The top five remaining NHL restricted free agents

We are one month from the beginning of NHL training camp, and 18 restricted free agents still remain on the market.

It was already going to be an interesting offseason for RFAs because of some of the talent available, but the Philadelphia Flyers‘ offer sheet for Leo Carlsson chucked a grenade in the market and made a mess. Now the price tags are far higher than originally anticipated, and it’s further complicated negotiations which teams had originally planned less cap space for.

So whether you’re the respective team trying to sign your own player or another team potentially looking to try their luck with an offer sheet, which RFAs left on the market stand out above the rest to retain or acquire? Let’s dive in.

All salary cap information comes courtesy of PuckPedia.

5. Zachary Bolduc, RW (Montreal Canadiens)

2025-26 season: 78 games, 12 goals, 18 assists, 30 points

The Canadiens’ acquisition of Bolduc in the 2025 offseason was a sneaky good addition. While Bolduc didn’t get much attention in the Calder Trophy voting in 2024-25, he emerged as a crafty two-way forward for the St. Louis Blues, showing defensive prowess rarely seen in a rookie. He proved to be a worthy addition for Montreal, even if he struggled to find a consistent role at times, and gave them much needed depth-scoring for their playoff run. But with his entry-level contract now complete, the Canadiens and Bolduc still haven’t agreed on a new deal.

It’s not that the Canadiens lack room to re-sign Bolduc, with $9,783,924 in projected cap space and Arber Xhekaj as the other notable RFA. It appears that Montreal is just trying to be patient with Bolduc to get him closer to the deal they want. We’ve already seen the type of contract Habs’ general manager Kent Hughes looks for with this type of player, having previously locked up Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook to four-year bridge deals around $3 million. That might be what he’s looking for from Bolduc, factoring in some market inflation. It’s hard to see him commanding too high of a price tag, so this feels like this is a deal that gets done ahead of training camp as both parties realize they just want to play some hockey.

4. Alexander Nikishin, D (Carolina Hurricanes)

2025-26 season: 81 games, 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points

While a few players on this list had better individual seasons, all of them would trade that for Nikishin’s season. It took him just 102 total NHL games to capture the one thing NHL players spend their entire careers chasing: the Stanley Cup. Nikishin wasn’t one of Carolina’s top players, as he largely played a sheltered bottom-pair role. But he still had a solid rookie season before the postseason, or at least good enough to finish seventh in Calder Trophy voting.

It is a bit surprising that the Hurricanes and Nikishin haven’t agreed on a new contract yet, especially since the Canes have $9,880,182 in projected cap space. But Nikishin is already asking for $8 million a year, and considering concerns in his decision-making ability and the unknown factor of how he’ll handle tougher minutes, and Carolina may not want to commit that much to him just yet. It’s why his name was floated around the trade market earlier in the summer, as the Canes explored whether the return for him provided more value than signing him to the $8 million price tag. Considering what the Buffalo Sabres got for Bowen Byram, who can blame Carolina for trying. But the lack of a trade likely means the market wasn’t there, so at this point, it’s a matter of which party caves, or if the two just meet in the middle.

3. Simon Edvinsson, D (Detroit Red Wings)

2025-26 season: 72 games, 9 goals, 16 assists, 25 points

While Nikishin might be the sexier name among defensemen on the RFA market, Edvinsson is the more proven commodity right now. Remember how Moritz Seider had his best season this year, proving himself as a top-10 defenseman in the league. That’s partially because Edvinsson took major strides as a top-four defenseman, giving the Red Wings someone who they could play in shutdown minutes without forcing Seider into the toughest minutes in hockey. The dispersed workload resulted in better hockey for Detroit, even if it still wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs.

Some consider Edvinsson the most-likely candidate for an offer sheet among the remaining RFAs. With unproven defensemen like Pavel Mintyukov and Simon Nemec getting $7+ million cap hits on the RFA market, Edvinsson can probably command more. Detroit has more than enough cap space to re-sign him with $19,572,084 available, but that won’t stop them from playing a bit of hardball. The Red Wings have operated under the “no one makes more money than our best player” rule in the past, so it’s possible that they don’t want Edvinsson’s number to go over Seider’s. But according to reports, the Red Wings will match any offer sheet, so all that will do is speed up the process of this negotiation. Hopefully they don’t have to pay the same price as the Ducks for being so confident.

2. Adam Fantilli, C (Columbus Blue Jackets)

2025-26 season: 82 games, 24 goals, 35 assists, 59 points

It’s felt like for all three seasons of Fantilli’s career, he’s been on the cusp of breaking out into an elite player at the level of his third-overall pick pedigree. The talent is clearly there, and he’s proven he can handle a top-six role, but he hasn’t nailed down the consistency yet of being an elite player. In his defense, the Blue Jackets have been the epitome of chaos in his time there, so he hasn’t been in the best development environment. But, that doesn’t make nailing down his value – and more importantly, his cap hit – any easier.

And then the Carlsson offer sheet complicated the negotiation even further. Any hopes of getting Fantilli for under $10 million have gone out the window, and now even a $12 million asking price from Columbus could be viewed as too low. With Carlsson and Macklin Celebrini locked in over $18 million, and Connor Bedard at $15 million, Fantilli will probably ask for something close to that range, which then creates the question of “how will the Blue Jackets fit Fantilli in their cap picture?” They only have $13,495,001 left in cap space, which might not be enough, so they will either need to move out some cap space or play hardball with Fantilli until he drops to their range.

1. Cutter Gauthier, LW (Anaheim Ducks)

2025-26 season: 76 games, 41 goals, 28 assists, 69 points

Speaking of RFAs affected by Carlsson’s offer sheet, how about his own teammate. Gauthier had a breakout season on par with Carlsson, scoring 41 goals and doing so sustainably with 285 shots, the sixth-most in the league. This was already going to give him a high asking price going to his next contract, but for a while, it was figured to be around the $10 million range. But when Carlsson got $18 million a year, Gauthier’s number obviously went up. He can’t quite demand the same price, as the Ducks can claim an offer sheet isn’t a player’s true market value, but Gauthier can at least justify a contract in the $14-16 million range.

The only thing working against Gauthier compared to Carlsson is that, because he doesn’t have the required three years of NHL service time, he isn’t eligible for an offer sheet. He doesn’t exactly need that to demand the price tag he wants with the Carlsson comparable, but it also means the Ducks can wait without the threat of another team circling back and offering Gauthier something well above their remaining cap space of $9,073,395. It will be interesting to see how late into the summer this goes, or if Gauthier will be missing some of the season to get the number he wants. Or maybe, if the Ducks are lucky enough, they can convince Gauthier to take a one-year deal within their cap space, and make a handshake agreement on a more lucrative extension beyond that deal when they’re set to have almost $40 million in cap space, much like what the Dallas Stars might be doing with Jason Robertson. Only time will tell how this negotiation plays out.