The Carolina Hurricanes are the reigning Stanley Cup champions, and the rest of the league spent the summer trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Between blockbuster trades, a record-setting offer sheet, and a wave of big re-signings, the 2026 NHL offseason has been one of the most active in recent memory. Here’s a rundown of the moves that matter most.
Panthers reunite the Tkachuk brothers
Florida pulled off the offseason’s headline move, acquiring Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators to play alongside his brother Matthew. The price was steep: Ottawa landed the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the 2026 draft, a conditional 2029 first-rounder, and a 2027 second-round pick. Brady, Ottawa’s captain, had said just two months earlier that he was “fully committed” to the Senators, making the move a genuine surprise. For Florida, it’s the second time general manager Bill Zito has mortgaged draft capital for a Tkachuk brother, having done the same for Matthew back in 2022 — and both moves fit a Panthers roster that’s now built almost entirely around proven playoff performers.
A record-breaking offer sheet shakes up the Ducks
Restricted free agency rarely produces real drama, but the Philadelphia Flyers changed that when they signed Anaheim center Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million offer sheet on July 3 — an $18 million annual cap hit that would have made him the highest-paid player in NHL history. Anaheim had a week to match or lose Carlsson for four first-round picks, and general manager Pat Verbeek chose to match, calling him a franchise cornerstone. The contract is unusually front-loaded, built almost entirely around signing bonuses so that Carlsson collects nearly $20 million in year one alone — a structure designed specifically to make it painful for Anaheim to walk away. It’s only the second offer sheet the league has seen work its way to completion this offseason, after the Utah Mammoth matched a one-year deal for Barrett Hayton from the New Jersey Devils.
Maple Leafs land the No. 1 pick and stay aggressive
Toronto had one of the busier offseasons of any team, taking Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick in the draft, adding depth forward Jack Roslovic on a two-year deal, and signing pending free-agent defenseman Darren Raddysh in a sign-and-trade with Tampa Bay. The Leafs also moved out defenseman Brandon Carlo to St. Louis for a pair of 2026 third-round picks, continuing to retool the roster around their timeline for competing.
Golden Knights and Ducks make waves on draft night
Vegas stayed true to form, aggressively reshaping its forward group. The Golden Knights sent winger Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers for a 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 third-rounder, and a top-10-protected 2028 first-round pick — continuing an offseason pattern of Vegas swinging big regardless of the return skepticism it draws from rival executives. Anaheim, meanwhile, moved on from center Mason McTavish, sending him to St. Louis for two first-round picks after his role diminished during the Ducks’ playoff run. The trade freed up more than $44 million in cap space for Anaheim to work with as it looks to re-sign core pieces like Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Pavel Mintyukov and address a defense corps thinned out by free agency.
Blackhawks lock up Connor Bedard
Chicago made the biggest financial commitment of the restricted free agency period, signing franchise center Connor Bedard to a five-year extension worth $15 million annually. It’s a clear statement that the rebuild’s foundation is set, even as the Blackhawks continue adding complementary pieces around him.
The rest of a busy re-signing period
Beyond the headline names, teams spent the summer locking down their own free agents rather than letting the market dictate prices:
- The Dallas Stars re-signed restricted free agent Jason Robertson to a one-year, $12 million bridge deal, resolving one of the summer’s more lingering questions.
- The Philadelphia Flyers kept both Tyson Foerster (eight years, $7.1 million AAV) and Jamie Drysdale (four years, $6.5 million AAV) off the open market with extensions.
- The Montreal Canadiens retained restricted free agent center Kirby Dach on a one-year, $3.6 million deal.
- Veterans found new homes on modest, short-term contracts: Viktor Arvidsson to Detroit (two years, $5 million AAV), Jaden Schwartz to Colorado (three years, $3.25 million AAV), and Mats Zuccarello to Los Angeles (one year, $1 million).
- The Ottawa Senators, freed up by the Tkachuk trade, brought Claude Giroux back into the fold to help stabilize the room during the transition.
What it adds up to
The through-line of this offseason is a handful of contenders — Florida, Vegas, Toronto — spending draft capital aggressively to push their windows further open, while rebuilding teams like Anaheim and Ottawa cashed in proven veterans for picks and cap flexibility. Add in a genuinely rare offer-sheet saga that reset the market for young stars, and the league’s competitive picture for 2026-27 already looks meaningfully different than it did in June.
