NHL Signings & Free Agents

The Rangers signed Tony DeAngelo to a one-year deal worth $925K.

DeAngelo emerged as a key part of the Rangers future in 2019, recording 30 points (4G / 26A) in 61 games. The coaching staff was reluctant to use DeAngelo on a nightly basis, scratching him with some regularity, but that should change in 2020. The additions of Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox adds to the competition DeAngelo has for playing time at both 5v5 and on the man-advantage.

Tony DeAngelo
The Senators have signed Thomas Chabot to an eight-year contract extension worth $64 million ($8.0M AAV).

Chabot is coming off of a fantastic sophomore campaign, scoring 14 goals with 41 assists (55 points) in 70 games. The Senators have a young, up-and-coming team and Chabot could lead the team in points in 2020. The 22-year-old has just one career power-play goal, something that will change this season and allow him to approach last year’s totals.

Thomas Chabot
The Kings have signed Ben Hutton to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million.

After four years and 276 NHL games with the Canucks, Hutton is going to the Kings on a one-year deal. The 26-year-old left-shot defenseman had 20 points (5G / 15A) in 69 games last season and provides Los Angeles with a little depth while Derek Forbort recovers from a back injury.

Ben Hutton
The Hurricanes have signed Fredrik Claesson to a one-year, two-way contract.

Claesson continues to bounce around the NHL. After spending his first three years in Ottawa, Claesson was with the Rangers in 2019 and now signs on with the Hurricanes. Carolina possesses one of the deepest bluelines in the entire NHL so Claesson likely won’t sniff the big leagues this season.

Fredrik Claesson
The Bruins have re-signed Brandon Carlo to a two-year contract worth $5.7 million ($2.85M AAV).

Carlo was the last of the Bruins RFA’s to sign and earned himself a $2.85M AAV contract after recorded 10 points (2G / 10A) in 72 games a season ago. The 6-foot-5, 212 lbs. defenseman has become a physical shutdown defenseman that the Bruins can rely on to eat up heavy minutes (20:55 ATOI) next to Torey Krug.

Brandon Carlo
The Canucks have re-signed Brock Boeser to a three-year contract worth $17.625M ($5.875M AAV).

Boeser had 26 goals and 30 assists (56 points) in 69 games in 2019. Through two NHL seasons, Boeser has averaged 34 goals and 35 assists (69 points) per 82-games but has missed 20.1 percent of the games. If Boeser can stay healthy, he has legit 40-goal, 40-assist upside next to Elias Pettersson.

Brock Boeser
The Flyers have signed Travis Konecny to a six-year deal worth $33.0M ($5.5M AAV).

Konecny ranks 33rd in the NHL in even-strength goals (43) over the last two seasons while playing 15:05 ATOI. In 2020, Konecny figures to be a staple on the top line with Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux and should see a lot more ice-time. That should allow him to get over 200 shots and 24 goals while chipping in close to 30 assists.

Travis Konecny
The Flames have re-signed Andrew Mangiapane to a one-year contract worth $715K.

Mangiapane spent most of his time in the NHL in 2019, scoring eight goals with five assists (13 points) in 44 games with the Flames. Mangiapane will likely be reserved to a fourth-line role, with Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Milan Lucic ahead of him on the depth chart.

Andrew Mangiapane
The Bruins have re-signed Charlie McAvoy to a three-year deal worth $14.7M ($4.9M AAV).

Through two seasons, McAvoy’s production has been solid, averaging 10 goals and 32 assists per 82-games—the issue is that he’s played in just 71.3 percent of the games. McAvoy is somewhat limited because of Torey Krug’s role on the top PP-unit, but he has 40-point upside if he can stay healthy in 2020.

Charlie McAvoy
The Wild have signed Jared Spurgeon to a seven-year, $53.025 million ($7.575M AAV) contract extension.

Spurgeon’s $7.575M AAV cap-hit makes him the highest paid player in Minnesota Wild history (by AAV). Spurgeon is coming off of a career-year, posting 14 goals and 29 assists (43 points) in 82 games. In 2020 he will be heavily featured in the Minnesota top-4 and his career 7.2 SH% makes him a threat for for double-digit goals every year.

Jared Spurgeon
The Maple Leafs have re-signed Mitch Marner to a six-year contract worth $65.358 million ($10.893M AAV).

After just one day of training camp, the Maple Leafs and Marner were able to come to terms on a six-year contract extension that makes him the seventh highest paid player in the NHL (by AAV). Marner had 94 points (26G / 68A) last season and comes into 2020 with 90-point potential as a staple next to John Tavares.

Mitch Marner
The Flyers have re-signed Ivan Provorov to a six-year deal worth $40.5M ($6.75M AAV).

Provorov and the Flyers wrap-up their RFA stalemate with a six-year extension that makes him the highest-paid defenseman on the team (per PuckPedia). After a breakout 2018 campaign, Provorov had a disappointing 26 points (7G / 19A) in 82 games last year. He has not missed a game in three years and is poised to lead the Flyers in ice-time again in 2020.

Ivan Provorov
The Rangers have signed Brendan Lemieux to a one-year deal worth $925K.

Lemieux was traded to the Rangers last season and finished the season with six points (3G / 3A) in 19 games with New York. Adding Kaapo Kakko, Artemi Panarin and potentially Vitali Kravtsov upfront this offseason is going to make it very difficult for Lemieux to crack the opening night lineup in 2020.

Brendan Lemieux
The Penguins have re-signed Marcus Pettersson to a one-year contract worth $874,125.

Pettersson was traded to the Penguins early in 2019 and he finished with 19 points (2G / 17A) in 57 games with his new team. He won’t play enough meaningful minutes to be fantasy relevant in 2020. However, Kris Letang and Justin Schultz both have durability concerns, so there is a scenario where Pettersson sees PP1 time, it just wouldn’t be a great scenario for the Penguins.

Marcus Pettersson
The Jets have signed Josh Morrissey to an eight-year contract extension worth $50 million.

Morrissey set a new career-high in points (31) despite playing in just 59 games in 2019. With Jacob Trouba now in New York, Morrissey is expected to handle the PP2 duties in 2020, which gives him a potential boost in value. He should be viewed as a reserve fantasy defenseman heading into drafts.

Josh Morrissey
The Flames have re-signed Michael Stone to a one-year, $700,000 contract.

Stone was bought out by the Flames earlier in the summer but signs back on for a discount after Jusso Valimaki suffered a torn ACL. Stone had just five assists in 14 games with Calgary last season and figures to be their 6/7th defenseman in 2020.

Michael Stone
The Wild have re-signed Kevin Fiala to a two-year contract worth $6 million.

Fiala struggled after being traded to the Wild last season, scoring just three goals with four assists (seven points) in 19 games. Heading into his first training camp with Minnesota, Fiala has a chance to start the season on the top-line with Eric Staal and Jason Zucker, putting him back on the map for a fantasy hockey breakout. He has great shot volume and that will only get better with first line minutes.

Kevin Fiala

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.