No. 1 defencemen and No. 1 goalies. Bridge candidates and future superstars who need to be locked up before the big breakout.
The 2025 class of impending restricted free agents offers a little bit of everything enticing.
And although several potential RFAs avoided drama and uncertainty by signing well before July 1 (the Rangers’ Alexis Lafreniere, Dallas’s Jake Oettinger, Minnesota’s Brock Faber, St. Louis’s Jake Neighbours, Utah’s Dylan Guenther, Vancouver’s Nils Höglander chief among them), plenty of intriguing young names remain unsigned for next season.
As these RFAs look to bank off their platform campaigns and managers wonder how to spend their dollars against a spiking salary cap, plenty of tense negotiations (or a couple of trades?) are still on deck.
The situations in New York, Edmonton and Anaheim are particularly compelling.
Here’s where things stand with the top 12 RFAs of 2025, with the trade deadline set for March 7.
Age on July 1: 25
Position: Defence
2024-25 salary cap hit: $3.9 million
Arbitration rights: Yes
Bargaining chips: Top-10 draft pick. Right shot. Releaser of the Bouch Bomb. Key power-play contributor. Stanley Cup finalist. Followed an 82-point regular season with 32 points in a 25-game playoff run. Holds the record for most assists by a D-man in one playoff year (26).
The latest: The Edmonton Oilers haven’t dressed such a productive offensive defenceman since Paul Coffey, and Bouchard’s performance in 2023-24 — particularly come the post-season — has set him up to flip his bridge deal into a whopper.
“Nothing on that yet,” Oilers GM Stan Bowman told reporters in the pre-season. “He’s still a very big priority for our team, he had a fantastic season, he’s a great player, and I think his best years are still ahead of him. We’ll probably get to that at some point.”
Bouchard’s pricy extension took a back seat to that of Leon Draisaitl’s over the off-season, and Connor McDavid’s raise lies around the corner.
Bowman knows he must squeeze in another superstar salary on the back end (somewhere in the $10.5-million range?) for Bouchard, which is partly why St. Louis’s offer sheets for Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway were successful.
Every season is now “Cap or Bust” in Northern Alberta.
2. Noah Dobson
Age on July 1: 25
Position: Defence
2024-25 salary cap hit: $4 million
Arbitration rights: Yes
Bargaining chips: Right-shot blueliner with tremendous vision. Top-12 draft pick. One of two Islanders defencemen to record 60 assists in a single season. First Isles D-man to hit 70 points since Denis Potvin. Logged 24:30 per night in 2023-24, tops among all pending RFAs. Seldom takes penalties.
The latest: General manager Lou Lamoriello got ahead of his most important RFAs, forward Mathew Barzal and goaltender Ilya Sorokin, in off-seasons past. But Dobson has entered 2024-25, the final year of his bridge pact, with uncertainty in the air.
The aging Islanders can ill afford not to invest in young talent.
“He’s growing every year,” Lamoriello said of his power-play QB. “And I think that there’s no ceiling to his potential.
“Every year that you have success, certainly you get recognized a little bit more and you get a little more attention. But there’s no question that the sky is the limit.”
Should Lamoriello go long-term here, we could be looking at an eight-year deal nearing $8 million per season. Dobson should soon become the highest-paid player on the team’s back end.
Age on July 1: 22
Position: Centre
2024-25 salary cap hit: $894,167
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: First-round pick. Right-shot centreman. Named to the 2023 All-Rookie Team. Most goals by a teenager in Dallas Stars history. 106 points in the first 164 NHL games. Elevates in the post-season. Perfect NHL attendance.
The latest: Johnston entered his age-21 platform campaign having already piled up 14 goals and 22 points in 38 playoff games. He has rapidly become a play-driver for a contending club.
GM Jim Nill has a track record of getting his RFAs locked up for fair rates (the lack of state tax doesn’t hurt, surely) and started with Oettinger.
Johnston should be next on the list, but raises for Nill’s other young studs — Jason Robertson, Thomas Harley and Logan Stankoven (all due after 2025-26) — lurk around the corner and must be considered when planning long-term.
Matty Benier’s recent extension in Seattle ($7.14 million times seven years) could be a smart comparable for Johnston, should Nill opt for term. Otherwise, a mid-term bridge could be the play. That’s the route the Stars went with Robertson after his 40-goal breakout.
“We eventually want to sit down,” Nill told The Athletic. “Do they want to talk this year? We’d love to. Maybe they just want to go play. We’ll figure that out.”
4. Luke Hughes
Age on July 1: 21
Position: Defence
2024-25 salary cap hit: $925,000
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Fourth-overall draft pick. Legit hockey family. World junior medallist. Already repped Team USA twice at world championships. Calder finalist. Named to 2024 NHL All-Rookie Team. EA Sports coverboy. Impressive 47-point rookie campaign and instant top-four D-man in the pros.
The latest: After hiring a new coach and making a ton of UFA noise in the summer of ’24, New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald’s top priority is now clear: Get Hughes locked up for a team-friendly rate.
The Devils did just that with Hughes’ older brother, Jack, and a great long-term comparable for Luke emerged when fellow 2024 Calder Trophy finalist Brock Faber re-upped in Minnesota for eight years at $8.5 million per season.
Such a deal would elevate Luke’s salary over Jack’s $8 million, which is excellent value.
Luke underwent off-season shoulder surgery, missing the first few weeks of his platform campaign.
5. John-Jason Peterka
Age on July 1: 23
Position: Centre
2024-25 salary cap hit: $855,833
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: 2022 AHL All-Rookie Team. Silver medallist and Best Forward at the 2023 world championships. Superb skater. Sniper. Career-high 28 goals and 50 points in 2023-24.
The latest: In the case of multiple RFAs who have shown early promise — Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelson — Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has tried to get ahead of a breakout by locking up his young players for significant term.
A scorer in the ballpark of Guenther’s capabilities, Peterka — one of the great bargain deals of 2023-24 — could be looking for an AAV north of $7 million, should Adams wish to buy up some UFA years.
Failing that, a bridge deal would be the easier route.
Adams maintains that he is philosophically open to buying term, betting that the AAV would benefit the team against a rising cap.
“We’re always open. We’ve done it before, but we’ve also gone the other way,” Adams said, cautiously. “It’s always about what’s right for us and what’s right for the player.”
6. Fabian Zetterlund
Age on July 1: 25
Position: Left wing
2024-25 salary cap hit: $1.45 million
Arbitration rights: Yes
Bargaining chips: World junior silver medallist. 2024 world championship medallist. Ripped 24 goals and added 20 assists in 2023-24, his first full NHL season. Leading goal-getter for San Jose. Rebuilding Sharks need to keep all legit 20-something talent. Can deadlift 600 pounds.
The latest: General manager Mike Grier doesn’t have any re-signing priorities higher than Zetterlund, who enters the final season of his bridge pact as his club’s most prolific finisher.
Another productive showing in Silicon Valley should establish the Swede as a fixture of San Jose’s core.
Because Grier has shed so much salary in (a successful) attempt to win the draft lottery and stock up on young talent, cap space is of little concern and there is no reason not to attempt a long-term deal here.
With Zetterlund off to a strong start and striking a tight friendship with teammate William Eklund, we would be surprised if the sides can’t reach common ground before the bargain winger nears expiry on June 30.
7. Mason McTavish
Age on July 1: 22
Position: Centre
2024-25 salary cap hit: $894,167
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Third-overall draft pick. Olympian. 2022 world junior gold medallist, MVP and author of the “McTavish Miracle.” Consecutive 40-point seasons in the NHL. Key piece of Anaheim Ducks’ future.
The latest: The seven-year, $49-million contract Pat Verbeek issued young RFA centre Troy Terry in 2023 might tell us something about the type of deal the Ducks GM may wish to strike with McTavish, the next young stud centre on his to-do list.
The Terry deal took time to come together, however, and Verbeek’s other high-profile forward, Trevor Zegras, settled for less money and less term.
The executive has cap space to play with but is mindful of the number of players he’ll have knocking at his door for raises. He has a track record of patience, playing out situations where he holds the hammer.
“It’s on the radar,” Verbeek stated, when asked about potential extensions for players whose contracts will expire next summer. “We go through our process with the timing of it all. It’ll certainly be something that we look at.”
A comparable for McTavish’s next contract could be Quinton Byfield’s recent five-year extension in Los Angeles, which carries a $6.25-million AAV.
8. K’Andre Miller
Age on July 1: 25
Position: Defence
2024-25 salary cap hit: $3.872 million
Arbitration rights: Yes
Bargaining chips: First-round pick. World junior silver medallist. NHL All-Rookie Team. Durable. Great size and reach at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds. Productive despite limited power-play time. 43 games of playoff experience already. Excellent skater. A plus player in all five seasons.
The latest: Big, strong, smart blueliners in their prime are essentially must-keeps.
So while the New York Rangers were quick to re-sign power forward Lafreniere and already took a hard run at extending pending UFA Igor Shesterkin, locking up Miller before he wraps his bridge contract should be imperative.
GM Chris Drury will be staring at a $4.65-million qualifying offer to retain Miller’s rights this summer; a long-term deal should push Miller’s AAV into the $6 million–to–$6.5 million range.
New York still holds a couple of years of club control here, but the hard cap is not Drury’s friend.
Inevitable raises for Lafreniere, Shesterkin and Miller are the reason the team explored moving on from captain Jacob Trouba in the off-season.
Eventually, something will have to give.
Age on July 1: 22
Position: Left wing
2024-25 salary cap hit: $925,000
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Top-line power forward. Meshes well with superstars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Biggest player on the Maple Leafs. Strong playoff showing. Should have no issue crushing rookie season totals of 15 goals, 35 points. Net-front presence. Draws penalties. Olympian.
The latest: So much for the sophomore slump.
Knies packed on 10 pounds over the summer, then got shot out of cannon. The second-year pro has instantly gained trust (and ice time) from new Toronto coach Craig Berube and has been one of the Leafs’ best stories of the early season.
“He’s a beast,” confirms fellow Arizonan Auston Matthews.
Berube has gone so far as to compare Knies to power forwards Keith Tkachuk, Bill Guerin and John Leclair — comments GM Brad Treliving hopes Knies’ agent didn’t catch wind of.
In speaking with Knies, he has made it clear that he loves being a Maple Leaf and has no thoughts of leaving Toronto.
He has politely declined to publicly discuss the state of extension talks, but there is no doubt Treliving wants to keep him in the fold.
Of course, the Leafs have big decisions to make on Marner and John Tavares, but that didn’t stop them from re-signing Jake McCabe in-season and shouldn’t force them to wait on Knies either.
10. Lukas Dostal
Age on July 1: 25
Position: Goaltender
2024-25 salary cap hit: $812,500
Arbitration rights: Yes
Bargaining chips: Gold (2024) and bronze (2022) medallist at world championships. Crowed Best Goaltender at ’24 worlds. AHL All-Star. Clear successor to John Gibson as Anaheim’s No. 1 goalie. Fantastic traditional and underlying stats despite playing behind a subpar team of skaters. Ducks sure can use saves.
The latest: With Gibson sidelined by an appendectomy to begin 2024-25, Dostal happily carried the workload in Orange County and began performing among the league’s elite at his position.
Dostal’s strong track record has met opportunity at the perfect time, and the goalie is putting himself in line for a massive payday.
GM Verbeek was in no panic to extend Dostal before the season began, but the way Dostal is performing, the executive may wish for a time machine.
“We’ll take our time on that,” Verbeek stated at the start of training camp, when asked about extensions for his pending RFAs. “We haven’t really started thinking about that yet, but we’ll lay a plan out for when we’ll start talking about all that stuff. To me, that’s far down the road.”
Verbeek has yet to extend one of his RFAs in-season, but if there is a candidate to break that trend, it may well be Dostal.
11. Marco Rossi
Age on July 1: 23
Position: Centre
2024-25 salary cap hit: $883,334
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Top-10 draft pick. Ontario Hockey League MVP. Austrian national team captain. Put up 21 goals and 40 points in first full NHL season. 2024 NHL All-Rookie Team. You can never have enough skilled centres.
The latest: Sure, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin will soon be squirming out from the weight of the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyout payments, but only to face requests for significant pay bumps from integral forwards.
While Rossi’s raise is a priority, Guerin’s cap planning must begin with locking in team MVP, Kirill Kaprizov, to an eight-figure deal. Kaprizov is eligible to re-sign as early as July 1, but knowing his number will help inform how Minnesota allots the rest of its dollars.
The longer Guerin waits to negotiate with Rossi’s agent, Ian Pulver, however, the more Rossi — already on pace for a career high in points — should ask for.
In light of Minnesota’s tight budget and other centre prospects coming (Danila Yurov, Riely Heidt), things could get tricky here.
The best route is likely a short-term, kick-the-issue-down-the-road solution. Think something along the lines of Winnipeg’s two-year, $6.5-million extension in Winnipeg.
12. Philipp Kurashev
Age on July 1: 25
Position: Centre
2024-25 salary cap hit: $2.25 million
Arbitration rights: Yes
Bargaining chips: Registered career highs in goals (18), points (54), ice time (19:01) in a breakout 2023-24. Formed fast chemistry with Connor Bedard. Speedy.
The latest: Cap space isn’t yet an issue for the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks, but with Bedard eligible to negotiate this summer, GM Kyle Davidson must be smart about making the proper investments surrounding the face of the franchise.
Make no mistake, Kurashev finds himself in a prove-it situation, as Davidson recruited a bunch of veteran forwards to give his younger players competition for top-six and power-play roles.
As strong as the Swiss speedster’s offensive numbers were last season, he was also a minus-44 and has never been a plus player in the league.
“We need him to be playing harder and better,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said of Kurashev in October. “He’s been pretty solid and consistent over the years, but this is a year we need to take steps forward.”
Kurashev and the Blackhawks went through with arbitration last time he was due a raise, in 2023, and the forward will no doubt be looking for another bump.
More notable pending RFAs: Gabriel Vilardi, Morgan Frost, Joel Hofer, Will Cuylle, Connor Zary, Devon Levi, Daniil Tarasov, Mason Lohrei, Dmitri Voronkov, Tyson Foerster, Cameron York, Bowen Byram, Morgan Geekie, Luke Evangelista, Alexander Holtz, Ridly Greig, Simon Holmstrom, Alex Laferriere, Hendrix Lapierre, Kaapo Kakko, Mark Kastelic, Jack McBain, Jack Quinn, Adam Boqvist, Ryan McLeod, Nick Robertson
All salary info via the excellent PuckPedia.com.
