The NHL’s free agent market is about to crack open, and the last day before it does is already pulling teams in two directions at once. Clubs are trying to keep their own pending free agents from escaping while also working the phones on trades that could reshape the market before Wednesday at noon ET. Some situations will get settled before the deadline, some by trade, and the rest will spill into free agency and help create one of the more unpredictable openings in recent memory.
One of the biggest questions centers on the restricted free agent class, which looks stronger than the unrestricted group this summer. That alone raises the odds of something the league almost never sees: offer sheets.
They’re rare for a reason, especially when the cost can climb to as many as four first-round picks. But with a crop that includes Connor Bedard, Jason Robertson and Leo Carlsson, the kind of talent usually reserved for wishful thinking, the temptation could be real.
Then there’s Rasmus Andersson, whose future has turned murky despite chatter that he and the Golden Knights had a handshake agreement. After Vegas sent Zach Whitecloud, prospect Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first-round pick and a conditional 2028 second-round pick to the Calgary Flames for Andersson, reports from insiders such as TSN’s Darren Dreger on last Friday’s episode of the Barn Burner podcast suggested the defender would be brought back.
But that no longer looks certain. The 29-year-old Swedish blueliner remains unsigned, and he could still be lured away by a major offer elsewhere.
The veteran side of the market brings a different kind of intrigue. A decade ago, this group would have sent teams scrambling.
In 2026, the conversation is about whether some of the league’s most recognizable names are ready for one more season. Alex Ovechkin sits at the center of it, with the Washington Capitals legend weighing whether to return or step away after the team’s trade for Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch.
Corey Perry and Claude Giroux are in the same lane, with both having once spent stretches among the league’s top 10 players and now facing the question of whether they’ll lace them up again.
John Carlson adds another twist after a surprising move by the Anaheim Ducks, who dealt the standout veteran defenseman to the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes for a sixth-round pick and a defensive prospect rather than lose him for nothing. The Hurricanes made the move to protect themselves before free agency, but now they have to close the deal. If Carlson isn’t sold on Carolina’s offer, he can still test the market, and the trade could end up meaning very little.
Goalies may wind up shaping plenty of the action too. The market always has teams hunting for stability in net, and that demand tends to drive prices up fast.
Connor Hellebuyck already helped prove that point after making one comment about wanting to win a Stanley Cup, then setting off a bidding war among teams chasing the three-time Vezina Trophy winner. This time, the biggest names still available are Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen, both carrying age and injury concerns but still expected to draw plenty of interest once the market opens.
In Other News...
Hurricanes Get Final Word On Frederik Andersen Before Free Agency
Frederik Andersens place in Carolinas postseason run remains one of the bigger subplots of the summer, because his work in goal helped carry the Hurricanes deep into the playoffs and into the Stanley Cup Final. Even with that strong run fresh in everyones mind, the ending was abrupt, as Andersen left during Game 3 and did not return, leaving the team to sort through what comes next in net.
The Hurricanes already have Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov signed for next season, which makes the position look settled from the outside. Andersen is now at the center of a familiar offseason question for Carolina: whether his playoff stretch was enough to create a final push to keep him, or whether the club turns the page and lets another team make the next move. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Just Made Another Pre-Free Agency Move Fans Will Question
The Hurricanes added another layer to their pre-free agency maneuvering by swapping pending unrestricted free agents with Anaheim, acquiring defenseman Kyle Masters while sending forward Noah Philp the other way. It is the kind of transaction that usually signals either a rights play or a last look before the market opens, and in this case Carolina is betting on a player who was not given a qualifying offer by the Ducks.
Philps path makes the move even more unusual. He already has a two-year contract with Swedish SHL club HV71, yet his NHL rights still changed hands, while Masters remains a player the Hurricanes will need to sign before free agency if they want him in the organization at all. It is a small transaction on paper, but for a team that tends to work every angle, it also leaves one more question hanging over how aggressive Carolina wants to be when the real bidding starts. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Face An Uncomfortable Alexander Nikishin Decision
Carolinas blue line is suddenly part of a bigger summer chess match, with Alexander Nikishin drawing real attention from the New York Rangers and the Hurricanes now facing a choice they usually try to avoid: moving a high-upside defenseman before he settles into the roster picture. Nikishin is reportedly open to a move, which only raises the pressure on Carolina to decide whether the return has to be immediate help rather than future assets.
The Rangers have already made multiple pitches, but the Hurricanes have made it clear they want more than draft compensation in any deal. That matters because it turns this from a simple asset flip into a roster-caliber decision, and it leaves Carolina weighing whether to cash in now or hold firm on a player it still values enough to ask for a tangible piece back. [Read more 🡒]