NHL Hockey Player News

The Anaheim Ducks have signed Clayton Stoner to a four-year deal worth $13 million.

Stoner, 29, is not know for what he does in the offensive zone, but he managed to tally three points (1G / 2A) in 13 postseason games with the Wild last season. He is a big-boy at 6-foot-4, 213 lbs. and should slide right onto the Ducks third pairing after they traded Luca Sbisa and lost Stephane Robidas in free agency.

Clayton Stoner
Tom Gilbert has signed a two-year deal worth $5.6 million with the Montreal Canadiens.

Gilbert, 31, had 28 points (3G / 25A) in 73 games with the Panthers last season. He is a good puck moving defenseman who will likely slide into the hole left by the Josh Gorges trade.

Tom Gilbert
The Flames have signed Mason Raymond to a three-year deal worth $9.5 million.

After scoring 19 goals with 26 assists while only making $1 million with Toronto last season, Raymond, 28, cashed in and singed a three-year deal with the Flames. Raymond has an abundance of speed and will help the Flames top-6 in 2014-15.

Mason Raymond
The Panthers have signed Dave Bolland to a five-year deal worth $27.5 million.

Bolland, 28, had a forgettable one-season in Toronto. Unfortunately, he suffered a severed Achilles tendon which limited him to just 23 games. After one year with the Leafs he hit the free-agent market and signed with the Panthers where he should find himself as a third-line centre behind Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad.

Dave Bolland
Jussi Jokinen has signed a four-year deal worth $16 million with the Florida Panthers.

Jokinen, 31, had 57 points (21G / 37A) in 81 games playing on a line with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal (when healthy). He loses the chance to play with Malkin, but he goes to a Panthers team with some young but very skilled centres like Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov.

Jussi Jokinen
The Capitals have signed goaltender Justin Peters to a two-year contract worth $1.9 million.

Peters, 27, was 7-9-4 with a 2.50 GAA and .919 SV% in a back-up role behind Cam Ward and Anton Khudobin in Carolina last year. The Capitals needed to find a serviceable back-up to push Braden Holtby and they think they've found their guy in Peters.

Justin Peters
The Rangers have inked Dan Boyle to a two-year deal worth $9 million.

Boyle, 37, reportedly turned down more money to go play in New York. There is no doubting his offence, he scored 12 goals with 24 assists (38 points) in 75 games last season, but it is his work in his own end that has come into question. He will likely get paired with Marc Staal, a D-partner that will help cover up his regressing defensive play.

Dan Boyle
The Senators have re-signed Milan Michalek to a three-year deal worth $12 million.

Michalek scored 17 goals with 22 assists (39 points) in 82 games in his fifth season with the Senators. Michalek is now signed through 2016-17, but lost his centre Jason Spezza this morning. The loss of Spezza could hurt Michalek's numbers in 2014-15.

Milan Michalek
The Oilers have signed Mark Fayne to a four-year, $14 million dollar deal.

Fayne, 27, had 11 points in 72 games with the Devils last season. He heads to Edmonton where he will be one of the older players on what is a very young and inexperienced blueline. He plays a solid defensive game but is not fantasy relevant.

Mark Fayne
The Oilers have signed Benoit Pouliot to a five-year deal worth $20 million.

Pouliot scored 15 goals and 21 assists (36 points) in 80 games with the Rangers last season. He was also a part of arguably the Rangers best line in the playoffs. He finished the postseason with 10 points (5G / 5A) in 25 games. He could find himself on the wing with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in 2014-15.

Benoit Pouliot
The Penguins have signed Christian Ehrhoff to a one-year deal with $4 million.

Ehrhoff is coming off of a long-term deal. He signs a short-term deal to get a shot at winning a Stanley Cup after spending the last three seasons in Buffalo. Ehrhoff had six goals and 27 assists (33 points) in 79 games last season. He is a good puck moving defenseman who will fill-in for losing Matt Niskanen in free-agency. After finishing minus-27 last year, expect a much better plus/minus in Pittsburgh next season.

Christian Ehrhoff
The Red Wings have signed center Riley Sheahan to a two-year contract extension worth $950,000 per season.

Sheahan, 22, is coming off a solid rookie season. Recalled from the Grand Rapids midway through the season due to the Red Wings' rash of injuries, Sheahan quickly established himself a dependable two-way player. He provided more offense than was expected, with nine goals and 15 assists, along with a plus-6 rating, in 42 games. Sheahan was one of the club's restricted free agents.

Riley Sheahan
The Blackhawks have re-signed Jeremy Morin to a two-year contact worth $1.6 million.

Morin had 11 points (5G / 6A) in 24 games with the Blackhawks this season. While with Rockford (AHL) he scored 24 goals and 23 assists (47 points) in 47 games. The 23-year-old has a strong chance of making the Hawks out of of training camp in 2014-15.

Jeremy Morin
The Blue Jackets have given goaltender Curtis McElhinney a one-year contract extension worth $600,000.

The 31-year-old journeyman back-up played his most games in one season in 2013-14 . After Sergei Bobrovsky went down with injury, McElhinney stepped in. He started 21 games, his previous career-high was 16 in 2010-11 with Anaheim. He finished the season 10-11-1 with a 2.70 GAA and .909 SV%. For the first time 2009-10, McElhinney will not be with a new team to start next season.

Curtis McElhinney
The Red Wings have agreed to terms with goaltender Jonas Gustavsson on a one-year contract extension worth $1.85 million.

Gustavsson has spent the last two seasons as the Red Wings back-up while earning $1.5 million. He gets a raise heading into 2014-15 after turning in a 16-5-4 record with a 2.65 GAA and .907 SV%. Jimmy Howard is the Red Wings clear number-1, but The Monster was as steady a number-2 as there was last season. Should Howie struggle again next season, Gustavsson's fantasy value will once again be on the rise.

Jonas Gustavsson

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.