NHL Signings & Free Agents

The Blackhawks have signed Brad Richards to a one-year contract worth $2 million.

Richards was bought out by the Rangers after he scored 20 goals with 31 assists (51 points) in 82 regular season games. Richards has 12 points (5G / 7A) in 25 postseason games and he heads to a Chicago team with a ton of talent. He will likely centre the second line which will have playing with Patrick Kane. Should that be the case, his fantasy value should rise and another 50-plus point season seems very attainable.

Brad Richards
The Coyotes have signed Devan Dubnyk to a one-year deal worth $800K.

Dubnyk spent last season between the Oilers, Predators and Canadiens and finished 11-18-3 with a 3.43 GAA and .891 SV%. The Coyotes lost Thomas Greiss to the Penguins, so Dubnyk should step in as Mike Smith's backup in 2014-15.

Devan Dubnyk
The Sabres have signed Andrej Meszaros to a one-year, $4.125 million deal.

Meszaros had seven goals and 15 assists (22 points) in 52 games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins last season. Meszaros should slide in and replace some of the offence the Sabres are losing with the departure of Christian Ehrhoff.

Andrej Meszaros
The Flames have signed Deryk Engelland to a three-year deal worth $8.7 million.

Engelland had 12 points (6G / 6A) and 58 penalty minutes in 56 games with the Penguins last season. Engelland is a hard-nosed player who can play forward or defence. He is being overpaid, but the Flames had money to spend and now have some more grit in their lineup.

Deryk Engelland
The Sabres have signed Marcus Foligno to a two-year, $3.75 million deal.

Foligno signs a very cap-managable contract to stay in Buffalo a year after scoring seven goals with 12 assists (19 points) in 74 games last year. The 22-year-old has all the tools to be a good NHL player and the additions the Sabres made yesterday should help Foligno continue to grow.

Marcus Foligno
The Lightning have signed Anton Stralman to a five-year deal worth $22.5 million.

Stralman had 13 points (1G / 12A) in 81 games with the Rangers this season. The Lightning freed up a lot of cap-space ahead of July 1st, and they gave Stralman a nice contract. The 27-year-old Swede had a strong postseason and will be a reliable defenseman on the Lightning blueline for the next few years.

Anton Stralman
The Blackhawks have re-signed Peter Regin to a one-year contract worth $650K.

Regin had four points (2G / 2A) in 17 games with the Blackhawks after being acquired from the Islanders. He suited up in just five postseason games, recording no points. The Hawks have signed him to a cheap contract that will provide them with some depth down the middle.

Peter Regin
The Hurricanes have re-signed Jiri Tlusty to a one-year contract worth $2.95 million.

After a great 2012-13 season, Tlusty took a step back last season posting 16 goals and 14 assists (30 points) in 68 games. A lot of Hurricanes had a tough season, so they are going to take a chance on Tlusty for one more season. His fantasy value is higher when he is playing with Eric Staal, but that is not a guarantee heading into 2014-15.

Jiri Tlusty
The Maple Leafs are bringing Leo Komarov back on a four-year deal worth $11.8 million.

Komarov, 27, had four goals and five assists in 42 games in his first stint with the Leafs (2012-13). He tallied 12 goals with 22 assists (34 points) in 52 games with Moscow (KHL) last season, but has brought his physical play back to Toronto for the next four-years.

Leo Komarov
The Avalanche have signed Jarome Iginla to a three-year deal worth $16 million.

Iginla had 30 goals and 31 assists (61 points) with a plus-34 rating with the Bruins last season. It was Iginla's 12th 30-plus goal season and I'm sure the Bruins would have loved to bring him back, but were unable to because of cap issues. The Avs have locked him up until he is 40-years-old and they are hoping he has a few more 30 goal years left in him.

Jarome Iginla
The Rangers have signed Tanner Glass to a three-year deal worth $4.35 million.

Glass had 13 points (4G / 9A) in 67 games with the Penguins last season. He brings a physical presence to the Rangers fourth line. He will likely slide in for Derek Dorsett who was traded recently.

Tanner Glass
The Devils have signed Martin Havlat to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.

Havlat scored 12 goals with 10 assists and a plus-14 rating in 48 games with the Sharks last year. He heads to New Jersey where he and newly signed Mike Cammalleri will look to try and spark a typically low-scoring offence.

Martin Havlat
The Sabres have signed Matt Moulson to a five-year deal worth $25 million.

In 44 games with the Sabres last season, Moulson scored 11 goals and 18 assists (29 points). It was a tough year for the 30-year-old, who played for three different teams. He heads back to Buffalo after clearly enjoying his short stay with the NHL's worst teams last year.

Matt Moulson
The Rangers have re-signed Dominic Moore to a two-year deal worth $3 million.

Moore had six goals and 12 assists (18 points) in 73 games with the Rangers last season. He was a very valuable piece to the Rangers Stanley Cup push and the 2014 Bill Masterton Trophy winner will be a key member of their bottom six this upcoming season.

Dominic Moore
The Maple Leafs have signed Stephane Robidas to a three-year deal worth $9 million.

Robidas, 37, is a rugged, hard-working defenseman who recorded 10 points (5G / 5A) in 38 games with the Stars and Ducks last season. He broke his leg on two separate occasions, but he is expected to be fine heading into 2014-15. He should replace Tim Gleason on the Leafs blueline.

Stephane Robidas
The Stars have signed Anders Lindback to a one-year deal worth $925K.

Lindback was 8-12-2 with a 2.90 GAA and .891 SV% in 18 regular season starts with the Lightning last season. He was forced to start in the playoffs because of an injury to Ben Bishop and went 0-3 with a 3.92 GAA and .881 SV%. He becomes Kari Lehtonen's back-up on a Stars team who got a ton better today.

Anders Lindback
The Rangers have signed Mike Kostka to a one-year deal worth $650K.

Kostka had four goals and seven assists (11 points) with a plus-10 rating in 28 games with the Lightning and Blackhawks last season. He will fight for playing time as the sixth or seventh defenseman in New York.

Mike Kostka

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.