Free Agency Notes: Marchment, Mikheyev, Bobrovsky, Glendening
Back in February, a few months after acquiring him, the Columbus Blue Jackets pivoted toward signing Mason Marchment to an extension, rather than trading him at the deadline. However, an extension was never agreed to, and Marchment is expected to reach free agency in one week, where he will likely have a very robust market.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, several teams will be interested in signing Marchment should he reach free agency on July 1st. However, LeBrun added that the Blue Jackets are still holding out hope they can sign him to an extension, with an 11th-hour final push on the horizon.
It was a tale of two seasons for Marchment. The 31-year-old winger struggled with the Seattle Kraken, scoring four goals and 13 points in 29 games. However, after the Kraken traded him to the Blue Jackets, he went on a tear, registering 15 goals and 32 points in 39 contests to close out the regular season. There’s little expectation that Marchment will continue to be a point-per-game player, but he has proven to be a quality secondary scorer for the past five years, and would be one of the better forward options on the free agent market.
Additional free agency notes:
- It’s been known for the last few weeks that winger Ilya Mikheyev would not be signing an extension with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks pivoted toward shopping Mikheyev’s signing rights to interested parties, but it turns out they didn’t get much traction there, either. According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago is preparing to lose Mikheyev on the market for nothing next Wednesday. The middle-six forward has spent the past two years with the Blackhawks, scoring 38 goals and 70 points in 157 games with a +6 rating, averaging 16:32 of ice time per game.
- According to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, General Manager Bill Zito hasn’t closed the door on signing netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to one last contract. Florida is in a similar situation to last offseason, when they were set to lose one of three key players in Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, or Aaron Ekblad. Somehow, the Panthers managed to keep all three. However, the situation is far different with Bobrovsky, who is nearly 38 years old, coming off the worst season of his professional career, and is reportedly seeking a six- to seven-year deal in the $42MM range.
- Although he’s not a huge priority for the Philadelphia Flyers, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported that the team is interested in retaining veteran center Luke Glendening for the 2026-27 season. Glendening, 37, played admirably for the Flyers after they claimed him off waivers at last year’s deadline, scoring two goals and five points in 18 regular-season contests, with another goal through 10 games in the postseason.
Free Agent Focus: Philadelphia Flyers
Free agency is under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans 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 Flyers.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Trevor Zegras – Often the heartbeat of the Flyers’ offense during the 2025-26 season, the 25-year-old found a resurgence in his game after being traded to the Flyers from the Anaheim Ducks last offseason. After fighting to stay healthy throughout his last two seasons in Anaheim, Zegras came to Philadelphia and quickly made his presence known with 12 points in his first 10 games, a great way to become a fan favorite in the city. Even with the Flyers’ power play struggles, Zegras managed to post career highs in goals (26) and points (67). While a lot will ride on the term of the deal, Zegras will likely command north of $8MM, which would be comparable to the current AAV of the Flyers’ leading scorer, Travis Konecny ($8.75MM).
F Nikita Grebenkin – After coming to the Flyers from the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2024-25 season as a part of the Scott Laughton trade, Grebenkin finished the year with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. However, a solid training camp performance saw the 23-year-old Russian make the Flyers for the 2025-26 campaign. While the young winger still has a lot of learning and growing to do before fully hitting his stride, there was a lot to look forward to in Grebenkin’s 55 games played. Grebenkin saw himself almost solely in a bottom-six or fourth-line spot but still managed to put up 14 points during the season. Aside from his production, though, it was his effort and compete level that has Philadelphia fans excited for what lies ahead. Unfortunately, Grebenkin’s season was cut short due to an upper-body injury, and Flyers GM Daniel Briere recently provided an update that Grebenkin’s injury may linger into the start of next season. With lots of unknowns surrounding Grebenkin, he will likely command somewhere around the $1.25MM mark on a shorter-term deal.
D Jamie Drysdale – In his second full season with the Flyers since coming over as part of the Cutter Gauthier trade during the 2023-24 season, Drysdale really started to find his game this past year. While his skating ability was never in question, Drysdale’s defensive play and situational awareness were areas the Flyers were hoping to see development. The former sixth overall pick back in 2020 had a solid season offensively, posting a career high in goals (eight) and tying his career high in points (32). But it was the development on the back end that the Flyers were really hoping for, and this season, they got it. Playing a bigger role under Rick Tocchet, including the third-most power-play minutes of any Flyer: Drysdale cut his giveaways from 73 to 54 despite appearing in more games (78), nearly doubled his shot total, and improved his underlying numbers across the board while pulling his plus-minus well off the prior year’s team-worst minus-32. He carried that momentum into the spring, too, scoring his first career playoff goal in Game 1 against the Penguins and adding four points in 10 games during a hard-fought first-round run. With arbitration rights and the most complete season of his career behind him, Drysdale has earned a real raise on his $2.3MM qualifying number, and re-signing him should be a clear priority for Briere, who confirmed at his end-of-season availability that the team plans to bring him back. He’s finally rounding into the top-four puck-mover the Flyers had hoped for.
G Samuel Ersson – The presumed starter entering the year, Ersson instead watched Dan Vladar seize the crease with a breakout campaign, leaving the 26-year-old Swede in a backup role he never fully climbed out of. Across roughly 32 appearances, he went 13-11-5 with a 3.15 GAA and a save percentage that again finished below .900, the fourth straight NHL season he’s landed under that mark. With that being said, Ersson was stellar in net for the Flyers in the unprecedented post-Olympic run that got them into the postseason. Briere was pointedly noncommittal when asked about Ersson’s future at his end-of-season availability, a notable contrast to the praise he heaped on Vladar, whom he called the team’s MVP. As an RFA coming off a modest number, Ersson would be an inexpensive re-sign and a known commodity behind Vladar, but for the first time, his place in Philadelphia feels genuinely uncertain.
Other RFAs: F Karsen Dorwart, D Hunter McDonald
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Luke Glendening – One of the more unlikely sparks of Philadelphia’s playoff push, the veteran center was claimed off waivers on March 6, and almost immediately the Flyers started winning, going 12-5-1 with him in the lineup. In 18 regular-season games, he chipped in two goals and three assists while doing his real damage in the margins, taking the right-handed faceoffs Sean Couturier couldn’t and averaging around two minutes a night on the penalty kill alongside Couturier and Garnet Hathaway on a hard-nosed fourth line. He managed just a single point in 10 playoff games, but his value was never about the scoresheet. Glendening is a UFA and has said he’s open to returning, though with the Flyers’ forward group already crowded when healthy, a reunion feels unlikely.
F Carl Grundstrom – Acquired from San Jose ahead of the 2024-25 season, Grundstrom spent most of this year as a tweener, bouncing between Lehigh Valley and a rotating bottom-six role in Philadelphia. When he was up, he provided exactly what you’d want from a depth wing: physicality, energy, and a few timely goals during a hot stretch, and he found success in the minors when sent down, posting 15 points in 19 AHL games. Coming off an expiring $1.8MM AAV, the 28-year-old is a UFA who provided useful depth, and a cheap re-sign isn’t out of the question, but he’s the kind of piece the Flyers can find elsewhere if they’d rather open a roster spot for a younger option.
D Noah Juulsen – Signed to a one-year, $900K deal in July, Juulsen gave the Flyers steady bottom-pairing depth and a heavy physical presence, settling in as the sixth or seventh defenseman. He quietly set a career high with nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 45 games while leaning on the hits and shot-blocking that define his game, though his season was interrupted by a lower-body procedure that cost him roughly three months. As a UFA, the 29-year-old is a logical cheap re-sign for depth purposes, but Philadelphia’s young, crowded blue line could just as easily push him out.
Other UFAs: F Garrett Wilson, F Anthony Richard, D Adam Ginning (Group-6)
Projected Cap Space
The Flyers head into the summer in a solid spot. According to PuckPedia, they project to have roughly $37.5MM in space, with the salary cap climbing from $95.5MM to $104MM for 2026-27. After exceeding expectations and reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20, powered by a breakout, MVP-caliber season from Vladar, the priority is clear: get new deals done for Zegras and Drysdale, both of whom Briere has publicly committed to bringing back. Once their inevitable raises are factored in, the Flyers should still have plenty of cap leftover to round out the roster. That leaves ample room to qualify their remaining restricted free agents (Andrae and Ersson register as coin flips rather than certainties) while still chasing some complementary pieces Philadelphia prefers, or even taking a swing at some top-end talent.
Contract information courtesy of Puckpedia
Metropolitan Notes: Nurse, Glendening, Griffin
There is mutual interest between the Flyers and veteran defenseman Darnell Nurse as the Oilers blueliner looks for a new home, reports Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer. To that end, Philadelphia is believed to be on the shortlist of teams that Nurse will waive his trade protection to go to. The 31-year-old has been a top defender for Edmonton in the past and is getting paid like one with a $9.25MM per season contract that runs through the 2029-30 campaign. However, he’s better off being more of a second or third option. With that in mind, it stands to reason that the Oilers will need to pay down at least a portion of the contract in order to make it more palatable for potential trade partners. The Flyers already have Travis Sanheim, Cameron York, and Nick Seeler as left-shot players on their back end so if they were to acquire Nurse, either one would have to move to their off-side or some more tinkering on the blueline might need to be done if one isn’t moved as part of a trade.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Still with the Flyers, a team source suggested to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic that of their pending unrestricted free agents, the likeliest to return would probably be center Luke Glendening. Claimed off waivers before the trade deadline back in March, the 37-year-old provided a bit of a spark down the stretch, chipping in with five points in 18 games while winning over 57% of his faceoffs. Glendening had to settle for a training camp tryout last fall so this isn’t necessarily a situation where Philadelphia has to hurry up to sign him; they can afford to wait if they want to see how things go early in free agency and then circle back.
- A Blue Jackets prospect will have a new team next season. OHL Guelph announced that they’ve acquired forward Owen Griffin from Oshawa for four draft picks and two other players. Griffin was a fifth-round pick last June by Columbus, who selected him 160th overall. This season, he played in 66 games for the Generals, leading them in scoring with 25 goals and 42 assists. The Blue Jackets have until June 1, 2027 to sign Griffin unless he pivots to college hockey after next season.
2026-27 Performance Bonus and 35+ Candidates
As NHL front offices gear up for free agency, managing the salary cap demands a delicate balance between risk and reward. While performance bonuses are often linked to elite rookies on entry-level contracts, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) adds two additional avenues for performance-based incentives: injury comeback deals and contracts for 35-year-old or older veterans. These mechanisms enable teams to secure impactful players with low base salary cap hits, effectively deferring financial obligations until later.
If a team ends the fiscal year with earned bonuses exceeding their remaining cap space, the excess funds are carried over into the next league year as a direct salary cap penalty. This can significantly impact teams near the cap limit or heavily relying on LTIR. PuckPedia has detailed the upcoming free agents who qualify for these specialized incentive structures for the 2026-27 season.
To qualify for a performance-bonus-eligible contract via the injury route, a player must have 400 or more career games and have spent 100 or more days on Injured Reserve during the previous season. This structure allows franchises to take low-risk gambles on proven assets, while the financial incentives toward active roster availability and durability rather than pure scoring production.
Six players fit this criteria heading into free agency, including Derek Forbort (VAN), Alexander Kerfoot (UTA) Patrik Laine (MON), Petr Mrazek (ANA), Matt Murray (SEA), and Tomas Nosek (FLA).
For a team looking for top-six offensive upside, a player like Laine could be highly coveted on a bonus-laden deal, while teams seeking goaltending depth or penalty-killing options could turn to turn to Mrazek, Forbort, or Nosek under this low-risk umbrella.
Contracts signed by players who will be 35 or older by July 1 of the contract year are also eligible for performance bonuses on one-year deals. Front offices frequently use these to protect against sudden age-related decline, tying mid-six-figure bonuses to basic longevity milestones—such as reaching 10, 40, or 60 games played—or team-oriented postseason success.
The upcoming free agent class has an extensive group of veteran forwards eligible for this structure, including Jamie Benn (DAL), Evgenii Dadonov (NJD), Nicolas Deslauriers (CAR), Lars Eller (OTT), Nick Foligno (MIN), Claude Giroux (OTT), Luke Glendening (PHI), Erik Haula (NSH), Adam Henrique (EDM), Marcus Johansson (MIN), Patrick Kane (DET), Anders Lee (NYI), Gustav Nyquist (WPG), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), David Perron (OTT), Corey Perry (TBL), Ryan Reaves (SJ), Reilly Smith (VGS), Jonathan Toews (WPG), Garrett Wilson (PHI), James van Riemsdyk (DET), and Mats Zuccarello (MIN).
The blue line also features a robust market of eligible 35+ defensemen who can weaponize these flexible agreements. This group includes Zach Bogosian (MIN), Brent Burns (COL), John Carlson (ANA), Ian Cole (UTA), Radko Gudas (ANA), Travis Hamonic (DET), Nick Jensen (OTT), Nick Leddy (SJ), Jeff Petry (MIN), Luke Schenn (BUF), and Brendan Smith (CBJ).
Contending teams could use performance bonuses to maximize rosters with high-profile franchise icons like Ovechkin, Benn, Giroux, and Kane eligible for a flexible, low-base-salary structure. However, general managers must be cautious. A player hitting a games-played milestone in late March could trigger a cap overage, restricting cap space at the trade deadline or forcing a painful penalty on the 2027-28 books.
Hurricanes Acquire Nicolas Deslauriers, Flyers Claim Luke Glendening
4:36 p.m.: If Deslauriers plays in half of Carolina’s 2026 playoff games and they win two playoff rounds, then the Flyers receive Carolina’s 2027 seventh-rounder. If those conditions aren’t met, the pick doesn’t transfer, per PuckPedia.
12:56 p.m.: The Hurricanes are acquiring winger Nicolas Deslauriers from the Flyers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. A conditional seventh-round pick in 2027 is headed the other way, per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. The Flyers have filled Deslauriers’ roster spot by claiming center Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils, per Friedman.
Deslauriers, now in his 13th NHL season, moves on from the Flyers amid his fourth season in Philly. While he used to have a small bit of goal-scoring upside in his game, the 35-year-old is now a pure enforcer at this stage of his career. He’s only managed 13 shots on goal this season in 25 games, recording one assist and a -3 rating.
The left winger has been in the press box more than he’s been in the lineup this season, checking in no higher than 13th on the Flyers’ forward depth chart. He’s yet to appear in more than three consecutive games. He certainly won’t see any more frequent ice time than that in Carolina, but he’ll slot in as a press-box piece and can step in as an enforcer when needed. The Flyers, who had minimal use for the pending UFA, will happily have a chance at recouping a draft pick.
It doesn’t look like they’ll be giving Deslauriers’ spot to a prospect, though. The 36-year-old will end up giving the Flyers some short-term center depth that they’ve needed in the wake of a right ankle fracture to Rodrigo Abols that’s kept him out since January, forcing natural winger Carl Grundström to slide over to the middle.
Glendening, once viewed as one of the better defensive pivots in the league, is still hanging onto an NHL job in his 13th season. He was a PTO signing by New Jersey late last summer and landed a league-minimum contract. He’s ended up serving as their fourth-line center for most of the year but has averaged a career-low 9:54 of ice time per night through 52 appearances. He’s yet to score a goal this season and has four assists with a -11 rating. Once a top faceoff specialist, he’s down to a more pedestrian 51.7% win rate on the dot this year.
New Jersey Devils Place Three On Waivers
According to a team announcement, the New Jersey Devils have placed Evgenii Dadonov, Luke Glendening, and Maxim Tsyplakov on waivers. If all three players clear, they would have added flexibility on the trade market by tomorrow afternoon, given they can be freely reassigned to the AHL by the acquiring club.
The placement of all three on waivers is the Devils’ way of trimming some fat off the roster ahead of the deadline. Dadonov and Glendening will become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, whereas Tsyplakov is signed through next year at a $2.25MM cap hit.
After some fruitful years with the Dallas Stars, Dadonov joined New Jersey on a one-year, $1MM contract last offseason. There are performance bonuses included in his contract that would bring the salary to $3.25MM, and he has a full no-trade clause through the end of the year. Despite being brought in to add additional firepower to the team’s bottom-six, Dadonov’s 2025-26 campaign has been completely derailed by injuries.
Scoring 35 goals and 78 points in 154 games with the Stars, Dadonov has yet to register his first point with the Devils. He’s had multiple stints on the injured reserve due to hand and wrist injuries, and he has registered only 17 appearances this year.
Meanwhile, Glendening likely has the least value of the trio. Earning a professional tryout agreement in September, Glendening officially joined New Jersey on a one-year, league minimum contract. Isolated to a fourth-line role, the 36-year-old center has tallied four assists in 52 games, averaging 9:54 of ice time. Still, he has immense value in the playoff dot, averaging a 55.6% success rate throughout his career while beginning 73.5% of his shifts in the defensive zone.
Lastly, Tsyplakov has only been a Devil for a little while. He was the only player acquired by New Jersey in last month’s trade, sending Ondřej Palát to the New York Islanders. During his brief tenure in New Jersey, Tsyplakov has yet to register a point in nine contests. Even if he does clear waivers, the Devils may be hard-pressed to find a landing spot for him, even at a lower cost.
Devils Sign Luke Glendening From PTO
10/7: One month later, the Devils have signed Glendening to a one-year, one-way, league-minimum contract per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now.
9/5: The New Jersey Devils have signed four veterans to professional try-out contracts. The list includes former Devil forward Kevin Rooney, longtime center Luke Glendening, minor-league goalie Adam Scheel, and Russian goalie Georgi Romanov. All four players will report to New Jersey’s training camp when it begins on September 17th.
Rooney will be the most familiar name to Devils fans. He began his pro career with the organization, signing with the Albany Devils as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Within three seasons, Rooney had worked his way up to a hardy, fourth-line role in the NHL. He quickly became known for making gritty and hard-earned plays, but never scored more than 10 points in a single season with the Devils. He moved to the New York Rangers for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, and has spent the last three seasons split between the Calgary Flames’ NHL and AHL rosters. Rooney has continued to offer a stout, depth role everywhere he goes – and will now return to New Jersey looking to earn a role at the age of 32. He has totaled 60 points in 330 NHL games.
Glendening will be another familiar name, if only for his longevity in the league. The now-36-year-old centerman also began his career as an undrafted free-agent, signing with the AHL’s Providence Bruins in 2012 after four seasons at the University of Michigan. Glendening returned to Michigan via a move to the Grand Rapids Griffins in his first full season in the AHL, and played a key, middle-six role during the club’s race to the 2013 Calder Cup. He moved to the NHL in the very next season, and has spent the last 12 years filling a confident, bottom-six role for multiple teams. His career spanned seven years with the Detroit Red Wings, before taking two-year pit stops with the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s proven consistent throughout, and boasts 166 points and 308 penalty minutes in 864 career games. With New Jersey already boasting a full lineup, Glendening could be set to compete with Rooney for the role of veteran depth-forward.
While Glendening and Rooney battle it out, so will depth goaltenders Scheel and Romanov. Scheel spent last season split between the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. He managed stout numbers in the higher league, recording a 10-2-2 record and .904 save percentage with the Eagles. But on a weak Utah lineup, Scheel fell to a 5-12-2 record and .884 save percentage. Also an undrafted free agent, he has totaled a .905 save percentage through 101 games, and five seasons, in the AHL. Romanov hasn’t been in North American pros for as long, but posted an encouraging .904 save percentage in 29 games of the 2023-24 season, and a .905 in 21 games last season. Those numbers were enough to earn him a handful of NHL games during the San Jose Sharks’ recent goalie drought. He recorded an 0-6-0 record and .888 save percentage in 10 games with the Sharks. Whoever wins the goalie battle at training camp will likely take on the role of third-string minor-leaguer behind Nico Daws and Jakub Malek.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.
East Notes: Glendening, Senators, Sabres, George
While Luke Glendening didn’t land on the season-opening roster for the Devils, that shouldn’t be interpreted as him not having made the team. Per team reporter Amanda Stein (Twitter link), head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that the veteran is expected to sign with the team before they depart on their season-opening road trip which begins Thursday in Carolina. New Jersey has set up their roster for an in-season LTIR placement which should come as soon as Tuesday, opening up the cap room at that time to sign Glendening. The 36-year-old had just seven points in 77 games with Tampa Bay last season but won 57% of his draws, making him a serviceable specialist on the fourth line.
Elsewhere in the East:
- While the Senators placed winger Drake Batherson and defenseman Tyler Kleven on injured reserve today, neither have been ruled out for Thursday’s season opener, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Their IR placements were back-dated to when they were injured in training camp, meaning they technically have already served the required seven days. Both players skated for about 45 minutes today but haven’t been cleared to return just yet.
- Sabres winger Zach Benson (undisclosed) and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) returned to practice today as they work their way back from their respective injuries. Neither has been ruled out of Thursday’s season opener. Meanwhile, winger Jordan Greenway (mid-body) and defenseman Owen Power (strain) skated on their own today. Unlike Benson and Samuelsson, they’re not on the active roster as they were among the long list of players that landed on injured reserve today. At this point, their availabilities for Thursday appear to be in question.
- Despite playing in 33 games with the Islanders last season, Isaiah George was sent to the minors today. Speaking with reporters (video link), GM Mathieu Darche indicated that the 21-year-old had a strong camp but the decision was made to prioritize playing time, something he’ll get a lot of with Bridgeport but wouldn’t have received in New York as the eighth defender on the depth chart.
Free Agent Profile: Luke Glendening
While a 36-year-old forward coming off a seven-point season may not seem like much of an asset, veteran center Luke Glendening could still bring meaningful value in the right situation. Glendening suited up in 77 games last season for the Tampa Bay Lightning, posting just four goals and three assists while centering the team’s fourth line.
Despite limited offensive production, he remained defensively reliable, tallying 105 hits, 58 blocked shots, and a 57 percent faceoff win rate — impressively in line with his 55.8 percent career average. It marked the eighth consecutive season that Glendening posted a faceoff win rate of at least 55 percent, which could be a valuable asset for any team looking to win key draws in the defensive zone.
While he’s never been an asset in the offensive zone (as told by his 166 points in 864 games), Glendening has carved out an impressive 12-year career thanks to his grit, physicality, and defensive prowess. Over the course of his career — which began in Detroit and includes stops in Dallas and Tampa — Glendening has logged 10 seasons with at least 100 hits and 11 seasons with 50 or more blocked shots. He has also received Selke votes on three separate occasions, a testament to his defensive reliability.
2024-25: 77 GP, 4 G, 3 A, 7 PTS, -9, 10 PIMS, 51 shots, 10:47 ATOI, 57.0 FO%, 38.3 CF%
Career: 864 GP, 83 G, 83 A, 166 PTS, -84, 308 PIMS, 944 shots, 13:37 ATOI, 55.8 FO%, 36.4 CF%
Potential Suitors
While many teams could benefit from a veteran fourth-line center with faceoff expertise, it appears Glendening’s most recent club isn’t one of them. Despite being a nightly fixture in the Lightning’s lineup, it was reported prior to the start of free agency that the Bolts were going to let Glendening hit the open market, where he remains today.
As mentioned earlier, Glendening could fit with a number of teams, whether it’s a contender in need of bottom-six experience or a rebuilding squad seeking veteran leadership and a few niche skills.
Projected Contract
At this stage of his career, any contract offer Glendening receives is likely to be a one-year deal in the $775,000 to $800,000 range. While his defensive reliability and faceoff expertise still offer value, his limited offensive upside and advancing age significantly narrow his market. Glendening may also have to settle for a PTO and attempt to earn a roster spot by outperforming younger competition in training camp.
Photo credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Lightning Share Plans, Expectations For Free Agency
The Tampa Bay Lightning are approaching July 1st with only three notable pending-free agents. That short list has made the summer easy to forecast for Bolts general manager Julien BriseBois, who broke down the team’s upcoming expectations to Diandra Loux of The Hockey News. He most notably shared that each of Cam Atkinson, Nicklaus Perbix, and Luke Glendening are expected to hit the open market on July 1st. All three players are set to become unrestricted free agents.
The season-long impact of the three names varied quite widely. Perbix served as a bottom-pair defender for 74 games of the regular season. He recorded a meager 19 points, 20 penalty minutes, and plus-eight while averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time each game. Glendening was also a nightly fixture of the Bolts lineup, stepping into 77 games as the team’s fourth-line centerman. He managed just seven points and a minus-nine on the year, but did offer a staggering 57 percent faceoff win-rate and 105 hits on the full year. Those marks were strong enough to hold down a role in Tampa Bay’s bottom-end – a sentiment that can’t be shared by 36-year-old winger Atkinson. Despite over-800 career games in the NHL, Atkinson found himself facing routine healthy scratches and assignments to the minor-leagues in the season’s second-half. He finished the year with just nine points and a minus-four in 39 NHL games.
Perbix should command a reasonable market in free agency. He’s far from the most explosive defender, but has rivaled 20 points and a positive plus-minus in each of his first three seasons in the NHL. He is only 26 years old, and could offer a new club with the prime years of his career on a new deal. While he negotiates that contract, Glendening and Atkinson will grapple with the thought of retirement. Both players turned 36 after the end of the season, and are now faced with the task of convincing a team they’re still worth depth money. Glendening could win that argument on the back of his continued faceoff wins, and physical role, but it could be an uphill battle for the undersized Atkinson. Atkinson has appeared in 13 seasons and 809 NHL Games, while Glendening has appeared in 12 seasons and 864 games.
BriseBois also shared that the team isn’t expecting to make much of a splash when the market opens up. He told Loux that they underwent a massive change last summer – swapping franchise icon Steven Stamkos for Jake Guentzel through a series of moves. The GM emphasized that teams can’t go through changes of that scale each season, which could lead to a “quiet” summer. Tampa Bay will enter July 1st with just $3.48MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia. Without a cap-clearing move, it’s unlikely that budget is enough to swing much more than a depth contract before Tampa Bay begins thinking about a cap cushion for next season.
But while they won’t be too active on the open market, BriseBois continued by directly sharing that the Bolts do plan to re-sign defenseman Ryan McDonagh when he hits free agency in 2026. McDonagh has played through six seasons and 349 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, as part of a career that’s spanned 15 seasons and 1,010 games. He posted an impressive 31 points, 22 penalty minutes, and league-high plus-43 while appearing in all 82 games of the 2024-25 season. It was yet another strong year for the iron-man McDonagh – who has posted at least 25 points and a high plus-minus through three of the last four seasons. McDonagh also recently turned 36 years old, but has so far shown no signs of slowing down. He averaged 19 minutes of ice time and scored three points through five postseason games. So long as he stays on course, it seems the Lightning are prepared to re-up McDonagh on a manageable and short-term deal at age-37 next summer.
Tampa Bay is set for a summer of budgeting and tough exits – but they’re changes the team should be able to turnover with a growing emergence of young prospects. Development camp could be the most notable piece of Tampa Bay’s season, as they look to maintain a roster that achieved the third-best record in the Eastern Conference last season.