NHL Offseason Analysis: Grades and Key Moves
The compressed NHL offseason, with its draft, mega-trades, and free agency in a 10-day period, presents an opportunity for each front office to improve its roster. Some general managers only need a few players to remain Stanley Cup title contenders or ascend to that status. Others need to be a bit more aggressive to raise the competitive level of their club, or perhaps their vision is set on 2026-27 or beyond for a serious playoff run. With the initial wave of additions and adjustments completed, it’s time for an honest assessment of each main office based on what was reasonably expected. Here are the report cards for all 32 NHL teams, based on the moves made through Monday. These are based on the moves they made, the moves they may have wanted to make, and their needs entering the dog days of mid-July through training camps in September. Note: Advanced stats come from Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey. Salary cap and contract information comes from PuckPedia as of July 8; teams with negative cap space are over the cap and must be cap compliant by opening night. The teams are listed alphabetically within each rating level by letter.RATINGS TO
Florida Panthers
Key players added: D Jeff Petry, G Daniil TarasovKey players lost: D Nate Schmidt, G Vitek VanecekRemaining space on the salary cap: None (projected $2,950,000 over)Overall rating: A+ Florida general manager Bill Zito gets top marks for somehow keeping all the key pieces of the Panthers’ recent Stanley Cup runs off the open market. Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Brad Marchand all received long-term contracts from the club that will engrave their name on hockey’s holy grail for a second straight season. And there’s no doubt Zito was aided by willing participants who left millions on the table by not exploring their options elsewhere. Winning has that kind of appeal. Zito also found a young goalie in Tarasov to back up Sergei Bobrovsky next season as a possible upgrade over Vanecek. There were also other discreet additions across the board for Florida by Zito, replacing the outgoing Schmidt with Petry, re-signing fourth-liner Tomas Nosek, and bringing in Brandon Bussi and Nolan Foote. The Panthers’ depth has been a weapon during long postseason runs and Florida is well-positioned again thanks to Zito’s smart trade moves to be elite again for the next 12 months. Honestly, he couldn’t have done much more to give Florida the opportunity to create a true dynasty.Anaheim Ducks
Key players added: F Mikael Granlund, G Ville Husso, F Chris Kreider, G Petr Mrazek, F Ryan PoehlingKey players lost: G John Gibson, F Trevor ZegrasRemaining space in the salary cap: $28,988,812Overall rating: A In a nutshell, the Ducks might have had one of the strongest offseasons of any NHL team. Having “a window” in the NHL is a topic usually reserved for championship contenders trying to win before everything falls apart. In the case of the Ducks, their “window” still has a talented core of young players with team-friendly deals that allows them to spend more money elsewhere. For now. That’s what the Ducks did when trading Kreider, who has two years left with an average annual value of $6.5 million. The Gibson and Zegras trade reduced $12.15 million in salary. Part of those savings went towards signing top-9 forward Granlund. What the Ducks received in return for their trades allowed them to fill in the gaps at favorable prices for the team. Once July 1st ended, that left Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek with what appears to be more than enough money to sign his RFA class of Lukas Dostal, Drew Helleson, and Mason McTavish to new contracts.St. Louis Blues
Key players added: F Nick Bjugstad, D Logan Mailloux, F Pius SuterKey players lost: F Zach Bolduc, F Radek FaksaRemaining space in the salary cap: $625,150Overall rating: A The Blues’ general manager, Doug Armstrong, didn’t need to do much this offseason, but the three moves he made were quite impactful. Armstrong could afford to do without Bolduc because he had six forwards on the roster who scored more than 18 goals, while also taking into account the role of coveted prospect Jimmy Snuggerud. The Bolduc-for-Mailloux trade provided them with a young blue line option knowing that Torey Krug will not play next season (or possibly beyond). By signing Bjugstad, the Blues added an experienced and sizable third-line center who could anchor a bottom six. Getting Suter on a two-year contract gives the Blues one of the strongest center configurations in the league, and another forward who scored more than 18 goals last season.Utah Mammoth
Key players added: F JJ Peterka, D Nate Schmidt, F Brandon Tanev, G Vitek VanecekKey players lost: F Josh Doan, D Michael Kesslering, F Matias MaccelliRemaining space in the salary cap: $6,657,143Overall rating: A The Mammoth will be a playoff team this season, or will get very close. They made one of the biggest trades of the offseason to get Peterka, and immediately signed him to a five-year extension, giving them another top-six scorer. That left Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong with more than enough space to sign veterans in other areas. The arrival of Schmidt means there are seven proven blue line options under contract. Utah can keep that group, to provide injury protection, or trade one for help elsewhere.Carolina Hurricanes
Key players added: D K’Andre Miller, F Nikolaj EhlersKey players lost: D Brent BurnsRemaining space in the salary cap: $10,644,291Overall rating: A- Carolina finally did what she had to do. After several attempts, and failures, trying to get a top-six goal scorer in her midst, general manager Erik Tulsky secured a game-changing move by signing coveted free agent Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million contract. That immediately gives Carolina the boost she’s been looking for over the last two years (at least). Before Tulsky signed Ehlers, he also made an impressive signing and trade with New York for Miller, a promising defenseman who should further improve Carolina’s defense (especially now that Burns has moved to Colorado as a free agent). While Ehlers is an excellent addition, Tulsky has yet to address the Hurricanes’ second-line center position. There’s still time to sort something out there. Meanwhile, what Carolina has done is more than enough to put them back as favorites to reach another Eastern Conference final, or beyond.Montreal Canadiens
Key players added: D Noah Dobson, F Zachary BolducKey players lost: D Logan Mailloux, F Emil HeinemanRemaining space on the salary cap: $-4,454,167Overall rating: A- The Canadiens will not be surprise participants in the NHL playoff field this season. General Manager Kent Hughes made sure of that when he pulled off a blockbuster trade with the New York Islanders to acquire right-shot defenseman Dobson (and sign him to an eight-year contract with an AAV of $9.5 million). Cheap? No. Worth it? Yes. Montreal has been rebuilding for a long time. It’s time to capitalize on the best years that Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and company have. Dobson will be an important part of any success the Canadiens have in the future. Bringing in Dobson also allowed Hughes to trade Mailloux, now with fewer opportunities in Montreal, to St. Louis for a solid 22-year-old scorer in Bolduc. Hughes even managed to get Kaapo Kahkonen in the mix for some goalie competition. The Canadiens seem to have hit all the right notes to ensure their appearance in the 2025 playoffs wasn’t a one-off affair.RATINGS B
New York Islanders
Key players added: D Matthew Schaefer, F Jonathan Drouin, F Emil HeinemanKey players lost: D Noah DobsonRemaining space in the salary cap: $3,936,667Overall rating: B+ Everything is happening for the Islanders right now. They have a new general manager in Matheiu Darche, who selected Schaefer as the number 1 pick in the draft, giving the Islanders a top-tier defensive prospect like they haven’t had in, well, a long time. That softens the blow of moving forward with Dobson, but the return from that trade, a couple of first-round picks used on Swedish forward Viktor Eklund and defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson, as well as forward Heineman, allowed Darche to load up in the draft and prepare New York for current and future success. Filled some edges for the Islanders by signing veteran forward Drouin and handing out extensions to Adam Boqvist and Simon Holmstrom. The Islanders have needed to create a new identity for some time. Based on what Darche has done, and will likely continue to do, it actually feels like New York is finding its way towards a fresh start.Philadelphia Flyers
Key players added: G Dan Vladar, F Christian Dvorak, F Trevor ZegrasKey players lost: F Ryan PoehlingRemaining space in the salary cap: $5,520,238Overall rating: B+ The centerpiece of Philadelphia’s offseason was the trade for Anaheim’s Zegras in the hopes that he can be a top center for them in the future. If that happens, it will be a job well done by general manager Danny Briere to capitalize on the potential of a player who may not have yet shown everything he has to give (and the Flyers didn’t have to give up much in return). Briere’s other big annotation was a five-year extension for Cam York, with a healthy, but not overvalued, AAV of $5.15 million. Well done. Briere’s work in the draft, including the selection of Porter Martone at number 6, is also notable for how well he continues to prepare Philadelphia for long-term success in the future. For now, it will be Zegras and veteran Dvorak who will try to improve the Flyers’ offense, while Vladar will provide some possible competition for the goal. And in turn, Philadelphia could be closer to being beyond its rebuilding phase towards something more competitive.San Jose Sharks
Key players added: F Adam Gaudette, D Dmitry Orlov, D John Klingberg, F Philipp Kurashev, F Michael Misa, G Alex NedeljkovicKey players lost: D Marc-Edouard VlasicRemaining space in the salary cap: $23,890,832Overall rating: B+ The plan of Sharks general manager Mike Grier was to focus on the here and now in a rebuild that appears to be one of the most promising in the NHL. To help the cause, he added veterans who can help shape his young players to build a culture, but who could also be moved later before the trade deadline in the next two years. The Sharks added Misa, the second draft pick, to a group that already had Yaroslav Askarov, Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, and Will Smith. They also signed Gaudette, Klingberg, Kurashev, Nedeljkovic, and Orlov, who will help improve in areas that resulted in the worst record in the league. Three of those players have one-year contracts, and Gaudette has a two-year contract worth $2 million annually. If the Sharks are not in contention for the playoffs by the trade deadline, those players can be moved to obtain draft capital. In addition, it leaves the Sharks with eight defensemen on their roster, suggesting they might be open to moving one of them before the season begins.Boston Bruins
Key players added: F Viktor Arvidsson, F Tanner Jeannot, F Sean Kuraly, F Michael EyssimontKey players lost: NoneRemaining space in the salary cap: $2,081,667Overall rating: B Boston added a haul of forwards through free agency and a trade (for Arvidsson, which cost the Bruins a 2027 fifth-round pick). And yet, Boston didn’t address its biggest need: a true top-six winger. Instead, general manager Don Sweeney bolstered the Bruins’ bottom six with a series of players, some of whom will likely have to play higher up in the lineup at some point anyway. Sweeney’s most striking decision was to sign Jeannot to a five-year, $17 million contract. That’s a considerable investment in a third-line skater (at best) who will have an AAV of $3.4 million until he turns 33. He’s physical and impetuous. But the Bruins need real help scoring (only two players on their roster finished last season with more than 20 goals), and it’s not clear that Sweeney has been able to achieve that so far.Detroit Red Wings
Key players added: G John Gibson, F Mason AppletonKey players lost: G Petr Mrazek, F Gustav NyquistRemaining space in the salary cap: $12,086,628Overall rating: B Credit to general manager Steve Yzerman for finally finding a new home for Gibson. That pre-free agency trade felt like it took a long time to arrive and not only gives Gibson a fresh start, but also improves Detroit’s goaltending situation (which was a clear priority heading into the offseason). But Yzerman seemed content that those were the only serious changes to the Red Wings’ roster. He filled out the edges a bit with bottom-six wingers Appleton and James van Riemsdyk, and has another third-pairing defense option in Jacob Bernard-Docker, but beyond that, Detroit (barring any other moves) will enter this season the same way it left the last. Depth is a good thing to have. But the Red Wings needed a bigger name to boost their defense, and they also would have benefited from better scoring potential among the top six. Those areas may still need to be addressed.New Jersey Devils
Key players added: F Connor Brown, F Evgenii DadonovKey players lost: D Brian Dumoulin, F Erik Haula, F Curtis LazarRemaining space in the salary cap: $6,906,667Overall rating: B New Jersey wasn’t looking to overhaul its roster. But general manager Tom Fitzgerald has made sensible moves to give the Devils an added boost. Brown is an excellent depth forward with experience and leadership potential. Dadonov could prove to be the same. Both players should take on bottom-six jobs with ease. New Jersey also held onto some of its own pending UFAs, keeping Jake Allen on a five-year contract (at a time when the scarcity of available goalies is an issue for other teams) and signing trade deadline acquisition Cody Glass to a two-year extension. That’s good. What Fitzgerald hasn’t done yet, and insists will be the number one priority from now on, is to get Luke Hughes, a restricted free agent, to sign a long-term contract. Fitzgerald acknowledged that there might be more that New Jersey could do this summer, such as improving their top six, but it can’t happen without figuring out where Hughes’ extension falls on the pay scale. So, stay tuned?New York Rangers
Key players added: D Vladislav Gavrikov, D Scott Morrow, F Taylor RaddyshKey players lost: D K’Andre MillerRemaining space in the salary cap: $777,976Overall rating: B New York came out of the gate strong, going after one of the best defensemen available on the open market in Gavrikov. General Manager Chris Drury handed out a seven-year, $49 million contract to Gavrikov, and that cost him the ability to keep Miller, a restricted free agent. Drury traded Miller to Carolina for draft picks and Morrow. It remains to be seen what kind of long-term implications there are in that agreement, for both parties, but at the time it was the only way Drury was getting Gavrikov into the mix. No risk, no reward. Drury’s other moves were more discreet, getting breakout star Will Cuylle to sign an extension and adding bottom-six forward Raddysh. The Rangers’ offseason will be defined by Gavrikov and how he fits into their blue line.Vegas Golden Knights
Key players added: D Jeremy Lauzon, F Mitch Marner, F Colton SissonsKey players lost: D Nicolas Hague, F Tanner Pearson, F Nicolas RoyRemaining space in the salary cap: None (projected $7,638,571 over)Overall rating: B Vegas was strategic in the sense that they re-signed Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith to one-year contracts to have mid-level forward depth. Moving on from Hague allowed them to get another depth forward with Sissons and another NHL defenseman in Lauzon. Then came the most important move of the summer: packaging Roy in the sign-and-trade deal for Marner, adding one of the NHL’s best stars to a team that remains among the top contenders in the West. As always, Kelly McCrimmon and the Knights’ front office found a way to make a blockbuster happen. The announcement that Alex Pietrangelo will miss next season, and possibly never play again, to recover from femur reconstruction surgery raises questions about what Vegas will do on defense, given the absence left by their number 1 defenseman.Caption: 1:49 Why Mitch Marner fits perfectly in Vegas. Greg Wyshynski reports on Mitch Marner’s trade from the Maple Leafs to the Golden Knights.Calgary Flames
Key players added: None
Key players lost: G Dan VladarRemaining space in the salary cap: $15,412,500Overall rating: B- Flames general manager Craig Conroy said that once the players his team was targeting in free agency were gone, there was no need to deviate from their original plan of relying on the team’s youth. Conroy added that he wanted to continue providing opportunities to the young Flames players, who he hopes will look at what they didn’t do on July 1st and think: “I’m going to work even harder this summer because I want to be part of that team.” Obviously, there’s a belief that the club’s local talent could make enough of a difference for the Flames to go from narrowly missing the 2025 playoffs to qualifying in 2026. It’s a prudent approach, not only because of the message it sends to its young players, but also because it allows them to spend their money on re-signing RFA forwards like Connor Zary along with Morgan Frost, who then signed a two-year extension worth $4.38 million annually.
