Just trying to get feel for what we'll have to work with regarding his extension...
Players we have under contract for the 2026-27 season and beyond:
Boldy $7M (4 more years)
Eriksson Ek $5.25M (3 more years)
Foligno $4M (2 more years)
Gaudreau $2.1M (2 more years)
Parise buyout $833k
Brodin $6M (2 more years)
Spurgeon $7.575M (last year)
Suter buyout $833k
Total = $33.6M
If you estimate $5M for a 4th line + 13th forward and $6M for a 3rd pair and 7th defenseman that's $44.6M
Kaprizov gets (let's say) $15M on a cap that has gone up to (let's say) $95M, and that is $59.6M with 4 top 9 forward spots, 2 top 4 defense spots and 2 goalie spots to fill, which is an average of ~$5M per spot.
Possibly enough, depending on what our prospects end up demanding on their 2nd contracts, many which will be in effect during that summer (Rossi, Faber, Lambos, Wallstedt) and what kind of goalie Gustavsson ends up being. Spurgeon expiring the following summer could be pretty key.
Long story short, I actually think it's probably doable, even if $15M per year is hard to stomach right now, but of course it depends on the cap going up ~$4M per year going forward.