Canada Day was the beginning of free agency. It’s one of the main times of the year when teams attempt to get better.
While we wait for the Edmonton Oilers to make a splash… What moves have the seven other Pacific Division teams made on the opening day of free agency? Let’s find out!
In terms of bringing new players in, the Oilers haven’t done a whole lot. They re-signed Evan Bouchard on June 30 and added netminder Matt Tomkins and defenceman Riley Stillman as depth options on July 1.
It’s who they’ve lost that has made their off-season notable so far. The expected trade of Viktor Arvidsson happened, as they shipped him to the Boston Bruins for a 2025 fifth-round pick. Unfortunately, they also lost Connor Brown to the New Jersey Devils, Corey Perry to the Los Angeles Kings, and John Klingberg to the San Jose Sharks.
The Oilers have a marginal ($4.55 million) amount of cap space left, but a whole bunch of holes on the wing. Some more moves need to be made.
So far this off-season, the Vegas Golden Knights have re-signed Brandon Saad, Reilly Smith, Cole Reinhardt, Dylan Coghlan, and Jayson Megna. However, their most impactful move was sending Nic Roy to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a sign-and-trade for Mitch Marner.
WELCOME HOME, MARNER FAMILY pic.twitter.com/IQcX0pSVlh
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) July 1, 2025
Add the fact that their defenceman, Alex Pietriangelo, will reportedly miss the foreseeable future, and the Golden Knights may not be done adding just yet.
The only free agent they’ve lost so far is Tanner Pearson, who signed with the Winnipeg Jets.
If you can’t beat the Oilers, you may as well become them; at least that’s the Los Angeles Kings’ game plan so far this off-season.
They signed Perry to a one-year, $3.5 million deal. Another former Oiler they signed was Cody Ceci to a four-year deal with an annual average of $4.5 million. Other dealings they made were signing Joel Armia to a two-year deal with an AAV of $2.5 million, Brian Dumoulin to a three-year deal with a $4 million cap hit, and netminder Anton Forsberg to a two-year deal with a cap hit of $2.25 million.
One notable loss for the Kings is Vladislav Gavrikov, who departed for the New York Rangers early in free agency. Tanner Jeannot signed with the Boston Bruins, and David Rittich signed with the New York Islanders.
It was a busy start to free agency for the Vancouver Canucks. After signing Conor Garland to a six-year, $36 million deal with an AAV of $6, they were able to re-sign Brock Boeser and extend Thatcher Demko.
Boeser agreed to a seven-year deal with a cap hit of $7.25 million. Demko agreed to a three-year deal worth $25.5 million, a cap hit of $8.5 million. The Canucks also made some minor signings as MacKenzie MacEachern, Joseph LaBate, and Jimmy Schuldt were brought in as depth options.
Vancouver is home. pic.twitter.com/ZA5qRcDUgL
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) July 1, 2025
Two Canuck free agents signed elsewhere, as Noah Juulsen signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and Cole McWard signed with the Islanders. The big question mark for the Canucks is what happened to Pius Suter.
The Anaheim Ducks signed one of the major free agents, agreeing to a three-year deal with Mikael Granlund worth $7 million annually. Other than the centre, they haven’t signed anyone else. The only free agent that signed elsewhere is Isac Lundeström with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Their off-season is done, though, as they’ll need to lock up restricted free agents Lukáš Dostál and Mason McTavish.
The Seattle Kraken made two moves on Tuesday, agreeing to a four-year deal with Ryan Lindgren worth $4.5 million annually. Netminder Matt Murray also signed a one-year deal worth $1 million, but he’s played just two regular-season games in the past two seasons.
Their unrestricted free agent, Michael Eyssimont, signed with the Boston Bruins. Eyssimont was part of the package they received for Yanni Gourde ahead of the trade deadline. The Kraken’s notable restricted free agents are Ryker Evans, Kaapo Kakko, and Tye Kartye.
It’s been an uneventful start to free agency for the Flames, as Daniel Vladař signed with the Flyers and Jonathan Aspirot signed with the Bruins. Earlier in the day, it was reported that Anthony Mantha is speaking with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but nothing has happened as of yet.
They have to lock up two restricted free agents, Morgan Frost and Connor Zary. They’ve also been reported to be close to signing netminder Ivan Prosvetov, a netminder who played well in Russia last season.
Like the Flames, not a whole lot happened with the Sharks on the first day of free agency. They signed John Klingberg to a one-year deal worth $4 million, a player they’ll likely flip before the trade deadline.
None of their unrestricted free agents have signed elsewhere. That list includes Noah Gregor, Klim Kostin, Nikolai Kovalenko, Jan Rutta and Alexandar Georgiev.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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