5 Teams in Need of a Game-Changing Trade After Missing out in 2025 NHL Free Agency

The NHL's annual free-agent market provides general managers the opportunity to pursue the best available players in hopes of addressing their teams' roster weaknesses during the offseason.

Most of the top players are usually signed within the opening hours of free agency. However, this year's market was thin on talent, with most of the big names re-signing with their teams before July 1.

Given the slim pickings available, some teams have little choice but to turn to the trade market for help. Thanks to the rising salary cap, 17 franchises have $5 million or more in cap space (as of July 5, 2025) to put toward improving their rosters via trades if necessary.

Some clubs did so on the opening day of free agency. The Carolina Hurricanes boosted their defense by acquiring K'Andre Miller from the New York Rangers. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens shipped prospect defenseman Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues for promising forward Zack Bolduc.

The Canadiens, however, still have a significant issue among their forward lines that remains unaddressed. They're among our five NHL teams that could use a game-changing trade after missing out in this year's free-agent market.

Detroit Red Wings

Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

The Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs last season for the ninth straight year. Not even the lousy rosters of the notorious “Dead Things” era from 1970-71 to 1982-83 had a postseason skid lasting that long.

Steve Yzerman was the foundation player on which the Red Wings resurrected themselves into a league powerhouse and a four-time Stanley Cup champion, three of those under Yzerman's captaincy. However, he's been the general manager for six of the past nine seasons of futility.

Red Wings fans were patient during Yzerman's early years of rebuilding, based on his accomplishments in a Wings jersey and his efforts building the Tampa Bay Lightning into an eventual Stanley Cup champion. However, that patience is wearing thin as the postseason drought drags on.

Yzerman faces criticism for a lack of urgency, including from team captain Dylan Larkin. Among those urgent needs is the addition of a top-four defenseman.

The Red Wings possess an excellent young No. 1 defenseman in Moritz Seider. Promising Simon Edvinsson showed potential in his first full NHL campaign last season, netting 31 points in 78 games. However, they need an experienced top-four blueliner to take some pressure off those youngsters.

So far, however, Yzerman's only addition to his defense corps is Jacob Bernard-Docker, who is now on his third team in this calendar year. To be fair, there weren't many enticing free-agent options, but the Wings GM must still address this glaring problem.

The Red Wings have over $12 million in salary cap space with 23 active roster players under contract this season. Yzerman could weaponize that cap space by targeting teams looking to shed salary to become cap-compliant before the start of the season.

Edmonton Oilers

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Having come up short in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, the Edmonton Oilers face a difficult offseason. General manager Stan Bowman has the daunting task of improving his roster with limited salary-cap space.

Bowman took care of his biggest contract issue by re-signing puck-moving defenseman Evan Bouchard to a four-year deal. He's also shaken things up, freeing up some cap space by trading Evander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks and sending Viktor Arvidsson to the Boston Bruins.

Most of those savings went into re-signing Bouchard and adding depth forwards Andrew Mangiapane and Curtis Lazar via free agency. However, Bowman still hasn't addressed the club's biggest positional need.

The Oilers' goaltending tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard came under scrutiny throughout last season, but especially during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The duo managed to get the Oilers to the Final, but couldn't match the stellar play of the Florida Panthers' Sergei Bobrovsky.

This summer's free-agent market was thin on goaltending talent. Backup netminder Jake Allen was the best of the bench, and he opted to re-sign with the New Jersey Devils. Bowman admitted he could end up standing pat with Skinner and Pickard.

The Oilers won't get over the Stanley Cup hump without improving their goaltending. Bowman will continue seeking better options, but that search could carry over into the regular season.

Montreal Canadiens

It's already been a good offseason trade-wise for the Montreal Canadiens. General manager Kent Hughes pulled off two deals that will improve their defense corps and their middle-six forward depth.

Hughes swung one of the summer's biggest trades on June 27, giving up two first-round picks (16th and 17th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft and checking forward Emil Heineman to the New York Islanders for defenseman Noah Dobson, who signed an eight-year contract with the Canadiens.

As we noted in the introduction, the Canadiens GM struck again on July 1, shipping defenseman Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for versatile forward Zack Bolduc.

Those deals will improve the rebuilding Canadiens for the foreseeable future. However, their biggest need remains unaddressed. On May 9, Pat Hickey of The Montreal Gazette indicated their offseason priority was finding a second-line center.

The rebuilding Canadiens exceeded expectations last season by qualifying for the playoffs. They need a suitable second-line center if they're to take the next step in their development.

Suitable options weren't available to Hughes when free agency began on July 1. Finding them in the trade market also won't be easy, as it's currently a seller's market for NHL centers.

That leaves the Canadiens faced with trying oft-injured Kirby Dach at that position this season or trying Bolduc at that spot if he shows potential. Hughes might have to wait for the regular season and hope something becomes available by then.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

The departure of Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with the Vegas Golden Knights marked the end of the “Core Four” era for the Toronto Maple Leafs. While forwards Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares remain, the Leafs now lack an elite two-way playmaking winger.

Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has been attempting to boost his club's roster depth. He acquired winger Matias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth and signed gritty free-agent forward Michael Pezzetta.

Nevertheless, the Leafs remain in need of another top-six forward. Jonas Siegel of The Athletic believes they must add a winger to make plays alongside centers Auston Matthews or John Tavares, or a second-line center who would move Tavares to the wing or centering the third line.

Unlike recent offseasons, the Leafs have salary-cap space to work with in this summer's trade market. They possess $4.9 million in cap space with 23 active roster players under contract for this season.

Sportsnet's Luke Fox praised Treliving for not overspending on lesser talent in the free-agent market. He believes the Leafs GM will continue to monitor the trade market throughout the summer until a bona fide top-six forward becomes available.

Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun noticed that the Leafs have a glut of bottom-six forwards on their roster. He could draw on one or two of those as trade bait by targeting a cap-strapped club looking to shed salary before the start of the season.

Winnipeg Jets

Sam Hodde/Getty Images

Last season was a franchise-best for the Winnipeg Jets, winning their first Presidents' Trophy with the best regular-season record. Connor Hellebuyck won his second straight Vezina Trophy and the third of his career, and became the first player in franchise history to win the Hart Memorial Trophy.

The Jets also won their first playoff round since 2021 with a thrilling seven-game victory over the St. Louis Blues. However, their postseason ended in disappointment, falling in the next round to the Dallas Stars in six games.

That performance could bode well for the Jets going forward. Core players like Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk are under contract for this season, and they have over $19 million in cap space to bolster their roster.

It's been suggested that general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff must find a better backup goaltender to ease Hellebuyck's workload for the playoffs. However, a more important issue is finding a suitable replacement for winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who departed via free agency.

The Jets signed versatile forward Gustav Nyquist and are giving Jonathan Toews the opportunity for an NHL comeback. However, they won't replace the offense Ehlers brought to their second line. They also lack the physical edge that the Jets seemed to be missing in the postseason.

Cheveldayoff must find a physical, agitating second-line forward who can contribute offensively. Someone in the mold of Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy this year.

Landing such a player is a tall order, as most teams want a similar player. Nevertheless, that type of forward could be the missing piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle for an otherwise talented Jets roster. It's a search that could carry on through to the March trade deadline.

Salary info via PuckPedia.