The NHL’s free agency period just opened, but it won’t be long before things start to die out and we reach the dog days of the summer. While a few moves are still to be made, we’re at a point where we can judge teams’ offseasons.
Who did the best? Who did the worst? Let’s look at four teams for each.
Best Offseasons
Let’s start with the best offseasons, where we have the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers, and Nashville Predators. From the draft to trades to free agency, what did these teams do well?
Anaheim Ducks
I can nitpick some parts of the Ducks’ offseason to this point, but I like how they are still thinking about the future and aren’t pushing too hard for immediate success.
The Leo Carlsson offer sheet attempt by the Philadelphia Flyers—which the Ducks have a week to match—would be a potential concern for some teams, but Anaheim has $35 million in cap space. How’d they manage that?
Anaheim smartly let Jacob Trouba test free agency, and the only notable signings they’ve made have been A.J. Greer to a four-year, $4.25 million cap-hit contract and Nick Jensen to a two-year, $2.25 million cap-hit deal. I would prefer if the term were a little lower on Greer, but since he’s only 29, it’s palatable. The Ducks are getting a solid bottom-sixer.
The Olen Zellweger deal was a loss for the Ducks in a vacuum, but it frees up that defense a bit, and getting a center prospect in Anton Wahlberg as well as the No. 45 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft was a respectable return.
Speaking of the draft, I thought the Ducks hit it out of the park. The Mason McTavish deal was a strong one for them, for starters. They shed the five years remaining on his contract at a cap hit of $7 million and brought in two first-rounders (No. 15 and No. 29) as compensation.
With the 15th pick, I think Nikita Klepov was a smart choice. He led the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in scoring as a rookie—there’s middle-six, if not top-six, upside here. Marcus Nordmark at 28th (they traded up) is also fair value, but the real shining moment for me was Mathis Preston at 50th overall.
To me, Preston has a top-10 pick type of ceiling. His skating and shot are among the best in the class, and he can create for his teammates, too. The numbers didn’t exactly show it this past season, but this is a high-upside bet at extraordinary value.
Unlike some other teams in their position, the Ducks went out of their way to improve their future. Trying to make a contender in one offseason undermines the point of a rebuild. It’s possible they miss the playoffs in 2026-27, but the core is super young.
Buffalo Sabres
Of course, the Sabres are here. The Bowen Byram trade is the best move anyone made this summer, with Buffalo acquiring the No. 4 and No. 45 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, as well as Louis Crevier, for Byram and Jordan Greenway.
Byram was a good player for Buffalo, but he’s replaceable. In fact, Zellweger, whom they flipped the No. 45 pick and Wahlberg for, might end up being better in 2026-27 than Byram was in 2025-26. The 22-year-old has serious juice.
I appreciate the Sabres’ boldness with the No. 4 pick, taking Daxon Rudolph. He was my fourth-ranked prospect in the class for his supreme offensive upside. I was a lot higher on him than most, as I usually saw him toward the end of the top 10, so while some people may see this as a reach, I love the pick.
The Sabres now have a high-end prospect pool, boasting 2025 ninth-overall selection Radim Mrtka as well, combined with a young roster that won 50 games last season.
However, the team may not win 50 games in 2026-26 after the loss of Alex Tuch. Trading him prior to free agency was still the right play in my eyes, though.
The Sabres’ roster is still great—Tuch isn’t worth jeopardizing cap flexibility for, even if he’s a good player. As was the case with the Ducks, the Sabres are thinking long-term here. They’re not going to give a 30-year-old Tuch an $84 million deal just because they can.
Shifting gears, Zach Benson’s seven-year, $52.5 million extension has the potential to be the best contract in the NHL. At just 21 years old, he is a complete top-line player who can really impact the game.
The Sabres have plenty of options now. If they want to make a push to win the Stanley Cup in 2027, they can. If they want to build a long-term contender, they seem to have things figured out. Some people think the San Jose Sharks are shaping up to be the league’s best team in a few years, but I think Buffalo could be that team.
