5 2025 NHL Offseason Questions That Still Need Answers

We've reached mid-July.

The NHL has released its schedule for the 2025-26 season, and we're starting to look ahead as we say our final goodbyes to the season that was.

At this point, the available players on the sparse free-agency market have been snatched up, as signing news has come to a halt. Still, plenty of teams from the top to the bottom of the league have unmet needs and questions to answer before the first puck drops on October 7.

Will we see a blockbuster trade or two in the dog days of summer? Will teams get ahead of signing some big names entering the last year of their contracts?

Here are five questions that still need answers now that most of the free-agency action is behind us.

Where Do Penguins Trade Erik Karlsson to and How Can They Continue to Tank?

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The Penguins trying to maneuver a retool while Sidney Crosby is still in the league is a lofty proposition, but it's possible. There are a few routes they can go, but Gavin McKenna being in their backyard at Penn State sure makes a quick one-season tank more enticing.

Tank or not, one of the biggest factors in the acceleration of this retool is whether they can find a trade partner—and a worthy enough return—for defenseman Erik Karlsson.

The 35-year-old just hasn't been the perfect fit the Penguins hoped he would be on their blue line, and he's entering 2025-26 with two years left on his contract, carrying a hefty $11.5 million cap hit.

The new CBA that kicks in after this season outlaws three-way salary retention trades, so if Pittsburgh is to get the best bang for its buck, the urgency to trade him might increase.

It does look like general manager Kyle Dubas is in no immediate rush to deal the Swede, but the return needs to be good enough to justify the gaping hole it would leave on the already sparse blue line.

If the Penguins are willing to retain a decent chunk of Karlsson's salary, he could provide some offense and puck movement on a playoff team in need of some extra oomph on the blue line. Perhaps a trade back to Ottawa makes sense and things come full circle as the former Senator seeks his first Cup.

Or think about this: a Karlsson acquisition for the Maple Leafs to help fill the offensive hole left by Mitch Marner could work.

Will Connor McDavid Sign Extension This Summer?

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The Edmonton Oilers have been in a tough spot when it comes to the cap in anticipation of two things: extensions for Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid.

They took care of Bouchard earlier this offseason with his four-year extension carrying a $10.5 million cap hit. Now, as the Oilers come off back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup Final, all eyes turn to the best player in the world, who has one year left on his current contract.

McDavid reportedly wanted to focus on winning last season and through the playoffs, so the focus wasn't on negotiation talks ahead of his extension eligibility. But since July 1, he has been eligible to re-sign with the Oilers.

You'd assume negotiations are going to take some time. The Oilers didn't do much to improve the team around the 28-year-old this offseason, and he wants to win more than anything at this point.

Plus, his new contract is expected to carry a record-breaking AAV of anywhere from $15 million-$20 million. It's going to take some maneuvering to get it done.

It's obviously in the Oilers' best interests to get this done before other teams have the opportunity to entice McDavid—and before extension talk follows the team around all season.

It seems unlikely, given the gravity of the contract and the power McDavid has in the situation to weigh all of his options before making a decision.

Can Maple Leafs Find a Way to Replace Mitch Marner?

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Perhaps the worst part of Mitch Marner's departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs wasn't the departure itself, but the timing of it all.

The Leafs did well to force a sign-and-trade out of the Golden Knights, acquiring sturdy bottom-four-ish forward Nicolas Roy, but this year's free-agent market is so thin that replacing a 100-point player feels like a pipe dream.

So far, though, they haven't done much to make the pipe dream feel more realistic. They missed out on top free agents Brock Boeser, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mikael Granlund on top of potential secondary scorers such as Brandon Tanev and Corey Perry.

There's a solid chance Matthew Knies and his six-year extension are ready to take another big step and he could play a major role in filling out the top six, but you get the sense an "out of left field" type trade for an impact player is needed to round out this group.

The Leafs did add Dakota Joshua on Thursday afternoon in a trade with the Canucks. But to say he'll be a direct replacement for Marner is a huge stretch. More will need to be done as the summer rolls along.

Will the Wild Sign or Trade Marco Rossi?

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The Wild have had a few big stars budding over the past few years, culminating in Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy's domination as a duo in last season's playoff run.

When Marco Rossi took a backseat and didn't get a ton of playoff time, you started to wonder if his future with the team was in question.

The restricted free agent is a 60-plus-point player, but the Wild had to extend Boldy and still have pending free agent Kaprizov's next huge (and deserved) contract to think about.

And reports are now emerging that Rossi's camp and Minnesota are far off in negotiations.

According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, "Rossi would 100 percent take (a) high-AAV (Necas style) deal, but the Wild have offered a two-year deal at below $5 million. And Rossi doesn't really want to get traded, so he doesn't want to do them any favors by accepting an easily-movable AAV."

Russo senses this one will come down to the training-camp wire. Rossi doesn't want to get traded, the Wild don't want to budge on their offer, but something has to give.

Is There A Summer Blockbuster Trade Coming?

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This year's start to free agency was a disappointment for many NHL teams, as only a few were able to snag players who will make a meaningful impact on such a meager market.

To make matters worse, the back-to-back champion Florida Panthers didn't have to surrender any core members of the group. This leaves us with plenty of Cup contenders and bubble teams still searching for roster upgrades well into July.

Could there be a late summer blockbuster trade or two on deck? Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton's name is out there, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Big-name Penguins such as Karlsson and Bryan Rust could be in play with their ongoing retool, and the name of Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been floated since the beginning of the offseason.

In the true nature of the NHL, the real blockbuster could feature a name we didn't know was in play until the trade notification hits our phones. At this point, we're just hoping another trade or two happens at all to spice up this quiet offseason.