I sort of forgot about my 2026 playoffs thread because a lot of life stuff happened at the same time so it got ignored for that but I'm starting a thread for the entire 2026-2027 season so I can post in here whenever I want about hockey stuff.


Mostly right now I'm focused on free agency and how much has happened over the last few days with signings and trades that I still kind of can't believe.


Signings:

John Carlson - 8.5x2 - Paying a 36 year old $8.5 per year is insane. I don't really care of it is. This is too much for a defenseman that age.

Ryan Shea - 5x4 - 29 year old coming off a +30 season on a pretty bad team is a good signing for Edmonton. They need this kind of player to replace Nurse (which I'll get to later). Love this signing for them.

Boone Jenner - 5.75x4 - This is another weird signing to me. Jenner has never been a great player and paying him almost $6M for 4 years when I don't think he has gotten more than 45 points a season is weird to me. He's a physical player who likely won't last to the end of this contract (he'll be 37).

Sergei Bobrovsky - 7x3 - This one is weird too. 3 years at $7M for a 37 year old goalie who had a down season and a "bounce-back" season is unlikely at this age is definitely odd. Sure he'll be good in the net as long as he stays healthy but this isn't a real solution in net for Toronto.

Jacob Trouba - 8.5x4 - I'm not sure who thought paying this pylon $8.5M per year for 4 years but San Jose decided they wanted to do that. Add in Nurse as another overpaid pylon and that defence core seems weird to me. Too much money for what you get from him.

Rasmus Andersson - 8.5x7 - I'm a little biased about this one but this is a pretty solid signing. I've liked Rasmus because of his days in Calgary and this is a good deal for Vegas. He and Hanifin will play together for years to come like they did in Calgary. And he'll be 36 when his contract is up and the cap will be much higher by then.

Tyson Foerster - 7.1x8 - I didn't know the name much as this guy is young but this is a safe bet on a young player who seems to be getting better and better. He hasn't had a big breakout season yet because he looked to be injured last year but 7.1M at 24 is a safe bet for Philly.

Mason Marchment - $6.75x5 - I'm so-so about this signing. I don't think Marchment will ever get over 50 points a season but he's a big body and tough to play against and if he can provide solid secondary scoring for San Jose while also protecting their young stars then he'll be worth every penny.

Eetu Luostarinen - $5x8 - this felt like an overpay when I looked at what he has done but he is a 2 time Stanley Cup champ and he is only 27 and the cap will continue to go up so this won't seem like a lot of money for a 3rd line center in a couple years. How Florida continues to be able to pay people the way they do is beyond me but they keep managing to make these kinds of deals.

Ivan Demidov - 9.13x8 - hard to look at this as anything but a good signing. He had a breakout season with 62 points and looked great in the playoffs. He'll keep getting better and will be 28 at the end of this contract so there is almost no risk of him getting worse at any time during that time frame. With the cap going up the cap hit is reasonable for a star player who hasn't quite proven himself as a superstar yet.

Nico Hischier - 11.7x5 - this feels like an overpay. I don't watch New Jersey play all that much so I don't see what he contributes most of the time but paying almost 12M for a guy who has only ever hit 80 points once in his career seems nuts. The only saving grace is that it's only a 5 year contract that puts him at 32 when it ends.

Bowen Byram - 12.5x6 - now this is probably going to go down as the worst signing of this free agency. I like Byram. He's a good defenseman but he is not worth more than Hughes, Makar, Werenski or Hedman. I think this contract will hurt Chicago. They've got the cap space for it right now but he's not a true #1 guy. I hope he proves me wrong because I want to see Chicago rebuild around Bedard (I got to watch him play live and he's fantastic).

Pavel Dorofeyev - 11x7 - this one felt like an overpay at first but a 25 year old who has put up 2 35+ goal seasons likely has more of those seasons to come. And the Rangers are desperate for goal scoring and this guy will play well alongside some of the Rangers playmakers.

Those are the more notable signings I've seen. There are always a TON but most of them don't really move the needle or matter.

I'm going to post again about some of the trades as I've already written a lot here.

Trades so far that are noteworthy (mostly since the playoffs ended).

Darren Raddysh (to TOR) - 2026 5th round pick (to Tampa Bay)

This trade is a big deal because of the season Raddysh had last year and the new contract he signed. $8.5x8 is what he signed after being traded. I don't think Tampa could have signed him for anything like that.

3 1st round picks + 1 2nd round pick (to OTT) - Brady Tkachuk (to FLO)

This was a pretty big trade. Another Tkachuk in Florida will be annoying for every other team to play against. I don't think this trade turns Florida into an unstoppable team but they will be tougher and more annoying to play against. Ottawa got a lot of picks to push their sort of rebuild forward.

Simon Nemec + Maksim Tsyplakov (to CGY) - 2 1st round picks + 2nd round pick (NJD)

I felt weird about this trade until I realized that Nemec is a 22 year old right-shot defenseman. As long as he sticks around long-term he'll be in the top 4 in Calgary for years to come and has lots of room for improvement.

Tsyplakov had a good season 2 years ago and can likely have another decent season given the time to play.

Eklund, Halttunen and Svoboda (to OTT) - 2026 1st round pick (to SJS)

I thought SJS lost this trade until they made their picks and then I think they won it. I like Eklund and he'll be a great pickup for Ottawa. I think both teams got better because of this.

Jordan Kyrou (to WSH) - McMichael, Gastrin and 1st round pick (to STL)

This feels like a good trade for both. Kyrou needed a change of scenery for sure. And St. Louis needed to get away from him and make a change. I think both win this trade.

Byram, Greenway (to CHI) - Crevier, 1st round pick, 2nd round pick (to BUF)

I think this trade is great. The price for Byram was pretty on point. And Greenway is a good guy to have on a team with young stars that could use a bit of protection. The contract Byram got is insane (which I talked about before) but this trade was good.

Kampf, 2026 3rd round pick (to BUF) - Alex Tuch (to WSH)

This trade seems reasonable. The contract Tuch got was insane. $10.5M for Tuch is too much. He's good but he's more like 8-9M. The cap going up will likely make this contract not too bad long term but it still isn't great to me. I wouldn't have signed him for that.

JJ Peterka (to BOS) - 3 1st round picks (to Utah)

This feels like an overpay. Peterka is a good player and fills a hole for Boston. He's only 24 and has room to improve. He could easily be a 30+ goal scorer. Still feels like 3 1st round picks were too much to pay though.

Pavel Dorofeyev (to NYR) - 2 1st's and 1 3rd (to VGK)

How Dorofeyev is only 2 1st's and a 3rd and Peterka is 3 1st's doesn't make sense to me. Dorofeyev is definitely worth 2 1st's. He's a proven goal scorer and will help New York a lot.

2 1sts's (to ANA) - Mason McTavish (to STL)

2 1st's for Mason McTavish doesn't feel like it was worth it. He's a good player but I don't know if I would pay that much for him. I think he is replacing Kyrou but I don't know if I would make this trade.

Boqvist, Rodigues, Steeves (to NJD) - Markstrom, Crookshank (to FLO)

Why do people keep sending players to Florida?!?!?!?!? I'm not saying Markstrom will be good enough to get Florida another cup. He is kind of notorious for choking at this point but Florida is a good enough team to hide his flaws. At least Florida had to give up some forwards who have contributed the last few years in order to get a goalie which might make them easier to play against.

Nurse (to SJS) - Mukhamadullin, Sharp (to EDM)

The fact that Edmonton got out from under the Nurse contract without retaining salary is insane to me. They seem to have gotten a decent 3rd-line D back and they signed Shea to probably cover Nurse actual minutes and saved several million in doing so. That might help Edmonton turn things around and have a better year this year.

Those are some of the bigger trades that have happened recently. There were some that I think will be more impactful than some expect but a player for a pick trade doesn't really get a lot of conversation going.

Boy I can't wait to have Skinner in a Jets Jersey, and there are rumors that Hellebuyck will be traded (I hope that's all it is...a rumor)

classgame : well, with Skinner as a Jet you don't need any other goalies. He'll play all 82 games and get 82 shutouts!

Oh wait, I'm not actually an oilers fan from a couple years ago....

geeogree : yeah I heard they were aiming to make him a back up (might as well Comrie is a shark now)

classgame : yeah, he's a decent backup. I wouldn't trust him for much else at this point.

It isn't the worst signing in the world as long as expectations are balanced.

It's been like 5 days since anyone else posted in here and I want to make updates!

I covered just July 1st since that is the "big" day of free agency. There has been a lot happening since then so I'm going to go through both signings and trades from the 2nd to the 6th but only the big stuff.

Alex Ovechkin - $9x1 - I like this one only because I'm pretty sure he is going for the combined goal total which I think he is only 21 behind Gretzky. He could easily break that total this year. And it sounds like this deal is structured so that he only uses $4.5M of this years cap and the rest is bonuses that affect next year. Interesting structure to give him 1 more year.

Jakub Dobes - $5.3x3 - I think this is a great signing. Good money for a young but seemingly established goalie. If he continues to play well he can resign in 3 years for even more money. Feels like a win-win for both sides.

Leo Carlsson - $18x5 - this one has been blowing up ever since it happened. This was an offer sheet from the Flyers that has yet to be matched. It would give Anaheim 4 first round picks if they don't match it. If they do it would really mess with their salary cap flexibility over the next 5 years and it's also going to mess with salary negotiations for other top end players going forward. He isn't worth this money yet but the contract now exists and will be used as leverage by some players. I don't think paying $18M for any player under the current cap levels is a good recipe for winning so I'm confused why teams would do this unless it is designed to screw over other teams.

Mavrik Bourque - $5.5x6 - this is a good signing for this guy. He's only 24 and put up 20 and 21 last year. That was on Dallas and now he's in Nashville so who knows how that will affect him. Still, $5.5 for what is likely a 2C at only 24 is pretty low risk. He'll keep getting better and cost less against the cap each year.

Pavel Mintyukov - $7.2x5 - this is a good signing for this kid. He's only 22 and he is already a well established top4 D. Just like Bourque, this contract will just look better and better as the cap goes up and he improves his game. Plus, he's already played almost 200 games so you can feel pretty confident you know what you're getting.

Egor Chinakhov - $6.25x3 - I don't think I had heard of this guy before I went through this list. I think the dollars are a tiny bit high for this guy but the term makes up for it. Still pretty low risk but a lot of money for someone who has hit 20 and 20 only once in his career.

Simon Nemec - $7.25x5 - I hadn't really heard about this guy until Calgary traded for him but from what I know this seems to be a really fair contract for him. He'll be 27 by the end of it and you'll know just how good he has become at that point and you aren't paying too high a price for a top 4 D. He's the exact kind of guy you need as part of a rebuilding team.


As for trades since I last posted:

Trocheck (to UTH) Durzi, Beaudoin, 3rd round pick (to NYR)

Utah gets an experienced veteran player who has put up 50+ points multiples times in exchange for what appears to be a 5th top4 guy on that team. With him out of the way it looks like Utah now has a balanced top 4 group. And the Rangers fill out their top4 by the looks of it. Seems like a pretty balanced trade for both teams. They each get something they need.

Pettersson D (to NYR) 1st round pick (to VAN)

This is the other top4 D that the Rangers picked up at basically the same time as Durzi. All it cost was a top10 protected 1st round pick from 2030. Not a bad price to pay honestly.

Kolesar (to DET) 3rd round, 7th round picks (to VGK)

I'm happy about this trade mostly because it gets Kolesar out of the West. He was a pain to play against and Detroit should be happy to have him. He isn't the most productive player but he's a pest and he'll help give Detroit some grit and toughness. And not too expensive to get either.

Coleman, Maatta (to MIN), Middleton, 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks (to CGY)

I sort of see this as 2 trades. 1 is Maatta for Middleton. Almost no difference in the 2 as players. Contract wise Calgary gets an extra year and slightly more money but with Coleman going they save on his contract as well. The big thing I think is that Middleton is an Alberta boy and that makes him more likely to resign in Calgary than Maatta. I didn't see Maatta sticking around. The 2nd trade is Coleman for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks. I think this is fair for what Coleman is. He's a 20 goal scorer on a bad team. He might do better if he plays with some of the Wild's better players or if he plays lower in the lineup he'll still contribute but likely not as noticeably on the scoresheet.

There haven't been any trades since July 2nd when this last trade happened and the signings have slowed down in the last couple days as well. Most stuff happened on the 1st and 2nd. There are still plenty of players available so hopefully there is enough to keep things interesting through July at the very least.

It's been 9 days since I've posted since things have slowed down but I wanted to catch up on some more stuff that has happened.

Claude Giroux - $5 x 1 - not a bad price for a veteran who has put up 50 points over the last 2 seasons and 60-70 for the 2 before that. I think some of the contract is bonus related which will push into the next year. Pretty good deal for Ottawa.

Peyton Krebs - $4.5 x 4 - Feels a bit pricey for a guy who hasn't put up more than 40 points. With the cap going up and with his age the risk is pretty low but still seems like a small overpay for now.

Braden Schneider - $5.5 x 1 - 24 years old, has played 80+ games the last 4 seasons and averaged 20 minutes per game last season. Very low risk signing for the Rangers.

Nicholas Robertson - $3.2 x 2 - 24 year old that put up 30 points last year and probably has room to improve. He might benefit from paying with Malkin or Crosby this year as well. It's a fine signing. He probably won't amount to a ton even in Pittsburgh but it likely won't ruin them either.

Anthony Mantha - $4.75 x 2 - Not a bad price to pay for a 31 goal scorer. The real question is do you get the 30 goal scorer or do you get the guy who disappears?

Cole Perfetti - $6 x 5 - 24 year old who hasn't put up more than 20 goals and maxxed out at 50 points gets 6M for 5 years? I'm skeptical. I like him and I hope he can do better as he gets older but it still seems like a fairly big investment into a guy who hasn't really proven it yet.

Trevor Zegras - $9.125 x 4 - $9M for 67 points feels like an overpay. He's only 25 and has had a bounce back year in Philly and it's only 4 years but I don't know. It could be worse (like 18M for basically the same points).

Connor McMichael - $6.75 x 6 - another contract that feels like an overpay but will likely not be so bad as the cap goes up. Seems like a big payday for 1 season over 50 points. That's the risk you have for signing players in their mid 20's who haven't totally established themselves.


The other notable thing that happened recently was that Yzerman stepped down as GM of the Detroit Red Wings. Apparently he is taking a different job with the team and they are going to get a new GM. Not surprised as they've missed the playoffs the entire time he was their GM and it doesn't look promising that they will break that drought any time soon.

Jamie Drysdale - $6.4x4 - this looks like a great contract for a 24 year old top 4 right-shot defenseman. Right shot defenseman are hard to come by so I'm not surprised he got this deal. Also, he probably opted for the shorter deal so he can resign when the cap has gone up significantly and he can get an 8 year deal for big money then.

Connor Bedard - $15x5 - I'm not surprised by this contract but there is part of me that doesn't think he is worth it. As a percentage of the cap it isn't the worst contract for sure. I just wonder if Bedard has proven he is worth $15M. He is close to a point a game player on a pretty bad team. I hope he can get more players around him that can help Chicago become better. His numbers look to be better each year so that is a good sign that this contract will be fine.

John Marino - $6.75x8 - Less than $7M for a 29 year old right shot defenseman is a pretty good deal. And by the time his contract is in the last year or 2 the cap will be significantly higher making this deal seem reasonable even if he regresses somewhat. Hopefully he can remain a fixture as a top 4 guy in Utah and help them continue to improve and be a contender soon.

Nothing else noteworthy happened. No big trades and the other signings are nobodies really...

I won't be surprised if we have some more big name RFA's signing sooner than later if they would be eligible for offer sheets after what happened with Carlsson. I expect to see more of those contracts to come this summer.

Jason Robertson - $12x1 - this is a big signing for Dallas as they get to keep Robertson for another year which extends them as a contender. It also means that Jason Robertson is a UFA at the end of this contract. This means he can go to any team that is willing to sign him. It also means that Dallas could re-sign Robertson next year and have more cap wiggle room available with Tyler Seguin's contract coming off and the cap going up. This will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Patrick Kane - $8x2 - This is probably a good contract for Chicago. It gives them an experienced superstar who had a lot of success in Chicago and someone to possibly mentor Bedard. It's also a short contract that will likely be low risk. It seems like a lot of money for his likely contribution in goals/points but Chicago needs good players to improve their team and Kane should help with that. And, Kane with Bedard (I'm assuming they'll play together) would be a pretty good combo.

Patrick Greaves - $5x3 - this is probably a good contract for this guy. He's the #1 guy in Columbus and had a good year last year. He has 3 years to prove he's legit and not just a 1 off but without paying too much for it. He'll be a UFA at the end so he'll be able to really cash in if he has 3 good seasons.

It is nice to still be getting some good contracts and activity. I'm curious to see how things play out with potential trade targets like Larkin. I expect he'll be on a new team to start the next season unless Yzerman being gone has changed how he feels about staying. I haven't heard anything about that yet.

Huge signing just happened recently.

Macklin Celebrini - $18.8x5 - I didn't expect someone to already pass the Leo Carlsson contract right away but here we go. If there is someone at 20 who is worth this kind of contract it is this kid. He scored 45 goals and had 115 points in his 2nd full year in the league. I like the contract even if it does sound like a way too big contract. The kid is worth it from what I've seen.

And the cap will go up by about 19 million over the next 2 years so this contract won't be hurting anything for the team. And San Jose has a bunch of extra things coming off their cap after this year that will really free them up to make big moves. I could also see a lot more players being willing to play in San Jose with the team that they are building. They aren't ready to be a contender yet because their defence isn't ready and their goaltending isn't solid yet but they are definitely on the way up as a team.

Other than this signing nothing significant happened in the last few days. This one was so big I wanted to post about it.