In recent times, teams across the National Hockey League have been signing young, high-potential players with limited action to long-term deals.

Back in early August, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed Ville Koivunen to an eight-year deal with a cap hit worth $4 million. Following that, Zeev Buium, Noah Östlund, Ryan Leonard, and Justin Sourdif signed eight-year extensions; Fraser Minten signed a seven-year extension; Braeden Bowman signed a six-year extension; and Luke Evangelista signed a five-year extension.

These players show some similarities. While they range from top-10 picks to undrafted, all seven players are 24 years old or younger and have shown promise in limited NHL games. Evangelista is the outlier, playing 259 games. The next closest is Minten, who has played 113 games. Every other player listed has played 92 or fewer games.

Most players also had similar production output as well. The only outlier here is Koivunen, who scored just two goals in 47 games. Buium scored six goals and 26 points, although he is a defenceman. Bowman only scored eight goals, but had 26 points in 54 games. Every other player had between 11 and 20 goals and 27 and 56 points, with Evangelista again being the outlier here.

One young player who hasn’t signed an........

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