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2025 Free Agency

Metropolitan Notes: York, Flyers Plans, Zibanejad

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With Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster recently signing extensions with the Philadelphia Flyers, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic wonders if pending restricted free agent defender Cam York is next.

As Kevin Kurz reports, sources close to York have indicated that discussions between the player and the Flyers have been ongoing for some time, with both short- and long-term contract options being considered. While York is coming off a down year compared to his 2023-24 season, where he established career highs in goals (10) and assists (20), he’s still only 24 years old and will more than likely benefit from the organization’s recent coaching change.

York and Flyers had a tumultuous 2024-25 season, with former head coach John Tortorella making York a healthy scratch on two separate occasions. After sustaining a shoulder injury early in the season that York later admitted impacted his performance, Tortorella also did not play York on the power play despite the unit finishing 30th in the league. Things ultimately came to a head on March 25 when York and Tortorella reportedly had a heated exchange during a 7-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Tortorella was soon after fired, and York was disciplined by dressing but not skating in the following contest against the Canadians.

Still, the former first-round pick possesses potential that other teams may covet on the open market. For the Flyers to determine if extending York aligns with their long-term vision, they must assess whether his style complements the system Rick Tocchet intends to implement.

Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division:

  • Sources confirmed to Kurz that the Flyers will not be in the market for big-name free agents come July 1. While general manager Daniel Briere and the front office have nearly $19MM in cap space (per PuckPedia), they seem content to continue to resign their own younger players. Excluding non-roster players, the Philadelphia Flyers have two restricted free agents remaining—York and winger Jakob Pelletier—and no unrestricted free agents. It appears the Flyers are opting to retain a roster similar to last season’s, with Tocchet and his coaching staff aiming to maximize player performance and development.
  • Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury kept veterans like Mika Zibanejad informed about his intentions regarding the trade of Chris Kreider, per Larry Brooks of the NY Post. Kreider and Zibanejad were teammates for the last nine years and helped lead the Rangers to much success in that time. The team officially traded Kreider to the Ducks today. Ironically, the trade reunites Kreider with Rangers former captain Jacob Trouba, who was dealt to Anaheim last season.

Michael DiPietro Generating Interest

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Goaltender Michael DiPietro has had a rocky development road, but got back on track with an AHL All-Star campaign in the Bruins organization in 2024-25. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the former high-end prospect is generating interest as he heads toward Group VI unrestricted free agency in a few weeks.

If so, DiPietro might be aiming to land somewhere where there’s a potential opening for him to start the season on the NHL roster as a No. 2 option. Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff reported in March the Bruins were pursuing a contract extension with him, but considering there’s been no apparent forward progress since then, combined with today’s report, it’s clear he desires more of a shot than he’d have next year in Boston behind Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo.

A third-round pick by the Canucks in 2017 after winning the Memorial Cup with OHL Windsor, his development quickly stalled after turning pro two years later. He never became more than a fringe No. 3 option in Vancouver and lost nearly an entire year of development in the COVID-laced 2020-21 season, sitting on the taxi squad all year aside from four minor-league appearances.

After three NHL appearances and a few years of average minor-league play, the Canucks traded DiPietro to Boston at the beginning of the 2022-23 season in what looked like nothing more than a swap of AHLers at the time. DiPietro didn’t even manage an AHL role in his first year with the Bruins organization, playing just one game with Providence and spending the rest of the year with ECHL Maine, where he looked somewhat rejuvenated with a .918 SV% in 29 appearances.

A restricted free agent the following summer, the Bruins at least saw enough to tender him a qualifying offer. He signed a fresh two-way deal for the 2023-24 campaign, which saw him lock down a full-time AHL role again and replicate his forward momentum. While still Boston’s fourth-stringer behind Linus Ullmark, Swayman, and Brandon Bussi that year, he managed a strong 2.51 GAA, .918 SV%, 18-9-2 record, and four shutouts in 30 AHL appearances.

With an even stronger 2024-25 campaign, DiPietro’s development is finally on a linear track. The 26-year-old was a First Team All-Star and named the AHL’s top goaltender after superceding Bussi as Providence’s starter and posting a 2.05 GAA, .927 SV%, 26-8-7 record, and four shutouts in 40 games of action.

Goalies generally take longer to develop, and DiPietro’s winding road to this point could just be a victim of that cliché. He benefits from a pretty weak group of UFA netminders whose top options are Jake Allen, Anton Forsberg, and James Reimer. There are more than a few serviceable backups out there and even a legitimate 1B option in Allen still, but all of the options are known commodities at this stage. Aside from the veteran Allen, who was quite good in backup duties for New Jersey this season, DiPietro offers the most upside of anyone available for free.

Senators Expected To Begin Extension Talks With Adam Gaudette Soon

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With free agency now less than three weeks away, the Senators have been busy trying to get their top pending unrestricted free agent, Claude Giroux, locked up before he hits the open market.  It appears that he’s not the only UFA that they intend to try to sign early as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Sens are expected to start talks on a new deal with Adam Gaudette.

The 28-year-old has largely bounced around his eight-year professional career, spending time with five different organizations.  Gaudette came back for a second stint with Ottawa last summer, inking a one-year, two-way deal with an eye on him being a key contributor with AHL Belleville and coming up for stints with the big club when needed.

That didn’t go quite as planned.  In fact, it went better.  While Gaudette cleared waivers in October, he never actually suited up in the minors this season.  Beyond a few one-day stints with Belleville, he was exclusively up with Ottawa.  Along the way, he played in 81 games, scoring a career-best 19 goals along with seven assists; that goal total is particularly notable considering he averaged just 10:25 per game of ice time.  He added three points in six games in their opening-round playoff loss to Toronto.

While Gaudette had 33 points back in 59 games with Vancouver, this was his first season of being a full-time NHL player.  Overall, he has suited up in 301 contests at the top level, notching 46 goals and 50 assists along the way.  All told, not a bad showing from a fifth-round pick.

However, despite the success he has had at times, Gaudette has yet to earn a seven-figure single-season salary throughout his career.  He should have a chance to do that this time around but he might not beat the $1MM mark by too much considering the limited ice time he had this season and the fact he had primarily been a minor leaguer the previous two years.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see Ottawa, like a lot of teams, try to keep their spots at the end of the roster close to the minimum salary to increase their spending flexibility so it will be interesting to see if an early agreement can be worked out to keep Gaudette off the open market.

Free Agent Focus: New Jersey Devils

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Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Devils.

Key Restricted Free Agents

D Luke Hughes – Hughes is one of the top pending restricted free agents in the NHL, and the expectation is that the organization will do everything it can to lock up the defender before he reaches free agency. However, with just a projected $12MM in cap space, Hughes is expected to command a significant portion of that figure. In 71 games on the year, the 21-year-old essentially mirrored his rookie season production with seven goals and 44 points. New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald recently discussed the team’s urgency to resign Hughes, stating, “We’re just trying to figure out what’s best for Luke and for us and how do we make our team better with the funds that we have available… Both parties are in agreement… We’re going to get this done.” Now, the key questions are when the deal will be finalized and what the annual price tag will look like.

F Cody Glass – After bouncing around the league the last several years, Glass is hoping to have found a home in New Jersey. After being acquired from division rival Penguins in a trade deadline move, Glass contributed seven points in 14 regular-season games for the Devils. However, he provided zero points in five playoff games. At just 25 years old, Glass brings a pedigree the Devils may be eager to develop further, especially given the affordable price tag he’s expected to carry. In 253 games, Glass has posted 35 goals and 93 points.

Other RFAs: F Nolan Foote, D Santeri Hatakka, G Isaac Poulter

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Brian Dumoulin – A veteran of over 700 NHL games, Dumoulin brought a steady, reliable presence to the Devils’ blue line following his arrival at the trade deadline. The two-time Stanley Cup champion may be past his prime, but Dumoulin can still provide a team with veteran leadership in a second- or third-pairing role. That said, ’Dumo’ has plenty of mileage on his body — he surpassed the 1,000 blocked shots mark this past season — which could make a team with limited cap space hesitant to offer a multi-year deal to an aging blueliner.

G Jake Allen – While the optics of a 13-16-1 record don’t look great for Allen, they don’t tell the whole story of his season. Serving as the backup to starter Jacob Markstrom, Allen posted a respectable .906 save percentage, slightly better than Markstrom’s .900 mark. Allen recorded four shutouts on the season and posted a 2.66 goals-against average, reinforcing his value as one of the league’s more dependable backup goaltenders. However, with Allen turning 35 next season and Nico Daws waiting in the wings, his services may no longer be needed in New Jersey. While Allen recently noted his preference would be to stay in New Jersey, he will command quite a bit of interest on the open market.

F Curtis Lazar – With five forwards set to earn $6 million or more next season, the Devils will need to find low-cost options to fill out their bottom six. That’s where a reunion with someone like Lazar may make sense for the team. Lazar had a tough season in 2024-25, posting just five points in 48 games. However, he’s just one year removed from a career-best 25 points and a plus-10 rating in his first season with New Jersey. His expiring contract carried a modest $1 million cap hit, and that number is likely to stay in the same range. If the Devils are looking for a low-cost, veteran presence, bringing Lazar or Nathan Bastian back into the fold could work well.

Other UFAs: F Justin Dowling, F Daniel Sprong, F Nathan Bastian, F Maxwell Willman, F Samuel Laberge, F Marc McLaughlin (UFA-Group6), D Dennis Cholowski, D Tory Dello

Projected Cap Space

The Devils don’t have much wiggle room this offseason. According to PuckPedia, the team has just over $12 million available for free agency, and if a deal with Hughes gets done, that amount will be significantly reduced. Unless Fitzgerald and the front office trade away one of their current high-paid players, they’ll have to get creative to fill out the depth on the squad. They may also lean toward giving more opportunities to promising young players, like the aforementioned Daws, who won’t take up much cap space.

Brad Marchand Discussed Future With Panthers

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Just days after veteran defenseman Aaron Ekblad spoke about his future with the Florida Panthers, veteran forward and pending unrestricted free agent Brad Marchand has also addressed his future with the team.

Per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, Marchand will consider re-signing with the Panthers, but the veteran of 1,100 career games is currently focused solely on the Stanley Cup Final.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. But we’ll deal with that in the future,” Marchand said.

In 10 regular season games with the Panthers after being acquired from Boston at the trade deadline, Marchand put up two goals and four points. However, Marchand was also shaking off some rust after sustaining an upper-body injury just a week before the trade. Marchand has hit his stride in the playoffs, recording 17 points in 19 games, highlighted by his overtime winner in Game 2.

While Marchand has appeared to be a perfect fit in head coach Paul Maurice’s system, the team has big decisions to make with their pending free agents. With a projected $19 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), the Panthers need to be strategic with where they allocate those funds, as Marchand, Ekblad, Sam Bennett, and Tomas Nosek all set for free agency. While those four carried a combined cap hit of just under $19 million last season, each is expected to command a similar or higher salary on their next contracts. Marchand’s expiring deal came with a $6.125MM AAV.

Despite his age (37), Marchand is expected to draw significant attention on the open market, especially after proving he can still deliver under the bright lights of the playoffs. Marchand, however, did acknowledge that Florida’s chances of retaining him are helped by the fact that it’s one of six U.S.-based teams that come with no income tax.

“There are teams where that absolutely matters. It doesn’t matter for every player, but when you’re dealing with guys that have a choice between multiple teams, it absolutely plays a part. If you have two teams that are offering the same contract, you’re going to pick the team with less tax,” he said.

Although Marchand and Bruins GM Don Sweeney engaged in negotiations and were publicly optimistic about reaching an extension, the two sides ultimately failed to come to terms. That said, following the trade, Marchand noted he wouldn’t close the door on a potential reunion with the Bruins.

Free Agent Focus: Chicago Blackhawks

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Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Blackhawks.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Philipp Kurashev – As the Blackhawks continue to navigate through a rebuild, holding onto a 25-year-old forward with a 50-plus point season on his résumé makes plenty of sense, and that’s exactly what they have in soon-to-be restricted free agent Philipp Kurashev. But after a breakout 54-point campaign in 2023–24, Kurashev took a step back this past season, managing just 14 points in 51 games. So, who is the real Kurashev? And what is his value to the Blackhawks, or potentially other teams? These are the questions the Blackhawks’ front office must answer as they weigh his next contract.

D Wyatt Kaiser – No pending free agent, restricted or unrestricted, may be more important to the Blackhawks than Wyatt Kaiser, who took a clear step forward this past season. The 2020 third-round pick appeared in a career-high 57 games, recording four goals and eight points, and finishing third on the team with 93 blocked shots. Just as notable, his even plus-minus rating was the best among all Blackhawks defensemen and second-best on the roster overall, behind only forward Ilya Mikheyev’s plus-four. At just 22 years old, Kaiser may be the kind of defenseman the Blackhawks look to sign long-term as they aim to solidify their blue line for the Connor Bedard era.

G Arvid Soderblom – Despite being buried on the depth chart heading into the last season, Soderblom ended the season with more games between the pipes than any Blackhawks goalie. With Laurent Brossoit missing the season with a meniscus tear, and veteran Petr Mrázek being traded at the deadline, Soderblom saw action in 36 contests, compiling a 10-18-7 record to go with a .898 save percentage. While those numbers are unflattering by league standards, Soderblom statistically outperformed Mrazek and Spencer Knight, who came over in a blockbuster trade that sent Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers. Knight appeared in 15 games for the Blackhawks, finishing with a 5-8-2 record and .893 save percentage. While the Blackhawks may like the idea of keeping Soderblom in the mix, they already have $7.8MM committed to Brossoit and Knight next season. If Soderblom is now viewed in the league circles as a legitimate backup, another team could step in with a solid offer.

Other RFAs: D Louis Crevier, D Victor Soderstrom, F Antti Saarela, F Aku Raty, F Jalen Luypen

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Alec Martinez – On April 13, the day of the Blackhawks’ last home game of the season, Martinez announced that he would be retiring following the season. A three-time Stanley Cup champion, the 37-year-old was signed last offseason to a one-year, $4 million deal to bring leadership and experience to a young Chicago lineup. And while it’s difficult to measure the impact of his presence in the locker room, Martinez’s on-ice performance left much to be desired. He finished the year with 12 points and a minus-15 rating in 44 games. Martinez will finish his career with 862 games played, 289 points, and, of course, those three Stanley Cups.

F Pat Maroon – Similar to Martinez, veteran Pat Maroon is hanging up his skates after a 14-year career. Back in March, Maroon announced he would be retiring, citing a desire to start a new chapter with his family. He signed a one-year, $1.3MM contract with the team in free agency last summer, and like Martinez, was brought in to provide mentorship and leadership. In 68 games on the season, Marron totaled five goals and 19 points in a bottom-six role. He’ll finish his career with 323 points in 848 games. Like Martinez, he can also boast three Stanley Cups (winning in three consecutive years with the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning).

F Ryan Donato – Donato, coming off a career-best season with 31 goals and 62 points, is among the top centers headed for unrestricted free agency. If the Blackhawks hope to keep him, they’ll likely have to fend off interest from around the league. At the trade deadline, the Blackhawks held discussions with Donato about a possible contract extension and did not end up dealing him for future assets. Scott Powers of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the deal the team put on the table was a three-year offer worth somewhere around $4MM per season, essentially doubling his expiring contract. Donato did exactly what any player on an expiring contract hopes to do — post career-best numbers and set himself up for a sizable payday. The reported $4MM per season may not be a large enough figure to keep Donato in Chicago.

Other UFAs: F Andreas Athanasiou, F Zach Sanford, F Brett Seney, F Cole Guttman

Projected Cap Space

General manager Kyle Davidson will have plenty of financial flexibility this summer, as the team has nearly $30MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. If the team is serious about keeping Donato and Kaiser in Chicago long-term, their new contracts would certainly put a dent into that space, but would still leave Davidson with ample flexibility to pursue additional free agents.

NHL Sets Offer Sheet Thresholds For 2025

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From the beginning of the ’Salary Cap Era’ in the 2005-06 NHL season, offer sheets have been a mildly used tool by General Managers in the league, with most teams simply matching any given offer sheet. Since September 12, 2006, when Ryan Kesler signed a one-year, $1.9MM offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers to June 30, 2019, there had only been eight offer sheets signed, with Dustin Penner’s being the only one to go unmatched.

Since July 1, 2019, when the Montreal Canadiens signed Sebastian Aho to a five-year, $42.27MM offer sheet (which was subsequently matched by the Carolina Hurricanes), there has seemingly been more appetite for them from General Managers. This culminated in the wildly successful offer sheets from the St. Louis Blues last offseason, when they poached defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway from the Edmonton Oilers for a second-round pick and a third-round pick in 2025.

Still, some risk remains when considering worthwhile offer sheets. Teams must determine if the required compensation is worth the player in question, and the NHL recently released those compensation figures via Sportsnet:

AAV Draft picks required
$1.54MM or less No compensation
$1.54MM to $2.34MM Third-round pick
$2.34MM to $4.68MM Second-round pick
$4.68MM to $7.02MM First and third-round picks
$7.02MM to $9.36MM First, second and third-round picks
$9.36MM to $11.7MM Two firsts, a second and third-round picks
Over $11.7MM Four first-round picks

The most given up in the ’Salary Cap Era’ was the 2008 first, second, and third round pick awarded to the Anaheim Ducks for Penner’s offer sheet by Edmonton. No team has ever reached into the sixth tier of compensation, and that’s unlikely to change this offseason. Teams must use their own draft compensation, meaning they’d have to re-acquire any of their old draft selections should they need them for an unmatched offer sheet, similarly to what St. Louis had to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer.

How Do Qualifying Offers Work?

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Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. To make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him — a player who doesn’t receive one becomes an unrestricted free agent instead.

The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s salary in the most recent season of their expiring contract:

  • $775,000 to $999,999: 105% of most recent salary up to $1,000,000.
  • $1MM or more: the lesser of their most recent salary or 120% of cap hit.

In the increasingly rare instance where an RFA signed their most recent contract before July 2020 and earned $1MM or more in the last year of their deal, the qualifying offer is simply equal to their most recent salary.

Let’s take the top RFA on the board, Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard, as an example. While the cap hit of his expiring two-year deal is $3.9MM, he made $4.3MM in actual salary in 2024-25. However, his most recent salary is still less than 120% of his cap hit ($4.68MM), so his qualifying offer will be a one-year deal worth $4.3MM. That stipulation is why players signing an agreement with RFA expiry status will generally negotiate a base salary in the final year of the contract no higher than 120% of the cap hit, to prevent a salary reduction if they accept their qualifying offer. The two highest-salaried pending RFAs this year, defensemen Bowen Byram and K’Andre Miller, both took that route.

For players on expiring entry-level or two-way contracts, their qualifying offer is also a two-way deal. It’s important to note that “salary” as it relates to QOs is tied to a player’s base salary only, not their total guaranteed compensation, which includes salary plus signing bonuses. That’s why you’ll rarely see players opt to receive signing bonuses in the final year of a deal with RFA expiry status – while signing bonuses technically make a buyout less advantageous for the team and benefit the player, they also limit the floor of their earning potential on a qualifying offer.

They’re almost always unavoidable for players on expiring entry-level deals, though. Take Devils star Luke Hughes. He’ll make $2.775MM in total cash this season thanks to signing and performance bonuses, but his qualifying offer is just a two-way deal with a cap hit of $874,125 – 105% of his 2024-25 base salary of $832,500.

So while Noah Dobson has the highest cap hit among pending RFAs at $4MM, Miller, as mentioned earlier, actually has the highest qualifying offer this summer at his 2024-25 base salary of $4.646MM.

Qualifying offers are due by the later of June 25 or the Monday following the draft. Given how the league schedule has trended in recent years, it’s almost always the latter. That holds in 2025, when the qualifying offer deadline is again June 30, one day before free agency opens. They expire by July 15 if not extended in writing by the team; however, it’s not unusual to see players sign identical contracts to their QOs after that date. A team still holds a player’s signing rights even if the qualifying offer expires before an agreement is reached.

A player can also accept his qualifying offer if he chooses to do so. He then plays the following season on a one-year contract worth the amount of the QO, and, depending on their age or accrued NHL seasons, becomes an unrestricted free agent or repeats the process as an RFA. A player can go this route if he feels like the QO is the best offer he’ll receive, or if he’s one year away from being eligible for UFA status and wants to focus on testing that market.

Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

These NHL Free Agents Will Get Overpaid This Summer

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July 1 is often when an NHL general manager makes moves that they will regret later, and frequently, they spend years trying to correct them. This summer is no different, as teams will overpay many unrestricted free agents. There is perhaps no better recent example of this than Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas, who has done tremendous work the past two years but hasn’t been able to undo the series of poor moves he made on July 1, 2023, when he signed Tristan Jarry, Ryan Graves and Noel Acciari to long-term deals. Signings such as these can alter the direction of a franchise and hitch the team to financial commitments that haunt them long-term. Last summer’s big free-agent winner was the Nashville Predators, but they quickly discovered that winning in July doesn’t always translate to winning during the season.

This is the first year in some time that there has been a significant increase in the salary cap, with agents and UFAs salivating at the potential dollars they can rein in this summer. The days of skilled veterans settling for one-year deals just above league minimum may become a thing of the past, leading to more free agents signing contracts they could never live up to. Let’s look at the players who will likely get overpaid this summer using AFP Analytics’ projections for 2025-26 cap hits based on next year’s $95.5MM upper limit.

In combing through AFP’s work, a number that jumps out is the projection for Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser. AFP is projecting a seven-year deal worth $9.05MM per year for the 28-year-old, which looks pretty optimistic for a player who has topped 30 goals in a season just once and has only topped the 60-point plateau once. Boeser is not a player who can drive a line by himself; he is a shooter and can also go into slumps at 5-on-5. A cap hit north of $9MM for Boeser would almost certainly become a future buyout like Jeff Skinner’s contract was. Boeser may not get $9MM per, but teams are always in search of scoring, and someone will step up and overpay for his services.

No disrespect to Sam Bennett; he is a terrific player who has become an essential piece of a perennial Stanley Cup contender. But he will likely be overpaid this summer if he decides to leave the Florida Panthers. AFP’s projection is a six-year deal for $6.3MM per season, which seems a little light for Bennett unless he signs in a state with a more favorable income tax structure, such as Florida. Even at that projection, Bennett might live up to his AAV for the first two or three years of the deal. Still, beyond that, his style of play will likely catch up to him, making the final years of his deal difficult to deal with. Bennett will be 29 in June, and a six-year deal will take him until he’s 35, at which point it’s hard to know what his game will look like.

Mikael Granlund’s value is hard to gauge because fit is essential to his production. He was a terrible fit with the Penguins when he was acquired two years ago at the trade deadline and produced just five points in 21 games. That trade for a second-round pick was ultimately the final straw for the Penguins as they fired general manager Ron Hextall shortly after he made the move. Granlund was then dealt to San Jose, where he produced top-six numbers and was one of their top scorers before another trade to Dallas in February. Granlund has been a decent fit with the Stars, scoring 21 points in 31 games. The knock on Granlund is that he doesn’t do much away from the puck and can’t drive a line alone despite good playmaking abilities. He is a terrific passer, but aside from that, his game is limited. He isn’t slow, but he is an average skater at best.

Despite all of this, he puts up numbers, and he will surely find an NHL GM who will look at that and pay up. He won’t get a four-year deal, but he may secure a three-year contract around his current cap hit of $5MM. AFP’s projection for Granlund is a two-year deal at $4.6MM per season, which looks pretty realistic, if not a bit on the lighter side, given the rising salary cap. Whoever signs Granlund needs to play him on the power play and in the top six; otherwise, they will wind up like the Penguins in 2023 and searching for a salary dump.

Blue Jackets forward Luke Kunin is next on our list and is projected by AFP to wind up on a two-year deal for $2.1MM per season. Kunin can hit, and that’s about it. His game impact is minimal, and $2.1MM is a wild number for a player as limited as he is. Kunin doesn’t put up points and has played mainly on the fourth line, getting caved in on the possession front while doing so. He hasn’t been helped by his deployment, starting his shifts in the defensive zone 56.8% of the time this year at even strength, but that has a negligible impact on his overall numbers. Signing Kunin to that deal won’t break a team, but it certainly won’t help a contending team build a competent bottom six.

Jonathan Drouin has had two straight solid seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and should receive a significant raise this summer from the $2.5MM he played for this year. Since joining the Avalanche, the 30-year-old has posted 30 goals and 63 assists in 122 games while playing 15:23 a game. Drouin has been a good fit with Colorado and is projected by AFP to get a contract in the four-year range with a cap hit of $5.87MM.

Drouin had to settle for a one-year deal last summer and should have multi-year offers this year. While he has recaptured his game, he has dressed just 43 times this season and has been inconsistent throughout his career. Any team paying him nearly $6MM a season for four years would take a massive gamble that could be a contract to buy out in a few seasons. Teams were cautious with Drouin last summer, and it’s not hard to imagine teams capping their offers at two or three years, but all it takes is one team that is desperate for scoring to get to Drouin’s projected contract numbers.

Finally, on the back end, one defenseman is primed to be overpaid again on the free agent market: Cody Ceci of the Dallas Stars. Ceci is in the final year of a four-year deal he signed in 2021 with a $3.25MM cap hit. That contract was initially projected to be a problem, and it became an issue for the Oilers last summer when they dealt the 31-year-old to San Jose in a salary cap-fueled move.

Ceci’s next deal could turn out to be even more problematic. The Ottawa, Ontario, native is projected by AFP to earn $11MM on a three-year contract, which is quite the price for a depth defenseman who needs to be sheltered to be effective. Ceci was okay with the Oilers when they moved him away from Nurse, but he should not be counted on for anything more than depth minutes in a No. 5-6 role.

In the net, goaltending will be challenging in the free-agent market as the options include reclamation projects, career backups, and Jake Allen. Allen figures to get a chunk of change in free agency, but will not see starter’s money despite having a great year in New Jersey. Beyond that, it’s hard to imagine any team committing significant dollars to the available netminders.

Photo by Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

2025 NHL Free Agents

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The following players are eligible for free agency after the 2024-25 season. Each player’s 2025 age is in parentheses. Generally, our cutoff for this list is 10 games played or five starts for goaltenders in the NHL in 2024-25. Players who have announced their retirement are not included.

Updated 6-4-25

Unrestricted Free Agents

Centers

Sam Bennett (29)
Nick Bjugstad (32)
Ryan Donato (29)
Justin Dowling (34)
Matt Duchene (34)
Christian Dvorak (29)
Lars Eller (36)
Radek Faksa (31)
Trent Frederic (27)
Luke Glendening (36)
Mikael Granlund (33)
Tyson Jost (27)
Justin Kirkland (28)
Luke Kunin (27)
Sean Kuraly (32)
Curtis Lazar (30)
Marc McLaughlin (25) – Group VI UFA
Tomáš Nosek (32)
Kevin Rooney (32)
Derek Ryan (38)
Nico Sturm (30)
Pius Suter (29)
John Tavares (34)

Left Wingers

Jamie Benn (35)
Michael Carcone (29)
Nick Cousins (31)
Claude Giroux (37)
Joel Kiviranta (29)
Andrei Kuzmenko (29)
Steven Lorentz (29)
Brad Marchand (37)
Matt Martin (36)
Brock McGinn (31)
Matthew Nieto (32)
Gustav Nyquist (35)
Victor Olofsson (29)
Max Pacioretty (36)
Tanner Pearson (32)
Cole Reinhardt (25) – Group VI UFA
Eric Robinson (30)
Jack Roslovic (28)
Brandon Saad (32)
Devin Shore (30)
Jeff Skinner (33)
Tomáš Tatar (34)
James van Riemsdyk (36)
Jakub Vrána (29)

Right Wingers

Mason Appleton (29)
Joel Armia (32)
Cam Atkinson (36)
Nicolas Aubé-Kubel (29)
Nathan Bastian (27)
Anthony Beauvillier (28)
Colin Blackwell (32)
Brock Boeser (28)
Justin Brazeau (27)
Connor Brown (31)
Evgenii Dadonov (36)
Justin Danforth (32)
Walker Duehr (27)
Nikolaj Ehlers (29)
Michael Eyssimont (28)
Robby Fabbri (29)
Hudson Fasching (29)
Christian Fischer (28)
Adam Gaudette (28)
Tanner Jeannot (28)
Patrick Kane (36)
Kasperi Kapanen (28)
Cole Koepke (27)
Kevin Labanc (29)
Trevor Lewis (38)
Andrew Mangiapane (29)
Anthony Mantha (30)
Mitch Marner (28)
Tyler Motte (30)
Corey Perry (40)
Jesse Puljujärvi (27)
Taylor Raddysh (27)
Craig Smith (35)
Givani Smith (27)
Reilly Smith (34)
Daniel Sprong (28)
Brandon Tanev (33)
Jimmy Vesey (32)
Chris Wagner (34)

Left Defensemen

Declan Chisholm (25) – Group VI UFA unless he registers 47 GP in 2024-25, then RFA
Dennis Cholowski (27)
Calvin de Haan (34)
Marc Del Gaizo (25) – Group VI UFA
Brian Dumoulin (33)
Haydn Fleury (28)
Derek Forbort (33)
Matt Grzelcyk (31)
Joel Hanley (34)
Jack Johnson (38)
Ryan Lindgren (27)
Jonathon Merrill (33)
Dmitry Orlov (33)
Mike Reilly (31)
Nate Schmidt (33)
Brendan Smith (36)
Ryan Suter (40)
Parker Wotherspoon (27)

Right Defensemen

Robert Bortuzzo (36)
Brent Burns (40)
Cody Ceci (31)
Travis Dermott (28)
Aaron Ekblad (29)
Dante Fabbro (27)
Vladislav Gavrikov (29)
Dennis Gilbert (28)
Travis Hamonic (34)
Grant Hutton (29)
Erik Johnson (37)
Henri Jokiharju (26)
Noah Juulsen (28)
John Klingberg (32)
Dylan McIlrath (33)
Nicklaus Perbix (27)
Jeff Petry (37)
Ivan Provorov (28)
Jan Rutta (34)

Goaltenders

Jake Allen (34)
Anton Forsberg (32)
Alexandar Georgiev (29)
Ville Husso (30)
Alex Lyon (32)
Spencer Martin (30)
James Reimer (37)
David Rittich (32)
Ilya Samsonov (28)
Vítek Vaněček (29)
Daniel Vladař (27)

Restricted Free Agents

Centers

Mavrik Bourque (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Morgan Frost (26)
Pontus Holmberg (26)
Marat Khusnutdinov (22)
Philipp Kurashev (25)
Hendrix Lapierre (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Isac Lundeström (25)
Ryan McLeod (25)
Mason McTavish (22) – not eligible for arbitration
Aatu Räty (22) – not eligible for arbitration
Marco Rossi (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Max Sasson (24)
Cole Schwindt (24)
Connor Zary (23) – not eligible for arbitration

Left Wingers

Arshdeep Bains (24)
Morgan Barron (26)
John Beecher (24)
Jonatan Berggren (24)
William Cuylle (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Adam Edstrom (24)
Daniil Gushchin (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Emil Heineman (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Tye Kartye (24)
Matthew Knies (22) – not eligible for arbitration
Klim Kostin (26)
Jakub Lauko (25)
Andre Lee (24)
Jack McBain (25)
Mikael Pyyhtia (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Jack Quinn (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Maxim Tsyplakov (26)
Dmitri Voronkov (24)
Oliver Wahlstrom (25)

Right Wingers

Connor Dewar (26)
Luke Evangelista (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Morgan Geekie (26)
Cody Glass (26)
Gage Goncalves (24)
Noah Gregor (26)
Simon Holmström (24)
Alexander Holtz (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Kaapo Kakko (24)
Nikolai Kovalenko (25)
Rasmus Kupari (25)
Alex Laferriere (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Brett Leason (26)
Jakob Pelletier (24)
JJ Peterka (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Nicholas Robertson (23)
Mackie Samoskevich (22) – not eligible for arbitration
Philip Tomasino (23)
Gabriel Vilardi (25)
Fabian Zetterlund (25)

Left Defensemen

Kevin Bahl (25)
Erik Brännström (25)
Ryker Evans (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Nicolas Hague (26)
Jordan Harris (24)
Luke Hughes (21) – not eligible for arbitration
Zachary Jones (24)
Wyatt Kaiser (22) – not eligible for arbitration
Mason Lohrei (24)
K’Andre Miller (25)
Alexander Romanov (25)
Dylan Samberg (26)
Cameron York (24)

Right Defensemen

Jacob Bernard-Docker (25)
Evan Bouchard (25)
Bowen Byram (24)
Louis Crevier (24)
Noah Dobson (25)
Drew Helleson (24)
Albert Johansson (24)
Pierre-Olivier Joseph (26)
Nils Lundkvist (24)
Sam Malinski (26)
Scott Perunovich (26)
Jayden Struble (23)
Jack Thompson (23) – not eligible for arbitration
Conor Timmins (26)

Goaltenders

Lukáš Dostál (25)
Joel Hofer (24)
Arvid Söderblom (25)
Daniil Tarasov (26)

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