NHL Free Agency Articles - Page 4

The Montreal Canadiens took a massive step forward in 2024-25. Following a scintillating run to the Stanley Cup Final four seasons ago, the Habs spent three years at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, finishing dead last in the Atlantic Division between 2022-24. But things are looking up for the National Hockey League’s most storied […]

Following their loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020-21 Stanley Cup Final, the Montreal Canadiens have been in rebuild mode. Head coach Martin St. Louis and general manager Kent Hughes have cultivated a roster filled with young talent looking to be a part of the next contending core of Habs. On Monday, the […]

Last year, the Utah Mammoth missed the playoffs in their first year in Salt Lake City after Ryan Smith acquired the assets of the Arizona Coyotes franchise. The team was then known as the Utah Hockey Club and has officially rebranded as the Mammoth. In their first summer under the new name, it would be […]

The Florida Panthers are coming off winning their second straight Stanley Cup. It was also their third straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. Even with all the success, it was going to be a difficult summer for general manager Bill Zito. The club was tight on cap space and still will need to make […]

The Buffalo Sabres have missed the playoffs for 14 straight years. That ties them for the longest playoff drought in the Big Four American professional sports with the New York Jets. Long gone are the days of Dominik Hasek, Rob Ray, and Miroslav Satan, and with them, chances to compete for the Stanley Cup. Still, […]

For a ninth consecutive season, the Toronto Maple Leafs advanced to the playoffs. They would fall to the Florida Panthers in the second round for the second time in three years. The team has not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2002, when they lost in the conference finals. Hopes for a […]

The Detroit Red Wings made some intriguing moves during the 2025 NHL offseason. The totality of their moves has drawn a bit of skepticism from their fans. But overall, Detroit got better during the offseason. And they may have made no bigger upgrade than trading for goaltender John Gibson. Gibson spent his entire career with […]

The Edmonton Oilers made some intriguing moves this offseason. However, one of the more talked-about moves involved veteran forward Trent Frederic. Frederic, acquired at the NHL Trade Deadline from the Boston Bruins, signed an eight-year contract extension this summer. Despite public discourse, general manager Stan Bowman is not backing down from his decision. Bowman appeared […]

For the second time in three seasons, the Carolina Hurricanes were one of the final four teams standing in the National Hockey League in 2024-25. But as has been the case far too often, the Canes were defeated easily in the Eastern Conference Final, losing in five games to the eventual champion Florida Panthers. Carolina […]

The Tampa Bay Lightning were eliminated in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a disappointing exit for a Lightning team with Stanley Cup ambitions. It’s even more disappointing considering they didn’t give the Florida Panthers much of a fight. Entering NHL Free Agency, Tampa had to pick up the pieces […]

The Ottawa Senators have had a relatively quiet NHL offseason to this point. They didn’t make any huge splashes to add to their group in NHL Free Agency, but also didn’t lose any key pieces. We did see one notable trade, with the team acquiring Jordan Spence from the Los Angeles Kings. Meanwhile, the Senators […]

The New York Islanders missed the playoffs for the second time in the last four years. The team would make multiple moves this offseason to improve and rebuild. They have continued making moves this summer, signing Maxim Tsyplakov to a contract extension and avoiding arbitration. The Islanders have had a busy offseason thus far. They […]

The Washington Capitals have made the playoffs in 10 of the last 11 seasons. This includes being the top team in the Eastern Conference in 2024-25. They had a quiet 2025 NHL offseason, but despite that, still made one perfect move this offseason. The Caps missed out on the top free agents in the market […]

The Montreal Canadiens returned to the playoffs for the first time since losing in the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. The Canadiens would fall in the first round of the playoffs to the Washington Capitals. If the squad wants to advance further in the playoffs in 2025-26, they had to make some offseason moves in […]

The Vancouver Canucks have missed the playoffs for four of the last five seasons. They have often narrowly missed out on a playoff spot in recent years, and after a tumultuous 2024-25 campaign, in which they traded JT Miller, the team needed to make moves in NHL Free Agency. They did make some moves, but […]

The Carolina Hurricanes signed Logan Stankoven to a huge contract extension in NHL Free Agency. However, he is not the only young star Carolina has rewarded. Trade pickup K’Andre Miller also received a huge eight-year contract from the Hurricanes. And on Thursday, it was forward Jackson Blake receiving his big payday. Blake signed an eight-year […]

The Carolina Hurricanes made big splashes in NHL Free Agency this summer. And they’ve made sure to reward their own young stars, as well. Carolina is gearing up for a Stanley Cup run in 2026. On Thursday night, Carolina paid another key piece to the team. Forward Jackson Blake is sticking around for quite some […]

The Buffalo Sabres have missed the playoffs for a 14th straight season, the longest playoff drought in the NHL. General manager Kevyn Adams needed to make major improvements to the roster if the team is going to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The Sabres would make multiple moves this offseason, […]

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 […]