The National Hockey League’s offseason is officially in its second full month and there’s a lot to talk about. From signings and trades that have occurred since the Stanley Cup Final concluded, the Entry Draft, players that are still unsigned, potential PTO candidates, the NHL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement and of course, last month’s 2025-26 schedule release.
2025 NHL Entry Draft Recap
It’s probably best to start things off in chronological order, which means going back to the National Hockey League’s 2025 Entry Draft, which was held at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, California and while I’m still quite pleased with my rankings this year, understandably, not everyone went where I had them.
To the surprise of no one, Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman from the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters was selected first overall by the New York Islanders, which then allowed new GM Mathieu Darche to trade Noah Dobson later in the evening, but we’ll touch on that in a bit.
With the second overall pick, the San Jose Sharks selected Michael Misa from the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, giving them another elite offensive weapon in their forward group, joining Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, among others and in my opinion, he could be an option for their opening night roster.
Rounding out the top-three was Swedish sniper Anton Frondell, who I believe has the best shot of anyone in the 2025 draft class. Frondell, who was taken with the third overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks, will eventually form a lethal one-two punch down the middle in The Windy City with Connor Bedard.
Here are the remaining picks from the top-ten:
- 4) Caleb Desnoyers (C, Moncton Wildcats – QMJHL) – Utah Mammoth.
- 5) Brady Martin (C, Soo Greyhounds – OHL) – Nashville Predators.
- 6) Porter Martone (RW, Brampton Steelheads – OHL) – Philadelphia Flyers.
- 7) James Hagens (C, Boston College – NCAA) – Boston Bruins.
- 8) Jake O’Brien (C, Brantford Bulldogs – OHL) – Seattle Kraken.
- 9) Radim Mrtka (D, Seattle Thunderbirds – WHL) – Buffalo Sabres.
- 10) Roger McQueen (C, Brandon Wheat Kings – WHL) – Anaheim Ducks.
Offseason Trades
While the free agent signings and trades have cooled off considerably over the last three-to-four week, as is the case every summer, there were still some interesting moves to talk about going back to before the NHL Entry Draft even started.
Two days after the Florida Panthers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup, the Dallas Stars, who were looking to open up some cap space, dealt forward Mason Marchment to Seattle for a pair of draft picks and a couple days later, the Kraken were back at it. The Kraken needed to create a spot in their top-six for Marchment and in order to do so, dealt Andre Burakovsky to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Joe Veleno, the latter of whom was subsequently placed on unconditional waivers to buyout the final year of his contract.
To kick off Draft Week, the Anaheim Ducks finally found a new home for former top-ten pick Trevor Zegras following what felt like over a year with his name in the rumor mill. The Ducks shipped Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 23rd in exchange for former first round pick Ryan Poheling, a 2025 second round pick and a 2026 fourth round pick.
In an attempt to land some more muscle to their top-six, as well as a bit more scoring depth, the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers came together to complete a trade involving nine-time 20+ goal scorer Evander Kane, who is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2026.
The next day, the Buffalo Sabres dealt former second round pick JJ Peterka, who was set to become a restricted free agent, to the Utah Mammoth, giving the club another offensive weapon for their top-six. Reports indicated that the Sabres and Peterka were far apart in contract talks, which eventually led to his trade to Utah.
That brings us to NHL Draft weekend in Los Angeles, California and while it wasn’t as busy as some were expecting, there was one significant move that went down. The Montreal Canadiens acquired defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in exchange for both of their 2025 first round picks (15th & 16th overall), along with Swedish forward Emil Heineman. Almost immediately after the deal was made official, the Canadiens locked Dobson up to an eight-year contract extension worth $76 million USD ($9.5 million annually).
Day 2 of the NHL’s Entry Draft was also quiet, but after months, even years of having his named mentioned in trade rumors, the Anaheim Ducks finally found a new home for veteran goaltender John Gibson, dealing him to the Detroit Red Wings for goaltender Petr Mrazek, a fourth round pick in 2026 and a second round pick in 2027.
Despite being the most active team on the opening day of free agency in 2024, landing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei, the Nashville Predators had a season they’d like to forget, finishing second-last in the Central Division and third-last in the Western Conference. In order to move out some money and find someone who can play in the top-four on their blue line, the Predators completed a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, with saw Nashville give up Colton Sissons, Jeremy Lauzon and a third round pick in 2027 in exchange for Nic Hague. Nashville then signed the 2023 Stanley Cup champion to a four-year contract worth $5.5 million per season.
After a second round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, everyone in Toronto knew that some big changes could be on the horizon, with Maple Leafs General Manager acquiring Matias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth in exchange for a conditional third round pick in 2027. Then just hours later, the Mitch Marner era in Toronto officially came to a close as his rights were dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for depth centerman Nicolas Roy. Upon being dealt to Vegas in the early hours of July 1st, the Golden Knights locked up the former first round pick to a massive eight-year deal worth $96 million in total, $12 million annually.
Just days after acquiring one former first round pick in Noah Dobson, Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes was able to bring another to La Belle Province, acquiring 22-year-old forward Zachary Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Logan Mailloux.
Free Agent Signings
I think it’s safe to say that this year’s free agent frenzy was the least exciting opening of the UFA market in quite some time. Even leading up to Canada Day, a number of big names opted to stay with their current clubs, rather than testing the open market.
With the club being tight to the cap, many were expecting the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to lose at least one, maybe two, of their big free agents this summer. Instead, Bill Zito somehow managed to get all three of Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett under contract, keeping their hopes of a three-peat alive.
Two other players that decided to stay with their respective clubs rather than signing elsewhere were Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks – who landed a seven-year, $50.75 million deal, while goaltender Jake Allen remained with the New Jersey Devils, putting pen-to-paper on a five-year, $9 million contract.
Nikolaj Ehlers was by far the most prominent name to hit the open market on Canada Day, but it took him a few days before he came to a decision on where he wanted to play next. Despite offers to return to Winnipeg, Ehlers wanted a new challenge and inked a long-term deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, which should help them in a big way in the goal scoring department come playoff time.
Another notable name on the free agent market this summer was Mikael Granlund, who had a number of teams wanting to sign him after a very impressive showing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Dallas Stars. Ultimately, Granlund decided he wanted to return to California, where he spent the previous two seasons before his trade to Dallas, but this time, he landed a three-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks.
One team that took an…well let’s just say interesting approach to free agency was the Los Angeles Kings, under new General Manager Ken Holland. The Kings signed a total of five players on the opening day of free agency including former Stanley Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist, Corey Perry. LA also nabbed forward Joel Armia, defensemen Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, along with goaltender Anton Forsberg.
Among the other noteworthy signings this summer included Radek Faksa returning to the Dallas Stars; Andrew Mangiapane coming back to Alberta – but landing with the Edmonton Oilers; former first round pick Anthony Mantha ended up with the Pittsburgh Penguins; Gustav Nyqvist went to the Winnipeg Jets, Pius Suter – who at one point was the top UFA centerman available – inked a deal with the St. Louis Blues; 40-year-old Brent Burns increased his chances of winning a Stanley Cup by heading to the Colorado Avalanche; while the San Jose Sharks utlizied their ample cap space to bring in Dmitry Orlov and Jeff Skinner.
Players Still Available/Potential PTO Options
As the offseason winds down, there are still a number of notable names that are available on the free agent market, some of whom many were expecting to be signed by now.
One of those players that I personally thought would’ve been signed by now is Evgeny Kuznetsov, who wants a guaranteed contract, not a PTO – per his agent. Kuznetsov left North America last summer to play in the KHL, signing a four-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg. After a first round exit from the Gagarin Cup Playoffs, along with some of their young stars heading to the NHL, such as Ivan Demidov (Montreal) and Alexander Nikishin (Carolina), SKA underwent some big changes, one of which saw the club mutually agree to terminate the final three years of Kuznetsov’s contract, making him a free agent.
Another well known name that is still on the open market include Jack Roslovic, a former first round pick who tied a career-high in goals this past season with the Hurricanes. Roslovic has been linked to a number of teams this summer including the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, with a return to the Carolina Hurricanes also reportedly an option according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Robby Fabbri, TJ Brodie, Matt Grzelcyk, Ilya Samsonov, Max Pacioretty, Tyson Barrie, Jon Merrill and Oliver Wahlstrom are all still unsigned as of Thursday, August 21st and while a one-year guaranteed contract can’t be ruled out for some of these players, it seems more likely than not they’ll have to go down the PTO route in order to have an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League this summer.
Final thoughts – CBA, 2025-26 schedule, etc.
Collective Bargaining Agreement:
Before I wrap up my offseason thoughts, I wanted to take a look at the National Hockey League’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, along with the 2025-26 schedule including some key dates and must-watch games throughout the year.
In early July, the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association announced that the new Collective Bargaining agreement was ratified and will go into effect starting on Tuesday, September 15th, 2026 with a four-year deal running through the 2029-30 season.
Among the notable changes coming to the new CBA starting next season include a shorter training camp and preseason schedule and an increase in the amount of games played during the regular season – going from 82 to 84. Teams will need to be salary cap compliant in the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting in the spring of 2027, neck guards will become mandatory and there will be no more EBUGs or dress codes.
Some big changes are also coming for player contracts, with unrestricted free agents starting on July 1st, 2027 only allowed to sign for a maximum of six years or for seven years if they re-sign with their team on June 30th or earlier.
Another change worth mentioning is the standardization of draft pick rights. In the current CBA, teams hold onto a prospect’s rights for two years if they are in the Canadian Hockey League or four years for NCAA players. Starting in September 2026, teams will have their prospect’s rights for two years, regardless of where they’re playing or drafted out of.
2025-26 NHL Schedule:
The National Hockey League’s 1,312 game schedule will get underway on Tuesday, October 7th with a tripleheader including the Florida Panthers, who will raise their 2025 Stanley Cup banner against Connor Bedard & the Chicago Blackhawks at 5 p.m. ET. The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers will hit the ice for the second game of opening night at 8 p.m. ET, with the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings rounding out the day with a 10:30 p.m. ET puck drop.
Other noteworthy/key dates are as follows:
- Canadian Thanksgiving Doubleheader (Oct. 13th) – Toronto vs Detroit @ 4 p.m. ET, Vancouver vs St. Louis @ 7:30 p.m. ET.
- 2025 NHL Global Series (in Sweden) – Pittsburgh vs Nashville – Nov. 14th @ 2 p.m. ET & Nov. 16th @ 9 a.m. ET.
- American Thanksgiving Showdown (Nov. 28th) – Boston vs New York R @ 1 p.m. ET.
- 2026 NHL Winter Classic (Jan. 2nd) – Florida vs New York R (at LoanDepot Park in Miami, FL) @ 8 p.m. ET.
- Hockey Day in Canada (Jan. 17th) – Calgary vs New York I @ 3 p.m. ET; Ottawa vs Montreal & Winnipeg vs Toronto @ 7 p.m. ET; Vancouver vs Edmonton @ 10 p.m. ET.
- 2026 NHL Stadium Series (Feb. 1st) – Tampa Bay vs Boston (at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, FL) @ TBD.
- 2026 Winter Olympic break (Feb. 6th – 24th).
We’re getting close to the end of August, which means hockey is right around the corner and this season, I’m hoping to release more content on here, starting with my next article – Top 10 Players At Each Position Heading Into The 2025-26 Season – which should be out before September 15th, which is the earliest date teams can open up training camp.