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The NHL’s free agency period is here, and the league’s player movement has begun. It likely will move fast and furious.
On Monday, Mitch Marner was traded to Vegas, and Brad Marchand re-signed with Florida.
Tuesday, Brock Boeser re-signed with Vancouver, Anaheim landed Mikael Granlund and Carolina signed Logan Stankoven to an eight-year deal, amongst a plethora of other deals.
More moves are certainly coming so follow along with all of our coverage from our staff of NHL experts and check out our latest NHL free agency big board from Chris Johnston here.
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The Wild went into the offseason with a few clear objectives: upgrade their depth at the center position, pursue a scoring winger and perhaps find a third goalie that could play in AHL Iowa and be insurance at the NHL level. In landing Vladimir Tarasenko, signing Nico Sturm and adding five depth pieces that are expected to be announced Wednesday, they feel they did just that.
“Our team is better than it was a couple days ago,” Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said.
There’s still more work to be done, with Priority No. 1 continuing to be a lucrative extension for Kaprizov, who became eligible for one Tuesday. Guerin said he talked with Kaprizov’s agent, Paul Theofanous, Monday night and planned to again Tuesday night, confident it’ll get done in ample time.
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This is supposed to be the summer where the Edmonton Oilers prove to Connor McDavid that they have what it takes to win, not only now but for years to come.
They have a long way to go based on what was achieved through the first and biggest day of free agency.
The Oilers used the lead-up merely to retain talent. They gave a max-term contract to forward Trent Frederic, gave top dollar to pending RFA Evan Bouchard, and brought back Kasperi Kapanen and Noah Philp on low-cost deals.
Free agency began on Tuesday, and after reverberations from the opening bell dissipated, it was quiet for the Oilers. Potentially helpful wingers went elsewhere. The one UFA goalie worth considering, Jake Allen, stayed in New Jersey. The Oilers were closing in on $5 million in cap space after shipping out Viktor Arvidsson earlier in the day. They didn’t put it to use.
But there’s no time of year when mistakes get made, when the excitement of signing a high-priced player puts egg on a GM’s face, quite like now on July 1.
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As they prepared for the 2021 NHL Draft, the St. Louis Blues had the No. 17 pick and liked defensive prospect Logan Mailloux.
“His draft year, he was dealing with things off-ice,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Tuesday, referring to charges that he shared intimate photos of a woman without her consent. “There was a request by the player not to be drafted, so we didn’t take him with our pick. And then Montreal did.”
Instead, the Blues took forward Zack Bolduc with their pick.
Four years later, St. Louis and the Montreal Canadiens swapped the players in what Armstrong called “an old-fashioned hockey trade” on the first day of free agency.
The Blues sent the Canadiens a forward who finished eighth in balloting for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) in 2024-25, and the Canadiens sent the Blues a defenseman who was named to the AHL’s Top Prospects team this season.
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This was easily the quietest start to free agency for the Toronto Maple Leafs in recent memory (save Mitch Marner’s noisy exodus to Vegas, obviously): Just depth players on a day that’s generally been busy-ish in the last decade or so.
Busy isn’t necessarily a good thing. Clearly, though, GM Brad Treliving still has some work to do.
The team that lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in Game 7 of the second round has undoubtedly gotten worse. That was going to happen no matter what, with Marner, either the best or second-best all-around player on the team, heading elsewhere.
The question was — and remains — whether they could get deeper, different, and talented enough in his absence.
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We’ve long known this NHL free-agent market wasn’t deep. In recent weeks, it thinned out even more. And by the time free agency actually opened Tuesday at noon, it was practically barren.
That’s the best explanation for why the Detroit Red Wings were so quiet on July 1, signing veteran left winger James van Riemsdyk and depth defender Jacob Bernard-Docker to a pair of one-year deals, and adding some AHL talent, but — at least as of now — leaving their biggest needs unfilled.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman knew something like this was possible in a year where very few needle-movers actually made it to the open market. He said after the draft he would “keep trying” to upgrade the team after making a trade for goaltender John Gibson, but acknowledged it was possible the team would have to rely mainly on internal growth for improvement in 2025-26 if he wasn’t able to swing more deals.
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A veteran goalie who has ridden the highs and lows throughout the years, Samsonov performed reasonably well as the No. 2 man in Vegas last season. He produced 0.6 goals saved above expected in 29 appearances and won 16 games. He’s still young enough for a team to believe it can help him find a little more stability. Plus, it’s not a particularly deep goaltending market.
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The wackiest day on the NHL calendar has more or less come to a close. Now it’s time to look at the best and worst from the start of free agency.
As usual, it’s a lot easier to find deals that fit the “worst” list compared to the “best” list. That’s the nature of the open market, where the highest bidder is usually the one left holding onto a very expensive mistake. Still, it’s not all bad. Getting a great player without giving up assets is still a win, and there are some under-the-radar adds that should provide some positive value, too.
Here are the five best and five worst signings from the start of the offseason.
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Opponents will not enjoy retrieving pucks against the Boston Bruins in 2025-26. Sean Kuraly, back for his second Boston tour, knows just one speed on the forecheck. Mikey Eyssimont has logged 213 career NHL games by making zero friends with his in-your-face attitude. Viktor Arvidsson is a buzzsaw in the offensive zone.
Then there’s Tanner Jeannot, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound juggernaut with a reputation for nastiness whether his gloves are on or off his hands.
Combine these go-getters with first-liners such as David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie, and the projection becomes clear for inbound style of play: no holds barred.
“At times last year, even when we had our group, we were an easy out. I can’t stand for that,” general manager Don Sweeney said Tuesday. “So we are going to reestablish that.”
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The Blackhawks may never have had a quieter first day of free agency.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson acquired Sam Lafferty — again — early in the day as a depth NHL forward piece. He ended the day by signing Dominic Toninato, likely a key forward piece for the Rockford IceHogs.
That was it.
You add in Ryan Donato’s four-year extension and the acquisition of André Burakovsky, and it’s been a pretty uneventful offseason for the Blackhawks. It certainly didn’t come near to matching what we once thought it could. But to be fair, not many players who were possibilities to hit the market did, and the Blackhawks were also reassured of their youth rebuild process by the signings they made late in the season and the play they saw over the final month. By the end of the 2024-25 season, the Blackhawks seemed to be heading in this minimal-action direction.
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Not tendered a qualifying offer by the Sharks, Kovalenko is a competitive winger who makes life uncomfortable for opponents. He’s a strong forechecker who can provide some depth-level offense.
A big winger who found himself scratched a couple of times in the playoffs, Raddysh is still carving out a defined role as an NHLer. His size is an asset, and he has the skill to become a nice complementary fit, but he doesn’t project as a major point producer. At 27, there’s still room for him to grow.
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The Rangers got a strong return for Miller after they pivoted to Vladislav Gavrikov on the blue line. The Hurricanes got a player who could be top-pair quality if he can bounce back.
Check out Shayna Goldman, James Mirtle and Corey Pronman's takes on the move.
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Give Pat Verbeek and the Anaheim Ducks some credit: They’re trying.
We’ve seen it happen more than often enough over the years — franchises can choose to rebuild, then complete part of the process but miss the exit. You can’t be bad forever. At some point, you’ve got to at least make the attempt to win hockey games.
That’s what this calendar year has been about for the Ducks — the attempt. If you’re skeptical of the specifics, you’re probably right to be, because players such as Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider and, yes, Granlund aren’t perfect. They’re not particularly close to perfect. And, given their respective ages, they’re only getting farther away.
There’s something to be said, though, for filling out a roster with real, live, proven NHL contributors, especially when you’ve got a few foundational pieces in place. In Anaheim, those are Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier and, hopefully, a defenseman or two. And they’ve all already spent more than enough time losing games.
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The Ottawa Senators emerged from the opening day of NHL free agency having satisfied two major items on their offseason list. The first? Establishing and maintaining their salary cap flexibility, with over $5 million in remaining space, per PuckPedia. The second? Signing Lars Eller as their fourth-line centre and plugging a hole at the bottom of the forward corps.
A much quieter July 1 than last year, when they acquired Nick Jensen, Michael Amadio, Noah Gregor and David Perron.
Save for organizational moves in Belleville, that might be the full extent of Ottawa’s shopping this offseason. Unless something drastic changes.
“I guess we’ll see,” Senators general manager Steve Staios said. “Most likely not. We feel comfortable with where we are.”
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Beauvillier has quite a collection of sweaters in his closet after playing for six teams in the past three years. He went from Long Island to Vancouver to Chicago to Nashville to Pittsburgh to Washington. A skilled winger with decent puck-handling skills, he didn’t find much post-deadline success with the Capitals and will likely need to find another new home.
The Oilers have signed goaltender Matt Tomkins and blueliner Riley Stillman, two players who project to play in AHL Bakersfield, to two-year, two-way contracts for the league-minimum in the NHL.
Tomkins posted a .907 save percentage in 26 games for AHL Syracuse this past season. He has six games of NHL experience, all with Tampa Bay in 2023-24. The 31-year-old becomes the new organizational No. 3 netminder behind Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard after the Oilers opted not to qualify pending restricted free agent Olivier Rodrigue on Monday.
Stillman, 27, suited up in five games for Carolina this past season and another 35 contests for AHL Chicago. He's appeared in 163 NHL games with Florida, Chicago, Vancouver, Buffalo and Carolina.
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Scott Morrow joins the New York Rangers as part of the return in the K'Andre Miller sign-and-trade.
Morrow is a very talented defenseman who has produced at the top of his age group in the NCAA and the AHL. His game was quite raw when he was drafted and has required some real maturing over time, but it has made noticeable improvements defensively. He’s never going to be a defensive stalwart and can still get beat one-on-one or caught sleeping/trying to do too much, but he’s a 6-2, 200-plus pound defenseman with legit skill who can make plays and run a power play. With continued development he should be a PP2 quarterback and everyday player in the NHL.
A steady winger who doesn’t do anything flashy, Appleton is a veteran who can be trusted to handle his own on the defensive side of the puck. He also has a little offense in his stick, primarily as a playmaker. Appleton will likely find a raise on the $2.1 million he was earning.
The New York Rangers traded restricted free agent defenseman K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, league sources confirmed to The Athletic. In return, the Rangers received a conditional first-round pick, a second-round pick and defenseman Scott Morrow, one of Carolina’s top prospects. According to PuckPedia, both picks are for the 2026 draft. The first is top-10 protected and the better of Dallas and Carolina’s picks.
Miller comes to the Hurricanes on an eight-year, $60 million contract as part of the sign-and-trade, as reported by the New York Post. With a $7.5 million cap hit, it marks a significant raise from his previous $3.872 million average-annual-value contract, which was signed before the 2023-24 season.
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Rangers sending K’Andre Miller to Hurricanes in sign-and-trade for picks, prospect