There is a concerning, risky trend forming, where teams are signing players to massive deals after one successful season

After having what they thought was a franchise cornerstone in Jack Eichel request a trade due to a difference in opinion on surgery, 24 year-old Tage Thompson stepped into Eichel's spot this past season had a career year. Thompson registered 38 goals and 68 points in 78 games for the Sabres and was awarded this summer in the form of a 7-year, $50M ($7.143M AAV) deal on Tuesday evening.

23 year-old Josh Norris of the Sens signed a 8-year deal back in July worth $63.6M ($7.95M AAV) after registering just 55 points and scoring 35 goals last season for the lowly Sens. At the same time Norris signed his massive extension, the St. Louis Blues locked up their own 23 year-old in Robert Thomas to an 8-year deal worth $65M ($8.125M AAV).

From a team perspective, each of the Blues, Sens and Sabres are betting on their players to continue to produce at the levels they did last year or perform even better in the future. These deals are purely based on potential, so it will be a few years before anyone can say whether they are good or bad contracts. None of Thompson, Norris or Thomas reached the 50 point mark until last season. In fact, none of them even hit the 45 point mark until last season.

Locking up your top six centers, especially when they are the size of Thomas and Thompson, solidifies the most important forward position (C) for the foreseeable future, meaning the teams can focus on building out the rest of the lineup surrounding them.

I'm not saying they don't deserve the money they're getting. They do - and they have every right to get the most out of their contracts to set them up for the future. It's just interesting to see how the league has shifted from 10 years ago when all the big contracts were being given to players in their late 20s and early 30s, while players coming off of their entry-level deals were still signing for peanuts because they had not "proven" themselves yet. Teams have realized they have to invest the money in their future instead of what a player has done. Yes, the intangibles of winning Cups and all that are important to have in locker rooms, but those can be found for cheap now. Top six centers, not so much.