Cale Makar’s contract sent shockwaves through the NHL.

His record-breaking $163.2MM eight-year contract, which carries a $20.4MM cap hit, is the AAV is the highest in NHL history, surpassing the $18.8MM record mark Macklin Celebrini set earlier this offseason and Leo Carlsson’s $18MM before that. However, this could obviously be subject to change with a Quinn Hughes deal looming.

But we’ve already highlighted who is paying their defense the most money. Today, we’ll look at which teams are paying their forward groups the most within the $104MM NHL salary cap for 2026-27.

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Leo Carlsson ($18MM), Cutter Gauthier ($13.5MM), Mikael Granlund ($7MM), Troy Terry ($7MM, IR), Alex Killorn ($6.125MM)

The Ducks have had a Taylor Swift kind of summer, cruel. Thanks to the Carlsson offer sheet courtesy of Flyers GM Daniel Briere, Anaheim has made loads of roster moves this offseason to compensate for paying their young players. Mind you, this cap hit of nearly $70MM with the Gauthier extension is spread across just 12 forwards. Other notable moves included the arrival of A.J. Greer, making $4.25MM, a substantial chunk of payment that he hadn’t seen before. This likely won’t be the only offseason where the Ducks will have to make openings on their books, which will cost them decisions on their veterans that helped them so much in their growth back to playoff contention.

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Aleksander Barkov ($10MM), Matthew Tkachuk ($9.5MM), Sam Reinhart ($8.625MM), Brady Tkachuk ($8.2MM), Sam Bennett ($8MM)

Aside from the fact that this team will be gaining everyone back from injury, including Barkov, the addition of Brady makes the Panthers top-nine forward group the most dangerous on paper, and they don’t care how much they’re spending to boast such. Eetu Luostarinen is staying long-term as well on an eight-year, $40MM contract. He’ll help lead a bottom-six that brought in bruisers like Garnet Hathaway and a former Cup winner in Lars Eller. All these large contracts listed above don’t even highlight Carter Verhaeghe, who makes $7MM a year and Brad Marchand’s $5.25MM.

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Logan Cooley ($10MM), Nick Schmaltz ($8MM), Clayton Keller ($7.15MM), Dylan Guenther ($7.14MM), Vincent Trocheck ($5.625MM)

Wait Utah traded JJ Peterka’s $7.7MM, how are they second on this list? Enter the eight-year extensions of Cooley and Schmaltz and the additions of Trocheck and Anders Lee’s $5.4MM as well as the Barrett Hayton offer sheet (thanks New Jersey) and that’s a +$25MM difference in notable offseason moves alone in this forward group. From the lowly desert days in Arizona, the Mammoth hope they can reach the mountain peaks of the NHL in their new home. A first-round playoff exit is an occurrence this core can build on, clearly, they were all in this summer.

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Sebastian Aho ($9.75MM), Nikolaj Ehlers ($8.5MM), Andrei Svechnikov ($7.75MM), Seth Jarvis ($7.42MM, IR), Logan Stankoven ($6MM)

The Canes have arguably the most evened out cap distribution among their forwards. Is this just because they went and won the Stanley Cup so it looks better? Yes. The production that Stankoven had with Taylor Hall, and Jackson Blake were second to none in chemistry and rounds out the top-heavy first line the Hurricanes boast, which was helped from last year by bringing in Ehlers. Something to highlight here, this squad is the first mentioned team that has no player making double digits annually and Tulsky should feel really good that his two young budding stars in Stankoven and Blake ($5.11MM) are extended at the annual intake they received.

Notable 2026-27 AAVs: Auston Matthews ($13.25MM), William Nylander ($11.5MM), Matthew Knies ($7.75MM), John Tavares ($4.39MM), Colton Sissons ($4.25MM)

The first three listed here were of no surprise to anyone, but it will come as a surprise for some when looking at how the forward group depth rounds out for the Leafs. The new management installed wasted no time trying to revamp itself back into a playoff-contending window, making a plethora of bottom-six signings to complement the top-six that will insert first-overall pick Gavin McKenna seamlessly among the team’s best. Toronto added nearly $14MM from their forward additions out of the free agent market, along with Sissons, they added in Brandon Duhaime, Teddy Blueger, and Jack Roslovic, all under a $4.5MM AAV.

6. Dallas Stars — $63.8MM
7. Vegas Golden Knights — $63.3MM
8. Colorado Avalanche — $62.1MM
9. New Jersey Devils — $61.5MM
10. Chicago Blackhawks — $60.9MM

Cap hits accurate as of Fri, Sept 18, 2026 (data via Puckpedia)