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NHL Signings & Free Agents

The Blue Jackets have signed Josh Dunne to a one-year, two-way contract.

Dunne spent most of the season with Cleveland (AHL), where he tallied 20 goals and 17 assists (37 points) in 65 games. He appeared in eight NHL games this season and 14 total in his career, but has yet to record a point with the Blue Jackets.

Josh Dunne
Derek Ryan has signed a two-year ($900,000 AAV) contract extension with Edmonton.

Ryan had 13 goals, seven assists, 92 SOG, 28 PIMs and a +11 plus/minus through 80 games in 2022-23 with the Edmonton Oilers and has signed a two-year, $900,000 AAV contract extension on Tuesday. The 36-year-old centre has played in 500 career NHL games, scoring 76 goals and 191 points.

Derek Ryan
Anton Blidh has agreed to a two-year, two-way contract extension with the New York Rangers.

Blidh failed to pick up a point in 14 games with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022-23 but found his game back with the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) after being traded in march and has now earned a two-year, two-way contract extension with the New York Rangers. The 28-year-old left-winger had 13 goals, 10 assists, 58 PIMs and a +1 plus/minus through 53 games with both Hartford (AHL) and Colorado (AHL) last season.

Anton Blidh
Andrea Athanasiou has re-signed a two-year, $4.25 Million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Athanasiou had 20 goals, 20 assists, 175 SOG, 34 PIMs and a -29 plus/minus through 81 games in his first season in Chicago in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year, $4.25 million ($2,175,000 AAV) contract extension to stay with the Blackhawks. The 28-year-old centre has played for four teams across eight season amassing 459 games played.

Andreas Athanasiou
Vladislav Gavrikov has signed a two-year, $11,750,000 ($5.875 AAV) contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings.

Gavrikov had six goals, 13 assists, 89 SOG, 38 PIMS and a +4 plus/minus through 72 games with Los Angeles and Columbus in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year, $11,750,000 ($5.875 AAV) contract extension with the Los Angeles Kings. The 27-year-old has 276 career games played, picking up 18 goals, 82 points and 138 penalty minutes across his five year career.

Vladislav Gavrikov
Wyatt Aamodt has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension for the 2023-24 season.

Aamodt had three goals, 15 assists, 39 PIMs and a +5 plus/minus through 52 games played with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension on Tuesday. The 25-year-old was signed as a free agent out of college in 2022 and will hope to grow off a strong first full AHL season.

Wyatt Aamodt
Fredrik Karlstrom has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension through the 2023-24 season.

Karlstrom failed to pick a point through five NHL games in 2022-23 but had 10 goals, 16 assists, 16 PIMs and a +4 plus/minus through 47 games with the Texas Stars (AHL) and signed a one-year, two-way contract extension through the 2023-24 season Tuesday. The 25-year-old was Dallas' 2016 third-round pick (90th overall).

Fredrik Karlstrom
Oskar Dansk has re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Calgary Flames

Dansk was 8-6-2 with a 2.75 GAA and .905 SV% with the Calgary Wranglers (AHL) and has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension ($775,000/$275,000) through the 2023-24 season. The 29-year-old has played in six career NHL games, picking up a 4-1-0 record after being Columbus' second round pick (31st overall) in 2012.

Oscar Dansk
Jake Christiansen has signed a one-way, two year contract through the 2023-24 season.

Christiansen had four assists, 25 SOG, a -7 plus/minus and four PIMs through 24 games during the 2022-23 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and has signed a one-way, two year contract through the 2023-24 season. The 23-year-old has 32 career NHL games played and was originally signed as a free agent by the Blue Jackets after he finished junior hockey in Everett (WHL) in 2019-20.

Jake Christiansen
Sean Day has re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay.

Day failed to pick up a goal but had 14 assist, and 41 PIMs across 63 games with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) in 2022-23 and has now re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 25-year-old has played In two total career NHL games played and was a 2016 third-round pick (81st overall) by the New York Rangers.

Sean Day
The Canadiens have signed Cole Caufield to an eight-year contract extension worth $62.8 million ($7.85M AAV).

Caufield was limited to just 46 games during the 2022-23 season but set a career-best with 26 goals while adding 10 assists (36 points). The new deal makes Caufield the second-highest-paid skater in Montreal, behind Nick Suzuki ($7.875M AAV).

Cole Caufield
Michael Pezzetta has signed a two-year contract extension ($812,000 AAV) through the 2024-25 season with Montreal.

Pezzetta had seven goals, eight assists, 77 PIMs, 70 SOG, and a -4 plus/minus through 63 games played while becoming a fan favourite in Montreal and has signed a two-year contract extension with an AAV of $812,000. The 25-year-old left-winger has played in 114 career NHL games played across two seasons.

Michael Pezzetta
Jett Woo has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

Woo had seven goals, 14 assists, 96 PIMs and a +7 plus/minus through 68 games with the Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Vancouver Canucks. The deal is worth $775,000 if Woo were to play in the NHL and $100,00 if he stays in the AHL. The 22-year-old defensemen was the Canucks 2018 second round pick (37th overall).

Jett Woo
Michael Sgarbossa has signed a two-year, two-way contract extension ($775,000 AAV).

Sgarbossa had 21 goals, 37 assists, 38 PIMs and a +19 plus/minus through 60 games with the Hershey Bears (AHL) in 2022-23 and has signed a two-year, two-way contract extension ($775,000 AAV). The 30-year-old has four goals and 16 points through 65 career NHL games across eight seasons but failed to see any NHL action in 2022-23.

Michael Sgarbossa
Egor Zamula has signed a one-year, $775,000 contract extension with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Zamula had four assists, eight SOG and two PIMs across 14 games in 2022-23 after his season was cut short due to left should surgery and has signed a one-year, $775,000 contract extension with the Philadelphia Flyers. Tuesday. The 23-year-old defenseman also put up a goal and 19 points in 44 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season.

Egor Zamula

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.