2027 NHL Restricted Free Agents Who Could Get Offer Sheets

Restricted free-agent offer sheets may no longer just be something hockey fans and the media dream about at the start of every summer. They might actually be a path that NHL general managers start exploring.

They should be exploring it, anyway.

After the St. Louis Blues successfully signed forward Dylan Holloway and defenseman Philip Broberg away from the Edmonton Oilers two summers ago, we saw two more offer sheets get signed this offseason.

The New Jersey Devils attempted to sign Barrett Hayton away from the Utah Mammoth, while the Philadelphia Flyers signed Anaheim Ducks forward Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million offer sheet that, for now, makes him the highest-paid player in the NHL on a per-year basis.

In the end, both offer sheets were matched, and everybody stayed with their current teams.

That is part of the problem with offer sheets, even if you do find a player that wants to sign with you, and even if you agree to a deal and are comfortable giving up the draft pick assets, it still needs to be a situation where the other team can not, or will not, match it. That is easier said than done. It is also going to be significantly more difficult as the salary cap continues to rise and before teams get themselves into more salary cap headaches.

Even so, given how little top-tier talent reaches the unrestricted free agent market and how hard it can be to find it, the restricted free agent market seems to be sitting there, waiting to be explored.

So let's look ahead to the summer of 2027 and identify some potential restricted free agents who could get an offer sheet.

This is not simply a list of the best restricted free agents going into next season. San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini would almost certainly top that list. But there is no way they are going to let him even get close to the RFA market, given what they saw unfold with Carlsson within their own division.

We are looking at realistic options and realistic players who could actually get an offer sheet.

The 'Keep Dreaming' Players

Eakin Howard/Getty Images

Before we get into the potential offer-sheet targets, let's look at some of the top restricted free agents who are likely to re-sign before it ever gets to that point, or may not be willing to sign offer sheets for one reason or another.

Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks

The Sharks simply are not going to risk this. They shouldn't risk it. They can't risk it.

They will almost certainly get him signed before it ever gets to this point. It will almost certainly be a staggering contract.

Will Smith, San Jose Sharks

While Smith is not quite on the same level as Celebrini, he is still a massive part of their rebuild and a rapidly improving player.

Even after taking on $17 million in salary cap space for Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse, and even after an eventual contract for Celebrini, the Sharks should still be in a good enough position with the salary cap to get Smith signed before he becomes a potential offer sheet possibility for another team.

Kirill Marchenko, Columbus Blue Jackets

It would be sensible for a team to make a run at Marchenko as a restricted free agent, not only due to his production but also because there is some question as to whether he is willing to sign in Columbus for the long term.

Reports surfaced around this year's draft that he may not be interested in signing long-term with the Blue Jackets, which might take him off the offer-sheet watch list.

Why? Signing an offer sheet might give Columbus a potential avenue to keep him long-term by simply matching the offer.

If Marchenko truly doesn't want to be there long-term, why would he take that risk when he could file for arbitration, play out his one year and then go to unrestricted free agency the following summer and go wherever he wants?

Matvei Michkov, Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers obviously recognize the changing market for players and need enough self-awareness to know that a potential offer sheet could come in for one of their guys after taking that run at Carlsson.

If it's not a Flyer in 2027-28, it's because they traded him in a blockbuster deal.

The more likely scenario is that they sign him and hope he takes the big step forward they are hoping for, helping him become part of their long-term plan alongside Porter Martone.

Matthew Savoie, Edmonton Oilers

Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images

Savoie would be an interesting player next offseason for a couple of reasons.

First, he's a pretty good young player, coming off a strong rookie season, and figures to get a big opportunity to produce with the Oilers in 2026-27.

Second, the Oilers are among the few teams in the NHL facing something of a salary cap crunch. Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman will be in the last year of their deals. Leon Draisaitl is still one of the highest-paid players in the league. The Oilers are still likely to have many flaws that need to be addressed.

Edmonton has already been burned by restricted free agency before, so you would like to imagine they would be smart enough to put themselves in a position to avoid that happening again.

But they might have so many needs and so many other big pieces of business to attend to that salary cap space could get eaten up pretty quickly, putting them in a position where they are vulnerable again.

Savoie had a solid 2025-26 season with the Oilers, scoring 18 goals, adding 19 assists, and totaling 37 points. Those are not necessarily numbers that jump off the page at you, but keep in mind that he is still only 23 years old and played under 15 minutes per game. The talent is there, and a bigger role could give him an even bigger opportunity to break out and become a bona fide top-six, or even top-line player.

Justin Sourdif, Washington Capitals

Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

The thing about offer sheets, especially successful ones, is that it is not always about the absolute best players you could target.

Sometimes it's simply about finding pretty good players from teams in a vulnerable spot, making an offer sheet difficult to match.

The Capitals added a lot of long-term money to their salary cap outlook this offseason with the additions of Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch, putting them in a position where they could be another team that at least feels a little pressure against the cap next summer.

They also have another potential restricted free agent that is likely to take priority over Sourdif in Ryan Leonard.

Sourdif had an outstanding rookie season with the Capitals in 2025-26, scoring 15 goals, 20 assists, and 35 points in 78 games after coming over in an offseason trade from the Florida Panthers.

Along with that offensive production, he proved himself to be a very solid two-way middle-six forward who can play a variety of situations up and down the lineup.

There's value in that, and it might make him an attractive option for a team looking to get younger and add a mid-20s player with untapped potential.

Jack Quinn, Buffalo Sabres

Joe Hrycych/Getty Images

The Sabres are not really in a bad salary-cap situation moving forward, and they have done a nice job of locking in many of their best young core players.

The recent deals for forwards Josh Doan and Zach Benson could be steals over the duration of those contracts and help set the Sabres up with serious long-term salary cap flexibility.

Because of that, they shouldn't really be in a bad spot to get Quinn signed long-term if they see enough from him to make him a part of that core group.

The wild card in this is if the Sabres make another blockbuster move over the next year to add another big salary-cap hit onto their roster. Like, say, if they were to acquire a franchise goalie like Connor Hellebuyck. That could change some of the salary-cap math and could leave Quinn as a vulnerable player.

Quinn will be 25 this season and hasn't yet had a big-time breakout offensively. He set a career high with 20 goals this past season and might still have an even bigger breakout ahead.

One of Jake Neighbours or Jimmy Snuggerud, St. Louis Blues

Connor Hamilton/NHLI via Getty Images

The Blues are in the process of turning over their core group and getting younger. Along with that, they have taken some big chances and gambles.

They are banking on Connor McMichael breaking out after trading Jordan Kyrou to the Washington Capitals for him. They are hoping Mason McTavish can reach his full potential after failing to do so with the Anaheim Ducks. That bet cost them two first-round picks.

They also still have Robert Thomas, who remains one of the NHL's most underrated -- and best -- playmakers, as well as Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to help build around.

Along with all of that, they also have a nice young forward duo in Jake Neighbours and Jimmy Snuggerud. Both took big steps forward in 2025-26, and both are eligible for restricted free agency after this season.

The Blues have every incentive to sign both players well before next summer, and they should have the salary-cap room to do so. If they drag their feet and allow either to reach next offseason without a long-term deal, though, they could become very attractive offer-sheet targets. Both have top-line ability and have already shown stretches where they look like that caliber of player.

The Blues helped usher back in the era of offer sheets by getting Holloway and Broberg. They need to make sure they do not allow another team to pry one of their top young players away in a similar manner.