Everyone knows that Toronto Maple Leafs superstar and all-time best player in franchise history Auston Matthews has one of the best contracts in the NHL.
Auston Matthews has a cap-hit of $13.25 dollars, but is so good and so valuable that it's essentially a team-friendly deal for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But at the other end of the spectrum, the opposite of one of the highest paid players in the NHL is Joseph Woll, currently one of the lowest paid.
And it is for that reason that he could end up being the most valuable player in the NHL next year.
Joseph Woll Could Have More Value Than Any Player in the NHL Next Season
The Leafs signed Woll to a contract extension earlier this year. I think it was smart to sign him, but I have reservations about using a non-established goalie during Auston Matthews Prime.
I also think the deal was too much for a goalie with so much injury trouble and that in exchange for guaranteed money the Leafs should have gotten more potentially cheap seasons.
However, those concerns are irrelevant for the time being. The matter at hand is Joseph Woll's current value because his new deal doesn't kick in until after this upcoming season.
That's right - for the upcoming season, Joseph Woll will only have a cap hit of $766 K.
And he will be the starting goalie for a team that is not only supposed to compete for the Stanley Cup, but whose main competition all seemed to get worse this summer.
Woll will be playing behind one of the best blue-lines in the game. He will be playing behind a star-studded lineup that has two of the best defensive forwards in the world on it.
When healthy, Woll has shown that he can be an elite goalie in the NHL.
It's a big ask, but if he stays healthy, and if the team in front of him does too, then he has the chance to give the Leafs some of the best goaltending in the league on by far the cheapest contract of any starting goalie.
It's not outside the realm of possibility that Woll finally stays healthy and that playing behind one of the league's best lineups he wins the first Vezina in modern Toronto Maple Leafs history.
It's a longshot, but if that happens, his contract could arguably be even more valuable than Connor Bedard's. Joseph Woll could potentially provide more value per dollar than any player in the NHL next year.