Updated

Updated · NHL.com · Jul 2

NHL Publishes 2026 Free-Agent Lists as Connor Bedard, Jason Robertson Head Group 2 RFAs

Updated

Updated · NHL.com · Jul 2

NHL Publishes 2026 Free-Agent Lists as Connor Bedard, Jason Robertson Head Group 2 RFAs

Q: With a shallow free agent pool and a soaring cap, which team is poised to make the riskiest signing?

The New York Rangers look most exposed to the riskiest signing. The clearest example is Pavel Dorofeyev. New York acquired his rights from Vegas and then committed seven years at $11 million annually after a breakout 37-goal, 64-point season. In a market thinned by the rising $104 million cap, that is exactly the kind of deal teams make when supply is weak and prices are inflated. What makes it risky is not just the size of the contract, but the uncertainty around repeatability. Dorofeyev produced that surge in a strong Golden Knights environment, and the central question is whether the Rangers can unlock the same level consistently. Committing top-line money and long-term security to a player with one major breakout season is a significant bet, especially when New York is also juggling other roster decisions and trade discussions around veterans. Other teams have risky paths too. Carolina could overpay for 36-year-old John Carlson on a short-term, high-AAV deal, and Edmonton or Toronto could stretch for aging goaltending in a thin crease market. But those would likely be shorter commitments. The Rangers’ Dorofeyev deal stands out because it combines all the classic danger signs of this offseason: a shallow free-agent class, cap-driven spending inflation, a long term, and a player whose true ceiling outside his previous system is still being tested.

3 articles · Updated · NHL.com · Jul 2

The NHL on Wednesday issued its full 2026 free-agent lists, separating players into Group 2 restricted free agents, Group 3 and 6 unrestricted free agents, and players who became unrestricted after not receiving qualifying offers.
Group 2 names include Connor Bedard in Chicago, Jason Robertson in Dallas, Adam Fantilli in Columbus and Cole Perfetti in Winnipeg, with those players subject to offer-sheet compensation and their clubs' right to match.
The league set the 2026 compensation ladder from no draft pick for offers up to $1,575,969 to four first-round picks for offers above $11,939,166.
The release also tracks early movement from the market's opening, listing players already re-signed or signed elsewhere, including Sergei Bobrovsky to Toronto, Patrick Kane among Detroit's UFAs and Alex Ovechkin on Washington's Group 3 list.
The update gives teams and agents a leaguewide snapshot after July 1 free agency opened in an offseason already tilted more toward trades under the new CBA.