What is an NHL Free Agent? A Complete Guide for Canadian Hockey Fans
This guide covers all of the intricacies of the NHL free agency and the options that the various kinds of NHL free agents have when their contracts expire.
Why NHL Free Agency Matters in Canada
The NHL free agency is among the big three occasions in which teams across the league can completely change their fortunes. Often, the free agency sees several prominent Canadian players change teams and Canadian teams add top talents to enhance their roster for what will hopefully be a run at the Stanley Cup.
NHL Free Agency: The Basics
Definition of a Free Agent
In the NHL, a free agent is a player who is without an NHL contract or has seen their contract expire with restrictive post-expiry terms coming into play. Either way, they can’t play in the NHL until they sign a new contract or their first deal.
Types of Free Agents in the NHL
There are two main forms of free agent: unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents.
Unrestricted free agents (UFA) are players who have seen their existing NHL contract expire having played at least seven years in the league or reached the age of 27.
Players over 22-years-old who haven’t been drafted by the NHL are also considered to be free agents. Restricted free agents (RFA) have seen their NHL contract expire but aren’t open to signing for another team before meeting certain criteria.
Key Differences: UFA vs RFA
A UFA is free to sign for whatever team they want in the NHL or even just depart to play elsewhere. A RFA is more limited on what they can do, with the restriction essentially meaning that their current team that owns their NHL rights get to make the first offer and, due to the process, be in a better position to retain the player.
Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
What is a UFA?
A UFA in the NHL free agency is an unrestricted free agent.
Eligibility Criteria for Becoming a UFA
To become a UFA in the NHL free agency, players need to have played at least seven years in the league or to be at least 27-years-old. Equally, a player who wasn’t previously drafted by an NHL team can become a UFA at the age of 22.
UFA Rights and Restrictions
As the term suggests, an unrestricted free agent (UFA) is unrestricted. They can choose to play for whichever team gives them what they deem to be the best offer and can move to them freely.
High-Profile UFAs in Recent Years
Last year, we saw Steven Stamkos leave long-time home in Tampa Bay for the Nashville Predators. In 2022, the late Johnny Gaudreau swapped Calgary for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a move that looked to change the fortunes of the Ohio club. At the time of writing, Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Mitch Marner was also looking to the opening of the NHL free agency as an impending UFA.
Restricted Free Agents (RFA)
What is a RFA?
A RFA is a restricted free agent in the NHL free agency. They’re not signed to a team, but the team that they were last signed to do have more leverage and a somewhat protected first offer to the player.
Eligibility Criteria for RFA Status
Once a player has completed their entry-level contract – a standardized contract offered to newcomers to the NHL, particularly those who’d been recently drafted – they become a restricted free agent. This is unless they are over 27-years-old or have been in the league for at least seven years.
Team Control and Offer Sheets
The team that the player was last contracted to get to make a qualifying offer to renew the deal of the RFA. If it’s refused, other teams can send in offer sheets. Should the player sign an offer sheet, their previous team can match the offer to keep them on their books. If not, the player goes to the team with the accepted offer sheet and their previous team is compensated with a collection of draft picks that reflects the player’s new salary.
Famous RFA Contract Disputes
For some notable RFA disputes, you have the Petr Nedved and Craig Janney situation with the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues, as well as Joe Thornton’s holdout with the Boston Bruins.
Other Free Agent Categories
Group 6 Free Agents
Group 6 free agents find themselves in somewhat of a limbo, having seen their RFA contract expire but without meeting the conditions of standard UFA status. These players are at least 25-years-old, have three or more professional seasons under their belt from any pro league, and have played fewer than 80 games, or 28 games for goaltenders, in the NHL.
10.2(c) Free Agents (Unsigned Draft Picks)
Effectively, 10.2(c) free agents in the NHL are more restricted RFAs. This occurs when their entry-level contract expires but without them amassing at least three seasons of professional experience. So, only their current NHL team can offer them a contract and can’t receive an offer sheet from elsewhere.
Entry-Level Contract Expiries
When an entry-level contract expires, the player usually becomes a RFA, generally leading to them signing a new contract with their current team.
The NHL Free Agency Timeline
Key Dates in the Offseason
The first NHL free agency date of note is the deadline for first club-elected salary arbitration notifications to the league, which is on June 15 at the earliest or 48 hours after the end of the Stanley Cup Finals. Next, teams will try to negotiate new deals with their impending free agents until the July 1 opening of the NHL free agency.
Player-elected salary arbitration notifications and the second club-elected salary arbitration notifications have deadlines on July 5 and 6, respectively. On July 10 to August 4, salary arbitration hearings are heard, with salary arbitration decisions to be rendered by August 6.
When Free Agents can Start Negotiating
Unlike in other North American major leagues, teams cannot negotiate with unrestricted free agents until July 1. At midday on July 1, players are officially permitted to sign deals with new teams.
How Long the Free Agency Period Lasts
For restricted free agents, the NHL free agency closes on December 1, at which point unsigned RFAs won’t be permitted to play in the league. For UFAs, they need to sign before the NHL Trade Deadline – usually at the end of February or the beginning of March – to get to play in the playoffs.
Contract Structures and Rules
Maximum and Minimum Salaries
The minimum salary in the NHL is $775,000 per season, while the maximum salary changes with the salary cap. An individual player cannot be paid a salary in excess of 20 percent of the team’s cap. Entering the 2025-26 season, that sets the maximum NHL salary at around $19 million per season.
Term Lengths and No-Trade Clauses
A player can sign an NHL contract that lasts between one and eight years at their discretion. Either from the beginning or later on in the contract, a player and their agent can also negotiate to include a no-trade clause. These vary from complete no-trade clauses to modified no-trade clauses, where a selection of teams is outlined as viable trade destinations.
Signing Bonuses and Performance Incentives
Most of the major NHL contract dealings will come bundled with incentives like signing bonuses to frontload the payout of the contract and extra payouts for hitting certain performance or statistical marks.
Cap Hit Calculations
All NHL teams are subject to the hard salary cap, which means that their payroll can’t go below or above a set amount. Contracts are assessed within this via an average annual value calculation.
Salary Cap Implications
How Free Agent Signings Impact the Cap
Every free agent signed to an NHL team will have their salary and signing bonus weighed against the team’s salary cap.
Long-Term Cap Planning for Canadian Teams
Eventually, top young players will need a pay raise, so this and the cap need to be kept in mind when assessing free agent demands.
Buyouts and Dead Cap Space
When a team decides to buy out a contract, some of it (which is calculated as the annual buyout cost) will hold against the salary cap. Guaranteed money or signing bonuses can count against a team’s salary cap even after that player has left, making it dead cap space.
The Offer Sheet: A Rare but Powerful Tool
What is an Offer Sheet?
An offer sheet is a potential contract that a team sends to a player who is an RFA and has rejected the qualifying offer of their parent team.
Rules Governing Offer Sheets
While a restricted free agent may accept an offer sheet, their parent team may choose to match it, which keeps the player with that team.
Compensation Structures
A successful offer sheet will bring the player to the new team, but that new team will then have to compensate the former team by way of draft picks, as determined by the average annual value of the offer sheet accepted.
Why Teams Rarely Use Them
Offer sheets are rarely successful due to the amount of sway the parent team holds. Furthermore, the cost of the compensation is often seen as outsized to the gains made.
Arbitration in Free Agency
What is Salary Arbitration?
When a team and a restricted free agent can’t agree to a new contract, usually due to a disparity between the salary offered and the salary the player deems to be fitting, they can refer to a third-party arbitrator.
When Players Can File
Players can file for salary arbitration by the deadline (July 5 in 2025) if their restricted free agent negotiations haven’t yet yielded a contract.
Arbitration Outcomes and Examples
Once taken to the arbitrator, where both sides will argue for their desired salary amounts, the decision of this third-party body is binding to the player and the team. In 2024, Ilya Samsonov got $3.55 million on a one-year deal with the Buds via arbitration.
The Role of Agents and Negotiators
Who Represents the Player
Generally speaking, with very few exceptions, an agent who is certified by is a member of the NHL Players’ Association represents the player in contract negotiations.
Agent Strategies in Free Agency
During the free agency, an agent can work many strategic angles to get their player the best deal, such as through market comparisons and by preparing well to present their players as the solution to that team’s issues.
How Agents Influence the Market
Particularly at the high end of the NHL free agency, one deal made by an agent for their player can and will set the marker for those to follow.
Free Agency and Player Development
How Free Agency Affects Young Players
The free agency usually doesn’t impact young players directly due to how the entry-level to RFA process works. On the ice, however, free agent signings can greatly complement young talents or sometimes block their minutes.
Risk of Losing Developed Talent
Whether they were signed at 18-years-old or 21-years-old, after seven years, a developed talent could have the chance to explore their options on the open market.
Bridging Contracts and Development Timelines
When a team offers a restricted agent a one, two, or three-year deal, it’s known as a “bridge contract,” in which the aim is to keep the cost relatively low while giving the player more time to prove themselves and develop.
Canadian NHL Teams and Free Agency
Overview of Canada’s Seven NHL Teams
Canada’s seven NHL teams have varied their approach to the NHL free agency greatly in recent years, with some looking for the final pieces to the puzzle and others adding blue-chip UFAs to get a significant boost.
Free Agency Strategies by Team
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have long turned to the free agency to try to fill out the lines – particularly the blueline and in goal – behind their superstar draftees. In 2018, of course, they made the biggest splash in recent memory by luring John Tavares away from the New York Islanders.
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are rarely among the busiest NHL free agency teams, often just patching lower-line gaps and taking a punt on some wayward players with potential.
Montréal Canadiens
Since the turn of the decade, the Montréal Canadiens have pivoted from wanting to sign big names in the free agency to filtering out those veterans in favour of their highly-rated draft picks.
Calgary Flames
A few years ago, the Calgary Flames were more than happy to throw their wallet at big names hitting the open market, like Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri, but the reward for their efforts has been a lacklustre 2024-25.
Edmonton Oilers
With a superb core of players drafted over the years, the Edmonton Oilers have primarily been making lower-line additions in recent years. The prime example of this came with picking up Connor McDavid’s old junior league wing Connor Brown in 2023 on a one-year, $4 million deal.
Ottawa Senators
Slowly building over the last several years, the Ottawa Senators have now entered the stage where they’re willing to pay up for proven talent that can bolster their core young players. Following this process, the Sens might just be dark horse picks in the hockey futures markets in 2025-26.
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks certainly like to be players for the higher-end talents of the NHL free agency, leading to them bringing at least one of the top UFAs for their position in each of the last ten offseasons.
Tax Considerations in Canadian Provinces
The taxation across Canada is particularly high, especially because player salaries and bonuses are bundled into one to be taxed at the same rate. Plus, provincial tax rates vary, with one of the highest being the 53.5 percent charged by Ontario on all income over $250,000.
Historical Struggles and Successes of Canadian Teams in Free Agency
Provincial tax rates and formerly (before some NHL team rule adjustments) the struggling Canadian dollar have long put Canadian teams at a disadvantage in the NHL free agency.
Free Agency vs Trades
Pros and Cons of Signing vs Trading
Signing a free agent comes with the benefit of not needing to give up any assets, but usually, salaries are dictated by a competitive market, and so, can be costly over time. In a trade, the team receiving a player inherits their potentially favourable contract terms but will need to give up picks, players, and potentially prospects.
Cap Efficiency and Control Considerations
The goal of every team is to add players who essentially offer the same value or better value on the ice as their salary hits the cap for as a percentage. Breakout young players help with this, but considerations for when they require large contracts have to be made in regards to free agency signings and the like in the present season.
Case Studies of Major Trade vs Free Agency Acquisitions
You’ll find major success stories across the many free agency acquisitions and trades in NHL history. However, while a massive salary and long contract can restrict a team for years to come, when a trade goes awry, a team can get saddled with several underperformers while their former player runs riot for a competitor, as was the case when the Habs sent Patrick Roy to the Avs or the Jets decided to trade Teemu Selänne to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
Famous Free Agency Moments
John Tavares Comes Home to Toronto
Already seen as one of the best centres in the league and the player who continually pulled the New York Islanders to better-than-expected seasons, John Tavares hit the open market in 2018 hoping to have a better shot at the Cup. He ended up with his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, but as of 2025, they’ve yet to come close to making good on what are usually strong Stanley Cup odds.
The Shea Weber Offer Sheet Drama
In the 2012 NHL free agency, teams quickly saw the best UFA defensemen sign elsewhere. So, the Philadelphia Flyers targeted RFA Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators with a colossal 14-year, $110 million deal. It was a rare offer sheet that went through, but the Predators matched it. Weber won’t become a UFA until the end of the 2025-26 season, at which point the Utah Mammoth can be free of his $7,857,143 cap hit.
Milan Lucic to Edmonton: A Risky Bet
In the prime of his career, Milan Lucic was seen as one of the NHL’s best power forwards, having tormented teams for eight years as a Bruin and with the Los Angeles Kings in 2015-16. Divisional rivals pinched him in the 2016 NHL free agency, and while he held true to his reputation in the first season, seasons two and three of a seven-year, $42 million deal were distinctly lacklustre. So, the Oilers traded him to the Flames.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can an NHL Player Refuse a Qualifying Offer?
An NHL player can refuse a qualifying offer. A qualifying offer comes in from the parent team when the player is a restricted free agent, but by declining such an offer, they can then see offer sheets put in by other teams and get their team to match the best offer.
Why do Canadian Teams Struggle to Attract UFAs?
Taxation creates a huge divide between how lucrative a deal is in the US compared to Canada. Having smoothed over the issues between the difference in value between the USD and CAD by having all salaries paid in USD, in Canada, players can be taxed at over 50 percent while US federal tax hits for 37 percent.
What is the Difference Between a Free Agent and a Waiver Claim?
An unrestricted free agent is a player who isn’t signed to any NHL team and requires a new contract to play in the NHL, while a restricted free agent also needs a new contract to play but is limited by set restrictions. A waiver claim can occur when an NHL team tries to send a player without a two-way contract to their minor league team or they’re trying to terminate their contract. This process puts the player on the waivers for a limited time. At this point, any team can put in a waiver claim to get the player into their NHL roster.
Are Signing Bonuses Taxed Differently in Canada?
In Canada, signing bonuses are taxed the same as salaries, and Canada enforces among the highest tax rates for high earners in the developed world. Some players have been able to limit the hit to their bonuses by being a US tax resident and renting to live in Canada, allowing the Canada-US treaty to limit the tax to 15 percent.
Can Teams Sign Free Agents During the Playoffs?
To feature in the playoffs, a free agent needs to sign for an NHL team prior to the Trade Deadline, which is usually at the end of February or the beginning of March.
What Happens if No One Signs a Free Agent?
If they’ve become a UFA, an unsigned free agent is free to sign with any team up until the deadline and can even sign for teams outside of the NHL. For RFAs, if they’re not signed by the December 1 deadline, they can’t play for the remainder of that season. That said, if an RFA doesn’t receive a qualifying offer, they’ll become an unrestricted free agent.
How Do Entry-Level Contracts Affect Future Free Agency?
Entry-level contracts ensure that the top talents of each draft won’t get a sniff of the NHL free agency until they’re at least 21-years-old. From there, most will become a restricted free agent, having not met the requirements to become an unrestricted free agent by being 27-years-old or not having been in the NHL for seven years.
Can an RFA Play in Europe to Avoid Arbitration or Offers?
An NHL-restricted free agent can go to Europe to sign and play for another professional team to avoid arbitration or offers, but this process can restrict a potential return to the North American league.
What’s the Youngest Age a Player can Become a Free Agent?
The youngest age a player can become an NHL free agent is 22-years-old. This occurs if the player doesn’t get drafted and so enters the league at a later stage of their career.
How is Free Agency Different in the NHL versus Other Leagues Like the NFL or NBA?
Despite having a very similar insular structure, the NHL free agency has many differences to that of the NFL and NBA, such as the lack of a franchise tag (NFL), needing to stick to a hard rather than a soft salary cap (NBA), and leaning on RFA deals to keep top players with the teams that drafted them for longer (NHL).