The Bruins signed Nick Wolff to a one-year, entry-level contract.
Wolff was an undrafted free agent defenseman from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In his senior season, Wolff failed to record a goal while piling up 10 assists in 33 games.
NHL Signings & Free Agents
The Bruins signed Jeremy Swayman to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Boston picked Swayman in the fourth-round (No.111 overall) in 2017 and the 21-year-old netminder just finished his junior season at the University of Maine. The Anchorage, Alaska native was 18-11-5 with a 2.07 GAA and .939 SV%, which ranked second-best in the NCAA.
The Canadiens signed Laurent Dauphin to a one-year, two-way contract extension.
Dauphin is a former second-round pick, who has appeared in 35 career NHL games to-date. The 25-year-old spent all of 2019-20 in the AHL, compiling 14 goals and 17 assists (31 points) in 58 games with the Milwaukee Admirals and Laval Rocket.
The Canadiens signed Jesse Ylonen to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Ylonen was selected in the second-round in 2018 and picked up 12 goals and 10 assists (22 points) in 53 games with the Pelicans of the Finnish Elite League. The 20-year-old winger will likely report to Laval (AHL) when he comes to North America.
The Canadiens signed Gustav Olofsson to a one-year, two-way contract.
Olofsson spent most of the 2019-20 season in the AHL, where he racked up 16 points (1G / 15A) in 57 games with Laval. He failed to record a point in three games with Montreal. The 25-year-old blueliner has 11 assists in 59 career NHL games with the Wild and Canadiens.
The Flyers signed Wade Allison to a two-year, entry-level deal.
The Flyers selected Allison in the second-round (No.52 overall) of the 2016 draft and finished his senior season at Western Michigan University with 10 goals and 13 assists (23 points) in 26 games.
The Flyers signed Tanner Laczynski to a two-year, entry-level deal.
Laczynski was picked in the sixth-round of the 2016 draft and the 22-year-old centre finished his senior season at the University of Ohio State with a team-leading 34 points (11G / 23A) in 36 games.
The Jets signed Dylan Samberg to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Winnipeg drafted Samberg in the second-round (No.43 overall) of the 2017 NHL draft. The 6-foot-4, 215 lbs. defenseman had 21 points (1G / 20A) in 28 games at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He represented the USA in the World Juniors in 2018 and 2019, posting a combined six points (1G / 5A) in 14 games.
The Blues signed Tyler Tucker to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Tucker was a seventh-round pick in 2018 and finished the 2019-20 OHL season eighth among defensemen with 56 points (17G / 39A) in 55 games between the Barrie Colts and Flint Firebirds. He will likely report to San Antonio (AHL) when he turns pro.
The Blues signed Scott Perunovich to a two-year, entry-level contract.
Perunovich was drafted in the second-round (No.45 overall) in 2018 and finished his junior year with a team-leading 40 points (6G / 34A) in 34 games at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
The Blues signed Hugh McGing to a two-year, entry-level contract.
McGing was a fifth-round pick (No. 138 overall) in 2018 and finished his senior season with a team-high 35 points (13G / 22A) in 35 games at Western Michigan University. He will likely report to San Antonio (AHL) for the 2020-21 season.
The Blues signed Mathias Laferriere to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Laferriere was a sixth-round draft pick in 2018 and finished fifth on Cape Breton (QMJHL) with 48 points (20G / 28A) despite playing just 40 of the 63 games. The 19-year-old has one more year of junior eligibility but will report to San Antonio (AHL) if he turns pro.
The Rangers signed Patrick Khodorenko to an entry-level contract.
Khodorenko was an undrafted free agent and finished his senior season at Michigan State University, where he led the team in goals (16) and points (33) in 36 games. Khodorenko's contract begins in 2020-21, and he will join the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) immediately on an Amateur Try-Out.
The Rangers signed Justin Richards to an entry-level contract.
Richards is an undrafted free agent centre, who had 14 goals and 11 assists (25 points) in 34 games in his junior year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Richards will likely return to University for his senior season and join Hartford (AHL) when he turns pro.
The Rangers signed Austin Rueschhoff to an entry-level contract.
Rueschhoff was an undrafted free agent right winger, who was third on Western Michigan University with 26 points (12G / 14A) in 36 games. Rueschhoff will likely head back to University for his senior season before turning pro.
The Rangers signed Matthew Robertson to a three-year, entry-level contract.
The Rangers selected Robertson in the second-round (No. 49 overall) in 2019 and he finished the 2019-20 campaign as the highest-scoring defenseman on the Edmonton Oil Kings. Robertson had 13 goals and 34 assists (47 points) in 60 WHL games.
The Sharks signed John Leonard to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Leonard was a sixth-round pick in 2018 and finished his junior season at UMass-Amherst as a Hobby Baker finalist after tallying a team-high 27 goals and 37 points. In his three-year stint with the MinuteMen, Leonard scored 105 points (56 goals, 49 assists) in 106 career games.
The Sharks signed Brinson Pasichnuk to an entry-level contract.
Pasichnuk was an undrafted free agent defenseman, who served as the captain at Arizona State University for the last two seasons. The 22-year-old defenseman led all Sun Devils' defensemen with 37 points (11G / 26A) in 36 games.
The Penguins signed Cam Lee to a two-year, entry-level contract.
Lee was an undrafted free agent defenseman out of the University of Western Michigan. The 5-foot-11, 180 lbs. modern-day offensive-minded blueliner scored three goals with 18 assists (21 points) in 26 games during his senior season.
The Penguins signed Drew O'Connor to a two-year, entry-level contract.
O'Connor was an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth College. The 6-foot-3, 190 lbs. forward led the school in both goals (21) and points (33) in 31 games this season.
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.