Signing
The Blues have signed Patrik Berglund to a five-year deal worth $19.25M ($3.85M AAV).
NHL Signings & Free Agents
The Senators re-signed Frederik Claesson to a one-year contract extension worth $650K.
Due to injuries, Claesson has dress in a career-high 19 games this season, recording five assists, 11 shots, 21 hits and five blocked shots. Claesson could be a full-time part of the Senators blueline next season.
The Islanders have signed Thomas Greiss to a three-year contract extension.
Greiss, 31, has gone 14-7-3 with a 2.25 GAA and .928 SV% this season and has played very well since the Islanders sent Jaroslav Halak to Bridgeport (AHL). The Islanders clearly trust Greiss as their potential No.1 over the next few seasons and have locked him in through the 2020 season.
The Senators signed Zack Smith to a four-year deal worth $13 million.
Smith is on pace to score fewer goals than last season (25), but is on-pace to have 20 goals, 20 assists (40 points), which would be a career-high for the 28-year-old. Smith is signed through the 2021 season.
The Canadiens have signed Al Montoya to a two-year deal worth $2.13 million ($1.065M AAV).
Montoya, 31, has gone 4-4-2 with a 2.74 GAA and .909 SV% in his first season with the Canadiens. This signing probably has less to do with signing Montoya than it does with having a goalie to expose to the expansion draft this summer. For the rest of this season, Montoya will be one of the better spot-start options behind a strong Canadiens team.
The Blues have resigned Robert Bortuzzo to a two-year deal worth $2.3 million ($1.15M AAV).
Bortuzzo has appeared in 64 games with the Blues over the last three seasons, collecting just four goals and three assists. Bortuzzo has never been known for his offensive production, picking just 27 points (8G / 19A) in 177 career NHL games.
The Blackhawks have signed Artemi Panarin to a two-year contract extension worth $12 millions ($6.0M AAV).
The Blackhawks have a tough salary-cap situation, which is why they couldn’t give more term to Panarin. The young Russian winger has picked up 15 goals and 22 assists (37 points) in 37 games this season and has 114 points (45G / 69A) in 117 career NHL games.
The Islanders have signed Cal Clutterbuck to a five-year deal worth $17.5M ($3.5M AAV).
Clutterbuck has picked up two goals and seven assists (nine points) in 25 games this season. The fourth liner has played some games alongside John Tavares, but has spent the majority of the year in the bottom-6. Clutterbuck’s new contract will kick in next year and carry him through the 2021-22 season.
Ramo has signed an amateur tryout contract with the Toronto Marlies.
Ramo has been skating with the Maple Leafs as he rehabs from a knee injury that he suffered last season. The Maple Leafs waived Jhonas Enroth yesterday and if Ramo is healthy enough and plays well with the Marlies they are expected to sign Ramo to be Frederik Andersen's backup.
Signing
The Predators have signed Adam Pardy to a one-year deal worth $575K.
The Predators have moved Anthony Bitetto to IR and Ryan Ellis is out, so they needed an NHL body. Pardy had been playing with the Predators’ AHL affiliate on an AHL deal, where he has collected two goals and three assists (five points) in 12 games.
The Sharks signed Brent Burns to a eight-year deal worth $64 million ($8.0M AAV).
Burns is a special player and that forced the Sharks to sign him to the longest contract in franchise history. Burns will be 32 in March, so he will be 40-year-old in the final year of his contract, which isn’t ideal, but was necessary to get him signed. After a historic 2015-16 season, Burns has picked up 16 points (7G / 9A) in 19 games, to put him on pace for a career-high 30 goals and 38 assists (68 points)
The Jets have signed Jacob Trouba to a two-year deal worth $6 million ($3.0M AAV).
After holding out of training camp and the first month of the season, the Jets were finally able to sign restricted free agent Jacob Trouba to a two-year deal. Trouba is regarded as one of the best young defenseman in the NHL and signing him is huge for the Jets' success in 2016-17. Trouba had 21 points (6G / 15A) in 81 games with the Jets last season.
The Ducks have signed Hampus Lindholm to a six-year deal worth $31.5 million ($5.25M AAV).
Lindholm missed the first eight games of the season due to a contract holdout, but now that he is signed, you can probably expect him to be in the lineup over the weekend. Lindholm is one of the best young defensemen in the NHL and comes in having scored 10 goals and 18 assists (28 points) in 80 games last year.
Signing
Lindback is expected to join the Kings organization.
The Kings would be Lindback’s fifth team in four years. He has played for the Lightning, Stars, Sabres and Coyotes over the last three years and he went 5-7-1 with a 3.11 GAA and .894 SV% in 19 games with Arizona last year. With Jonathan Quick out, the Kings are desperately searching for some help in net.
The Islanders have signed Steve Bernier to a one-year, two-way deal.
Bernier, 31, had six points (1G / 5A) in 24 games with the Islanders last season. The veteran forward has 230 career points (105G / 125A) in 633 games with the Sharks, Sabres, Canucks, Panthers, Devils and Islanders.
The Penguins have signed Matt Murray to a three-year contract extension worth $11.25 million ($3.75M AAV).
The 22-year-old netminder hasn’t appeared in a game this season thanks to a broken hand that he suffered in the World Cup of Hockey, but earned an extension with an excellent postseason, en route to a Stanley Cup. Murray was 9-2-1 with a 2.00 GAA and .930 SV% in 13 regular season starts a season ago. Marc-Andre Fleury is off to a good start to the year, but Murray should rejoin the fold in the next week or so.
The Flames have signed Tom McCollum to a two-year deal and assigned him to Stockton (AHL).
McCollum was the 30th overall pick in 2008, but never made it to the NHL. Last year he was 15-13-0 with a 2.42 GAA and .923 SV% in 30 games with Grand Rapids (AHL).
The Rangers have signed Justin Fontaine to a one-year, two-way contract.
Fontaine, 28, spent the last five seasons with the Wild organization, compiling 68 points (27G / 41A) in 197 career NHL games. He will start the year with Hartford (AHL).
The Ducks have signed Rickard Rakell to a six-year deal worth $22.8 million ($3.8M AAV).
Rakell missed the first game of the season because of a contract holdout, but the Ducks were able to sign him to a six-year deal this afternoon. Rakell is imperative to the Ducks success as their second/third line centre. He is coming off of a career-year, having scored 20 goals with 23 assists (43 points) in 72 games.
Signing
The Canucks signed Jack Skille to a one-year deal worth $700K on Thursday.
Skille, 29, appeared in four preseason games during his professional tryout with the Canucks. Skill is coming off of 14 points (8G / 6A) in 74 games with the Avalanche last 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.