defensemen.
Jake Gardiner, Maple Leafs
Gardiner is coming off a season that will be remembered for featuring both the best and worst of what the young defenseman has to offer.
The 28-year-old set a career high with 52 points in 82 games while potting a career-best 15 power-play points. He had a strong regular season, but shouldered much of the blame for the Maple Leafs' collapse in the third period of Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
He averaged the most ice time on the team during the regular season and finished with the ninth highest point total by a Maple Leafs defender since the 1991 campaign.
Gardiner now enters a pivotal season, as many pundits still point to the club's blue line as their weakness. If he can prove to be a dependable defenseman at both ends of the ice, he will be in line for a big payday.
After managing just 18 goals across 183 career games heading into his first season with the Golden Knights, Karlsson went off. The Swede finished third overall with 43 goals while besting his previous career high in points by 53, tallying 78 in 82 contests.
Prior to signing a one-year, $5.25-million contract, Karlsson was reportedly asking for $6.5 million from Vegas heading into arbitration, while the Golden Knights had countered with a $3.5-million ask.
Karlsson eventually got the Golden Knights to come up nearly $2 million from their original price, suggesting they understand his worth. It's now on him to replicate that success.
After the Vegas Golden Knights came within three wins of claiming the Stanley Cup in their inaugural season, general manager George McPhee believes improvements to the second forward unit could be key to taking the next step.
"We did have to change the second line from what it was last year, because as second lines go, it wasn't good enough defensively," McPhee told the "Vegas Golden Knights Insider Hockey Show." "It produced, but the goals against per 60 minutes was not good enough. We were actually dead last among second lines in the league. You can either just sort of look the other way on that or you can address it. We're trying to address it."
To help deal with those issues, Vegas inked free-agent center Paul Stastny amid an otherwise quiet offseason. The veteran middleman is expected to bring a scoring touch, while his ability to play all 200 feet of the ice was especially intriguing for McPhee.
Meanwhile, the trio of Erik Haula, David Perron, and James Neal was the most common second line for Vegas last season, according to Corsica, and the latter two have both moved on as free agents this offseason.
So, for now the plan appears to be slotting Stastny into the second-line center spot, while shifting Haula to the wing. That leaves one more job up for grabs, which could possibly be secured by Tomas Tatar, who was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at the deadline for three draft picks. Another option is one of the Golden Knights' budding young talents in Alex Tuch, who notched 15 goals and 22 assists as a freshman.
"You've got to make room for guys to grow," McPhee added. "Tuch is certainly a guy who we're ready for some growth. He had a good rookie season, but we think with his ability, his speed, and his size that he could really a score a lot more goals this year than he did last year."
One thing is for sure - Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant will have plenty of options available when he starts constructing line combinations at training camp in September.
EA Sports appears to have included a tribute to the fallen members of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team in the latest trailer for NHL 19.
Following the team's April bus crash that left 16 dead and 13 others injured, people - including several current and former NHL players - left hockey sticks on their doorsteps as a sign of support for the Broncos and their community. A scene from the NHL 19 trailer released Friday shows sticks left out on a porch.
