NHL Free Agency Articles - Page 4

The Winnipeg Jets won the President’s Trophy as the top regular season team in the NHL in 2024-25. Still, they would fall in the second round of the playoffs to the Dallas Stars. This left GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Jets in a precarious situation of attempting to improve the team in NHL Free Agency, […]

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are fully inside a period of transition as their aging core heads toward the end of their careers. Pittsburgh entered NHL Free Agency not looking to make a ton of splashes. But they wanted to add depth around the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, […]

The Dallas Stars weren’t too far off from the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, they fared worse in their third straight Western Conference Final than they had in their other appearances. Dallas entered NHL Free Agency feeling a bit of pressure to improve around the edges and give things another go in 2025-26. Dallas had […]

The Dallas Stars are still considering a Jason Robertson trade deep into the 2025 NHL offseason. Robertson is one of the best players on this Stars roster. In fact, he has been their points leader in two of the last three seasons. However, he is a restricted free agent next summer, and there are obstacles […]

After years at the bottom of the Pacific Division, the Anaheim Ducks have made a concerted effort to get better in 2025, using their 10th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to land center Roger McQueen while adding Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund in free agency. Discussing how it feels to go from a […]

The Colorado Avalanche had limited cap space coming into this offseason. The franchise has made the playoffs eight straight years, including winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. Still, they would fall to the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs this year. With limited cap space and a clear need to improve the […]

After missing the playoffs for the third time in four years, the Seattle Kraken looked to have a productive offseason. The Kraken have been busy this summer, making a few solid free-agency moves while also hitting the trade market to improve the roster. To cap off the summer, Seattle has brought back Kaapo Kakko on a […]

The Vegas Golden Knights made the biggest splash of NHL Free Agency a day before the market even opened. The Golden Knights signed Mitch Marner to an eight-year contract in a sign-and-trade deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Once the market opened, Vegas had little else to do. Still, they made a few moves. The […]

The Dallas Stars made some shrewd moves in NHL Free Agency this summer. However, the biggest question of their offseason remains unanswered. The Stars are considering a trade involving Jason Robertson before the 2025-26 NHL season begins. It all depends on Robertson’s contract demands. Robertson is one of the best young wingers in the NHL. […]

The Vancouver Canucks had an interesting offseason after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. They declined the option on Rick Tocchet, hired Adam Foote as the new coach, and re-signed Brock Boeser amid rumors he was going to leave. As the summer moves cooled off, they traded Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to Sportsnet’s […]

The Chicago Blackhawks finished in last place in the Central Division in 2024-25. Still, with Connor Bedard and other young players, there is hope in the Windy City. General manager Kyle Davison expects other young stars to also make an impact this season. The Hawks did not make a bunch of moves in the offseason, […]

The St. Louis Blues made the Stanley Cup Playoffs after an impressive 2024-25 regular season. More than that, they took the regular season champions to the brink. The Blues forced a Game 7 against the Winnipeg Jets, but were unable to eliminate them. They entered NHL Free Agency hoping to be able to add the […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets are still working through their offseason as they prepare for the 2025-26 season. However, the team received a bit of a bombshell on Thursday. Forward Yegor Chinakhov officially requested a trade away from the team. More recently, his agent has explained why this trade request has come about. Shumi Babaev, Chinakhov’s […]

The Utah Mammoth are coming off their very first season in Salt Lake City since the move from their former identity as the Arizona Coyotes, and they’ve already made an indelible impression on the community that had never experienced professional hockey before. Initially known simply as the Utah Hockey Club for their inaugural campaign, they’ve […]

Coming off yet another disappointing Eastern Conference Final loss in 2024-25, things need to change for the Carolina Hurricanes. General manager Eric Tulsky and head coach Rod Brind’Amour know this. There are areas on the team that need to be improved upon, most notably on the roster’s blue line. Although the Canes have already replaced […]

The Dallas Stars made a few shrewd moves in NHL Free Agency this summer. However, their most important move may have been preventing a player from testing the market. Matt Duchene signed a four-year contract extension with the Stars this summer. This is his third contract with the team, and his first multi-year pact since […]

The New York Rangers had a tumultuous season in 2024-25 as they shockingly missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs. New York entered the season as a potential Stanley Cup favorite out of the Eastern Conference. In the end, they didn’t come close to making the postseason. And they had a lot of questions to answer once […]

The Winnipeg Jets suffered some crucial losses this summer. Namely, star winger Nikolaj Ehlers signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in NHL Free Agency. However, Winnipeg still has some incredible talent on its roster. And on Friday, they rewarded one of their own by signing Gabriel Vilardi to a six-year contract extension. Vilardi came to the […]

The Edmonton Oilers fell in the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers for a second straight year. They had to navigate a difficult offseason. The Oilers had limited salary cap space and still needed to re-sign some major players on the squad. General manager Stan Bowman did a solid job in this NHL free-agency […]

The Columbus Blue Jackets missed the playoffs for a fifth straight season. This year, they were the first team out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs by just two points. Being this close to the playoffs, there was the expectation that general manager Don Waddell could be aggressive in NHL Free […]

The Seattle Kraken enter their fifth season with a new general manager and head coach. Ron Francis is still around, but has turned the GM reins over to Jason Botterill. And Lane Lambert is getting his second shot behind an NHL bench after a strong run as an assistant in Toronto. However, once NHL free […]

The Los Angeles Kings lost in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25. That forced Rob Blake’s exit as general manager, which brought Ken Holland in as the new head of hockey operations. The Hall-of-Famer made some big moves this summer, bringing in Corey Perry and Cody Ceci, […]

The Nashville Predators are coming off a disappointing season last year. This led to the expectation that the Predators would be aggressive in free agency and potentially use their multiple early draft picks in the 2025 NHL Draft to make moves. Still, Barry Trotz and the Predators made limited moves this offseason and did not […]

The San Jose Sharks were the worst team in the NHL last year. General manager Mike Grier is expecting improvement this year. With a young core of players already in place, led by Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, and Will Smith, the team was aggressive in this 2025 NHL free-agency period. They brought in plenty of […]

The Toronto Maple Leafs returned to the playoffs for a ninth straight season, but would fall in the second round of the playoffs to the Florida Panthers. This led to the contract of Brendan Shanahan not being renewed by the franchise. Now, general manager Brad Treliving will have more of a say in the operation. […]

The New York Islanders were the team at the NHL Draft. They traded Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens, drafted Matthew Schaefer first overall, and made two more first-round picks. New general manager Mathieu Darche made his splash, but he did not sit out on July 1. How did the Islanders fare on each of […]

The Carolina Hurricanes finally won a game in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025. However, they were limited to just the one win in the penultimate round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Carolina were dominated by the Florida Panthers for most of the series. And they fell in five games as a result. The […]

The Boston Bruins missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025 in rather surprising fashion. Many expected Boston to be a playoff contender, and potentially a contender for the Cup itself. However, they struggled out of the gate, leading to the firing of Jim Montgomery as head coach. In the end, the coaching change was not […]

The Detroit Red Wings needed to make some major moves in NHL Free Agency this summer. And to some extent, they did make big moves. The Red Wings traded for goaltender John Gibson to kick off their offseason activity. However, more was needed, and there was a bit of anticipation building to see what this […]

The Anaheim Ducks have made some moves during 2025 free agency that they believe will position them for success. Now, as they attempt to extend Mason McTavish and Lukas Dostal, it’s the best time to analyze the Ducks’ offseason and see how they did. While they certainly are not finished, the Ducks’ NHL offseason grades […]

The New Jersey Devils made the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, but were eliminated in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes. It was injuries that doomed the end of the Devils’ season. With that, it was not expected that general manager Tom Fitzgerald would make major moves. They still have a […]

The Florida Panthers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup, joining a list of elite teams of NHL lore. Now, they look to become one of the few teams to win three consecutive Stanley Cups. Before they could do that, they needed to ensure they had the players. The Panthers’ offseason has agreed to numerous contract […]

The Minnesota Wild returned to the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Still, they would fall in the first round to the Vegas Golden Knights. This was also the fifth time in six years, they failed to advance past the first round. Still, the offseason has not been a productive one […]

The Calgary Flames have missed the playoffs three straight years now. This year, they narrowly missed out on the playoffs, which led to the expectation that they would potentially be aggressive this offseason. That has not come to fruition, though. Still, they kept around some solid pieces while also making some signings in NHL free […]

The Washington Capitals finished as the top team in the Eastern Conference after the regular season. This would give them their tenth playoff berth in their last 11 seasons. Still, they would be eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes. It has been a quiet NHL free agency period for […]

The Winnipeg Jets have already made waves this offseason by signing veteran player Jonathan Toews to a contract. Winnipeg is now doing even more with their roster, as the club signed a $3.7 million contract extension with forward Morgan Barron. Barron signed a two-year deal that will pay him $1.85 million a year, per NHL.com. […]

Michael Carcone isn’t going anywhere. The veteran forward has officially signed a one-year deal with the Utah Mammoth. At age 29, the winger has spent his entire NHL career with the Arizona/Utah franchise and is returning after a tough 2024-25 season in which he scored seven goals and produced just 19 points in 53 games. […]

The San Jose Sharks have made a ton of moves in NHL Free Agency to this point. In fact, they’ve completely changed the foundation of their team. One of the more intriguing signings came Friday when San Jose signed veteran forward Jeff Skinner to a one-year contract. Skinner joins San Jose after spending one season […]

The San Jose Sharks added grit through trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs recently. Toronto acquired defenseman Henry Thrun from the Sharks in exchange for veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves. It was a bit of a surprising deal, to say the least. But it’s one that both San Jose and Reaves are quite happy with. Reaves […]