- Vegas has $41.1 million committed to defensemen for 2026-27, the most in the NHL
- Cale Makar owns the richest contract in league history and Colorado still ranks 14th
- Read below for the full top 10 and the best value deal on any blue line
The Golden Knights are paying their blue line more than anybody in hockey.
Vegas has $41.1 million tied up in defensemen for 2026-27, per Pro Hockey Rumors, about $4.35 million clear of the Rangers in second. Cale Makar’s record contract does not put Colorado anywhere near that group. The Avalanche rank 14th.
Makar signed for eight years and $163.2 million on Aug. 28, a $20.4 million cap hit no player in league history had reached.
That raise does not land until 2027-28. Colorado’s defense corps climbs to nearly $42 million on its own that season, which would be the largest blue-line bill in the league.
Our rundown of the biggest contracts ever handed out has Makar clear of the field, with Kirill Kaprizov’s eight-year, $136 million deal second and Alex Ovechkin’s 13-year, $124 million contract third:
Rasmus Andersson is the biggest line item in Vegas at $8.5 million, the product of the seven-year, $59.5 million deal he signed on July 1. Shea Theodore ($7.425 million), Noah Hanifin ($7.35 million), Jeremy Lauzon ($4 million) and Brayden McNabb ($3.65 million) fill in behind him.
Alex Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million is in that total as well. Vegas moved him back to long-term injured reserve on July 1, which is how a club sitting roughly $8 million above the $104 million ceiling gets itself compliant by opening night.
| # | Team | 2026-27 D Cap Hit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vegas Golden Knights | $41.1M |
| 2 | New York Rangers | $36.75M |
| 3 | New Jersey Devils | $36.5M |
| 4 | Los Angeles Kings | $35.88M |
| 5 | Minnesota Wild | $35.58M |
| 6 | Montreal Canadiens | $35.06M |
| 7 | Edmonton Oilers | $35.02M |
| 8 | Washington Capitals | $34.65M |
| 9 | Tampa Bay Lightning | $34.27M |
| 10 | Boston Bruins | $33.55M |
New York got to second place through turnover. Adam Fox leads the Rangers at $9.5 million, and the club brought in Sean Durzi ($6 million) from the Vincent Trocheck trade with Utah and Marcus Pettersson ($5.5 million) from Vancouver while sending William Borgen’s $4.1 million to Boston.
Los Angeles is fourth because of one contract. Drew Doughty’s $11 million eats close to a third of the entire Kings blue line in the final season of his deal.
Minnesota sits fifth and owns the best value on any of these rosters. Quinn Hughes put up 76 points last season at a $7.85 million cap hit, which works out to about $107,000 per point.
Bill Guerin has been chasing an extension with him since the summer, and Michael Russo of The Athletic laid out where the two sides stood on term in late July:
Hughes has one year left in Minnesota. Whatever he signs after that will push the Wild’s blue-line number a lot closer to what Vegas is carrying right now.
