NHL Hockey Player News

The Blues signed Ty Rattie to a one-year deal worth $650K on July 13th.

Rattie, 23, was the 32nd overall pick in 2011 and has posted great numbers in three seasons with Chicago (AHL), but has yet to have a big impact at the NHL level. He hasn’t been given a great chance yet, but should finally get that opportunity in 2016-17. Rattie has eight points (4G / 4A) in 26 career NHL games.

Ty Rattie
The Islanders and Alan Quine agreed to terms on a two-year deal on July 13th.

After playing 192 games over three seasons with Bridgeport (AHL), Quine finally made it the NHL at the end of the 2015-16 season. Quine appeared in two regular season games and 10 playoff games, collecting a combined two goals and four assists. He will try to hold onto that spot in training camp this Fall.

Alan Quine
The Rangers signed J.T. Miller to a two-year extension on July 13th.

Miller, 23, was the 15th overall pick in 2011 and his breakout season was long awaited. Miller finally broke through in 2015-16 after posting just 33 points (15G / 18A) in 114 games over his first three seasons. Miller scored 22 goals with 21 assists (43 points) last season and figures to take steps forward as a member of the Rangers’ top-6 in 2016-17.

J.T. Miller
The Red Wings signed Teemu Pulkkinen to a one-year deal worth $812K on July 13th.

Pulkkinen, 24, shredded the AHL with 61 points (34G / 27A) in 46 games with Grand Rapids (AHL) in 2014-15 but has yet to land a full-time spot with the Red Wings since. Once he was called up, he has picked up 11 goals and nine assists (20 points) in a combined 67 games and will once again have to fight for playing time after the Red Wings added a number of veteran forwards this offseason.

Teemu Pulkkinen
The Penguins signed Justin Schultz to a one-year deal worth $1.4 million on July 13th.

Schultz, 26, was stuck on a bad Edmonton team for three and a half years, before being traded to Pittsburgh at last year’s trade deadline. He enjoyed success with the Penguins, picking up eight points (1G / 7A) in 18 regular season games and four assists in 15 playoff games, en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Schultz’s $1.4 million dollar contract is a pay-cut from his previous $3.9M AAV contract, but he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh.

Justin Schultz
The Coyotes signed Shane Doan to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million on July 12th.

Doan, 39, bounced back from a disappointing 2014-15 season, by scoring 28 goals (his most since 2008-09) with 19 assists (47 points) in 72 games. Entering his 21st year with the Coyotes, Doan sits 96th in NHL history with 945 points, just 55 points short of 1,000 for his career. He will take a shot at 1,000, but hasn’t registered 55-plus points since 2010-11.

Shane Doan
The Stars signed Jamie Oleksiak to a one-year deal worth $918K on July 12th.

Oleksiak, 23, was unable to land a full-time spot with the Stars in 2015-16, appearing in just 19 games and eight others with Texas (AHL). The 2011 14th overall pick is a huge body (6’7” / 260 lbs) but doesn’t possess a lot of offensive upside. Oleksiak will push for a regular role on the Stars’ blueline in training camp.

Jamie Oleksiak
The Hurricanes signed Victor Rask to a six-year contract extension worth $24 million ($4.0M AAV) on July 12th.

Rask, 23, is coming off of his second full NHL season and it was a good one. After a solid rookie campaign, Rask notched 21 goals and 27 assists for 48 points, which was tied for second on the team. Rask has settled in as the Hurricanes’ second-line centre behind Jordan Staal and should push for 50 points in 2016-17.

Victor Rask
The Kings signed Nic Dowd to a two-year deal on July 11th.

Dowd, 26, forced the Kings to give him a look this year, after collecting 48 points (14G / 34A) in 58 games with Ontario (AHL). In his brief, five-game stint with the Kings he failed to record a point. Dowd will try and crack the NHL roster in training camp, but there’s a good chance he starts the year back in the AHL.

Nic Dowd
The Kings signed Derek Forbort to a two-year deal on July 11th.

Forbort, 24, was the 15th overall pick in 2010 and cracked the NHL roster in 2015-16. He spent the majority of the year with Ontario (AHL), collecting 10 points and 40 PIMS in 40 games, but he dressed in 14 contests with the Kings where he had one goal and one assist. Forbort will look to crack the Kings roster in training camp this Fall.

Derek Forbort
The Kings signed Jack Campbell to a two-year deal on July 11th.

The Kings acquired Campbell from the Stars back in late June and have secured him for the net two seasons. Campbell was drafted 11th overall in 2010 but has failed to make it to the NHL and took a step back last year, splitting his time between the AHL and the ECHL. Look for him to start the 2016-17 with Ontario (AHL).

Jack Campbell
The Blues signed Landon Ferraro to a one-year, two-way deal.

Ferraro, 24, appeared in a total of 68 NHL games last season with the Red Wings and the Bruins. He was originally drafted by the Red Wings, but they lost him on waivers to Boston, where he recorded 10 points (5G / 5A) in 58 games with the Bruins. Ferraro will look to crack the Blues roster in training camp this fall.

Landon Ferraro
The Jets signed Brenden Kichton to a one-year, two-way deal worth $600K.

Kichton, 24, has yet to make it to the NHL, but is coming off of a strong year with Manitoba (AHL). The former seventh-round pick had 41 points (11G / 30A) in 68 games and will once again find himself in Manitoba to start the 2016-17 season.

Brenden Kichton
The Jets signed Mark Scheifele to an eight-year deal worth $49 million ($6.125M AAV).

Scheifele, 23, the former seventh overall pick (2011) is coming off of his best season as a professional, having collected 61 points (29G / 32A) in 71 games. The 6-foot-3 centre emerged as the Jets’ top-line centre and this extension will keep him in that role for many years to come. If Scheifele can stay healthy in 2016-17, he could approach the 70-point plateau.

Mark Scheifele
The Avalanche signed Nathan MacKinnon to a seven-year deal worth $44.1 million ($6.3M AAV).

MacKinnon, 20, was the first overall pick in 2013 and is coming off of three strong seasons to start his NHL career. In 2015-16, MacKinnon had 21 goals and 31 assists (52 points) in 72 games. He has missed 28 games over the three years, but has scored at a strong pace—22 goals, 35 assists per 82 games. Entering his age 21 season, expect MacKinnon to take another step forward.

Nathan MacKinnon
The Canucks signed Jacob Markstrom to a three-year contract extension worth $11 million ($3.67M AAV).

Markstrom’s NHL career didn’t get off to a great start, but he seems to have settled in in Vancouver. He was excellent with Utica (AHL) two years ago and went 13-14-3 with a 2.73 GAA and .915 SV% in 32 games with the Canucks last season. Markstrom will battle with Ryan Miller for starts as the Canucks’ No. 1 netminder.

Jacob Markstrom
The Jets signed Mathieu Perreault to a four-year deal worth $16.5 million ($4.125M AAV).

After posting 18 goals in back-to-back seasons, Perreault’s nine goals in 2015-16 was disappointing. In his first two years with the Jets he has posted back-to-back 41-point seasons and should be expected to be back in that range again in 2016-17.

Mathieu Perreault
The Penguins signed Garrett Wilson to a one-year, two-way deal.

Wilson, 25, split his 2015-16 season between the AHL and NHL. Wilson, a former fourth round pick (107 overall in 2009), had no points in 29 games with the Panthers despite posting 20 points (7G / 13A) in 37 games with Portland (AHL). Look for him to start the 2016-17 season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Garrett Wilson
The Senators signed Chris Kelly to a one-year deal worth $900K.

Kelly, 35, is a bottom-6 forward that can play centre or wing that the Senators are very familiar with. He was drafted by the Senators back in 1999 and spent the first six and a half years of his NHL career in an Ottawa uniform. He the last five and a half years in Boston, but was limited to just 11 games in 2015-16 because of a fractured left femur.

Chris Kelly
The Devils signed Kyle Palmieri to a five-year deal worth $23.25 million ($4.65M AAV).

Palmieri 25, had the best season of his career in his first year in New Jersey. He entered 2015-16 with a career-high of 14 goals, but burst out for 30 goals along with 27 assists (57 points) in 82 games. Palmieri should benefit from the Devils adding Taylor Hall to the mix for 2016-17.

Kyle Palmieri

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.