Spencer Knight hasn't done a ton to prove himself in the NHL yet, but he got a big contract much too early as the Florida Panthers anticipated he would grow into it with them and it would be a steal. The Chicago Blackhawks went and acquired him last season in the Seth Jones deal, and while it was a good trade and acquisition for the Blackhawks, Knight has lots to prove.
Money isn't a big concern for the Blackhawks right now and the contract won't be a burden, but it should still be acknowledged. Knight is heading into the final year of his contract and I expect him to at least get a similar amount on his next deal considering he was just acquired and the team expects him to be the starter or in the mix for at least half of the games moving forward.
Knight has a cap hit of $4.5 million AAV and has been the backup in Florida for three of the past four years, not playing in the NHL for one of those seasons. He has a career .906 SV% and his SV% was even lower once he got to the Blackhawks last season. The level of the new team didn't help though.
There are plenty of goalies paid a fair bit now, but considering mainly last season, the other four goalies who have the worst contracts in the NHL include Ivan Fedotov, Philipp Grubauer, Elvis Merzlikins, and Tristan Jarry.
Grubauer should have been bought out this summer by the Seattle Kraken and was sent to the AHL last season. Jarry was also sent down to find his game. Grubauer has the highest AAV of the five with $5.9 million AAV for two more years. Joey Daccord is firmly the starter in Seattle. As for Jarry, the Pittsburgh Penguins don't have it as rough in that regard since Jarry is still arguably the starter, but the team is looking to move him. Grubauer had a .875 SV% in 26 games last season while Jarry actually did play better when he was recalled, but finished 2024-25 with a .893 SV% in 36 games. His cap hit is $5.375 million AAV.
Merzlikins has a cap hit of $5.4 million AAV for two more years and hasn't played up to it, even though he is the starter for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jet Greaves is going to give him a run next season, but Merzlikins is plagued by bad games. His SV% was .892, but he played 53 games, so it isn't as bad as the others mentioned.
Fedotov may not even play in the NHL this coming season as the Philadelphia Flyers signed Dan Vladar and also have Samuel Ersson who will be the other rostered goalie. The team has Alexei Kolosov, who has more potential than Fedotov, and he will likely just end up buried in the minors until his contract ends after next season. His cap hit is $3.275 million AAV and that's a big amount for a team with very little cap space remaining.
The Blackhawks aren't in a bad position with Knight, but it will be a telling season. The defense is young, so there should still be some growing pains. The team won't be good, so Knight's numbers won't be as good as they were with Florida or where they should be in a couple of years. He still has to earn and hold the starting job over Arvid Soderblom though as he is in the running and pushing for more playing time.
