With the entry draft and opening of free agency in the rearview mirror, the NHL is entering the slower portion of its offseason.
Here's one big-picture thought on all 32 teams.
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Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks quietly jumped from 59 points in 2023-24 to 80 last season. Joel Quenneville was hired in May to bridge the gap between 80 and the 95 or so points needed to clinch a playoff spot. Quenneville's top priority: fixing the NHL's worst power play. His boss, GM Pat Verbeek, has provided some fresh options in net-front presence Chris Kreider and facilitator Mikael Granlund.
Boston Bruins
And the award for worst July 1 contract goes to ... Tanner Jeannot. Don't get it twisted: that's "worst" for a team, not player. Jeannot, 28, must be thrilled to suddenly be under contract for five years (and rake in $17 million) in the wake of a 13-point season. It's wild to see an NHL club fork over so much term (and, to a lesser extent, so many dollars) to a bottom-six forward in 2025.
Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo's a classic case of a team that isn't greater than the sum of its parts. The roster features plenty of talent - Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Ryan McLeod, and Michael Kesselring are exciting pieces. But not every piece seems to click into place on the ice. It feels more likely the 2025-26 Sabres add to their NHL-record playoff drought than end it.
Calgary Flames
There are very few NHL teams actively trying to lose. Calgary ostensibly is not one of them. Yet, it feels inevitable that GM Craig Conroy will smell an opportunity to increase the Flames' odds at selecting Gavin McKenna or another top prospect by selling veterans well before the trade deadline.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes won the K'Andre Miller sweepstakes Tuesday, and the Nikolaj Ehlers bidding war Thursday. Acquiring the former opens up a world of possibilities on the back end. Does Miller land on the top pairing with Norris Trophy contender Jaccob Slavin? Will he run the top power-play unit? Is the second pairing comprised of giant rookie Alexander Nikishin and slick-skating righty Jalen Chatfield?
Chicago Blackhawks
Contract extension talks are underway with Connor Bedard, who still has one year left on his entry-level deal. The franchise forward has done or said nothing to suggest he's after a short-term extension, and it'd be in Chicago's best interest to lock him in for eight years. The intrigue is instead in the salary-cap hit. It's difficult to properly forecast contracts right now, with the cap rising exponentially over the next five years. It's also difficult to evaluate Bedard's production (61- and 67-point seasons) given the lack of support.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche might have the steepest drop-off in the league in top-six and bottom-six talent. The center depth, for instance, goes from Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson to Jack Drury and Parker Kelly. Yikes! On a more uplifting note, captain Gabriel Landeskog is gearing up for a full season. The top-line winger looked fantastic in the playoffs after a 1,032-day layoff.
Columbus Blue Jackets
"Early" is an operative word for Columbus' offseason. The Jackets got an early jump on the trade market with June 25 and 27 swaps that sent out Daniil Tarasov and brought in Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood. They selected goalie Pyotr Andreyanov relatively early on Day 1 of the draft. They extended pending UFA defensemen Dante Fabbro and Ivan Provorov before July 1 to get business done early.
Dallas Stars
With no major roster changes, Dallas will rely upon a coaching change (Peter DeBoer out, Glen Gulutzan in) and internal growth to reach the Stanley Cup Final after three straight conference-final defeats. The contention window is wide open thanks to superb drafting. Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, Wyatt Johnston, Jason Robertson, and Mavrik Bourque are all 25 or younger.
Detroit Red Wings
GM Steve Yzerman showed restraint in the opening days of free agency - unlike in previous years. It helped he'd already picked up goalie John Gibson in a trade with Anaheim. Gibson, who turns 32 next week, peaked in his early 20s but still has game. He desperately needed a change of scenery following many physically and mentally taxing years behind a terrible Ducks defense.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers' roster doesn't look markedly better than it did a few weeks ago, when the club again lost to the Panthers in the Cup Final. It doesn't look worse, either. But stagnating isn't going to cut it with mega-star Connor McDavid eligible for a contract extension.
Florida Panthers
GM Bill Zito's vision is crystal clear. The Panthers, with seven forwards and three defensemen signed through 2029-30, will not be taking their foot off the gas anytime soon. Florida's fresh off one of the strongest four-year stretches in the salary cap era and is favorited to win again in 2026. A third Cup in quick succession would certainly end all dynasty debates.
Los Angeles Kings
L.A. needed to inject creativity and pace into its forward group. GM Ken Holland extended Andrei Kuzmenko's contract and beefed up the bottom six. Then he lost the plot, spending an unnecessary amount of term and cap dollars on veteran defensemen Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin. The Kings' central problem - a predictable and sluggish attack - has not been addressed.
Minnesota Wild
It's been a quiet summer for the Wild. They made only five picks at the draft and none in the first round, completed three middling trades, and signed a few bottom-of-the-lineup players in free agency. Minnesota's lurking, though. Rumors continue to swirl around young center Marco Rossi (trade or offer sheet?) and a new deal may be coming for superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov.
Montreal Canadiens
Montreal continues to crush its thoughtful, brick-by-brick approach to rebuilding. (Wait, is a rebuild still a rebuild after a playoff appearance?) New top-pair defenseman Noah Dobson and new top-nine winger Zachary Bolduc are joining a well-balanced young core bursting at the seams with potential.
Nashville Predators
GM Barry Trotz spent $112 million on four players on July 1, 2024. He doled out just $27.5 million on two players around the opening of 2025 free agency. The bigger news items: three first-round picks and a health update on Roman Josi. The Predators captain was recently diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS. That's scary stuff for Josi, both personally and professionally, although fortunately he's responding well to treatment.
New Jersey Devils
New Jersey bolstered its depth with the signings of UFA forwards Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov, RFA forward Cody Glass, and UFA goalie Jake Allen. Young stud Luke Hughes' new deal should eat up most, if not all, of the remaining cap space. Yet, it feels like GM Tom Fitzgerald has a notable trade up his sleeve. D-man Seamus Casey and a draft pick for a top-six winger?
New York Islanders
Big win after big win after big win for new GM Mathieu Darche. Win No. 1: cornerstone Matthew Schaefer selected first overall. Win No. 2: current NHL winger Emil Heineman, potential future top-six winger Victor Eklund, and potential future top-four defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson all netted in the Dobson trade. Win No. 3: top KHL free agent Maxim Shabanov signed.
New York Rangers
New York trotted out a seven-man blue line of Adam Fox, K'Andre Miller, Jacob Trouba, Braden Schneider, Zac Jones, Victor Mancini, and Chad Ruhwedel (scratched) for its 2024-25 opener. The group is now Fox, Vladislav Gavrikov, Carson Soucy, Will Borgen, Schneider, Scott Morrow, and Urho Vaakanainen. Chris Drury's tenure as Rangers GM has been far from perfect. However, there's no denying he's done well in turning over the defense corps.
Ottawa Senators
Ottawa scored the second-fewest five-on-five goals last season. The bad news: Steve Staios has failed to add an impactful forward. The good news: the GM traded for offensively minded defenseman Jordan Spence and has $4 million in cap space to potentially take on a forward via a late-summer trade.
Philadelphia Flyers
New coach Rick Tocchet has his work cut out for himself. He must implement a defensive system that insulates the Flyers' goalies from high-danger scoring chances. Yes, free-agent signee Dan Vladar platooning with Samuel Ersson is an upgrade on last year's disaster of Ersson (.883 save percentage), Ivan Fedotov (.880), and Aleksei Kolosov (.867). But goaltending will likely remain a soft spot in 2025-26.
Pittsburgh Penguins
It makes perfect sense for the Penguins to rebuild, even with Sidney Crosby still around. However, for them to truly bottom out and reap the benefits of a league filled with teams anxious to improve ASAP, the trade activity needs to pick up. If Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang aren't going anywhere, at least two of Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell should be flipped.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks made a few inconsequential depth signings at forward, traded for Alex Nedeljkovic to share the net with rising star Yaroslav Askarov, and brought in three veteran blue-liners to reach the salary floor. In other words, they've gotten slightly better for 2025-26 and also prioritized long-term flexibility. Clever. GM Mike Grier's had a terrific first three years in San Jose.
Seattle Kraken
Seattle used its first-round pick on a forward for the fifth time in the franchise's five-year existence. How predictable! That said, Jake O'Brien was by no means a lazy pick at eighth overall. In fact, it was tremendous value. The ultra-creative playmaker will be running the Kraken power play one day.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues don't have a superstar youngster. But they're loaded with breakout candidates. Forwards Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky, Jake Neighbours, Dylan Holloway, and Alexey Toropchenko all have serious upside. Blue-liner Philip Broberg and goalie Joel Hofer are also unfinished products. Logan Mailloux, acquired via trade on Tuesday, is the most fascinating of them all. The right-handed defenseman with size (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) and a booming shot (12 AHL goals last season) is slated to slide right into St. Louis' top four.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning are in the middle of a game of chicken with reigning Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard. The 2022 first-round pick is on the trade block because he doesn't want to sign with Tampa Bay. One problem, according to GM Julien BriseBois: the teams offering a good trade package to Tampa haven't seen eye-to-eye with Howard on a contract, while the teams Howard likes aren't offering an acceptable return. BriseBois is smart to take a hard-line approach here, as the Lightning will receive a compensatory second-round pick if Howard doesn't sign before his rights relinquish on August 15, 2026.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Mitch Marner's gone and it won't be easy to replace his value, even in the aggregate. Yet Toronto's front office deserves a passing grade for its offseason work (with the expectation that further moves are needed ahead of training camp). Trade acquisitions Nic Roy and Matias Maccelli diversify the forward group, while the contract extensions for John Tavares and Matthew Knies are both reasonable, if not team-friendly. Biggest remaining need: top-six forward.
Utah Mammoth
Since May, Utah has unveiled a cool name, logo, and jersey set; brought top prospects Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But over from Russia; traded for impact forward JJ Peterka; drafted future second-line center Caleb Desnoyers; and signed reliable veterans Brandon Tanev, Nate Schmidt, and Vitek Vanecek to reasonable deals. The Mammoth are a playoff team on paper, and GM Bill Armstrong has loads of draft capital and almost $11 million in cap space to further upgrade the young roster. The vibes are immaculate in Salt Lake City.
Vancouver Canucks
Thatcher Demko, Brock Boeser, and Conor Garland all signed long-term extensions, and a Elias Pettersson trade is extremely unlikely with the Swede's no-move clause kicking in Tuesday. The floor for this team, as currently constructed, is fairly high. But the ceiling's low - maybe one playoff series victory? The Canucks need a proper second-line center to fill J.T. Miller's old role.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Marner acquisition is just another example of the NHL's evil-empire franchise doing whatever it takes to ice a Cup-contending squad. Most have penciled Marner in as Jack Eichel's right winger, but only one guy can be the primary puck-carrier. How's this for a top-nine configuration? Eichel between Pavel Dorofeyev and Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl between Ivan Barbashev and Marner, and William Karlsson between Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith.
Washington Capitals
Virtually everything Washington's front office touched last offseason turned to gold, leading to an Eastern Conference-best 111 points. The Caps' 2025 offseason has delivered fewer fireworks, but keep an eye on the trajectories of defenseman Declan Chisholm and forward Justin Sourdif. The Capitals, who are extremely skilled at unearthing talent from other organizations, recently acquired both via trade.
Winnipeg Jets
Jonathan Toews is a low-risk, high-reward signing. Good stuff. But Ehlers' departure has created a gaping hole on the wing. Cole Perfetti, 23 and full of potential, jumps off the page as somebody who must level up next season.
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).
