Financially, it’s looking good for the NHL. Earlier this year, there were reports of an increasing salary cap over the next three seasons. This was amid the rising revenues of the league and growing popularity, as the NHL aims to draw in a global audience. As a result, teams have more leeway to splurge on star players, tying them down to massive long-term contracts. The Capitals are no exception, as they’ve just tied down Jakob Chychrun to a massive contract. But in light of the news, fans mocked the team for splurging on the 26-year-old defenseman.
Hours ago, it emerged that the Capitals had signed Chychrun to an eight-year, $72 million contract extension, with a cap of $9 million per year. He has been at the heart of the Capitals’ defense and played almost every game this season. He also leads the team for goals scored by a defenseman and is only second to John Carlson among the blueliners for points and assists. Further, he has an impressive plus-minus of +24, showing how crucial he has been to the team.
Jakob Chychrun has signed an 8-year, $72M ($9M per-year) contract extension with the Capitals pic.twitter.com/4bmNM3PnWr
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 25, 2025
Asked about the massive contract extension handed to Chychrun, Capitals GM, Chris Patrick said, “Jakob is a proven, dynamic defenseman in the prime of his career who has established himself as one of the premier blueliners in the NHL.” Even as Patrick was all praise for his defenseman, fans questioned if he was worth the massive sum in his contract extension.
After all, his new contract carries an AAV of $9 million, which makes him the second highest paid player on the roster, behind only Alex Ovechkin. It’s not a big gap either, as Ovechkin’s contract carries an AAV of $9.5 million. Additionally, the contract will keep him in Washington till the 2032-33 season, meaning he’s now the only player on the team with a contract that runs that long. And don’t forget, Jakob Chychrun is already 26. He may be having a career-best season, but fans are questioning his bumper contract.
Fans disapprove of Jakob Chychrun’s massive contract extension
Jakob Chychrun joined the Capitals just last year but has quickly become an integral part of the team. Even as the 26-year-old continues to shine on the ice, a subset of fans felt that the Capitals had overpaid to re-sign him. Thus, a fan wrote, “holy s**t the caps got scammed,” as he felt that he wasn’t worth the money paid coupled with the duration of the contract.
Furthermore, some fans questioned if Chychrun deserved to get paid a massive sum of $72 million over a period of eight years. Even as the Capitals showed faith in their defenseman, one skeptical fan dryly questioned, “Overpaid or grossly overpaid?” The fan couldn’t believe that the 26-year-old defenseman was worth such a huge sum, despite his good season. After all, one season alone is too soon to make definitive judgments.
Meanwhile, a Twitter user didn’t foresee a positive future for the Capitals with this re-signing. “Andddd the Caps downfall begins,” wrote one fan, pessimistically. The salary cap may be set to increase, perhaps even significantly, but was this a prudent financial decision by the Caps? After all, if the gamble doesn’t pay off, it’ll be hard to trade a player with such a big contract.
Even as the fans disapproved of Jakob Chychrun being handed $72 million for eight years, there were some fans who pointed out a potential reason for the increased value of the contract. “People just forgetting that the cap is going up,” reminded the fan as others were shocked by the splurge.
Lastly, while a fan was all praise for the Caps’ performances on the ice, he highlighted a potential cause of worry for the team. The fan wrote, “Caps have been great but are really somewhere between last year and this year, not a fan of the term, 4 or 5 years would’ve been better.” Although the fan was unconcerned about the money spent, he felt that 8 years was a little too optimistic.
Nonetheless, the deal is done, and Jakob Chychrun is tied down for the next 8 years, regardless of what the fans feel about it. With the team already having qualified for the playoffs, all attention will be on the goal at hand: bringing home a second Stanley Cup. The playoffs begin in just about a month; will Chychrun carry this form into the postseason? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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