Earlier this week, I broke down what we should realistically expect Mitch Marner to make on his next contract based on recent comparables. In today’s article, we’re going to look at Toronto’s other two key RFAs this offseason: Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.



One thing I quickly learned when diving into comps for each player was just how little the market has rewarded young forwards for strong performances in a small sample. Kapanen and Johnsson both produced at a high clip this season (scoring at 46 and 48 point paces respectively), but neither player has a large body of work at the NHL level (133 career NHL games for Kapanen and only 82 for Johnsson).



As you’ll see when we dive into the comps for each player, there isn’t much precedent for wingers like this earning a large percentage of the cap on their next contract. Players will typically sign a bridge deal in these scenarios to prove that their most recent season is actually...