Boston has signed Jonathan Aspirot to a one-year, two-way contract.
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NHL Signings & Free Agents
Boston has signed Riley Tufte to a one-year, two-way contract.
Despite only appearing in six games with Boston in 2024-25, Riley Tufte has signed a one-year, two-way contract to remain a Bruin. The 27-year-old left-winger spent the majority of last season with Providence (AHL), picking up 21 goals, 42 points and 60 PIMs in 58 games played. He is expected to return to Providence for the start of the 2025-26 season.
New York has signed Derrick Pouliot to a two-year, $1.55 million contract ($775,000 AAV).
New York will continue to add to its long list of signings on Tuesday after bringing in veteran defensemen Derrick Pouliot to a two-year, $1.55 million contract ($775,000 AAV). Pouliot is known to be both effective and durable during his time in the AHL, posting 99 points in the last two seasons across 134 games played.
Buffalo has signed Carson Meyer to a two-year, $1.55 million contract ($775,000 AAV).
One season after putting up 21 points in 29 games played with San Diego (AHL), Carson Meyer has earned himself a two-year, $1.55 million contract ($775,000 AAV) with Buffalo. The 27-year-old last appeared in the NHL in 2023-24 but has two goals and six points in 41 career games played.
Minnesota has signed Benjamin Gleason to a one-year, $800,000 contract.
Despite last appearing in the NHL in 2018-19, Benjamin Gleason has earned himself a one-year $800,000 contract with Minnesota on Tuesday. The 27-year-old appeared in 36 games between Bakersfield (AHL) and Lehigh Valley (AHL) in 2024-25, picking up three goals and 18 points. He is expected to start 2025-26 with Iowa (AHL) but should provide Minnesota with a call up option throughout the season.
Calgary has signed Ivan Prosvetov to a one-year, $950,000 contract.
Returning to North America after one season in the KHL, Ivan Prosvetov has signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Calgary Flames. The 26-year-old Russian netminder last appeared in the NHL with Colorado in 2023-24, making 11 starts. Last season with CSKA Moskva (KHL), he excelled with a 20-16-2 record, .920 SV% and 2.32 GAA.
San Jose has signed Cole Clayton to a one-year, two-way contract.
After four successful seasons in Cleveland (AHL), Cole Clayton will join his second NHL organization after signing a one-year, two-way contract with San Jose. The 25-year-old defenseman appeared in 63 games with Cleveland last season, picking up a goal, 15 points and 37 PIMs. He will start 2025-26 with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL).
San Jose has signed Samuel Laberge to a one-year, two-way contract.
San Jose added another depth piece for the Barracuda (AHL) on Tuesday after signing Samuel Laberge to a one-year, two-way contract. The 28-year-old forward struggled to find any sort of offensive touch in Utica (AHL) last season, scoring just three goals, four points and 76 PIMs in 38 games played.
San Jose has signed Jimmy Huntington to a one-year, two-way contract.
San Jose added to their depth in the minors by signing 26-year-old forward Jimmy Huntington to a one-year, two-way contract. The Quebec native was limited to only four games in 2024-25 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) due to injury, but still has 17 goals and 37 points across 71 games in the AHL in the last two seasons.
New Jersey has signed Angus Crookshank to a one-year, two-way contract.
After just 21 games played across two seasons in Ottawa, Angus Crookshank has joined his second organization after agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract with New Jersey on Tuesday. The 25-year-old left-winger had shown flashes of brilliance in Belleville, putting up 22 goals and 40 points in 62 games during the 2024-25 season. He will battle for a bottom-six role with New Jersey but is expected to start the season with Utica (AHL).
Carolina has signed Cayden Primeau to a one-year, $775,000 contract.
Hours after being acquired from Montreal for a 2026 seventh-round pick, Cayden Primeau signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with Carolina. The 25-year-old has appeared briefly for Montreal for the last six seasons, making 11 appearances in 2024-25, posting a 2-3-1 record, 4.70 GAA and .836 SV%. He will likely begin the season with Charlotte (AHL) in the minors, providing Carolina with goaltender depth throughout the season.
Winnipeg has signed Phil Di Giuseppe to a one-year, two-way contract.
After three seasons in Vancouver, Phil Di Giuseppe will join his fifth NHL organization after signing a one-year, two-way contract with Winnipeg. The 32-year-old left-winger appeared in only 20 games for Vancouver in 2024-25, scoring a goal, six points, and a -2 plus/minus. He will battle for a bottom-six spot out of training camp but is expected to start the season in Manitoba (AHL).
Pittsburgh has signed Caleb Jones to a two-year, $1.8 million contract ($900,000 AAV).
Pittsburgh added to their defensive depth on Day 1 of Free Agency by signing seven-year veteran Caleb Jones to a two-year, $1.8 million contract ($900,000 AAV). The 28-year-old defenseman appeared in six games for Los Angeles in 2024-25 but failed to pick up a point. He should fight for one of Pittsburgh's final defensive spots to start the season.
The Rangers signed K'Andre Miller to an eight-year deal worth $7.5M AAV ($60.0M total) before trading him to the Hurricanes.
Miller has been rumoured in trades since last season, finally materializing in a deal sending him to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Scott Morrow, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick. He was immediately signed to a massive seven-year contract worth $7.5 million AAV. The 25-year-old Miller will likely step into a larger role on Carolina's blueline after the expected departure of Brent Burns. He spent his first five seasons with the New York Rangers, recording 132 points (36G / 96A), 504 blocks, and 661 hits in 368 career games.
Edmonton signed Riley Stillman to a two-year, two-way contract.
Stillman has been an effective depth player for multiple organizations in his six-year career, stepping in when called upon, splitting time between the NHL and AHL. The 27-year-old defenseman has 26 points (4G / 22A) in 163 career NHL games.
Edmonton has signed Matt Tomkins to a two-year, $1.55 million contract ($775,000 AAV).
New York has signed Matthew Highmore to a one-year, two-way contract.
Highmore has quietly been an effective depth player in his career and will hope to continue that trend on a one-year, two-way contract with the New York Islanders. The undrafted 29-year-old has 35 points (14G / 21A) in 187 career games. He scored six points (2G / 4A) in 41 games with the Ottawa Senators last season.
New Jersey has signed Dennis Cholowski to a one-year, $750,000 contract.
Cholowski was a first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft but has not been able to establish himself as a full-time NHL player, playing more than 16 games only once in his previous five seasons. Still, he has a respectable 40 points (13G / 27A) in 156 career games as an NHL defenseman.
New York has signed Simon Holmstrom to a two-year deal worth $3.625 million AAV.
Holmstrom had a breakout 2024-25 season, scoring 45 points (20G / 25A) in 75 games, earning himself a two-year contract extension with the Islanders worth $3.625 million. The 24-year-old produced at an extremely impressive rate to end the season, with 22 points (10G / 12A) in 30 games from late January to early April.
Florida has signed Nolan Foote to a one-year, two-way contract.
Foote was a first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft but has not been able to establish himself as a full-time NHL player. The 24-year-old spent most of the 2024-25 campaign in the AHL, scoring 39 points (18G / 21A) in 53 games with Utica Comets.
NHL Free Agents: Best Available Players in 2025
Once the dust settles on the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL offseason officially commences as the latest wave of free agents hit the market as teams and players alike reevaluate their current situation and plot their next steps toward success.
With a plethora of talent up for grabs every summer, Stanley Cup contenders can be formed as well as broken up through free agency. With NHL signings going down at a breakneck pace throughout the opening days of free agency, we’ll keep you in the loop with our 2025 NHL free agency tracker. You can find all of the latest NHL signings of the free agency period as players switch teams, sign extensions, and change the outlook of the league with a single decision.
Whether you’re a diehard fan of your favourite team and are looking to stay up to date with every move made by the front office, or are an avid daily fantasy sports bettor that wants to prep for their wagers, our NHL free agency tracker is the best destination for all your free agent market news.
Types of Free Agent Markets
Each NHL free agent holds their own unique distinction when signing with a team. These distinctions are made based on a number of factors including age, NHL experience, as well as their current contract situation. NHL free agents are divided by restricted and unrestricted free agents, with each classification of player holding varying rights, including how teams are able to offer them contracts, and the results of receiving an offer.
Below, we take a deep dive into each type of NHL free agent so you can get a thorough understanding of each free agent market type, how they are able to sign with teams, and the possible outcomes from each offseason acquisition.
Restricted Free Agents
A restricted NHL free agent (RFA) is a player that is either under the age of 27 or has been in the NHL for less than seven seasons. Teams hold a form of protection over their restricted free agents, providing them with a sort of insurance if their RFA decides to sign with a new team.
While restricted free agents are technically eligible to sign a new contract with different teams, the process can become messy if a team other than their original squad makes them an offer and they accept. Restricted free agents are only able to sign a standard NHL contract with the team that currently owns the players rights, all other squads must submit an offer sheet if they want to lure away a player from their team. If an offer sheet is made to an RFA, the team who holds the players rights will be left with the option to either match the offer made to their player, or allow the player to sign with the team that made the offer sheet, in return receiving draft compensation depending on the value of the contract offered.
Qualifying Offers
In order for a team to retain a player’s rights heading into the free agency period, they must make a qualifying offer to the player. These offers are in the form of a one-year contract, with the amount offered being formulated depending on the value of their previous contract.
For any player who was on a deal worth $660,000 or less, the qualifying offer they receive must be worth 110% the amount of their previous season’s salary. For a player making between $660,000 and $1,000,000, they must be offered 105% their previous seasons salary. Finally, if a player was making more than $1 million in their previous year of duty, their team must offer them 100% of their previous season’s salary.
These offers are not final and players are eligible to receive greater or lesser valued contracts from the team that holds their rights once free agency begins. Players who reject qualifying offers remain restricted free agents.
Non-Qualified RFAs
If a team decides to not submit a qualifying offer to a restricted free agent on their roster, all non-qualified RFAs instantly become free agents and are welcome to sign contracts with any team come July 1st.
Unrestricted Free Agents
The other form of NHL free agent is the unrestricted free agent (UFA). UFAs have the right to sign their next deal with any team without restriction, as long as the offer they sign complies with league salary cap mandates and rules. Unrestricted free agents are truly what can shake up the free agent market, with many of the leagues top stars entering into the offseason as UFAs.
There are multiple forms of unrestricted free agents, each with their own unique classifications, but don’t necessarily affect the potential value of the contracts offered to them in the offseason. Below are two of the most common UFAs.
Group 3 UFAs
Common among NHL veterans, Group 3 comprises players entering free agency that are 27 or older, or have played in the NHL for more than seven accrued seasons. An accrued season is defined as a season in which a player has suited up for action on an NHL roster in at least 40 games (30 for goalies). Any player that fits this criteria will become an unrestricted free agent once their contract expires in the following offseason.
Group 6 UFAs
Another way that players can become an unrestricted free agent is by being 25 years of age or older and to have played three or more professional hockey seasons under an NHL contract (AHL, ECHL, Europe), but played in less than 80 NHL games (28 for goalies) in their career. Often, Group 6 unrestricted free agents are developing players that, for one reason or another, have not had the chance to crack into an NHL lineup, but still possess experience as a high-level player. There is no difference in the rights of Group 3 and Group 6 unrestricted free agents, but typically the latter will receive smaller contracts, both in terms of value as well as in duration.
Undrafted UFAs
The final way that a player may enter into free agency as an unrestricted free agent is by going undrafted in their three years of draft eligibility. If a player is not selected by an NHL franchise through the draft they are still eligible to crack into a final roster as a free agent.
NHL Free Agency FAQs
Who are the top NHL free agents in 2025?
Some of the top NHL free agents available this summer are Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, Aaron Ekblad, Nikolaj Ehlers, John Tavares, Brock Boeser, Brad Marchand and Linus Ullmark.
This offseason will bring a stacked crop of free agents to the market that will shape the landscape of the 2025-26 NHL season. Not only will the final landing spots for each of the top 2025 NHL free agents shake up the framework of the league, but will also have major implications on the upcoming fantasy hockey season. Be sure to stay in the know in regard to the latest free agency updates with our NHL player news.
What time does free agency start?
On July 1st, 2025, at 12 PM EST, the 2025 NHL free agency period officially opens. While some players will have all but signed the dotted line up to this point, nothing can become official until noon on Canada Day.