The 2025 NHL free agency cycle is about to begin — later today at noon, NHL teams will “begin” their bids for unrestricted free agents. Problem is, all of the big names are off the list!
The Red Wings took care of some pending free agents on Monday — Patrick Kane and Jonatan Berggren are back on one-year deals, while Albert Johansson earned himself a two-year extension. Elmer Soderblom is due for a new contract, but we haven’t seen any news on that front so far. Qualifying offers were due yesterday.
Steve Yzerman had made some remarks about the free agent market this year that painted a pretty grim picture. Turns out he knew something — like I said earlier, all the big names are gone. Mitch Marner has a new deal with Vegas, and Florida got both Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad back under long-term contracts. Just to name a few. The options are limited and the prices will likely be inflated, as per usual. As of early Tuesday morning, Detroit has approximately $17.2 million in cap space to work with and three open spots on the active roster.
Just because the free agent market looks dull doesn’t mean the TRADE market isn’t hot. I think a lot of teams are going to be moving money around. There’s a lot to keep track of this time of the NHL’s offseason. We’ll keep a live time-stamped list in this article for all Red Wings updates.
- 2:23 PM: Frank Seravalli reports that the Red Wings are signing F James van Riemsdyk to a one-year deal. $1 million with bonuses.
- 2:20 PM: Red Wings sign D Jacob Bernard-Docker to a one-year deal.
- 2:13 PM: Red Wings sign D Ian Mitchell to a one-year deal.
- 1:26 PM: Friedman reports D Ryan Lindgren is signing with Seattle – 4 years, $4.5 million AAV.
- 12:59 PM: Elliotte Friedman is reporting that NYR is working to trade K’Andre Miller to Carolina.
- 12:50 PM: Per Chris Johnston, D Vladislav Gavrikov is signing with NYR. 7 years, $7 million AAV.
- 12:32 PM: Brock Boeser gets 7 years at $7.25 million AAV in Vancouver.
- 12:30 PM: Per Bob McKenzie, top free agent Nikolaj Ehlers isn’t expected to make a decision on where he’ll sign today.
