Today marks the beginning of a new league year which means players in the final season of their contracts are now eligible to sign a contract extension. It appears one of those players is Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the blueliner is expected to sign a seven-year, $42MM extension. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the deal will break down as follows:
2025-26: $5.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2026-27: $5.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2027-28: $4.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2028-29: $4MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 15-team NTC
2029-30: $3.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
2030-31: $2.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
2031-32: $2.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, 10-team NTC
The 25-year-old was a second-round pick by Washington back in 2018, going 46th overall. While he got a taste of NHL action the following year, it took him three seasons to establish himself as a regular for the Caps.
Fehervary has largely played the same role over his four full NHL seasons. He has averaged between 19 and 20 minutes a night of playing time while chipping in with some secondary scoring. He is actually coming off a career-high in points offensively as last season, he notched five goals and a career-best 20 assists while his best goal total (eight) game in his rookie year back in 2021-22.
Of course, it’s not the offensive production that has Fehervary set to sign this contract. He has been the defensive anchor for the Capitals in recent years and led the team in shorthanded ice time last season at just over three minutes per game. Fehervary is also typically among the team leaders in blocked shots and hits; he notched a career-best 150 in the former category in 2024-25.
Fehervary had one RFA-eligible year left and will be spending next season on a contract that carries a $2.675MM cap charge. He’ll get to more than double that starting in 2026-27 while Washington picks up an additional six seasons of team control and secures Fehervary through the prime of his career.
The deal also ensures that Washington will have one of the pricier back ends for the foreseeable future. While Fehervary’s contract won’t start until 2026-27, the Capitals are set to spend more than $35MM on their defense corps for the upcoming season, per PuckPedia. This contract will put their 2026-27 spending on the position over $27.5MM, with veteran John Carlson also in need of a new deal at some point. In that season, Fehervary is currently set to carry the second-highest cap charge among Capitals blueliners, checking in behind Jakob Chychrun ($9MM).
Photo courtesy of Peter Casey-Imagn Images.