NHL Signings & Free Agents

Jokiharju was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres last season and made a positive impact in his brief tenure with the Bruins, earning himself a three-year contract extension with a $3 million AAV. The 26-year-old Finnish defenseman recorded four points (0G / 4A) and averaged 21:22 time-on-ice in 18 games with the Bruins in 2024-25.

Minutes after being acquired from Vegas in a trade for Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon, Nashville has signed Nicolas Hague to a four-year, $22 million contract extension ($5.5 million AAV). The 26-year-old appeared in 68 games for Vegas in his sixth season with the Golden Knights, picking up five goals, 12 points and 40 PIMs.

Boston's most coveted restricted free agent is off the market after Morgan Geekie and the Bruins agreed to a six-year, $33 million contract extension ($5.5 million AAV) on Sunday. The 26-year-old is coming off his best campaign to date, posting career highs in nearly all statistical categories, including goals (33), assists (24), points (57), SOG (150) and TOI (16:55).

Toronto can take a key item off their off-season "to-do" list after signing restricted free agent Matthew Knies to a six-year, $46.5 million contract extension ($7.75 million AAV). The 22-year-old left-winger took a massive step forward in 2024-25, occupying Toronto's top-six throughout the season while putting up 29 goals, 58 points and a +7 plus/minus in 78 games played.

Ottawa will be bringing back a familiar veteran presence in 2025-26 after announcing it has signed Claude Giroux to a one-year, $2 million extension, with the possibility of earning up to $4.75 million in bonuses. The 37-year-old is entering his 19th NHL season and his fourth with Ottawa after putting up a modest 15 goals and 50 points in 81 games played in 2024-25.

Despite Anaheim acquiring Petr Mrazek on Saturday in a deal that shipped John Gibson out of town, Anaheim continued to add to their goaltending depth for the 2025-26 season after signing Ville Husso to a two-year, $4.4 million contract extension ($2.2 million AAV). The 30-year-old was acquired at last year's trade deadline from Detroit and posted a 2-6-3 record with a 3.47 GAA and .890 SV% between the Ducks and Red Wings last season.

Boston will keep one of its defensive depth pieces after it announced on Sunday that the Bruins had re-signed Michael Callahan to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The 25-year-old appeared in 17 games with the Bruins in 2024-25, picking up a goal, nine SOG and a -5 plus/minus. He is expected to fight for one of Boston's final defence spots in training camp.

Acquired at the 2024-25 trade deadline, Marat Khusnutdinov will remain in Boston for at least two more seasons after signing a two-year, $1.85 million contract extension on Sunday. The 22-year-old former 3rd round pick started his career with 11 points in 73 games with Minnesota, but caught his footing after his trade to Boston, where he had three goals and five points in 18 games played after the trade.

July 1st free agency will be without one of its bigger defensive targets after Columbus signed Dante Fabbro to a four-year, $16.5 million contract extension on Sunday. The 27-year-old first came to Columbus off waivers in November of 2024 and excelled almost immediately, putting up nine goals, 26 points and a +23 plus/minus in 62 games played while averaging 21:39 TOI.

After appearing in just one game for the Islanders in 2024-25, Julien Gauthier has earned himself a one-year, two-way contract extension to remain in Long Island. The 27-year-old right-winger will provide some offensive depth after putting up three goals and eight points in nine games with Bridgeport (AHL) last season.

Former 18th overall pick Liam Foudy has been signed to a one-year, two-way contract extension to provide New York with some offensive depth for the upcoming 2025-26 season. The 25-year-old appeared in two games for the Islanders in 2024-25 but failed to pick up a point, instead spending the majority of his season with Bridgeport (AHL), where he had 20 goals and 45 points.

San Jose shored up their minor league goaltending on Sunday after signing Gariel Carriere to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The 24-year-old undrafted goaltender appeared in 47 games combined between the AHL and ECHL last season and will hope to remain with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) this upcoming season.

The Capitals acquired Sourdif's RFA rights a couple of days ago and wasted no time inking him to a two-year deal. The 23-year-old winger spent most of the 2024-25 season in the AHL, where he had 34 points (16G / 18A) in 43 games, but he could be a candidate to join the Capitals' fourth line in 2025-26.

One of the biggest expected off-season free agents will not be hitting the open market after Florida announced Friday that they have signed Sam Bennett to an eight-year, $64 million contract extension ($8 million AAV). The 29-year-old is coming off an impressive Conn Smythe-winning playoff performance, with 15 goals, 22 points and a +6 plus/minus in 23 games played.

The 2020 No.8 overall pick had another decent, but unspectacular season in 2024-25, scoring 15 goals with 24 assists (39 points) in 74 games. He's now averaging 45 points (18G / 27A) per 82 games for his NHL career, so the Sabres signed him to a two-year bridge deal to see if he can unlock any more offence.

Saad was signed mid-season after being bought out by the Blues and had 14 points (6G / 8A) in 29 games with the Golden Knights. At $2.0M AAV, Saad is a cheap middle-6 winger that can still provide some offence, having averaged 40 points (21G / 19A) per 82 games over the last three seasons.

Dobson was acquired from the Islanders in a sign-and-trade, so the Canadiens were able to lock him up to an eight-year deal and get a $5.5M AAV raise from his previous contract. Dobson is one of the NHL's best goal-scoring defensemen, having posted double-digit goals in four straight seasons. He ranks 14th among blueliners with 46 goals during that stretch. In Montreal, he'll have to battle with the likes of Lane Hutson for PP1 time, and his most likely path to that usage is if Montreal uses both of them on the same unit.