NHL Power Rankings After the First Week of 2026 Free Agency
Free agency is under way in the NHL and coincidentally, free agency is basically over in the NHL.
Most of the big names are off the board, one other big name (Jason Robertson) is potentially off to arbitration, while two other players wait out decisions on their offer sheets to see where they're going to play next season, or in Leo Carlsson's situation beyond that. NHL GMs are either at the cottage or ready to get there and with that, most teams rosters are almost in place for training camp in September.
With everything all but wrapped up, we're getting our power rankings in order to rest our laurels upon for the rest of summer barring any out-of-the-world trading going down.
We assessed 32 points for a first-place vote all the way down to a single point for a No. 32 vote, then figured the totals and ranked the teams from 32 to 1.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the app comments.
32. Vancouver Canucks
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As fun and exciting as it was to see the Canucks take Caleb Malhotra with the third overall pick a week ago, we hope Vancouver fans bottled that joy to save for a while because free agency hasn't added to it.
At least Luke Schenn rejoining the Canucks made some folks smile, right?
31. Calgary Flames
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Calgary really wasn't burning up the wires to sign free agents, but they did trade Blake Coleman and Olli Määttä to Minnesota for defenseman Jacob Middleton and with a mustache like he's got, you can't go wrong. For the sake of Flames fans, we're hoping there are more positive things lying in wait for the rest of the offseason.
30. Seattle Kraken
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Signing free agents hasn't been huge for the Kraken, but re-signing some guys has been nice. Getting recently acquired Mackie Samoskevich locked in for three years and re-signing Bobby McMann before free agency even opened was solid business. They need more, but hey, baby steps, right?
29. Chicago Blackhawks
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We're expecting Chicago to do so much more with their summer, but making sure they get Connor Bedard's next contract nailed down right is kind of a big priority. They've added Ian Cole and Cole Smith and made Bowen Byram the highest paid defenseman in the game with a six-year, $75 million extension.
28. St. Louis Blues
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The Blues' biggest business got done before and during the NHL Draft when they pulled Mason McTavish out of Anaheim, Brandon Carlo from Toronto and sent Jordan Kyrou to Washington for Connor McMichael. Free agency has remained quiet apart from adding depth to the organization. Is this the summer Jordan Binnington gets traded? Our Magic 8-Ball is on the fritz.
27. Detroit Red Wings
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While GM Steve Yzerman and Dylan Larkin have the world's iciest staring contest, the Red Wings have laid low so far in the offseason. They added Viktor Arvidsson out of Boston and goalie Daniil Tarasov from Florida in free agency. Patrick Kane is still out there, Alex DeBrincat needs an extension and RFA Simon Edvinsson needs a new contract. It might be summer, but it's so cold in the D.
26. Winnipeg Jets
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When it comes to good news in Winnipeg, Connor Hellebuyck is still a Jet. Trade rumors cooled off but linger, but hey, he's there and even free agent signing Stuart Skinner recognizes that as well. The Jets made a sneaky good signing with defenseman Mario Ferraro, but Hellebuyck's future and what the return is if he's traded has everyone holding their breath.
25. Ottawa Senators
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Hey, did you know the Senators landed William Eklund in a trade with San Jose? They did! They also added Andre Burakovsky from Chicago. Brady Tkachuk? Ottawa's never heard of him. Free agents? Well, their AHL team in Belleville is restocking nicely at least. Maybe Claude Giroux comes back if he doesn't head to Philadelphia or Edmonton.
24. New York Rangers
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Trading for and re-signing Pavel Dorofeyev is a genuinely good move by the Rangers. Adding Oliver Bjorkstrand to join him up front is a savvy move as well, but trades is where the Rangers did some real work.
The Rangers added Joonas Korpisalo from Boston for a prospect and a pick then got two picks back from Boston for defenseman Will Borgen. Losing Vincent Trocheck is tough but sending him to Utah for Sean Durzi and more makes their blue line more mobile.
Sending a conditional 2030 first-round pick to Vancouver for defenseman Markus Pettersson sounds like a big price but consider that whoever ends up selected with that pick is currently 14 years old and you'll probably feel a lot weirder about it.
23. Columbus Blue Jackets
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Good news, everyone, Zach Werenski isn't leaving after all. What, did you hear he wanted to be traded? No, you didn't.
That's the biggest win for the Blue Jackets this offseason and it's not even close. If they can get Kirill Marchenko to feel the same way, that might be a reason to celebrate.
Pay no attention to what they've done in free agency, everything is fine. OK?
22. Nashville Predators
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Hang on a second, are we enjoying a Predators offseason again? The last time we did that, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei went to Nashville. This time it's Mavrik Bourque and Jack Drury via trades and Alexander Kerfoot in free agency.
OK it's not exactly the same, but Bourque and Drury will play well with the Preds with all those stars they signed a couple years back.
21. New York Islanders
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Maybe the worst thing to happen to the Islanders this offseason was losing captain Anders Lee to Utah. Adding forward Matias Maccelli and goalie Vítek Vaněček to back up Ilya Sorokin help out, but let's hope they're not throwing too much on Matthew Schaefer's shoulders too soon to be a leader.
20. New Jersey Devils
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Remember how fun and exciting it was when the Devils signed Barrett Hayton to an offer sheet for a one-year deal worth $4.775 million and then we forgot about it immediately after Leo Carlsson signed his? Anyway, locking up Nico Hischier long-term to a team-friendly contract is good and dealing Jacob Markström to Florida makes us wonder what else GM Sunny Mehta has cooking for the position.
19. Toronto Maple Leafs
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Everyone was waiting to see how new Toronto GM John Chayka was going to handle the offseason and, boy, was he ever busy. Landing Sergei Bobrovsky was a bold move and loading up on players to change their forward depth dramatically was curious. New coach Jim Hiller will have a lot to work with and mold how he wants, but the Atlantic Division is awaits.
18. Los Angeles Kings
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If you've been waiting on a Kings youth movement, you may want to stay in line. With Corey Perry returning to L.A., Scott Laughton re-signing, and Mats Zuccarello and Erik Haula joining, some things are changing but somehow nothing is really changing at all. The Kings will be tough, defensive and yet still with plenty of skill.
17. Anaheim Ducks
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For a team that made the playoffs and looks to be on the rise, the Ducks offseason couldn't be going worse. Leo Carlsson's six-year, $90 million offer sheet with the Flyers is a gut-punch. Getting bullied by threat of an offer sheet for defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and re-signing him to a five-year, $36 million likely cost them more money. Trading Mason McTavish during the draft also hurt, but that writing was on the wall for some time and dealing Olen Zellweger to Buffalo at least netted them a top 50 draft pick.
Everything hangs in the balance on their decision whether to match Carlsson's deal but this has been a rough summer.
16. Boston Bruins
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Adding J-J Peterka via trade at the draft was a bold move, but since then, the moves are a bit curious. They acquired Will Borgen from the Rangers and sent Joonas Korpisalo to New York in a separate deal so they can promote Michael DiPietro from the AHL to backup Jeremy Swayman. Boston also brought back defenseman Connor Clifton in free agency. They reportedly took a run at Darnell Nurse but fell short, too. They're trying at least, right?
15. Washington Capitals
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No doubt that Alex Ovechkin coming back for one more year helps the Capitals out after they made moves (Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou) to prepare in case he decided to retire. Adding Boone Jenner makes the middle of the lineup tougher as does defenseman Vincent Desharnais. We like what they're cooking here. We think.
14. San Jose Sharks
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The Sharks really needed to add to their defense and boy did they. Trading for Darnell Nurse and signing Jacob Trouba to join Michael Kesselring gives them a real grown-up blue line. Adding Mason Marchment up front gives them a bit more edge, too. They're cooking in San Jose.
13. Pittsburgh Penguins
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Kind of weird to think that GM Kyle Dubas can do things on the sly in Pittsburgh, but he is. Adding Andrei Kuzmenko and Trevor van Riemsdyk in free agency are kind of nice with it. Getting Egor Chinakhov locked in with a three-year deal is strong as is acquiring Nicholas Robertson from Toronto. With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson, they can keep cooking.
12. Edmonton Oilers
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Look at the Oilers having a nice little offseason. Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi join the party in goal with Tristan Jarry. Ryan Shea joins the blue line in free agency and Shakir Mukhamadullin came over in the Darnell Nurse trade. Adding Mathieu Joseph as depth up front and bringing back Kasperi Kapanen keep the wheels up front.
11. Philadelphia Flyers
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If nothing else, the Flyers won the summer of hearts by dropping a bomb of an offer sheet out there signing Leo Carlsson to a six-year, $90 million whopper that's sent the Ducks reeling figuring out if they're going match it or not. Meanwhile, they took care of their own guy Tyson Foerster with an eight-year, $56.8 million extension and Dan Vladař to a five-year, $27.5 million deal. If they pull in Carlsson, it's a monster offseason, if they don't, it's still really good.
10. Utah Mammoth
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Free agency brought the Mammoth Islanders captain Anders Lee along with Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke. Trades landed them Vincent Trocheck and Sebastian Cossa. They might lose Barrett Hayton to New Jersey via offer sheet, but adding Lee makes that easier to handle. A solid offseason for Utah.
9. Tampa Bay Lightning
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Signing John Carlson gets all the deserved headlines for the Lightning. Another veteran and weapon for the blue line is huge. They also did their part to be ready to deal with the rival Panthers adding Ilya Mikheyev and Jeffrey Viel. Dealing Nick Paul and Darren Raddysh to Toronto has haunting possibilities, but getting Dennis Hildeby gives Andrei Vasilevskiy a new backup.
8. Minnesota Wild
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Watching Mats Zuccarello depart for Los Angeles couldn't have been easy, but with Kirill Kaprizov's $17 million a year extension starting and needing to extend Quinn Hughes, sacrifices happen. Adding Blake Coleman from Calgary is good for depth as is bringing back Nick Foligno. Minnesota will be deeply frustrating to play against.
7. Buffalo Sabres
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Losing Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram is tough. Trading Devon Levi to Edmonton was expected. Adding Olen Zellweger to replace Byram makes sense skill and money-wise. Spending free agency adding depth to the organization (Conor Sheary, Dennis Gilbert, Matt Villalta) while still in the rumor mill for Connor Hellebuyck means Buffalo's offseason may not be done yet, but staying cool while rivals load up has locals feeling anxious.
6. Dallas Stars
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The drama surrounding Jason Robertson has a finish line in sight after he elected salary arbitration on Sunday. No more offer sheet threats, only a question of whether he signs for one year or gets the long-term extension everyone in Dallas wants to happen. Trading Mavrik Bourque and Ilya Lyubushkin to Nashville was just part of (maybe) getting that business done.
5. Florida Panthers
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Remember the scene in "Slap Shot" where the bus driver is taking a sledgehammer to the bus and Paul Newman's Reggie Dunlop asks what he's doing? "I'm making it look mean!" That's the Panthers. Brady Tkachuk, Garnet Hathaway, Radko Gudas all join up. With Jacob Markström coming back and Akira Schmid as his backup, there'll be questions in goal, but the rest of the team will beat you up for asking.
4. Vegas Golden Knights
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We knew the Golden Knights were going to look a little different and losing Pavel Dorofeyev was the most obvious move. Bringing back Rasmus Andersson was also obvious, although it could've gotten a little sketchy. They've brought back Victor Olofsson to supplant the loss of Dorofeyev's shot and they've added other depth around the edges. Vegas' offseason is never really over though, is it?
3. Montréal Canadiens
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It might not seem like the Canadiens were all that busy but locking up Ivan Demidov (eight years, $73.2 million) and Jakub Dobeš (three years, $16.07 million) with extensions were huge for them now and down the road to keep the offer sheets away. They're vital to their core and just like Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovský, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson they all inked long-term, (retroactively) team-friendly deals. And you wonder why folks think the Habs will be good for a while.
2. Colorado Avalanche
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This offseason is the Cale Makar extension waiting room for the Avalanche. GM Joe Sakic said they're going to get it done and there's no reason to think he won't, especially since Bowen Byram set the new bar for blue liner deals. Colorado adding veteran Jaden Schwartz in free agency gives them even more experience up front to make a run at the Stanley Cup.
1. Carolina Hurricanes
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How else have the Hurricanes celebrated winning the Stanley Cup this offseason? GM Eric Tulsky got to have his fun at the draft by repeatedly trading down and gathering picks. They're still looking for a new team to send defenseman Alexander Nikishin, but buyers beware because Tulsky doesn't make trades to lose them. Losing Frederik Andersen in free agency to Edmonton only clears the path for Brandon Bussi to be the unquestioned No. 1. It's good to be the king.
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