Grading Every NHL Team's 2025 Offseason So Far
The NHL's 32 teams have spent the past month changing their rosters, and some have been more successful than others.
Now that the biggest moves have been made and rosters are starting to take shape, it's time to start handing out some grades for how everybody has performed so far.
All grades are based on how much each team improved its short- and long-term outlooks, as well as the quality of the moves.
Given there are still a couple of months before the season begins, there is still a chance for teams to make some significant trades to change their offseason. For now, though, this is what we have for each team.
Anaheim Ducks
1 of 32
Grade: B-
The Ducks finally moved on from starting goalie John Gibson and dumped his contract while also officially giving up on Trevor Zegras.
Additionally, Anaheim made a concerted effort to acquire veteran forward help to enhance its depth around its young core. The team acquired Chris Kreider from the New York Rangers, signed Mikael Granlund in free agency and landed Ryan Poehling from Philadelphia in the Zegras trade.
There’s little doubt the roster is better, but that doesn't necessarily mean good enough. Kreider might still have something left in the tank, but Granlund's contract seems like a bit of an overpay. He has to score to be valuable, but he might not get the minutes or role he had in San Jose the past two years to duplicate that offensive production.
Joel Quenneville is also a significant addition at head coach, even if it comes with serious—and legitimate—criticism given his role in the Kyle Beach scandal in Chicago.
Boston Bruins
2 of 32
Grade: C
Boston's offseason got off to a fantastic start when it acquired Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers, giving it a solid middle-six forward at a relatively low cost.
Everything after that was a big whiff, with none being bigger than the five-year contract for Tanner Jeannot.
The Bruins still have a glaring hole at the No. 1 center spot and have accumulated some questionable contracts all over the roster.
The biggest improvement for the Bruins this season might be the simple fact that their top defensemen, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, will be healthy after missing most of the 2024-25 season.
Buffalo Sabres
3 of 32
Grade: D
The Sabres' big move this offseason was to trade JJ Peterka, a young, up-and-coming forward with 30-goal ability, because he didn't want to re-sign with them long-term.
They added defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan in exchange for him, but that hardly seems like an upgrade.
The Sabres still have more than $7 million in salary-cap space, and after going into last season with unused money, it would be an awful look to do so again, given the playoff drought is on the verge of reaching 15 seasons.
It’s been a boring offseason.
That is not what the Sabres needed. It's not what their fans deserve.
Calgary Flames
4 of 32
Grade: INC
The Flames get an incomplete grade because they haven't done anything except say goodbye to Anthony Mantha and swap out mediocre backup goalies.
They haven't done anything negative, but they haven't done anything positive, either.
This team was on the verge of a playoff spot a year ago and just needed a bit more offense to get over the hump. So far, they have done nothing to address one of the NHL's worst offenses.
That's underwhelming.
Carolina Hurricanes
5 of 32
Grade: A
This has been a strong offseason for the Hurricanes, with forward Nikolaj Ehlers and defenseman K'Andre Miller being the big additions.
Ehlers is the most intriguing addition because of what he could mean for the top of the lineup offensively. The Hurricanes need more finishing and goal-scoring ability on their top lines, and he can help with that.
Ehlers has always been one of the league's most efficient scorers on a per-minute and per-60-minute basis, but he has never really been given the ice time to see if he could really break out offensively.
He might get that chance here.
Miller is also a really strong puck-moving addition to the defense, while also still possessing some untapped potential.
Carolina also got forward Logan Stankoven—acquired in the Mikko Rantanen trade—signed to a ridiculously team-friendly contract that pays him $48 million over eight years.
The Hurricanes have so many of their core players locked in to team-friendly contracts.
Chicago Blackhawks
6 of 32
Grade: D-
The Blackhawks were again one of the NHL's worst teams during the 2024-25 season and have not taken any meaningful steps to change that.
André Burakovsky and Sam Lafferty were the big outside additions, but they are unlikely to improve the short- or long-term situation.
Chicago's plan here seems to be throwing all of its young players and prospects to the wolves in the hopes that they will improve and start making an impact.
Some of them will. Some of them won't.
Asking a bunch of them to try on an otherwise bad team could be a recipe for disaster.
The Blackhawks won fewer games in Connor Bedard's second season than they did in the year they tanked to draft him. It would not be a surprise if they do that again this season.
Prospects offer intrigue, but they are still lottery tickets. The reality is this team stinks and did nothing to remove that scent.
Colorado Avalanche
7 of 32
Grade: C
Brent Burns is a solid short-term and cheap option for what he might provide offensively, but they did lose a lot at forward with Jonathan Drouin leaving in free agency.
Dumping the contracts of Miles Wood and Charlie Coyle helped clear up some of the salary-cap issues the Avalanche had, but it's up for debate as to whether the roster is significantly better.
They did use that cap space to keep Brock Nelson after acquiring him at the trade deadline from the New York Islanders.
The biggest upgrade here might be a full season from Gabriel Landeskog, who might still have a lot to offer following a strong playoff return.
Columbus Blue Jackets
8 of 32
Grade D-
There is a lot to like about the direction of the Blue Jackets overall.
They have a great young core, a promising farm system with some high-level talent and they took a huge step forward this past season to contend for a playoff spot.
There is nothing to like about this offseason, though, which has been one giant missed opportunity so far.
They entered the summer with more salary-cap space than almost any other team in the league and two first-round draft picks they seemed to be itching to trade.
Their only moves so far? Trading for Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood and re-signing Ivan Provorov to a massive contract extension that looks like one of the biggest overpays of the summer. They still have defensive issues, they still have goaltending questions and they just didn't take advantage of the opportunity they had.
This was a chance to make some serious noise. So far they have failed. They need to do something else in the coming weeks to change that.
Dallas Stars
9 of 32
Grade: C
The Stars entered the offseason with a massive salary-cap crunch and needed to shed money to get under the cap, without being forced to trade somebody like Jason Robertson.
They mostly accomplished that by sending away players like Mason Marchment and Matt Dumba in salary-dump trades, while also letting Cody Ceci, Evgenii Dadonov and Mikael Granlund leave in free agency.
Getting Matt Duchene re-signed was a big win, but it does not really do much to improve the roster compared to what it was a year ago.
Dallas is still one of the best teams in the league, but they did not have a lot of flexibility entering the offseason.
Detroit Red Wings
10 of 32
Grade: C
The big move so far was adding a mediocre veteran goalie (John Gibson) to a team that has been a revolving door for mediocre veteran goalies the past few years.
If Gibson can duplicate what he did a year ago for Anaheim in a bounce-back season, that would be helpful. But there is no guarantee he can do that.
Beyond that, they swapped out Vladimir Tarasenko for James van Riemsdyk, which seems like nothing more than a shuffling of deck chairs, and re-signed Patrick Kane.
A lot of the flaws that already existed defensively and during 5-on-5 play offensively still exist.
It has been a slow, methodical rebuild under the watchful eye of general manager Steve Yzerman, and it seems that is going to continue.
There is still salary-cap space to be used, so maybe a trade is on the horizon.
Edmonton Oilers
11 of 32
Grade: C
The Oilers did well to jettison some salary, and even managed to get something back for Evander Kane instead of having to give up something to get rid of him.
Getting Isaac Howard from the Tampa Bay Lightning is also an intriguing move and gives them another top prospect along with Matthew Savoie, who might be able to make a cheap impact as a young, complementary forward. Teams pressed against the cap need players like that to step forward.
The goaltending issues are still a glaring weakness here that needs to be addressed. The answer is not on the roster.
The other big elephant in the room that needs to be addressed is the fact that Connor McDavid is entering the final year of his contract and no extension has been signed yet.
Florida Panthers
12 of 32
Grade: A
It is tough to find fault with anything that has happened here this offseason.
The NHL's best team kept all of its key pending unrestricted free agents, re-signing Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad to long-term contracts that all probably came in under market value.
They also let Nate Schmidt leave after he priced himself out of his third-pairing role and found a suitable replacement in Jeff Petry.
They kept their stars, they are not overpaying for their third-pairing defense and still have a roster that has played in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and won back-to-back Cups. It's a tremendous team.
Los Angeles Kings
13 of 32
Grade: F
Such a weird offseason.
After losing a fourth consecutive first-round playoff series to the Edmonton Oilers, the Kings brought in Ken Holland as general manager to try to get the roster over the hump. So far all he's done is remind people that maybe the game has passed him by.
Letting Vladislav Gavrikov go and trading Jordan Spence only to replace them with Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin on long-term contracts is nasty business, and it's also foolish business.
Corey Perry might still have something to offer at forward, but this is still a middle-of-the-pack offensive team and now its defense—its one big strength—is arguably worse than it was.
These are not the moves to get the Kings through the Oilers. Or any other top-tier Western Conference Stanley Cup contender.
Minnesota Wild
14 of 32
Grade: C
The Wild let a couple of veteran free agents leave and brought in Vladimir Tarasenko in what was probably a lateral move.
They deserve credit for remaining a playoff team throughout the worst years of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, and now that those are mostly behind them, they have some salary-cap flexibility to work with.
If they can keep their top players healthy—a major problem a year ago, especially in the second half—this is still a good hockey team right now with one of the NHL's best prospect pools coming up behind it.
There is a lot to like here long-term, even if they haven't really done anything this summer.
How they handle the RFA situation involving center Marco Rossi, and if they can get Kirill Kaprizov re-signed as he enters the final year of his current contract, will largely dictate the rest of their offseason grade.
Montreal Canadiens
15 of 32
Grade: A
What an exciting time for Montreal Canadiens fans, and an offseason performance to match it.
The Canadiens shocked the NHL by making the playoffs in 2024-25, and they have an outstanding young core led by Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov.
They significantly added to that by trading for a top-pairing defenseman in Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders and adding a young potential 20-goal scorer in Zack Bolduc, who should fit in perfectly with the young forward core.
The Canadiens' performance from a year ago may not have been sustainable with no major roster moves. These moves will not only help them sustain that success but also potentially build on it.
Nashville Predators
16 of 32
Grade: D
The Predators went all-in last offseason and made three huge signings in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei.
It failed, and the Predators were one of the worst teams in the NHL.
This year, they went with some smaller moves, and it will also probably fail.
Overpaying for Nic Hague to play in a third-pairing role—or playing him too high up in the lineup—was the most questionable move of the offseason, but beyond that there just does not seem to be much of a coherent plan here from Barry Trotz.
They will probably be better this season just based on some normal regression to the mean stuff and bounce-back years from returning veterans, but nothing this offseason is going to help with that.
New Jersey Devils
17 of 32
Grade: B
The Devils were another team that made flashy moves a year ago, trading for goalie Jacob Markstrom and signing defenseman Brett Pesce.
Both moves mostly helped accomplish what they were supposed to and helped get the Devils back into the playoffs.
This offseason has been more low-key, focusing on depth additions like Evgenii Dadonov and Connor Brown. Brown's contract, being a four-year deal, has some risk with it, but he's a good depth player.
Getting a 20-goal scorer in Dadonov for $1 million was also some nice business.
The biggest thing for the Devils is they just need to keep their top players, specifically forward Jack Hughes, healthy for a full season. That has been one of their biggest issues the past two seasons.
New York Islanders
18 of 32
Grade: B
The additions of Jonathan Drouin and Maxim Shabonov are intriguing moves at forward and could help bring some much-needed scoring and creativity to one of the duller offenses in the league.
They also earned high marks for their NHL draft performance after landing defenseman Matthew Schaeffer with the No. 1 overall pick, and then getting Viktor Eklund and Kashawn Aietcheson with the two first-round picks they acquired in the Noah Dobson trade.
Not all of those players are going to pan out, but the farm system has dramatically improved in a very short period, thanks to those additions as well as the trade for Calum Ritchie at last year's deadline.
Losing Dobson in the short-term is a big problem for the defense and the NHL roster in the present day, but this team was not going to seriously compete with or without him this season. At least now they have some prospects to try and develop for a future Islanders team that might have a chance to compete.
New York Rangers
19 of 32
Grade: C
Getting Vladislav Gavrikov is a significant move because it finally gives Adam Fox a reliable partner to play on the team's top pairing. His contract also came in a little lower than was originally projected when free agency began.
That is the big win in terms of the roster, while getting Mike Sullivan -- a two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach -- brings a fresh voice behind the bench.
After that, the rest of the offseason has been underwhelming.
There is a good and valid argument to be made that Gavrikov is better than K'Andre Miller, but the Rangers defense would have been better off having both Gavrikov and Miller on it.
Instead, they dumped Miller for Scott Morrow and some draft picks, largely because they handed out so many questionable defense contracts a year ago.
Chris Kreider's trade continues the team's house-cleaning of the previous leadership core, but that is still a top-six winger going out the door with none coming back in to replace him (at least not yet).
Ottawa Senators
20 of 32
Grade: B
The Senators could have used another goal-scorer at the top of their lineup, but they have been unable to add one.
What they have done is make some solid moves around the edges.
Jordan Spence is an under-the-radar addition to the defense and should significantly upgrade their third defense pair, while veteran center Lars Eller brings some solid defensive play to the middle of their lineup.
The Senators finally worked their way back into the playoffs after seven years on the outside, and these smaller moves help solidify that improving lineup.
It's a solid offseason so far. Not spectacular. Not terrible. Just some smart little moves that can produce some small improvements.
Philadelphia Flyers
21 of 32
Grade: C
Love the decision to take a gamble on Trevor Zegras. It might not work, but rolling the dice on a talented player and potentially getting him back to center (where he was at his best in Anaheim) could pay off.
Hate the decision to make Dan Vladar the only change to the goalie situation, while also signing him for two years.
This team was better than its record would have you believe, and the empty void in goal is the biggest reason why they fell so far short of expectations. Vladar is not going to fix that. The returning goalies are not going to fix that.
New head coach Rick Tocchet should be able to help continue the defensive structure that John Tortorella put into place, but the question will be whether he can get anything out of the team offensively.
That has not been a strength of his teams in previous head coaching stops, and he's never really had success in the standings as a head coach. This is his fourth attempt and if it does not work this time, it might be time to stop giving him chances to run the whole team.
Pittsburgh Penguins
22 of 32
Grade: C
This offseason feels incomplete because you have to assume more trades are on the horizon.
One of Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell is going to be playing for somebody else next season. It just seems to be a matter of when it happens and not if it happens.
This is a rebuilding situation here, though it remains to be seen just how drastic that rebuild will ultimately be.
Overall, this offseason looks very similar to their offseason from a year ago: Take on some salary dumps to add some future draft picks and assets, short-term veteran free agents whose value they can boost and flip at the deadline, and looking for more young players who can be long-term solutions.
What they do in their next big trade will significantly change the grade and the outlook for the offseason. If they can get somebody young who can grow with players like Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen and Harrison Brunicke, or perhaps even a future first-round pick, that would be a solid move for a rebuilding team.
San Jose Sharks
23 of 32
Grade: B
The Sharks added a lot of veterans this offseason, including Jeff Skinner, Dmitry Orlov, Alex Nedeljkovic, John Klingberg and Nick Leddy.
Along with some improvements from their young forwards, specifically rising superstar Macklin Celebrini and some addition by subtraction in who they let go, this team is going to be better and potentially significantly better.
But that should almost be expected just because it would be difficult to be as bad as this Sharks team has been the past two seasons.
They might win 10-15 more games.
It won't be a playoff team, because they are still incredibly far away from that, but it's a step.
Seattle Kraken
24 of 32
Grade: C
Bringing in forwards Mason Marchment and Freddy Gaudreau are solid moves, especially at the expense of Andre Burakovsky.
But the addition of Ryan Lindgren on defense isn't likely to help anything, especially after two teams trying to compete (New York Rangers and Colorado) both decided they were better off without him over the past year.
This still isn't a particularly good team, and it remains difficult to decipher what exactly the plan of management is for building a winner. Everything has been a struggle since they entered the NHL.
St. Louis Blues
25 of 32
Grade: B-
I don't love trading Zac Bolduc for Logan Mallioux.
Mallioux has offensive upside, but he is a huge question mark, while Bolduc has already established himself as a good, young NHL player who can make an impact with and without the puck on his stick.
Pius Suter and Nick Bjugstad are not the type of moves that are going to dominate the headlines across the NHL, but they are very solid depth moves for a team that needed some complementary pieces.
This grade could change dramatically if they trade forward Jordan Kyrou. His name has been mentioned in trade speculation all summer, but they would need to get a heck of a return to make that worth it.
Tampa Bay Lightning
26 of 32
Grade: C
The Lightning haven't done anything noteworthy other than swap out some depth pieces by bringing in Pontus Holmberg and Jakob Pelletier and sending away Luke Glendening and Nick Perbix, and trading Isaac Howard after they were unable to sign him.
The top part of this lineup is still excellent and championship-worthy.
The bottom half of the lineup...isn't.
That is still the case more than a month into the offseason.
Toronto Maple Leafs
27 of 32
Grade: D
The Maple Leafs finally made a big change to their core by letting Mitch Marner go in a sign-and-trade deal with Vegas.
They have so far used the salary-cap space that opened up in that move to acquire Matias Maccelli, Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua.
That's a quantity over quality trade off if we've ever seen one.
On one hand, the Maple Leafs needed to change something involving this core group. They have consistently shown us what they are, and it's not good enough to win. They do not take over enough playoff games, and they do not have the depth to make up for it when the core players go cold or struggle.
Nobody should blame them for looking to make a change after so many playoff defeats.
But how they have handled that change could be a problem. For whatever flaws Marner had in the playoffs and big games late in series, he is still a wildly productive player and the Maple Leafs now have a huge hole in the top of their lineup.
They did improve some of the depth, but I don't know that they improved it enough to matter when they have to try to get through a team like Florida in the playoffs.
Utah Mammoth
28 of 32
Grade: B
After making big investments in its defense a year ago (Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino) Utah made a similar investment in its offense this offseason.
The big addition here is JJ Peterka, a 24-year-old winger who has already established himself as a 25-goal scorer and still has the upside to be more. His defensive game is a big question mark, but adding a talent like him to a young forward group that already has Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther is an exciting move.
Brandon Tanev will bring some energy and speed to the bottom half of the lineup and penalty kill, while Nate Schmidt can play some sheltered defensive minutes at the bottom of the lineup.
The playoffs should be a reasonable expectation. They are within reach.
Vancouver Canucks
29 of 32
Grade: C
Getting Brock Boeser re-signed was a pleasant surprise that keeps a 30-goal scorer in Vancouver. That was also the highlight of the offseason.
Losing Pius Suter and replacing him with Evander Kane was a net loss, especially when you consider the Canucks not only gave up a draft pick to acquire Kane and his contract, but they also helped a divisional rival out of their salary-cap crunch.
The departures of Suter and Dakota Joshua with the only outside addition being Kane is not really anything to be excited about.
Another thing not to get excited about: Elias Pettersson still being a question mark after the worst season of his career, and Jim Rutherford starting to plant the seeds for a potential Quinn Hughes departure over the next year-and-a-half. Rutherford basically came out and said if they do not get Hughes signed to a contract extension before the 2026-27 trade deadline, they will have to trade him at that point.
Add in a thin farm system and this is a pretty grim situation long-term. There are worse teams in the NHL for certain, but this team might be further away from a championship than almost any of them.
Vegas Golden Knights
30 of 32
Grade: A
The Vegas Golden Knights did it again.
They managed to get the biggest-name player available (Marner) and figured out a way to make the salary-cap situation work when it originally seemed impossible on paper. It is never impossible for them. They always find a way.
Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo walking away from hockey for the time being opened the most salary-cap space, but dumping Nicolas Roy and Nic Hague also helped.
Marner and Vegas also seem like a perfect match for one another.
The Golden Knights needed another top-line winger, and Marner fits that description.
He is also going from a team where losing and failure were anticipated, to a team that has known nothing but winning and success. It is also a situation where he is not going to have to be the focal point (this is Jack Eichel and Mark Stone's team) and will not be dealing with the Toronto media and demanding fanbase daily every time something goes wrong.
There will still be pressure, but it will not be the same as it was in Toronto for a number of reasons.
Washington Capitals
31 of 32
Grade: C
The Capitals were one of the NHL's busiest teams a year ago, and all of that movement turned a fringe playoff team into one of the best in the NHL and a playoff series win.
So far this summer the Capitals have been one of the quietest teams, only really adding Justin Sourdif from the Florida Panthers.
This is still a good team, and there are a lot of young players who could still take big steps forward. As of now, that is going to have to be where the improvement comes from.
They still need another trade if they are going to return to the same level they were at during the 2024-25 season.
Winnipeg Jets
32 of 32
Grade: D
Losing Nikolaj Ehlers is a significant departure, and I'm not sure any of their additions are going to make up for that.
Gustav Nyquist and Tanner Pearson are not anything that will move the needle, while Jonathan Toews seems like nothing more than a good PR story, seeing him return to play for his hometown team.
He was no longer an effective player when we saw him play two or three years ago, and it is hard to imagine that has changed after two years of not playing.
As long as they have Connor Hellebuyck and some of their high-level forwards, this is going to be a playoff team. It is just a matter of how far they are able to go when they get there, and that will ultimately come down to the goalie playing better than he has in the postseason in recent years.
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