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The 2025 NHL offseason was expected to be one marked by many trades, as several hockey insiders had predicted an increase in activity for weeks, dating back to the draft in late June. Unfortunately for hockey fans, less than a week away from the summer calendar flipping to August, the exact opposite has been the case.
After the first day of free agency, just seven trades have been recorded by the league’s official tracker. A few of them have just been pure salary-cap-related contract dumps.
In a recent appearance on TSN 690 Montreal’s Melnick in the Afternoon, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta outlined why he believes the market has been so quiet.
“I think I, along with a lot of people, expected a little more activity to this point, but you mentioned the cap space,” Pagnotta said. “There aren’t many teams in significant cap trouble at the moment. They’re fixable. Montreal’s over; they can fix that with putting Carey Price on LTIR. Vegas is over, but they can fix that by putting Alex Pietrangelo on LTIR.
“When you’ve got a full market that is trying to improve, everyone’s buying. Well, a buyer’s market makes things a little bit more difficult. So, these conversations, I believe, are still ongoing throughout the league. Teams are still looking to improve and find ways to make their clubs better, but it’s going to continue to be spread out because of the lack of urgency from teams to sell off pieces while they also want to maintain being better, outside of probably Pittsburgh. There are a lot of teams that are looking; it’s just a buyer’s market. Things slow down from that side of things because the urgency just isn’t there for teams to get rid of guys.”
According to PuckPedia, as Pagnotta points out, only three teams in the league are currently over the increased $95.5 million salary cap. The Canadiens and Golden Knights will quickly solve their issues with in-season use of long-term injured reserve, while the Florida Panthers are likely just one move away from being cap compliant and don’t need to be until the last day of their fall training camp.
Pagnotta’s mention of the Penguins as the only genuine sellers this offseason echoes earlier reporting from The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun in June. LeBrun also predicted that many teams were seeking to emulate the same turnaround success the Washington Capitals managed with their on-the-fly retool last summer.
“In a more traditional offseason, several teams would be entering a rebuilding phase, saying, ‘Take our veteran players off our roster’ for future assets,” Lebrun wrote. “But there really isn’t a single franchise ready to implode its roster.”
The Capitals are expected to be buyers again this year, especially after missing out on potential top-line winger Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency. According to PuckPedia, the Capitals have $4.125 million in cap space and, as things currently stand, are bringing back just 10 of their 12 regular forwards from the playoffs this past season.
The Eastern Conference’s top club this past season has made several smaller moves so far, acquiring forward Justin Sourdif and defenseman Declan Chisholm, as well as re-signing Anthony Beauvillier. However, they haven’t made the signature move for the “skilled player” that general manager Chris Patrick hinted at during his end-of-season media availability in May.
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