NHL training camps and the preseason are around the corner, and teams are still getting their rosters in shape.
What has happened during the offseason?
There were trades made and unrestricted and restricted free agents re-signed. Salary arbitration hearings were scheduled from July 20 to Aug. 4, although players and teams settled beforehand in all 11 cases.
More moves are likely. Players whose contracts run out after the 2025-26 season are eligible to sign contract extensions at any time.
Here is a look at the latest signings, trades and other news that have happened since the initial surge of movement in late June and early July:
Sept. 13: Blackhawks’ Spencer Knight gets extension
Goalie Spencer Knight, acquired from the Panthers last season, will average $5.83 million in his three-year extension. The deal runs through 2029-30. He is moving into a No. 1 role after coming over in the Seth Jones trade from Florida, where he had backed up Sergei Bobrovsky. Knight will face the Panthers on the Oct. 7 opening night of the 2025-26 season.
Sept. 13: Kings’ Corey Perry has knee surgery
Kings free agent signee Corey Perry had knee surgery on Friday and being injured while skating during training, the team announced Saturday. He’ll miss six to eight weeks, which could keep him out for the first month of the season. The Kings open play on Oct. 7. Perry received a one-year, $2 million contract and can earn another $2 million in bonuses.
Sept. 12: Penguins sign Marc-Andre Fleury to tryout agreement
The Penguins signed retired goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to a professional tryout agreement. He will practice with the team on Sept. 26 and play part of the team’s home preseason game on Sept. 27. Fleury won three Stanley Cup titles with the Penguins before later playing for the Golden Knights, Blackhawks and Wild. He ranks second all-time in goalie wins.
‘Marc means so much to our team, our fans and the City of Pittsburgh because of the person he is and the example he set,’ Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said in a statement. ‘The Penguins feel he and his family are most-deserving of this opportunity to celebrate this full-circle moment back where it all started in front of the black and gold faithful.”
Sept. 11: Alexandar Georgiev signs with Sabres
The goaltender gets a one-year, $825,000 contract after splitting last season between the Avalanche and Sharks. He was an All-Star with Colorado in 2024 but struggled at the start of 2024-25 and was traded to San Jose. He finished with a 3.71 goals-against average and .871 save percentage. Georgiev is the second goalie signed by the Sabres this offseason after adding Alex Lyon. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the No. 1 goalie last season, but he has tweaked something, according to The Athletic. Devon Levi also is in the system.
Sept. 9: Dustin Wolf re-signs with Flames
Wolf was overlooked for the USA Hockey Olympic orientation session, but he got a lucrative contract extension from Calgary. He’ll average $7.5 million in the seven-year deal. Wolf finished second in rookie of the year voting after going 29-16-8 with a .910 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average.
Aug. 21: Frank Nazar signs extension with Blackhawks
The Blackhawks saw enough after 56 games to make Nazar, 21, the highest-paid player on the team – for the moment. The nearly $6.6 million cap hit in his seven-year extension, which kicks in during the 2026-27 season, will move him past Tyler Bertuzzi ($5.5 million).
Nazar, a 2022 first-round pick and former University of Michigan center, had 26 points in 53 games in 2024-25 after being recalled from the American Hockey League in December. The extension continued his run of good news. He helped the United States win gold at the world championships for the first time since 1933 and he has been invited to USA Hockey’s Olympic orientation session.
Chicago’s Connor Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick of 2023, is also eligible for an extension and almost certainly will top Nazar’s number.
Aug. 20: Victor Olofsson signs with Avalanche
Olofsson signed a one-year deal with Colorado worth $1.575 million, according to puckpedia.com. He played last season with the Vegas Golden Knights and had three 20-goal seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. The winger will provide secondary scoring after the Avalanche traded Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood this summer.
Also: Utah Mammoth goaltender Connor Ingram was cleared by the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program to return to the NHL. He went into the program in March.
Aug. 19: Milan Lucic signs tryout agreement with Blues
Lucic, 37, will try an NHL comeback, coming to St. Louis’ training camp on a professional tryout agreement. He last played in October 2023 and entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. He has been cleared by the program, the Blues said. During his prime, Lucic was a key power forward and won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. His numbers had dropped off in recent seasons.
Aug. 18: Hudson Fasching signs with Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets added forward depth by signing Hudson Fasching to a one-year deal. It’s a two-way contract, meaning he’d make less if sent to the American Hockey League. Fasching, 30, played for the New York Islanders the past three seasons and has 40 points in 175 career NHL games with three teams.
Also: The Colorado Avalanche signed University of New Hampshire defenseman Alex Gagne to a two-year, entry-level contract. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder was team captain last season, had a career-best 17 points and led the Wildcats with 62 blocked shots.
Aug. 15: Travis Hamonic signs with Red Wings
Hamonic is getting a one-year deal at $1 million. The veteran depth addition likely will play in the bottom defense pairing. He ranked second on the Ottawa Senators last season in blocked shots per 60 minutes and also killed penalties. Detroit will be his fifth NHL team. Hamonic, who turns 35 on Aug. 16, has 53 goals and 242 points in 900 career games.
Aug. 10: Jack Johnson signs tryout agreement with Wild
The 38-year-old defenseman will go to camp as a tryout in a bid for a 20th NHL season. He played 41 games last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wild might be without defenseman Jonas Brodin at the beginning of the season, according to The Athletic.
Also: The Kraken agreed to terms with defenseman Ryker Evans for two years at a $2.05 million average. He ranked fourth among Seattle blueliners with 25 points and was first with 123 hits.
Aug. 9: Nathan Bastian signs with Stars
He’ll get a one-year, $775,000 contract and add depth to the forward group. Bastian had played all but 12 games of his NHL career with the New Jersey Devils and ranked third among New Jersey regulars last season with 12.83 hits per 60 minutes. He has career totals of 33 goals, 68 points and 190 penalty minutes in 276 regular season games between the Devils and Seattle Kraken.
Aug. 8: Two-time Stanley Cup winner Kyle Clifford retires
Clifford, who won Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings, is retiring after 13 NHL seasons. The NHL Players’ Association said he would move into a player development role with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Clifford had two stints with the Leafs and finished his playing career in the organization with the American Hockey League’s Marlies. He also played for the St. Louis Blues and finished with 66 goals, 144 points and 905 penalty minutes in 753 NHL games.
Aug. 8: Avalanche re-sign Joel Kiviranta
Kiviranta is sticking around for a third season in Colorado by signing a one-year deal. Terms weren’t released. The bottom-six forward had 16 goals last season.
Aug. 2: Nick Robertson settles before arbitration hearing
All 11 players who filed for salary arbitration settled their cases before their hearings, with the Maple Leafs and Robertson the last to do so. Here are the new contracts the players agreed to, listed alphabetically.
Morgan Barron (Winnipeg Jets): Two years, $3.7 million.
Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks): Five years, $32.5 million.
Drew Helleson (Anaheim Ducks): Two years, $2.2 million.
Kaapo Kakko (Seattle Kraken). Three years, $13.575 million.
Nick Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs). One year, $1.825 million.
Dylan Samberg (Winnipeg Jets): Three years, $15.75 million.
Arvid Soderblom (Chicago Blackhawks): Two years, $5.5 million.
Jayden Struble (Montreal Canadiens): Two years, $2.825 million.
Conor Timmins (Buffalo Sabres): Two years, $4.4 million.
Maxim Tsyplakov (New York Islanders): Two years, $4.5 million.
Gabriel Vilardi (Winnipeg Jets): Six years, $45 million.
July 31: Sabres’ Devon Levi re-signs for two years
He’ll average $812,500 in the deal and is the final restricted free agent who needed to re-sign. He has had back-to-back solid seasons in the American Hockey League. With the Buffalo Sabres signing Alex Lyon this summer, Levi is expected to spend more time in the AHL for now.
July 28: Nicklas Backstrom signs deal in Sweden
The former Capitals star, 37, is returning to hockey by signing a deal to play for Brynas for the first time since 2006-07. He had played 1,105 NHL games in between, recording 1,033 points. But he had missed all of last season and most of 2023-24 while recovering from 2022 hip surgery.
July 17: Maple Leafs acquire Dakota Joshua from Canucks
Vancouver receives a 2028 fourth-round pick. Joshua will likely slot in the Maple Leafs’ bottom six forwards. He had a career-best 18 goals and 32 points in 2023-24 but missed the beginning of last season after having surgery for testicular cancer. He finished with 14 points in 57 games. He originally was drafted by the Maple Leafs but never played for them.
July 17: Blue Jackets’ Yegor Chinakhov requests trade
Yegor Chinakhov, a former first-round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, has asked for a trade.
The agent for Chinakhov posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the trade request.
“I had some misunderstandings with the coach during the season,” read the post quoting Chinakhov. “Now I would be glad to have a trade. I would like to move to a different location. Will I return to Russia? As long as I can play in the NHL, I will keep developing here.”
Chinakhov, who was selected with the No. 21 overall selection in 2020, missed nearly half of last season with a back injury, an issue that also sidelined him for the final 17 games in the previous season. – Joey Kaufman, Columbus Dispatch
July 15: Sabres re-sign Bowen Byram for two years
The defenseman will average $6.25 million in the deal. He was considered a candidate for an offer sheet but the Sabres reportedly filed for arbitration to prevent that. He ranked third among Sabres defensemen in average ice time and third with 38 points. The cap hit makes him the third highest paid defenseman on the team behind Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
