Best value entry-level contracts
Entry-level contracts are capped by the collective bargaining agreement, so young stars on ELCs often grade as bargains. This list shows the top 50 graded ELC skaters by surplus.
Goalies on ELCs are left out of this league-wide list because goalie grades are performance-ranked against the goalie market. See the goalie rankings for those players.
| # | Player | Team | Pos | Cap hit | Expected | Surplus | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macklin Celebrini ELC | SJS | C | $975K | $15.9M | +$14.9M | A+ |
| 2 | Matthew Schaefer ELC | NYI | D | $975K | $15.5M | +$14.6M | A+ |
| 3 | Will Smith ELC | SJS | C | $950K | $7.9M | +$7M | A+ |
| 4 | Anton Frondell ELC | CHI | C | $975K | $7.4M | +$6.4M | A+ |
| 5 | Jimmy Snuggerud ELC | STL | RW | $950K | $7.3M | +$6.3M | A+ |
| 6 | Emmitt Finnie ELC | DET | C | $845K | $7M | +$6.1M | A+ |
| 7 | Denton Mateychuk ELC | CBJ | D | $887K | $6.7M | +$5.8M | A+ |
| 8 | Fraser Minten ELC | BOS | C | $817K | $6.6M | +$5.8M | A+ |
| 9 | Artyom Levshunov ELC | CHI | D | $975K | $6.7M | +$5.7M | A+ |
| 10 | Zeev Buium ELC | VAN | D | $967K | $6.6M | +$5.6M | A+ |
| 11 | Ryan Greene ELC | CHI | C | $950K | $6.5M | +$5.5M | A+ |
| 12 | Ivan Demidov ELC | MTL | RW | $941K | $6.4M | +$5.5M | A+ |
| 13 | Matvei Gridin ELC | CGY | RW | $975K | $6.4M | +$5.4M | A+ |
| 14 | Matvei Michkov ELC | PHI | RW | $950K | $6.3M | +$5.4M | A+ |
| 15 | Easton Cowan ELC | TOR | RW | $905K | $5.9M | +$5M | A |
| 16 | Matt Savoie ELC | EDM | C | $887K | $5.4M | +$4.5M | A |
| 17 | Jiri Kulich ELC | BUF | C | $887K | $5.3M | +$4.4M | A |
| 18 | Cole Hutson ELC | WSH | D | $975K | $5.3M | +$4.4M | A |
| 19 | Michael Brandsegg-Nygård ELC | DET | RW | $975K | $5.3M | +$4.3M | A |
| 20 | Elias Salomonsson ELC | WPG | D | $815K | $4.8M | +$4M | A |
| 21 | Marco Kasper ELC | DET | C | $887K | $4.7M | +$3.8M | A |
| 22 | Jonathan Lekkerimäki ELC | VAN | RW | $918K | $4.6M | +$3.7M | A |
| 23 | Ryan Leonard ELC | WSH | RW | $950K | $4.6M | +$3.6M | A |
| 24 | Shane Wright ELC | NSH | C | $887K | $4.4M | +$3.5M | A |
| 25 | Denver Barkey ELC | PHI | C | $913K | $4.3M | +$3.4M | A |
| 26 | Dalibor Dvorsky ELC | STL | RW | $918K | $4M | +$3.1M | A |
| 27 | Oliver Kapanen ELC | MTL | C | $925K | $4M | +$3.1M | A |
| 28 | Liam Ohgren ELC | VAN | LW | $887K | $4M | +$3.1M | A |
| 29 | Sam Rinzel ELC | CHI | D | $942K | $4M | +$3M | A |
| 30 | Berkly Catton ELC | SEA | C | $975K | $4M | +$3M | A |
| 31 | Samuel Honzek ELC | CGY | LW | $918K | $3.9M | +$3M | A |
| 32 | Zayne Parekh ELC | CGY | D | $975K | $4M | +$3M | B |
| 33 | Danila Yurov ELC | MIN | RW | $950K | $3.9M | +$3M | B |
| 34 | Michael Misa ELC | SJS | C | $975K | $3.9M | +$3M | B |
| 35 | Matthew Wood ELC | SEA | RW | $950K | $3.7M | +$2.8M | B |
| 36 | Oliver Moore ELC | CHI | C | $942K | $3.5M | +$2.6M | B |
| 37 | Elias Pettersson ELC | VAN | D | $838K | $3.3M | +$2.4M | B |
| 38 | Sandis Vilmanis ELC | FLA | LW | $855K | $3.2M | +$2.4M | B |
| 39 | Emil Lilleberg ELC | TBL | D | $800K | $3.1M | +$2.3M | B |
| 40 | Conor Geekie ELC | TBL | C | $887K | $3.2M | +$2.3M | B |
| 41 | Jani Nyman ELC | SEA | RW | $892K | $3M | +$2.1M | B |
| 42 | Nate Danielson ELC | DET | C | $918K | $3M | +$2.1M | B |
| 43 | Dmitri Simashev ELC | UTA | D | $950K | $2.9M | +$2M | B |
| 44 | Reid Schaefer ELC | NSH | LW | $887K | $2.1M | +$1.2M | B |
| 45 | Owen Beck ELC | MTL | C | $853K | $1.6M | +$789K | C |
| 46 | Luca Del Bel Belluz ELC | CBJ | C | $860K | $1.6M | +$737K | C |
| 47 | Jaroslav Chmelar ELC | NYR | RW | $868K | $1.3M | +$450K | C |
| 48 | Samuel Helenius ELC | LAK | C | $875K | $1.3M | +$407K | C |
| 49 | David Jiricek ELC | PHI | D | $1.5M | $1.4M | -$130K | C |