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While the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup celebration goes on (and on and on https://www.nhl.com/news/panthers-continue-celebration-with-beachfront-parade), front offices around the NHL are rolling up their sleeves for a busy couple of weeks including the start of free agency, the draft and surely some trades. Here’s what to look for:
Free agency
The annual feeding frenzy begins a week from today, on Canada Day, and non-thrifty teams will have some extra cash to throw around this year. The salary cap for next season is going up by $7.5 million US, to $95.5M. And, provided a new collective bargaining agreement is reached between the league and the players, the cap will rise to $113.5M by 2027-28.
A pair of Toronto Maple Leafs stars and three from the Stanley Cup champion Panthers headline the list of pending unrestricted free agents poised to cash in this summer.
Toronto’s Mitch Marner is the top player on the market after finishing fifth in scoring with a career-high 102 points this season. The 28-year-old added 13 points in 13 playoff games, but the Leafs fell to Florida in the second round and their fans put a lot of blame on Marner for the team’s chronic playoff failures. Some would prefer Toronto let the hometown star walk and use the savings to address their lack of depth.
The feeling could be mutual. Marner refused to negotiate an extension with the Leafs during the season, even though they were reportedly willing to give him an eight-year deal for $13.5 million per year at one point. On the other hand, Marner reportedly vetoed a trade that would have sent him to Carolina for Mikko Rantanen.
The Hurricanes have long been considered a top contender to land Marner in free agency, but more recently the Vegas Golden Knights seem to have emerged as the favourite to sign him. A return to the Leafs feels unlikely at this point.
Toronto could be saying goodbye to another hometown boy in John Tavares. The much-celebrated seven-year, $77-million contract that lured him from New York (remember those bedsheets? https://x.com/91tavares/status/1013468844034179072 ) never totally panned out for the Leafs, and Tavares surrendered the captaincy to Auston Matthews in an awkward public ceremony last summer. At 34, Tavares remains a productive and responsible player (he scored 38 goals this season) and seems to want to stay. But the Leafs are asking for a hometown discount, so something’s gotta give.
Florida is also in a bit of a bind with three players who were integral to their second consecutive championship eligible to become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
At the top of the list is gritty Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett, who followed his 25 goals in the regular season with 15 more to capture the playoff MVP award. All signs point to Bennett re-upping, and he all but promised it with his Wolf of Wall Street impression https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sam-bennett-hints-at-contract-extension-with-panthers/ at one of the Panthers’ (many) victory parties, but there’s no deal yet.
Brad Marchand proved to be the perfect trade-deadline pickup for Florida, scoring 10 goals in the playoffs while his prickly playing style meshed seamlessly with his new teammates. It seems like a great fit for both sides, but the Panthers don’t want to break the bank on a 37-year-old, so Marchand might have to take less to stay.
The guy who seems most likely to leave the Panthers is Aaron Ekblad. He led all Florida blue-liners with 13 playoff points and was second in ice time to Seth Jones (another great deadline pickup), but the Panthers don’t seem eager to get into a bidding war with him either.
Other impact players set to hit unrestricted free agency on July 1 include Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who had 24 goals for the Presidents’ Trophy winners despite missing 13 games; and Vancouver forward Brock Boeser, who had 40 goals in 2023-24 and was reportedly shopped at the trade deadline. Here’s more on the top UFAs from Sportsnet. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/nhls-top-12-ufas-of-2025-latest-rumours-reports/
July 1 is also an important date for the Edmonton Oilers as Connor McDavid becomes eligible for a contract extension that day. The world’s best player said he’s in no rush https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/connor-mcdavid-won-t-rush-contract-extension-says-winning-is-top-priority-for-oilers-superstar-1.7565924 to re-sign, putting pressure on Edmonton to get a deal done as he approaches unrestricted free agency next summer.
Trades
There have already been a few https://www.nhl.com/news/2024-25-nhl-trades this month, starting with the Rangers’ dealing one-time 52-goal goal scorer Chris Kreider to Anaheim. Last week, Dallas sent Mason Marchment (22 goals this season) to Seattle, and yesterday Philadelphia acquired talented but frustrating young forward Trevor Zegras from the Ducks.
Other notable names thought to be available via trade include Calgary defenceman Rasmus Andersson and goalies John Gibson (Anaheim) and Thatcher Demko (Vancouver), both of whom might be of interest to the netminder-needy Oilers.
The draft
The first round goes Friday night in Los Angeles, followed by rounds two through seven on Saturday.
The New York Islanders improbably landed the top pick, overcoming their 3.5 per cent odds in last month’s draft lottery. They claim they’re not interested in trading it, https://www.nhl.com/news/new-york-wont-trade-no-1-pick-in-2025-nhl-draft-mathieu-darche-says so expect them to take defenceman Matthew Schaefer of the OHL’s Erie Otters. The 17-year-old is the top-rated prospect despite his season ending in late December when he broke his collarbone while playing for Canada at the world junior championship.
Other top prospects include Canadian centre Michael Misa, who led all CHL players with 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games this season for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit (but for some reason was not invited to Canada’s world junior camp); and Swedish centre Anton Frondell, who played professionally in his country this season. Here’s a mock draft https://www.nhl.com/news/mock-2025-nhl-draft-opinions-vary-after-1st-4-picks from NHL.com.