Ranking the 10 Best Moves of the NHL Offseason So Far
The NHL offseason is still young, and there are a few months before the puck drops on the 2026-27 season, but we have already seen significant player movement across the league.
We have probably already seen most of the big moves that are going to happen, with a few notable exceptions that might still be looming.
Some of the moves that have been made have been better than others.
With all that in mind, let's take a look at 10 of the best moves made so far.
This takes into account all trades, all unrestricted free agent signings, and any re-signings of players that were free agents. It does not include re-signing players that were still under team control or were signing extensions.
10. Alex Ovechkin Re-Signs with Capitals
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Alex Ovechkin may be a fraction of what he was at his peak, and the Capitals may not trust him in any major defensive situation, but he is still the NHL's all-time leading goal-scorer.
He is also still a goal-scorer who can put in 30 goals, even at the age of 41, and at least be a strong complementary offensive player.
The Capitals getting him back, and doing so at a very decent rate against the salary cap, is probably the final piece of what has already been one of the best offseasons in the NHL.
9. JJ Peterka to the Boston Bruins
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The JJ Peterka experience did not entirely work out as planned for the Utah Mammoth, but it still wasn't bad.
He still scored 25 goals despite seeing far less ice time per game than the previous year.
He still scored more even-strength goals than he did the year before.
And he still showed that he has a big-time shot.
The Bruins need that sort of finisher to help extend their lineup.
So much of their goal-scoring a year ago came from David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie, and now they have another potential 30-goal scorer to go along with them.
Peterka is a lot like Pavel Dorofeyev in that he is not going to be the one to do the heavy lifting on his line, but if you put good players around him and put him in shooting positions, he is going to score a lot of goals for you. The Bruins paid a steep price in giving up two first-round picks, but they were later picks, and it's a high probability that Peterka scores more goals for the Bruins than either of the players taken with those picks will score for Utah.
8. Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals
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There were many reasons the Capitals regressed in 2025-26 and missed the playoffs. One of them was the fact that they just did not have enough scoring depth and really struggled to generate offense off the rush.
They addressed both areas with their two biggest offseason moves in adding Kyrou and Alex Tuch.
Kyrou and Tuch were two of the best forwards in the league at generating offense off the rush during the 2025-26 season, and both are joining the Capitals to play major top-six roles.
Tuch is one of the offseason moves that comes with some long-term risk, but can still provide some short-term value.
Will he be worth $10 million per year in five or six years? Probably not.
But can he give them 30 goals and top-line offense for the next three or four years and offer the Capitals a chance to make some noise in the Eastern Conference? Absolutely, he can.
7. Darren Raddysh to the Toronto Maple Leafs
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There is always a risk with long-term contracts in free agency.
That is especially true when you are talking about a non-superstar level player who is starting to get into their 30s.
So, with that in mind, there is some long-term risk for the Maple Leafs when it comes to the sign-and-trade deal that brought Darren Raddysh on to the roster with an eight-year contract. It might not age well toward the back end. In fact, it almost certainly will not age well.
But the Maple Leafs are facing a situation where there is some big incentive to win over the next two years before Auston Matthews' contract expires, and Raddysh should help them accomplish that.
He is coming off a monster year offensively that saw him record a career-high 70 points, and while it might be asking a lot to expect that from him again, there are at least some signs below the surface that indicate he can still be a really good and useful player even if he doesn't score like that again.
His possession-driving impact is strong, while his booming slap shot adds an element and dimension that the Maple Leafs' power play has been lacking.
Raddysh was a late-bloomer in the NHL and didn't really become a full-time player until his late 20s, and didn't really have a monster year until this past season.
Given the term and price, it is a bit of a risk for the Maple Leafs. But there's also a good chance he gives them three or four really high-end seasons before they have to start worrying about the price tag.
6. Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers
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The Rangers had a lot of issues over the past few years, and the lack of high-end finishing talent was becoming one of them, especially after the trade of Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings at the 2026 trade deadline.
They addressed that need in a big way on draft night, sending two first-round draft picks to the Vegas Golden Knights for forward Pavel Dorofeyev, then immediately signing him to a long-term contract extension.
While his contract might be a little on the high side, and while he might need someone down the middle to help drive the line and handle two-way play, he is an outstanding finisher with fantastic shooting skills.
He has topped the 33-goal mark in each of the past two seasons, is still in the prime of his career, and could potentially be the type of impact scorer that can be a major building block for several years.
He might not be the foundational piece, but on a team with Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin, he might not need to be. Just put him into a position to do what he does best: score a lot of goals.
5. Vincent Trocheck Trade (for Both Teams)
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There are some trades that just work out for both teams, giving each everything they want and need.
The New York Rangers and Utah Mammoth trade involving Vincent Trocheck is one of those.
From Utah's perspective, it gets a top-nine center who can play a lockdown defensive role and win big faceoffs in a second- or third-line role, while still chipping in some offense.
Having a presence like that can take some of the pressure off the team's other centers and bring a defensive responsibility down the middle. His contract is also extremely affordable in the current salary-cap environment.
From the Rangers' perspective, they get to turn over some of their core group, get a little younger, and add a nice puck-moving defenseman in Sean Durzi.
The addition of Durzi and Marcus Pettersson brings much-needed mobility and puck-handling to a defense that had become too slow, too immobile, and simply not good enough.
Adding those two to a top-four that already includes Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov is a nice turnover of their defensive group, and could help put them back into the playoff discussion.
Especially when they are paired with their other big offseason addition on the forward line.
4. John Carlson to the Tampa Bay Lightning
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The Tampa Bay Lightning always find a way to get their guy and a top player when one becomes available.
Salary cap concerns? Lack of assets? Doesn't matter. They find a way.
This time, it was in free agency, getting Carlson on a two-year deal.
Tampa Bay had an opening for a top-four defenseman and power-play specialist following the departure of Darren Raddysh, and Carlson is about as good a replacement as they could find in this market.
He might even be an upgrade.
He is 36 years old (and turning 37 during the season), but he still has plenty of juice offensively and is coming off a big year, with 60 points in 71 games.
The Lightning have not won a playoff series since their last Stanley Cup win in 2021, but they still have enough top-end talent to be a factor. Carlson helps.
3. Jordan Kyrou to the Washington Capitals
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The Capitals have been trying to add another impact top-six forward to their roster for over a year now, and they finally accomplished it leading up to the draft with the trade for Jordan Kyrou.
Kyrou brings blazing speed and top-line talent to the Capitals' lineup and is probably due for a big bounce-back season.
His 2025-26 season with the Blues was an outlier down year, and it may have helped the Capitals get him for a lesser return.
Given the trade prices paid in the days leading up to the draft, giving up only Connor McMichael, prospect Milton Gastrin, and the 16th overall pick in the 2026 draft was more than fair for the Capitals. Especially given Kyrou's contract, which is extremely team‑friendly under the rising cap, and his potential to return to his top‑line production.
He's been a 30-goal, 70-point scorer consistently throughout his career, and he's joining a Capitals team that has worked hard to retool itself into a contender. He will be a major part of that.
2. Sabres Trading Bowen Byram for Nos. 4 and 45 Picks
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One of the most shocking trades of the offseason so far came when the Buffalo Sabres sent defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks for the No. 4 and 45 picks in the 2026 draft and defenseman Louis Crevier.
Trading Byram wasn't the shock. That had been expected for some time.
The Blackhawks being the team to acquire him wasn't surprising either. They had a major need for a somewhat proven defenseman who could move the puck, and they had also been speculated as a potential landing spot.
The shock was the price they paid. Both in terms of draft-pick capital and the $12.5 million-per-year contract extension they gave him.
The Blackhawks not only traded the No. 4 overall pick in the draft but also added the No. 45 pick, giving the Sabres an opportunity to add potential long-term impact talent to their organization.
It was such a shocking trade package because top-five picks almost never get traded, and it is even rarer to trade one of them straight up for a player. Prior to this move, the last time a top-five pick was traded was in 2008, and even that was a draft-pick trade that saw a team move up.
Byram is a good player, but is he worth two top-50 picks and $12.5 million per year? That is very much up for debate.
The Sabres not only used the No. 4 overall pick to select one of the top defensemen in the 2026 draft (Daxon Rudolph) but also traded the No. 45 pick to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Olen Zellweger. He may not be Byram, but he is a Byram-type player, significantly cheaper, and they received the No. 4 overall pick on top of that.
Just an absolutely massive potential win for the Sabres.
1. Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers
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If you are counting on Brady Tkachuk to be the focal point of your organization and the cornerstone on which it is built, you might be a little disappointed, and he might be a little overrated in that regard.
He's a fantastic player, but he may not be the ideal primary centerpiece on a championship contender. And that's OK. There are only a handful of those guys in the NHL. Probably less than 10, and it's not a knock on somebody to say they're not in that group.
Having said that, if you are looking at Tkachuk as the No. 2 or 3 option on your roster, that is where he will be at his best and most valuable. And that is the exact spot he is going to be in with the Florida Panthers now that he has joined forces with his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, and the return of a healthy Aleksander Barkov.
The Panthers paid a steep price, sending three first-round picks and a second-round pick to the Senators, including the first‑rounder they acquired for Mackie Samoskevich, but it is probably worth it for a Stanley Cup contender in win-now mode.
The Senators did fairly well for themselves in the trade, given the situation Tkachuk put them in (asking for a trade and only wanting to go to Florida), but the Panthers are still the big winners here and could be big winners during the season as a result.
Tkachuk is a great possession driver, scores at a top-line rate, and, like his brother, is one of the biggest pests in the league to play against. Those two, combined with Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Radko Gudas, are going to make this one of the most annoying teams to play against in the entire league.
The Panthers were always poised for a bounce-back season with some better injury luck, and now they have another top-line player to help get them there.
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