NHL Hockey Player News

The Canucks signed Nils Hoglander to a three-year, entry-level contract.

The Canucks drafted Hoglander with the No.40 overall pick in the 2019 draft. The highly-skilled winger had a strong year in the Swedish Elite League, scoring nine goals with seven assists (16 points) in 41 games as a 19-year-old. Hoglander also represented Sweden at the World Juniors, where helped them to a bronze medal and finished third on the team with 11 points (5G / 6A) in seven games.

Nils Hoglander
The Oilers have signed Theodor Lennstrom to a one-year, entry-level contract.

Lennstrom was an undrafted free agent out of Sweden. The 25-year-old defenseman picked up three goals and 12 assists (15 points) in 31 games with Frolunda HC of the Swedish Elite League. Lennstrom is likely headed to Bakersfield (AHL) for the 2021 campaign.

Theodor Lennstrom
The Red Wings signed Mathias Brome to a one-year, entry-level contract.

Brome was an undrafted free agent from Sweden, who was sixth in the SHL in scoring in 2020, posting 43 points (17G / 26A) in 52 games with Orebro HK. Brome will make the trip to North America for the 2021 season and could be an immediate contributor in the Red Wings top-9.

Mathias Brome
The Oilers have signed Gaetan Haas to a one-year contract extension worth $915K.

Haas was an undrafted free agent from Switzerland, who came to North America for the 2019-20 campaign. The 28-year-old spent most of the season in the NHL, where he had five goals and five assists (10 points) in 58 games with the Oilers. He's projected to be a part of Edmonton's bottom-6 in 2021 after signing a one-year extension on Tuesday.

Gaetan Haas
The Coyotes have signed Matias Maccelli to a three-year, entry-level contract.

The Coyotes selected Maccelli in the fourth-round of the 2019 draft. The 19-year-old winger finished his first season in the Finnish Elite League with 13 goals and 17 assists (30 points) in 43 games with Ilves Tampere. While representing Finland in the World Juniors, Maccelli had two goals and three assists (five points) in seven games.

Matias Maccelli
The Blue Jackets have signed Elvis Merzlikins to a two-year contract extension worth $8.0 million ($4.0M AAV).

Merzlikins exploded onto the scene in his first year in North America, going 13-9-8 with a 2.35 GAA, .923 SV% and five shutouts. Merzlikins went on an eight-game winning streak from mid-January to mid-February and was hurt right before the season paused. This signing comes less than a week after Columbus signed Joonas Korpisalo to a two-year, $5.6 million extension ($2.8M AAV), so they've got their young goaltending duo tied up for the next two seasons at a $6.9M AAV cap-hit.

Elvis Merzlikins
The Golden Knights have signed Nicolas Roy to a two-year contract extension worth $1.5 million ($750K AAV).

After being acquired from t he Hurricanes as a part of the Erik Haula trade, Roy split the 2020 campaign between the NHL and AHL. With the Golden Knights, he had 10 points (5G / 5A) in 28 games while scoring seven goals with 15 assists (22 points) in 27 games. Signing a two-year contract means he's signed through 2022 and will still be an RFA at the end of the deal.

Nicolas Roy
The Canadiens signed Vasili Demchenko to a one-year, $700K contract.

Demchenko was an undrafted free agent goalie out of the KHL, who 9-17-3 with a .908 SV% in 36 games between Chelyabinsk Traktor and Magnitogorsk Metallurg. With Carey Price, Charlie Lindgren and Cayden Primeau all already under contract, Demchenko will likely start in a time-share in Laval (AHL) in 2021.

Vasili Demchenko
The Kings have signed Jacob Ingham to a three-year, entry-level contract.

The Kings selected Ingham in the sixth-round in the 2018 draft and the 19-year-old netminder finished the 2019-20 campaign with a stellar 33-8-5 record with the Kitchener Rangers (OHL). His 33 wins paced the OHL while his .917 SV% was third-best and 2.96 GAA ranked fifth.

Jacob Ingham
The Blue Jackets have signed Joonas Korpisalo to a two-year contract extension worth $5.6 million ($2.8M AAV).

Korpisalo was set to become a restricted free agent this offseason but got a two-year extension on Friday. Korpisalo will make $2.2 million in 2021 and $3.4 million in 2022, which would be the first season of his UFA years. In the first year without Sergei Bobrovsky, Korpisalo went 19-12-5 with a 2.60 GAA and .911 SV% in 37 games (35 starts) while splitting the crease primarily with Elvis Merzlikins. Throughout his five-year career, Korpisalo has gone 60-43-14 with a 2.80 GAA And .908 SV%.

Joonas Korpisalo
The Blues have signed Mackenzie MacEachern to a two-year extension worth $1.8 million ($900K AAV).

After splitting the 2018-19 campaign between the NHL and AHL, MacEachern spent the entire 2019-20 season (until it was paused) with the Blues, scoring seven goals with three assists (10 points) in 50 games. The 26-year-old, former third-round pick now has 10 goals and five assists (15 points) in 79 career NHL games and will now be a fixture in St. Louis' bottom-6 for at least the next few seasons.

MacKenzie MacEachern
The Blues have signed Marco Scandella to a four-year contract extension worth 13.1 million ($3.275M AAV).

Scandella was acquired from the Canadiens in mid-February for a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2021--the condition was if St. Louis re-signed Scandella, so it's officially a 2020 second and a 2021 fourth round pick for the 30-year-old blueliner. After joining the Blues, Scandella picked up one assist, 15 hits and seven blocked shots while playing 20:18 ATOI in 11 games. When the season was paused, he had nine points (3G / 6A) in 31 games in 2019-20.

Marco Scandella
The Blues signed Sammy Blais to a two-year contract extension worth $3.0 million ($1.5M AAV).

After splitting time between the NHL and AHL in the last two years, Blais was a full-time NHLer in 2019-20. He missed some time due to right wrist surgery in November but produced 13 points (6G / 7A) in the 40 games he appeared in before the league was paused. Blais was a physical force when in the lineup, leading the Blues with 155 hits (3.9 Hits/GP).

Sammy Blais
The Predators have signed Alexandre Carrier to a three-year contract extension worth $2.2 million (733K AAV).

Carrier, who was selected in the fourth round back in 2015, spent most of his fourth professional season in Milwaukee (AHL), amassing 37 points (5G / 32A) in 55 games, which was tied for seventh-best among AHL blueliners. He also appeared in three games with the Predators but failed to get on the scoresheet. With Dan Hamhuis, Korbinian Holzer and Yannick Weber all set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason, there is a path for Carrier to be a full-time third-pairing defenseman in Nashville next season.

Alexandre Carrier
The Senators signed Kevin Mandolese to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Mandolese was a sixth-round pick (No. 157 overall) of the Senators in 2018. In his fourth year in the QMJHL, the 19-year-old netminder went 26-8-1 with a league-best .925 SV% and third-best GAA (2.33). With 86 career wins to-date, Mandolese sits second all-time in Screaming Eagles franchise history.

Kevin Mandolese

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.