Free Agent Focus: Seattle Kraken
Free agency is less than 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 have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Kraken.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Kaapo Kakko – After joining the Kraken in a mid-season trade from the New York Rangers, Kakko seems to have found his stride in Seattle. While he recorded just 14 points in 30 games with the Rangers, he flourished in 40 games with the Kraken, scoring 10 goals and totaling 30 points. That level of production over 82 games would equate to a 50-point season. Given that the former second-overall pick is still just 24 years old, he may be finally finding his footing in the league. A continued partnership appears to make good sense for both parties.
F Tye Kartye – If the Kraken and new head coach Lane Lambert prioritize bottom-six forwards with a physical presence, bringing Kartye back into the fold would be a logical move. While the forward saw his offensive numbers slightly dip from his rookie campaign, Kartye finished second on the team with 175 hits despite skating in just 63 games. The 24-year-old put up 11 goals and 20 points during the 2023-24 season, showcasing some offensive upside.
D Ryker Evans – While there weren’t many positives for the Kraken during the 2024-25 season, the emergence of Evans as a bona fide NHLer was one of them. Frequently paired with veteran Brandon Montour, Evans posted solid numbers in his first full NHL season, registering 25 points, 123 hits, and 106 blocked shots. His hit total ranked first among the team’s defensemen and third overall, while his blocked shots also finished third. A long-term deal could pair Evans and Montour for years to come.
Other RFAs: D Cale Fleury, D Peetro Seppala
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Michael Eyssimont – Acquired by the Kraken as a part of the Yanni Gourde trade, Eyssimont made a moderate impact in Seattle. In 20 games, he contributed four goals and six points while averaging 10:26 of ice time per game. Eyssimont, 28, has skated in over 200 NHL games and will provide whichever team he lands with a reliable bottom-six depth piece. However, he was simply a secondary addition to the first-round picks Seattle received the Gourde deal. A veteran of four NHL seasons, Eyssimont has already played for four different franchises and could add a fifth when free agency begins. He represents the team’s only non-roster player set for unrestricted free agency.
Other UFAs: F Brandon Biro, F Luke Henman (Group6), D Gustav Olofsson, D Maxime Lajoie, D Nikolas Brouillard, G Ales Stezka
Projected Cap Space
With minimal players set to hit free agency, the Kraken, president of hockey ops Ron Francis and GM Jason Botterill find themselves with plenty of spending room. According to PuckPedia, Seattle has nearly $20MM in cap space. While some of that will likely go towards retaining restricted free agents like Kakko and Evans, Botterill and company should still have plenty of wiggle room to make a splash in free agency if they choose to do so. Now that the team has finalized its coaching staff, they can turn their attention to the future of the roster. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently said on his 32 Thoughts podcast that he feels the Kraken could play a factor in outbidding other teams for restricted free agents.
“I think Seattle is really eager to take a step this year. They have a lot of cap room, a lot of draft picks, and a lot of flexibility. I don’t know how Jason Botterill or Ron Francis feel about offer sheets, but it was pointed out to me that Seattle has the flexibility to go down that route if they wanted to. So, that’s another team people should be watching,” he said.
Free Agent Focus: San Jose Sharks
Free agency is now two weeks 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 Sharks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Nikolai Kovalenko – Kovalenko split a rocky rookie season between the Avalanche and the Sharks. San Jose acquired him in December in the Mackenzie Blackwood trade. The Colorado 2018 sixth-rounder had been an increasingly highly-touted prospect in recent years amid an emergence as a top-line winger in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, and he was even thrust into NHL minutes with the Avs in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, he only had eight points in 28 games with Colorado before the trade, making him expendable for a win-now team. The 25-year-old fared better with the Sharks, putting up a 3-9–12 scoring line in 29 contests, but only averaged 12:40 per game – not as much playing time as he hoped nor expected on a team with as thin of a forward group as San Jose was dealing with this year. That led to reports shortly after the season ended that he was eyeing a KHL return. He hasn’t signed there yet, though, indicating he remains open to returning to the Sharks. Considering his backup options overseas, Kovalenko will likely be San Jose’s most well-compensated RFA if he stays with them despite only 57 games of NHL experience, potentially a two-year deal around $2MM per season.
D Jack Thompson – A 2020 third-round pick by the Lightning, Thompson made his NHL debut with Tampa Bay one season ago before being sent to the Sharks as the principal piece of the deal that sent Anthony Duclair to the Bolts as a deadline rental. The puck-moving righty has bounced between the Sharks and the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda ever since, but has looked good in the NHL minutes he’s received. While he only averaged 15:47 of ice time per game in his 31 NHL appearances in 2024-25, he managed a 4-6–10 scoring line with a respectable minus-nine rating on a club with a -105 goal differential. His possession impacts in limited even-strength deployment, a -0.5 relative CF% and a 50.4 xGF%, were impressive. He got a handful of power-play reps, too. The 23-year-old also posted a 3-11–14 line in 27 minor-league games. He won’t necessarily command a seven-figure cap hit on a deal for 2025-26 since he’s not quite established as a full-timer, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him land it anyway if the Sharks have him penciled into their opening-night lineup.
F Noah Gregor – Gregor returned for his second stint in the Bay Area as a result of the deadline deal that sent Fabian Zetterlund to the Senators. A fourth-round pick of the club back in 2016, the speedy depth forward hasn’t found the 10-goal/20-point production he had his first time around in San Jose. He totaled a 4-3–7 scoring line in 52 games on the year and only had one assist in 12 games with the Sharks after the move. He’s a potential non-tender candidate as they look to create flexibility for names like Thomas Bordeleau and Daniil Gushchin to compete for NHL jobs in training camp while leaving the door open for potential free-agent signings and potentially making a spot for a forward they select No. 2 overall in this year’s draft.
F Klim Kostin – Put Kostin in the potential non-tender camp as well. The 2017 first-rounder looked like he was finally getting his feet under him in San Jose last year after they acquired him from the Red Wings at the trade deadline, finishing 2023-24 with 10 points in 19 games while climbing his way into top-nine minutes. The Russian grinder didn’t receive that kind of deployment from the get-go this year, though, and spent much of the year injured or in the press box. He was limited to seven points in 35 games as a result. Now 26, the Sharks will look to replace his role with either a more established NHL option or a younger winger with more upside.
Other RFAs: F Carl Berglund, F Thomas Bordeleau, F Nolan Burke, F Brandon Coe, F Daniil Gushchin, F Mitchell Russell, G Gabriel Carriere, G Georgi Romanov
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
G Alexandar Georgiev – The Sharks already have clarity in the net next season. Top prospect Yaroslav Askarov is expected to take the reins as their starter or at least a 1A option in a tandem with a free-agent or trade acquisition. It won’t be Georgiev in the No. 2/1B role, though. The Sharks told him at the end of the regular season that they wouldn’t be offering him a new contract. Included for salary-matching/roster management purposes in the Blackwood deal, Georgiev logged a highly underwhelming .875 SV% and 3.88 GAA in 31 appearances with San Jose after the trade – “good” for -17.9 goals saved above expected on the season, including his time in Colorado, per MoneyPuck. A thin goalie market and his top-10 finish in Vezina Trophy voting two years ago could mean he gets an NHL opportunity elsewhere, but the 29-year-old Bulgarian native won’t be back in San Jose.
D Jan Rutta – The 34-year-old righty was brought in simply to serve as an NHL-experienced body on a paper-thin blue line when San Jose acquired him from the Penguins in 2023’s three-team Erik Karlsson trade. He’s historically been an above-average third-pairing option and has done well in sheltered top-four minutes as a grounding piece for a high-end partner. Neither of those situations met him in San Jose, where he had to serve as a top-four defender out of necessity. He averaged 18:38 per game over his two seasons with the Sharks and posted 28 points with a -24 rating in 123 games. The shutdown defender could still have a fit in San Jose, considering their lack of organizational depth on the right side, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him pursue a more conservative role on a more competitive team in free agency.
Other UFAs: F Walker Duehr, F Pavol Regenda (Group VI), F Scott Sabourin, F Colin White, D Jimmy Schuldt
Projected Cap Space
This number still doesn’t mean a whole lot to the Sharks, who will have a ton of players on entry-level deals and aren’t expected to be huge players in free agency as they proceed past the nexus of their rebuild. They’ll still look to add some supporting cast pieces to the roster, though, and will have plenty of room to do so in addition to re-upping any free agents they choose. Their $41.76MM in flexibility is the most in the league, per PuckPedia.
Photo courtesy of Stan Szeto-Imagn Images (Kovalenko) and D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images (Georgiev).
Is This The Year The Ducks Finally Trade John Gibson?
For Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson, the trade rumors have persisted for years as the team has undergone a deep rebuild. Gibson was once among the NHL’s elite netminders but hasn’t been part of the upper echelon of goaltenders for the past half-decade despite being compensated like one. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native has two years left on his contract with a $6.4MM cap hit, which has long been an obstacle to finding Gibson a new home. Gibson’s name was brought up frequently before the trade deadline, but a weak market for the 31-year-old forced the Ducks to retain him, which begs the question: Will the Ducks trade Gibson this summer?
Anaheim has been out of the playoff picture since 2018 and has experienced a slow turnaround in its rebuild, which appears to be stuck. Gibson played well for the Ducks through some of the early years of the rebuild, which did little to help a team that just wasn’t very good. In recent years, Anaheim has been waiting for a second wave of its prospects to take the next step; however, that just hasn’t been the case, and general manager Pat Verbeek has started to make moves to insulate the younger players with veteran experience. Verbeek added defenseman Jacob Trouba last season and recently added forward Chris Kreider, who should provide veteran leadership to some of the younger Ducks.
These moves, coupled with Anaheim hoping to contend for a playoff spot, would lead one to believe that the Ducks keep Gibson in hopes he can turn back the clock to help the team reach the postseason once again after a seven-year absence. He was the better of their two goaltenders last season (albeit in limited action) and could be an essential piece for the team if they want to make some noise in the Western Conference.
Anaheim has what many believe is the heir apparent to Gibson in netminder Lukas Dostal, who is an RFA this summer and will be looking for a sizable raise on the $812.5K he made last season. Dostal certainly has a lot of upside and was good this season behind a weak Ducks team, registering a 14.3 goals saved above expected (as per Money Puck) and a 23-23-7 record. The issue with Dostal is that he hasn’t played meaningful hockey in the NHL, and there is no certainty he could hold up to the scrutiny if the Ducks find themselves in the hunt for a playoff spot late in the season. Gibson hasn’t played meaningful hockey in nearly a decade, but he has played some big games early in his career. If Anaheim opted to hang onto Gibson, they could let him play out his contract over the next two years before making a long-term decision on Dostal and whether he is the franchise’s goaltender of the future. Anaheim still has plenty of cap space with over $32MM available (as per Puck Pedia) and doesn’t have a financial reason to move him at this time. This could also afford them the ability to wait teams out and hope that someone panics and forces a trade that meets Anaheim’s asking price.
One other caveat with Gibson is that he has some trade protection in the form of a 10-team no-trade list, and he has some say over where he goes. Gibson has reportedly been willing to waive his no-trade in the past for specific teams, so it’s not likely to be a major hindrance, but it could come up if one of the teams interested in his services is on that no-trade list.
On the flip side of the coin, the goaltending market this summer is weak; there are no starters available in free agency and the netminders available on the trade market come with massive warts in their game and, in some cases (Philipp Grubauer), they might not even be NHL goaltenders anymore. Anaheim could likely place Gibson on the trade block, and he would instantly jump to the top of the list of available goaltenders, which could allow Anaheim to address other deficiencies in their roster while shedding Gibson’s cap hit.
Gibson has been linked in the past to the Carolina Hurricanes on several occasions, and they would hardly be the only suitor if Anaheim is serious about moving him. The Edmonton Oilers have also been rumored to have interest, and given the way goaltending has failed them in the two previous postseasons, it’s easy to understand why.
There would be no shortage of suitors given the state of the goaltending in Buffalo, Philadelphia, Columbus and Detroit, and there are not many options unless teams want to take a gamble on Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry, who is a two-time all-star but hasn’t looked like one in quite some time. Gibson comes with his question marks, but as far as goaltenders with a track record, he is the best option, even if that track record came in the last decade.
Anaheim has also faced this distraction within the team since entering a rebuild around 2020, and Gibson began voicing his frustrations with the loss shortly thereafter. He continued to voice his displeasure the following season as the team’s struggles continued, and eventually his play began to drop off behind a weak defence. The fact that Gibson’s disillusionment goes back nearly half a decade, it’s fair to wonder if the Ducks would like to put a bad situation behind them, with the return in a trade being a secondary concern.
Lastly, Gibson was excellent in 29 games last season, and given the way the previous five years have gone as a whole, he might not ever post those types of numbers again. Gibson registered 15.3 goals saved above expected last season and won’t likely replicate that number again in Anaheim. This type of play is what has opened the door to potentially moving Gibson, and the time to sell might never be better for the Ducks and for Gibson, who would most certainly benefit from a fresh start in a new city.
Photo by Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins
Free agency is now barely two weeks 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 Penguins.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Connor Dewar – Acquired at the trade deadline from Toronto, the change of scenery worked out rather well for Dewar as he had seven points in 17 games down the stretch while seeing his playing time jump up by more than four minutes a game. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he finished the year with just 10 points in 48 outings. The contract he was on was structured to allow for a lower qualifying offer ($819K) than his AAV ($1.18MM) but arbitration rights loom large as he has 238 career NHL appearances. If the two sides can agree on a deal before the tender deadline that’s around what he made this season, that would be ideal but if it gets to the point of requiring the qualifying offer, it would be surprising to see it issued, which would allow Pittsburgh to avoid arbitration.
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Non-tendered by the Penguins to avoid the risk of an arbitration hearing last summer, Joseph made his way to St. Louis where he struggled, resulting in Pittsburgh bringing him back midseason for extra depth. He got a few more minutes per game with the Pens but remained more of a depth piece than a full-time regular. The same issue exists now as it did a summer ago. He’s owed a $997.5K qualifying offer but with arbitration eligibility, he’s a non-tender candidate if something can’t be worked out before then.
D Conor Timmins – Also brought in from Toronto at the deadline, Timmins was more impactful down the stretch than he had been the rest of the year, also picking up seven points in 17 games while averaging a little under 19 minutes per night of ice time. Like Dewar and Joseph, Timmins is arbitration-eligible as well but this was the only NHL season where he played in at least 35 games; the track record isn’t as much. Accordingly, the risk of a qualifying offer isn’t as significant. A one-year deal could earn him a raise closer to the $1.75MM mark but walk him right to UFA eligibility. Accordingly, a two-year pact might be more desirable for GM Kyle Dubas in which case the offer could land closer to the $2MM range.
F Philip Tomasino – After playing time with Nashville was hard to come by, Pittsburgh acquired the 2019 first-round pick in late November and he largely played a regular role down the stretch. While he wasn’t able to replicate his rookie-season numbers, he still managed 11 goals and 12 assists in 50 games in a little over 13 minutes a night with no power play time. That’s worthy of a longer look. The 23-year-old is owed a qualifying offer of just over $866K and, like everyone else on this list so far, is arbitration-eligible. A one-year deal that allows both sides more time to evaluate could make sense here with a price tag landing around the $1.5MM mark, a two-year pact would push the AAV closer to the $2MM range.
Other RFAs: F Raivis Ansons, F Emil Bemstrom, G Taylor Gauthier, F Filip Lindberg (signed in Finland), F Vasiliy Ponomarev (signed in KHL)
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Matt Grzelcyk – The decision to take a one-year deal with Pittsburgh last summer in the hopes of rebuilding some value seems to have worked out quite well for Grzelcyk. After a slow start, he found his footing and set new career-highs in assists (39) and points (40), making him the top point-getter among pending UFA blueliners. Of course, it also needs to be noted that he’s one of the smaller defensemen in the NHL and that almost certainly will affect his market. Nonetheless, after settling for $2.75MM last summer, he has a good chance of beating that while getting the multi-year deal that eluded him a year ago. He had a cap hit of just under $3.7MM on his last deal with Boston and with the expectations of some higher prices on the open market this year, Grzelcyk should be able to set a new personal best on that front next month.
F Joona Koppanen – The term ‘key’ here might be a little misleading but Koppanen is just one of three of their pending UFAs to play at least 10 NHL games this season so that lands him a spot here. He averaged a little under four hits per game in his limited action in 2024-25 and at 6’5, he has the size that some teams may covet for a depth spot in the lineup. A one-way deal might be hard to come by but the 27-year-old should have several suitors for a two-way pact on the open market.
F Matthew Nieto – Once a valued bottom-six forward, injuries have really derailed Nieto over the past two seasons as he has played in just 54 games combined, managing just seven points. A veteran of over 700 career appearances at the top level, he may be in tough to add to that by any significant amount next season. At this point, he looks more like a training camp PTO candidate than someone likely to get a guaranteed deal over the next few months.
Other UFAs: D Nathan Clurman, D Mac Hollowell (signed in KHL), D Filip Kral (signed in Czechia), F Jimmy Huntington, F Marc Johnstone, F Mathias Laferriere, D Colton Poolman
Projected Cap Space
Pittsburgh has the type of salary cap flexibility that they simply haven’t had in quite some time with over $23MM in room heading into the summer. That number shouldn’t be reduced by too much from re-signing their pending RFAs either. Normally, this would seemingly position the Penguins to be active in free agency. But Dubas has stated that he won’t be too active on that front while the hiring of Dan Muse as their head coach suggests they’re heading into more of a rebuild. With that in mind, they might not be spending that money early this summer and it would be surprising to see them anywhere near the $95.5MM Upper Limit at the start of 2025-26.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images (both players). Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.
Offseason Checklist: Washington Capitals
The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming weeks with free agency fast approaching. Next up is a look at Washington.
Last summer was an eventful one for the Capitals. After a quick playoff exit, GM Chris Patrick made several moves to add to his core group. They turned out to be some strong trades as Washington went from barely making the playoffs the year before to having the best record in the Eastern Conference before falling to Carolina in the second round. It’s expected that this offseason will be much quieter for the Caps with their checklist primarily looking at tweaks to their group over another overhaul.
Add High-Skill Player
This was one of the goals that Patrick identified last month in his end-of-season press conference. On the surface, that might seem a little strange for a team that finished second in the league in scoring but when you dig a little deeper, it does make sense.
Of their top six scorers from this season, five of them set new career highs in points: Dylan Strome (82), Aliaksei Protas (66), Pierre-Luc Dubois (66), Tom Wilson (65), and Connor McMichael (57). That’s a great spot to be in but it would also be unrealistic to expect that to happen again in 2025-26. Their team shooting percentage was also tops in the league at 12.6%, well above the league average of 10.7%. That number could very well come down as well after being just 9.9% in 2023-24.
There’s also the matter of Alex Ovechkin being in the final year of his contract. He had a big season to get the all-time NHL goal record but he’ll turn 40 in training camp; his best days are behind him. That’s going to be a big opening to try to fill next summer.
So, why not try to fill it now and get the best of both worlds next season? Washington has a little under $9.4MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia, with only a couple of spots to try to fill. With a bit of roster tinkering (more on that shortly), they could have enough to take aim at one of the better forwards in this year’s free agent class. Patrick wouldn’t rule out a “big hack” this summer and it’s more plausible than it might have initially seemed.
Clear A Contract
Let’s take a look at that roster tinkering as there are two players that stand out as superfluous when it comes to their roster composition. Moving out one or both of those would certainly allow Patrick more wiggle room to either take that big hack to add up front or make multiple secondary core additions this summer.
The first is defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. More of a depth defender earlier in his career, he has found a home with the Capitals on their third pairing and at $3MM, his price tag isn’t particularly onerous. However, he’s number three on the right side of the back end and was sixth in ATOI among Capitals defenders this season at 17:40. It’s a nice luxury to have but is $3MM too much for a sixth defender when you’re already spending nearly $34MM on the back end? (That number may yet go up with Alexander Alexeyev being a pending restricted free agent.) Would they be better off spending less on that position and reallocating some money up front? Plus, Ryan Chesley, one of their better prospects, is now signed and could very well play his way into the mix on the right side of the back end as well. Since it’s an expiring contract, Washington has a chance to get good value for van Riemdsyk if they were to move him.
The other contract is one that will be trickier to move, winger Sonny Milano. He was a frequent healthy scratch early on and then suffered an upper-body injury that kept him out for the rest of the season after suffering a setback in his recovery closer to the trade deadline. His availability to start 2025-26 remains uncertain. At a $1.9MM price tag, Washington could simply elevate Ethen Frank to a full-time role and use some of the savings on a more prominent player and the rest on a cheaper depth piece. If he’s out to start the season, he could be an LTIR candidate but that would only be a short-term solution while waiving him when he’s healthy would shave $1.15MM off the books but not the full amount. This isn’t overly pressing but getting Milano off the books altogether would help them.
Add Third-Line Help
This was the other item that Patrick mentioned at the end of the season about trying to find. In the final game of their playoff run, that trio consisted of McMichael, Ryan Leonard, and Andrew Mangiapane. McMichael and Leonard are both signed for next season already while Mangiapane is set to become an unrestricted free agent so it’s clear which spot he’s looking to fill.
There are a few different ways to fill the spot and it depends on what their plan is for McMichael. A natural center, he spent most of the year on the wing. What their plan is for him will dictate the position they try to fill, presumably on the open market. While Nic Dowd is capable of moving up and anchoring that trio with McMichael on the wing, it’s fair to suggest that Washington’s preference would be to keep him on the fourth line where he has had plenty of success in that role.
While the UFA market will have high demand for the top centers, there are enough middlemen available to play a bottom-six role that should keep the costs relatively reasonable. At that spot, players like Christian Dvorak, Luke Kunin, Sean Kuraly, and Trent Frederic would make sense. Meanwhile, wingers like Brandon Saad, Brandon Tanev, Eric Robinson, and Joel Armia could all fit. Anthony Beauvillier, their trade deadline acquisition, could also fit. The upper end of the price range for this group should be somewhere around $3MM while others might check in closer to $2MM. Depending on how much they want to spend on the top-six addition, Patrick should have plenty of options to fill this one if he wants to go that route to do so.
Get Younger
In recent years, the Capitals have been one of the older teams in the NHL. With a veteran core that included Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie up front with John Carlson on the back end, that’s not much of a surprise. They were the second-oldest team in the league in terms of average age in 2023-24 but that dropped to 11th this season. There’s room for that to go down a little more next season.
Leonard should be around for the full season after turning pro in April. Hendrix Lapierre, a pending restricted free agent, is waiver-eligible now and given his first-round draft pedigree and a point-per-game showing in 32 games with Hershey this year, it’s safe to say he won’t get through waivers so he’ll either make the team or be traded. The former is much more likely than the latter.
Meanwhile, Ivan Miroshnichenko has seen NHL action in each of his first two seasons in North America and probably isn’t too far away from being ready for a longer-term look. Andrew Cristall has lit up the WHL in scoring the last two years and made a real run at a roster spot back in training camp. And, as noted earlier, Chesley probably isn’t going to need much time in Hershey before he’s pushing for a spot on the back end.
Patrick noted a desire to try to get his team a little younger and he’ll have a chance to do so. If he keeps a couple of spots available for youngsters or even that opening on the third line (with McMichael moving back to center), it’s quite possible that the Caps could get themselves around the middle of the pack in average age. Considering where they were just a couple of years ago, that would be an impressive turnaround while still keeping the core of a division-winning group intact.
Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports.
Free Agent Focus: Philadelphia Flyers
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 Flyers.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Cameron York – Outside of Travis Sanheim and 2023 first-round pick Oliver Bonk, there’s a dearth of high-end defensemen in the Flyers’ system. The 24-year-old York, while flawed, plays a vital role in helping Philly out of the doldrums. The 2019 first-rounder is coming off a two-year, $3.2MM bridge deal and doesn’t have an intriguing platform year to hang his hat on in negotiations. He posted 17 points in 66 appearances after notching a career-high 30 in all 82 games last year. He also saw his average time on ice drop from 22:37 to 20:47. His possession impacts waned as well, but that’s to be expected when his offensive zone start percentage at even strength went from 53.0% in 2023-24 to just 44.5% in 2024-25. A reported verbal spat with head coach John Tortorella near the end of the season also played a role in the latter’s firing, and the former was benched for an entire game despite being dressed as a result. There’s still a long-term belief in York’s ceiling from the organization’s viewpoint, though, and they’ve examined a long-term deal in talks over the past few weeks. An established second-pairing puck mover at his worst will likely take well north of $5MM per season to accept a lengthier commitment.
F Jakob Pelletier – Philadelphia acquired Pelletier, a 2019 first-rounder alongside York, from the Flames in the deal that sent Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to Calgary. While he’s been an exceptional minor-league producer since turning pro four years ago, he’s yet to sniff an offensive breakthrough in the NHL. That didn’t change after the trade. Pelletier, who had been on his best NHL scoring pace so far with 11 points in 24 games with Calgary at the time of the move, only logged a 3-5–8 scoring line in 25 games with the Flyers down the stretch in fourth-line minutes. Two of his three goals came in the season’s final five games. He’ll likely get the first crack at a top-nine spot if the Flyers don’t land an external free agent for that role, but it still looks like an uphill battle to earn effective NHL minutes for the 5’9″ winger with defensive acumen. While he’ll likely spurn his qualifying offer in hopes of a one-way deal, his cap hit on a one or two-year prove-it deal shouldn’t cost much more than the $840K NHL salary he’d receive on his QO.
Other RFAs: F Elliot Desnoyers, F Zayde Wisdom
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Olle Lycksell – The Flyers don’t have any expected NHL contributors set to hit the open market this summer. Lycksell would have the best chance of the bunch if he opts to continue pursuing playing time in North America, but the 25-year-old is a pending Group VI unrestricted free agent. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him return to his native Sweden or elsewhere in Europe after never landing extended NHL minutes in his three years stateside with the Flyers. A 2017 sixth-round pick, Lycksell has been an exceptional producer with AHL Lehigh Valley during that time, but has just one goal and 10 assists in 45 career NHL appearances, including a career-high 19 this past season. He’s cleared waivers multiple times but could still garner NHL offers on the back of consecutive AHL campaigns over a point per game.
G Calvin Petersen – Petersen was a cap-dump pickup by the Flyers in the three-team trade with the Blue Jackets and Kings that sent defenseman Ivan Provorov to Columbus in 2023. Once posited as a potential goalie of the future in Los Angeles, he’s made just 15 NHL appearances with a garish .866 SV%, 3.80 GAA, and -14.6 GSAA since his three-year, $15MM extension went into effect in the 2022-23 season. He only made five NHL appearances for Philly, all in 2023-24. The 30-year-old hasn’t been impressive in minor-league action, either, particularly this past season. He made 31 appearances for Lehigh Valley and logged a 3.14 GAA, .885 SV%, and a 13-15-3 record. Not only is a return to the Flyers overwhelmingly unlikely, it doesn’t look like he’ll be getting an NHL contract anywhere this summer. The most notable aspect of his pending free agency is the $3.85MM cap hit Petersen carried while buried in the minors coming off the Flyers’ books.
F Givani Smith – While the 27-year-old enforcer has 168 games of NHL experience, none of them have been in a Flyers uniform. He was acquired in a deadline swap with the Avalanche for defenseman Erik Johnson. He was on an AHL assignment at the time and remained there for the rest of 2024-25 after the trade, scoring two points with nine penalty minutes in 10 games for Lehigh Valley. The Flyers were the fifth team to have Smith under contract over the last three seasons, joining the Red Wings, Panthers, Sharks, and Avs. He’s never logged more than seven points or 46 games in an NHL season, and he’s unlikely to eclipse those numbers again. He could be back with Philly on a two-way deal to serve as a veteran presence for the AHL squad but likely won’t get more of a role than that elsewhere.
Other UFAs: F Rhett Gardner, D Louis Belpedio, D Ben Gleason, G Eetu Mäkiniemi
Projected Cap Space
As evidenced by the lack of truly notable names in this article, the Flyers got most of their offseason business out of the way early with extensions for pending RFAs Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster. As a result, they have plenty of spending flexibility this summer with $18.99MM in cap space and only four roster spots to fill. A long-term extension for York still leaves them with around $13MM to spend on three players in an absolute worst-case scenario. They’ll be able to retain who they please while pursuing another impact defenseman, some forward depth, and even a goaltending upgrade if they can swing one without having to worry about financial constraints too much.
Images courtesy of Eric Hartline-Imagn Images (York) and Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images (Lycksell). Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.
Free Agent Focus: Ottawa Senators
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 Senators.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Fabian Zetterlund – The 25-year-old Swedish winger is coming off his second consecutive season with over 40 points, but managed just five points in 20 games with the Senators after being acquired from the Sharks. He added zero points in the team’s first-round matchup against the Maple Leafs. Zetterlund, however, does provide more than just an offensive element, and established career highs in hits (154) and blocked shots (81) during the 2024-25 season. Originally a third-round pick by the New Jersey Devils in the 2017 draft, Zetterlund has 20-goal potential that could draw interest from other teams. That, coupled with his offensive struggles with the Senators, might push him down Ottawa’s list of priorities this offseason.
D Donovan Sebrango – Sebrango made his NHL debut last season but appeared in just two games. The 23-year-old, who was selected in the third round (63rd overall) by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2020 NHL draft, has shown flashes of offensive upside at the AHL level, recording 20 points in 50 games last season with the Belleville Senators. At 6’2, 220, he also possesses the physical traits that can make him a solid two-way player. Although the Senators have seven defensemen under contract for next season, bringing Sebrango back to provide organizational depth could be a sensible move.
G Leevi Merilainen – At just 22 years old, Merilainen may have done enough last season to earn a shot at the team’s backup role. While Linus Ullmark has a firm hold on the starting job for the foreseeable future, Merilainen made a strong impression during his first taste of NHL action, signaling a potential breakthrough. The team’s third-round selection in 2020, Merilainen posted an 8-3-1 record for the Senators this past season, with a .925 save percentage and 1.99 GAA. He added three shutouts, meaning he stopped every shot he faced in 25 percent of his starts. With Anton Forsberg set to hit free agency, the door is open for a Merilainen-Ullmark tandem in goal. The question now is what kind of raise Merilainen will command on his next deal.
Other RFAs: F Vitaly Abramov, F Alex Formenton, F Jan Jenik, F Jamieson Rees, F Tristen Robins, F Philippe Daoust, F Xavier Bourgault, D Lassi Thomson, D Maxence Guenette
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Claude Giroux – At 37 years old, Giroux is still getting it done. While his production has dipped over the last few seasons, Giroux still put up 50 points in 2024-25 and added five points in six playoff contests. His veteran experience and steady production are clearly valued by the Senators, as the two sides have reportedly been in contract negotiations for several weeks. Giroux recently completed a three-year, $19.5MM contract he signed with the Senators in which he has scored 71 goals and 193 points in 245 games. After spending 15 years with the Flyers, Giroux has found a new home in Ottawa, and it appears that partnership is poised to continue. The remaining questions are how long the new deal will be and what the annual cap hit will look like.
F Adam Gaudette – In his second stint with Ottawa, Gaudette enjoyed a breakout campaign, posting a career-high 19 goals over 81 games. Despite averaging just 10:25 of ice time per night, he came close to hitting the 20-goal mark and chipped in with a goal and two assists during the playoffs. While his career-best season will undoubtedly earn him a raise on the open market — even if it was boosted by an unsustainably high 21 percent shooting percentage — Gaudette may prefer to remain in Ottawa, where head coach Travis Green’s system clearly suits his style of play.
D Travis Hamonic – A veteran of 900 NHL games, Hamonic is coming off of a disappointing season where he posted just seven points and a minus-16 rating in 59 games. Hamonic battled a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for multiple weeks, and he also struggled in the playoffs, recording zero points and a minus-4 rating in five games. In his prime, Hamonic routinely skated 20-plus minutes a night and provided stout two-way play. Now, he’s coming off two injury-shortened seasons and has struggled to make an impact when in the lineup, posting a minus-26 rating over that span. A change of scenery will probably serve both parties well.
G Anton Forsberg – In his fifth season with Ottawa, Forsberg posted solid numbers and reestablished himself as a reliable backup after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign. In 30 appearances on the year, Forsberg posted a 11-12-3 record to go along with a .901 save percentage and 2.72 GAA. His production was in line with his career averages, and his three shutouts marked a new personal best. However, the organization may have to put Forsberg’s potential return to Ottawa in question, as Merilainen’s youth and upside will likely take precedence. If Forsberg hits the open market, he’ll likely have no trouble finding a new home, as many teams would welcome a reliable veteran presence between the pipes.
Other UFAs: F Nick Cousins, F Matthew Highmore, F Hayden Hodgson, D Dennis Gilbert, F Angus Crookshank (Group6), F Cole Reinhardt (Group6), F Wyatt Bongiovanni (Group6), D Jeremy Davies, D Filip Roos (Group6)
Projected Cap Space
The Senators will enter free agency with just north of $15MM with a projected cap space, per PuckPedia. It’s a solid amount to work with on the surface, but if deals with Giroux and the team’s restricted free agents come together, they will take up a significant portion of that cap space, which could limit Ottawa’s ability to pursue some of the bigger names on the open market.
Offseason Checklist: Vegas Golden Knights
The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming weeks with free agency fast approaching. Next up is a look at Vegas.
After being a Wild Card team last season, the Golden Knights won the Pacific Division this year and made it a round further in the playoffs before being ousted by Edmonton in the second round. While it’s a step in the right direction, GM Kelly McCrimmon will still have some work to do this summer to tweak his group and set them up for the future.
Open Up Cap Space
On the surface, $9.6MM in cap space (per PuckPedia) isn’t too bad. Frankly, it’s more than they’ve had in past years in late spring. But that also comes with several key veterans getting set to hit the open market next month, including wingers Reilly Smith, Victor Olofsson, and Brandon Saad, along with goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Suffice it to say, those four players alone will probably cost that much or more next month.
So, if McCrimmon wants to add anyone of consequence to his group, he will need to open up some flexibility, something that is going to be easier said than done. William Karlsson was a logical speculative candidate with two years left on his contract at a $5.9MM AAV but that has been ruled out already.
Speculatively, their top talents are probably not in play. Their lower-cost ones aren’t necessarily going to move the needle in terms of opening up enough space to do something. And there aren’t too many in the medium-term cost category, especially with Karlsson off the table. Basically, that leaves defenseman Brayden McNabb ($3.65MM) and Ivan Barbashev ($5MM) as the only pieces that could be moved that could open up enough meaningful space to contribute toward a signing.
At this point, it certainly sounds like they’d like to open up enough flexibility to do something. How they create enough space to do so will be interesting to follow.
Work On Eichel Extension
This is something that McCrimmon highlighted at the end of the season as a priority, getting center Jack Eichel signed to a contract extension. He’ll be entering the final year of his contract in July, making him eligible to put pen to paper on a new deal. The two sides have already held preliminary talks but getting something across the finish line will be the goal.
The 28-year-old has done quite well with Vegas since being acquired four seasons ago following a prolonged battle with his former team in Buffalo as to what type of neck surgery to pursue. Eichel eventually got his way with the artificial disc procedure being done upon being acquired and while he has battled injuries along the way, that particular injury hasn’t been an issue since. He is coming off a career year that saw him record personal bests in assists (66) and points (94) and is averaging more than a point per game since the trade. He has also become a reliable defensive player, seeing regular time on the penalty kill and landing in the top five in Selke Trophy voting. Basically, Eichel is an all-around number one center, the type of player that is very hard to come by.
Eichel is already at the $10MM per season mark and it’s unlikely that a small increase to that will be enough to get it done thanks to the projected significant jumps to the Upper Limit of the salary cap over the next few years. His current deal was worth 12.58% of the salary cap at the time it was signed. Early projections for the salary cap for 2026-27 when his next contract will kick in have the ceiling at $104MM. Simply using the same 12.58% figure against that number, that would run his price tag up to $13.083MM per season. For now, at least, that would make him the third-highest-paid player in the league behind Leon Draisaitl ($14MM) and Auston Matthews ($13.25MM), a pair of middlemen themselves.
That’s pretty high territory for a player who has only reached the 80-point mark twice in his career, this season and back in 2018-19. It’s not that Eichel doesn’t produce at a point-per-game level, but he does have a history of injuries; his rookie year (2015-16) was the only time he reached the 80-game mark in a season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see McCrimmon try to factor that into the negotiation to try to get that AAV at least a little lower but Eichel’s camp should know that unless there’s a serious injury next season, he’d hit the open market as arguably the top player available at a premium position which could very well drive the price tag closer to Draisaitl’s mark. Are the Golden Knights willing to go that high to get something done now? We’ll find out over the next few months.
Defensive Decisions
The UFAs listed earlier aren’t the only expiring contracts the Golden Knights will be contending with this summer as defenseman Nicolas Hague is going to be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. Owed a $2.7MM qualifying offer this summer, the expectation is that he’ll be looking to land more than that. Given their cap situation, there has been no shortage of speculation that he’ll move.
However, there have also been suggestions that Alex Pietrangelo’s availability to start the season could be in question. While he was in the lineup following the 4 Nations Face-Off, he was playing through an injury the rest of the way including the playoffs and at 35 with over 1,200 NHL games under his belt (regular season and playoffs), he might be nearing the point where he’s going to be playing through some lingering issues for the final two years of his contract. Only the Golden Knights know his true availability to start 2025-26 but even if he is good to go, would the uncertainty make them consider adding on the back end? Would that make them lean toward keeping Hague, even though he’s a left-hand shot?
It’s expected that Kaedan Korczak will get a look at more of a regular role next season but he and Zach Whitecloud are the only other two right-hand shots on the back end in Vegas. Both are more third-pairing types of players so if they’re worried about Pietrangelo’s full-season availability, they might want to sniff around the right-shot market. That would cut into their cap space, obviously, but that type of insurance would be valuable. It could come from moving Hague for a right-shot piece or moving him for futures and signing one in free agency. One option would be an older player eligible for bonuses on a one-year deal (someone like Brent Burns), allowing them to push some of the costs to 2026-27 and potentially allow them to keep their full back end intact. There are some options here.
Failing that, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them try to add a veteran or two on the open market that could start with AHL Henderson but come up if and when injuries arise. The Hague speculation is plentiful but that probably won’t be the only headline from their back end this summer.
Look For Backup Goalie
After a disappointing year with Toronto in 2023-24, Samsonov opted to sign a one-year deal with Vegas in the hopes that he’d rebuild some of his value and be in better shape to hit the open market this summer. While he shaved 31 points off his GAA (down to 2.83), his SV% only improved by one point to .891, still below league average. At this point, it would be surprising if he returned.
Vegas did add Akira Schmid in a trade on the second day of the draft last year, acquiring him as part of the return in the deal that sent Paul Cotter to New Jersey. With Adin Hill and Samsonov comprising the tandem with the Golden Knights, Schmid spent most of this season in the AHL with the Silver Knights where he struggled, posting a 3.58 GAA and a .886 SV% in 30 outings, numbers that don’t exactly scream promotion-ready.
Granted, Schmid did well in limited duty in five games (three starts) with Vegas and he did have a good run late in 2022-23 with the Devils but then lost the backup job the following season relatively quickly. With just 48 NHL games under his belt (just 36 starts), is he ready to play 30 or more games with the Golden Knights? That’s not a given.
Schmid’s contract makes him appealing (a $875K AAV) but would they be better trying to spend closer to twice as much and get a more proven option or find another Samsonov-type goalie looking to bounce back? This isn’t necessarily a top-priority need but with the goalie market typically moving quickly once free agency opens up, a decision to that question will need to be made fairly quickly.
Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.
Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers
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 Rangers.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D K’Andre Miller – No pending free agent played a bigger role in New York’s lineup than K’Andre Miller last season. He played upwards of 24 minutes a night over the course of the year, and averaged out to 22 minutes across 74 appearances. He has now averaged top-pair minutes in all five of his seasons in the NHL, and managed to score or pace for 20 points and a positive plus-minus in every year. Skepticism around Miller’s impact has grown as he’s struggled to return to the 43-point career-high he set in the 2022-23 campaign — this year scoring just 27 points. The Rangers also posted a plus-12 goal differential with Miller off the ice, versus a minus-four when he was on the ice. But even despite that stat, his down year seems more the result of struggles team-wide. At 25 years old and with five years of top-end experience under his belt, Miller will be a player worth spending for this summer. Then again, a lofty asking price could make him a candidate for offer sheet rumors.
F William Cuylle – Closely behind Miller in impact is forward Will Cuylle, who grew into a routine second-line role after beginning the season in the bottom-six. He foreshadowed a strong year from the very start – netting six points in New York’s first six games of the year – and followed up on it with a career-high 45 points in 82 games. He’s now appeared in all but one of New York’s games over the last two seasons, making him one of only four Rangers with so much action. The persistent role led to a breakout performance – and a 24-point increase in scoring – this year. For a Rangers club facing plenty of questions and change this off-season, Cuylle’s lineup role seems like a certainty. The club will likely look to lock the promising 23-year-old up as soon as they can. His early breakout will make him a candidate for a short-term or long-term offer – with the determining factor likely to end up being the Rangers’ budget.
F Adam Edstrom – New York’s remaining RFAs are headlined by bottom-liners and lineup hopefuls. Edstrom served as the team’s diligent fourth-line center for much of the year, until a lower-body injury sustained on February 1st ended his season early. Before then, Edstrom was sporting a bleak nine points in 51 games played, while adding 27 penalty minutes and a minus-five. He was the composed centerpiece on what often ended up a bruising Rangers’ fourth-line. That steadiness, and a glimmer of upside following an early end to his first full NHL season, will make Edstrom an option worth re-signing — but his minimal ice time will keep his cost low.
F Matt Rempe – Counter to Edstrom is fan-favorite Rempe. There’s no arguing what Rempe brings to the game at this point. He’s a modern-day enforcer, tasked with throwing huge hits and haymaker punches every chance he can. That may be a proper role with Rempe’s 6-foot-9, 255-pound frame – but his eight points in 42 games casts some doubt on the positives of icing him. Rempe did post a plus-seven – tied for seventh-highest on the team – even despite also recording a team-high 67 penalty minutes. That’s an interesting balance, and sticks New York with the question of whether a towering fighter is part of their vision for the 2025-26 roster. If it is, Rempe’s new deal should come at minimal cost.
D Zachary Jones – Jones took another step towards an everyday lineup role this season. He appeared in 46 games on the year – more than his 31 appearances last year – but was a routine healthy scratch and managed just one goal and 11 points. Jones voiced frustrations about the minimal playing time to Remy Mastey of Yahoo! Sports partway through the year, on the heels of recording seven of his points in 12 games in December. But the public comments didn’t sway his role by much. At 24-years-old, Jones seems reasonably ready to take on a handful more games next year, but with minimal impact his minutes will likely continued to be confined to the third-pairing. He’ll be a low-cost, low-upside, depth option for New York this summer.
F Brendan Brisson – New York acquired prospect Brendan Brisson and a 2025 third-round pick when they sent winger Reilly Smith back to the Vegas Golden Knights at the Trade Deadline. It was a timely move for Brisson, who struggled to break into Vegas’ lineup and had recorded 19 points and a minus-24 in 45 games with the Henderson Silver Knights up to that point. He boosted those numbers ever so slightly with the Hartford Wolf Pack – with six points and a minus-nine in 16 games – though questions about Brisson’s upside still remain. He was a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and is still just 23-years-old. But a breakout will need to come sooner rather than later if he wants to find routine NHL minutes. A contract with a few years of term could do Brisson well, but his eight points in 24 NHL games could confine him to a one-year, two-way, prove-it deal.
F Arthur Kaliyev – Also needing to ‘prove it’ is 23-year-old winger Arthur Kaliyev, who joined the Rangers partway through the year via waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. Fans were excited for the move at the time – hopeful that a move across the league could reignite the spark of upside he showed in his draft year. But Kaliyev wound up a healthy scratch with the Rangers after posting just four points in 14 games. He remains a high-upside, but low-floor player; propped up by his size and wrist shot, but hurt by his motor and positioning. At this point, the once fringe-first round pick will likely need to earn his keep on a dirt-cheap contract before New York commits to him long-term.
Other RFAs: F Jake Leschyshyn, F Lauri Pajuniemi, F Karl Henriksson, F Lucas Edmonds, D Matthew Robertson, G Dylan Garand, G Talyn Boyko
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Nicholas Aube-Kubel – Aube-Kubel suffered a lower-body injury in the Buffalo Sabres’ season opener on October 4th. He recovered by the end of the month, but continued to face injuries and minimal ice time throughout the rest of the year’s first half. With routine absences at the forefront of his season, Buffalo opted to waive Aube-Kubel, allowing New York to step up as the hopeful beneficiary. After netting two points in 19 games with Buffalo, the 29-year-old Aube-Kubel tacked on three scoreless games with the Rangers and one goal in three games with the Wolf Pack. It was a year to forget, but New York will hold the right to priority negotiations for a player who was once an impactful fourth-liner on the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche. Aube-Kubel has 80 points in 304 NHL games across his career.
D Calvin de Haan – Defender Calvin de Haan was also limited in minutes this year, starting his year out on the Colorado Avalanche’s bottom-pairing before being moved to the Rangers ahead of the Trade Deadline. He appeared in just three games with New York, and managed one point and a plus-four. De Haan spoke publicly multiple times about his frustrations with not receiving ice time, even as the Rangers sustained multiple losses in a row – but his season nonetheless ended with minimal action. Of all of their pending free agents, de Haan seems like the likeliest to part with the Rangers this summer.
Other UFAs: F Riley Nash, F Alex Belzile, F Bo Groulx, D Chad Ruhwedel, D Ben Harpur, G Louis Domingue
Projected Cap Space
New York will enter the off-season with a projected $14.92MM in cap space. That should be more than enough to sign Miller and Cuylle to hardy deals that ensure their place in the next generation of the Rangers, while still leaving some space to bring back fourth-line fixtures Edstrom and Rempe. But those additions could quickly price the Rangers out of any notable moves on the open market, even after the team traded Chris Kreider‘s full salary cap to the Anaheim Ducks for a no-cost return. That lack of flexibility could push the team to make some more cap-clearing moves before July 1st.
Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia. Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.
2025 NHL Offseason Trades
As with 2024-25’s in-season trades, we’ll keep track of all the NHL trades completed this season and update this article with each transaction. This post can be found anytime throughout the season on our desktop sidebar under “Pro Hockey Rumors Features” or our mobile menu under the Flame icon.
Trades are listed here in reverse chronological order, with the latest on top. So, if a player has been dealt multiple times, the first team listed as having acquired him is the one that ended up with him. Trades listed in italics have been agreed upon but are not yet official. For more details on each trade, click the date above it.
Here’s the full list of trades completed during the 2025 NHL offseason:
2025-26 League Year
- Flyers acquire F Tucker Robertson.
- Kraken acquire F Jon-Randall Avon.
- Avalanche acquire signing rights to F Daniil Gushchin.
- Sharks acquire F Oskar Olausson.
- Maple Leafs acquire F Dakota Joshua.
- Canucks acquire the Maple Leafs’ 2028 fourth-round pick.
- Penguins acquire G Arturs Silovs.
- Canucks acquire F Chase Stillman and the Penguins’ 2027 fourth-round pick.
- Maple Leafs acquire D Henry Thrun.
- Sharks acquire F Ryan Reaves.
- Penguins acquire D Matt Dumba and the Stars’ 2028 second-round pick.
- Stars acquire D Vladislav Kolyachonok.
- Oilers acquire signing rights to F Isaac Howard.
- Lightning acquire F Sam O’Reilly.
- Devils acquire signing rights to F Thomas Bordeleau.
- Sharks acquire F Shane Bowers.
- Hurricanes acquire D K’Andre Miller.
- Rangers acquire D Scott Morrow, the Hurricanes’ 2026 first-round pick, and the Hurricanes’ 2026 second-round pick.
- Note: the Rangers will receive the better of the Hurricanes’ or Stars’ 2026 first-round pick, and the selection is top-10 protected.
- Sharks acquire G Alex Nedeljkovic.
- Penguins acquire the Sharks’ 2028 third-round pick.
- Blackhawks acquire F Sam Lafferty.
- Sabres acquire Blackhawks’ 2026 sixth-round pick.
- Canadiens acquire F Zachary Bolduc.
- Blues acquire D Logan Mailloux.
- Bruins acquire F Viktor Arvidsson.
- Oilers acquire the Bruins’ 2027 fifth-round pick.
2024-25 League Year
- Hurricanes acquire signing rights to G Cayden Primeau.
- Canadiens acquire the Hurricanes’ 2026 seventh-round pick.
- Golden Knights acquire F Mitch Marner.
- Maple Leafs acquire F Nicolas Roy.
- Maple Leafs acquire F Matias Maccelli.
- Mammoth acquire the Maple Leafs’ 2027 third-round pick.
- Note: the pick upgrades to the Maple Leafs’ 2029 second-rounder if Maccelli records at least 51 points in 2025-26 and Toronto makes the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- Wild acquire F Vladimir Tarasenko.
- Red Wings acquire future considerations.
- Predators acquire D Nicolas Hague and the Golden Knights’ 2027 third-round pick.
- Note: the Predators will receive the Golden Knights’ 2027 second-round pick if Vegas wins at least two playoff rounds in 2026.
- Golden Knights acquire F Colton Sissons (50% retained) and D Jeremy Lauzon.
- Canucks acquire the signing rights to F Ilya Safonov.
- Blackhawks acquire future considerations.
- Flames acquire the Blues’ 2025 seventh-round pick (No. 211).
- Red Wings acquire the Flames’ 2026 seventh-round pick.
- Blue Jackets acquire the Kraken’s 2025 seventh-round pick (No. 198).
- Kraken acquire the Blue Jackets’ 2025 seventh-round pick (No. 205) and the Golden Knights’ 2025 seventh-round pick (No. 218).
- Panthers acquire the Bruins’ 2025 seventh-round pick (No. 197).
- Blackhawks acquire the Panthers’ 2026 seventh-round pick.
- Mammoth acquire the Avalanche’s 2025 sixth-round pick (No. 182).
- Predators acquire the Mammoth’s 2026 sixth-round pick.
- Oilers acquire the Predators’ 2025 fifth-round pick (No. 131).
- Predators acquire the Oilers’ 2026 fifth-round pick.
- Lightning acquire the Red Wings’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 108).
- Bruins acquire the Lightning’s 2026 fourth-round pick.
- Capitals acquire D Declan Chisholm and the Wild’s 2025 sixth-round pick (No. 180).
- Wild acquire D Chase Priskie and the Capitals’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 123).
- Senators acquire the Hurricanes’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 93).
- Capitals acquire the Panthers’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 96) and the Senators’ 2027 seventh-round pick.
- Golden Knights acquire the Senators’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 85).
- Penguins acquire the Capitals’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 91) and the Golden Knights’ 2025 fifth-round pick (No. 154).
- Blue Jackets acquire the Red Wings’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 76).
- Red Wings acquire the Blue Jackets’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 109) and the Blue Jackets’ 2026 fourth-round pick.
- Canadiens acquire the Bruins’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 69).
- Bruins acquire the Canucks’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 79) and the Red Wings’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 108).
- Hurricanes acquire the Predators’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 67).
- Kings acquire the Hurricanes’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 125) and the Hurricanes’ 2026 third-round pick.
- Golden Knights acquire the Lightning’s 2025 second-round pick (No. 55).
- Predators acquire the Golden Knights’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 58) and the Golden Knights’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 122).
- Red Wings acquire G John Gibson.
- Ducks acquire G Petr Mrázek, the Red Wings’ 2027 second-round pick, and the Red Wings’ 2026 fourth-round pick.
- Penguins acquire D Connor Clifton and the Sabres’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 39).
- Sabres acquire D Conor Timmins and D Isaac Belliveau.
- Kraken acquire the Flyers’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 36) and the Flyers’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 68).
- Flyers acquire the Kraken’s 2025 second-round pick (No. 38) and the Maple Leafs’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 57).
- Senators acquire D Jordan Spence.
- Kings acquire the Predators’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 67) and the Avalanche’s 2026 sixth-round pick.
- Canadiens acquire the Blackhawks’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 34) and the Hurricanes’ 2025 sixth-round pick (No. 189).
- Hurricanes acquire the Penguins’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 41) and the Canadiens’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 49).
- Blackhawks acquire the Hurricanes’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 29).
- Hurricanes acquire the Blackhawks’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 34), the Stars’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 62), and the Blackhawks’ 2027 fifth-round pick.
- Penguins acquire the Kings’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 24).
- Kings acquire the Oilers’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 31) and the Capitals’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 59).
- Predators acquire the Senators’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 21).
- Senators acquire the Lightning’s 2025 first-round pick (No. 23) and the Predators’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 67).
- Flyers acquire the Rangers’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 12).
- Penguins acquire the Avalanche’s 2025 first-round pick (No. 22) and the Oilers’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 31).
- Blue Jackets acquire F Charlie Coyle and F Miles Wood.
- Avalanche acquire F Gavin Brindley, the Blue Jackets’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 77), and a conditional 2027 second-round pick.
- Note: the Avalanche will receive the lower of the Blue Jackets’ or Wild’s 2027 second-round picks.
- Canadiens acquire D Noah Dobson.
- Islanders acquire F Emil Heineman, the Flames’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 16), and the Canadiens’ 2025 first-round pick (No. 17).
- Capitals acquire F Justin Sourdif.
- Panthers acquire the Capitals’ 2026 second-round pick and the Capitals’ 2027 sixth-round pick.
- Blue Jackets acquire F Brendan Gaunce.
- Wild acquire F Cameron Butler.
- Panthers acquire G Daniil Tarasov.
- Blue Jackets acquire the Panthers’ 2025 fifth-round pick (No. 160).
- Kraken acquire F Frédérick Gaudreau.
- Wild acquire the Kraken’s 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 102).
- Mammoth acquire F JJ Peterka.
- Sabres acquire F Josh Doan and D Michael Kesselring.
- Canucks acquire F Evander Kane.
- Oilers acquire the Senators’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 117).
- Flyers acquire F Trevor Zegras.
- Ducks acquire F Ryan Poehling, the Blue Jackets’ 2025 second-round pick (No. 45), and the Flyers’ 2026 fourth-round pick.
- Blackhawks acquire F André Burakovsky.
- Kraken acquire F Joe Veleno.
- Kraken acquire F Mason Marchment.
- Stars acquire their own 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 126) and the Kraken’s 2026 third-round pick.
- Predators acquire F Erik Haula.
- Devils acquire D Jeremy Hanzel and the Predators’ 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 99).
- Bruins acquire signing rights to D Victor Söderström.
- Blackhawks acquire D Ryan Mast and the Bruins’ 2025 seventh-round pick (No. 197).
- Ducks acquire F Chris Kreider and their own 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 104).
- Rangers acquire F Carey Terrance and the Maple Leafs’ 2025 third-round pick (No. 89).