Brock Boeser stayed put in Vancouver. The New York Rangers landed free agency's top defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. And Nikolaj Ehlers is taking his time before determining his future.
The frenzy of multiple signings when NHL free agency opened Tuesday was tempered by a free agent class thinned by teams making pre-emptive moves to keep top talent.
“The list wasn’t deep,” Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said, before assessing how active he intended to be in the coming days. “No, I would say that where we’re at now, we’re comfortable with where we’re at if you look at our group here.”
That group includes defenseman Ivan Provorov, who was signed to a seven-year, $59.5 million contract.
Taking advantage of a record $7.5 million jump in the salary cap, the Vegas Golden Knights landed the biggest prize in a sign-and-trade deal to acquire Mitch Marner on Monday. On the same day, the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers used "home-Cup" advantage to re-sign defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Brad Marchand.
“It’s easy to want to stay here, and then the culture of winning is just a huge draw,” Ekblad said. “We’ve all been taken care of very well.”
Boeser, a six-time 20-goal-scorer, elected to stay in Vancouver by agreeing to a seven-year, $50.75 million contract a half-hour into the signing period.
Soon after, the Rangers signed Gavrikov to a seven-year contract worth $49 million, according to a person familiar with the agreement. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
California's three franchises were the most active, shelling out more than $60 million in salaries combined. And that included Corey Perry’s return to Southern California, this time with the rival Los Angeles Kings after spending the first 14 seasons in Anaheim.
“Now they’ve got to get on my side, and hopefully we can do that early,” the 40-year-old said of winning over Kings fans accustomed to booing him.
The Ducks missed out on the biggest names in free agency despite billionaire owner Henry Samueli’s guarantee of a blank check but still added consistent scoring forward Mikael Granlund to a team that finished 30th in the NHL in goals last season. The Finnish veteran signed a three-year deal worth $21 million.
San Jose, which entered the day $20 million below the salary cap floor, got a little closer by signing defenseman John Klingberg to a $4 million contract for next season.
“Probably a little bit of the uncertainty with the cap going up and everyone having money to spend, I think teams were just a little bit more comfortable probably with their own players,” Sharks GM Mike Grier said in assessing the market.
As the dust settled, the top players available six hours in were Ehlers, fellow wingers Andrew Mangiapane and Anthony Beauvillier and defenseman Dmitry Orlov. Ehlers, who scored 20 or more goals in eight of his 10 seasons in Winnipeg, has informed teams he might take a day or two to decide where he'll sign.
Several teams turned to the trade route to improve their rosters, with the Bruins acquiring winger Viktor Arvidsson from Edmonton for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
A division-by-division look:
New Jersey re-signed backup goaltender Jake Allen for $9 million over five years and added winger Connor Brown for four years at $12 million.
“He’s fast — he’s one of the quickest guys in the league,” Allen said of Brown. “We need that. We need that second-, third-line offense, that speed that sort of adds to what we have right now.”
Philadelphia filled its center void by signing Christian Dvorak for $5.4 million for next season and also got a goalie in a thin market, signing Dan Vladar for $6.7 million over two years.
The Islanders signed forward Jonathan Drouin to a two-year, $8 million contract, and also landed goalie David Rittich to back up Ilya Sorokin.
Carolina signed young forward Logan Stankoven to an eight-year extension worth $48 million. Stankoven, acquired from Dallas at the trade deadline as part of the return for Mikko Rantanen, will count $6 million against the cap from 2026-2034.
The Rangers re-signed restricted free agent forward Will Cuylle to a two-year contract worth $7.8 million, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced.
The Panthers also re-signed fourth-liner Tomas Nosek for the league-minimum $775,000 and shored up their backup goalie spot by signing recently acquired Daniil Tarasov for $1.05 million.
Boston signed rugged forward Tanner Jeannot to a five-year, $17 million contract.
The Buffalo Sabres were shopping defenseman Bowen Byram, while adding goaltending depth in Alex Lyon, and signing restricted free agent Ryan McLeod to a four-year, $20 million contract.
St. Louis got bigger up front by signing Nick Bjugstad for $3.5 million over the next two years. The Blues also sent forward Zachary Bolduc to Montreal for defenseman Logan Mailloux in a swap of 2021 first-round picks.
The Utah Mammoth signed defenseman Nate Schmidt to a three-year, $10.5 million deal. He’s a 12-year veteran who won a Cup in Florida this season. Utah also signed forward Brandon Tanev to a three-year contract worth $7.5 million.
Center Radek Faksa returned to Dallas, where he spent his first nine NHL seasons, by signing a three-year, $6 million deal after playing in St. Louis last year.
Two-time Stanley Cup winner Nico Sturm returned to his original team on a two-year, $4 million contract that gives the Wild some needed depth at center. The 30-year-old from Germany spent parts of four seasons with Minnesota before being traded to eventual champion Colorado in 2022, and also won the Cup last month with Florida.
Ken Holland began placing his stamp on the Kings in his new role as general manager with five free agent additions. Aside from Perry, the Kings also signed defensemen Cody Ceci (four years, $18 million) and Brian Dumoulin (three years, $12 million), and forwards Anton Forsberg and Joel Armia.
Seattle signed defenseman Ryan Lindgren for four years and $18 million.
The Canucks also reached agreements in re-signing goalie Thatcher Demko to a three-year, $25.5 million contract extension and forward Conor Garland to a six-year, $36 million contract extension.
___
AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds, Greg Beacham and Dave Campbell, and AP freelance writer Denis Gorman contributed.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
