Nate Schmidt signs a three-year deal with Utah carrying a $3.5M AAV.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 1, 2025

The 2025 NHL free agent market is officially open for business.

It’s past 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 1 and the gates to the NHL’s highly-anticipated free agency period are open. That means that NHL teams are able to sign unrestricted free agents to the upcoming 2025-26 season and beyond.

With the first few hours down, it seems as if we’re past the major activity and onto the slow slog throughout the rest of the summer months. Given that July 1 was the last bastion of the NHL season before the long summer break, we’re now well and truly in the doldrums for signings after an unusually lethargic start to the day.

Now that the rush of signings has seemingly passed, here are all the major free agent signings from the first day and our thoughts on the biggest news.

Last year, the NHL had historic levels of spending on the first day of the free agency period. This year, with so many names taken off the board before the day began, it’s no wonder that the day didn’t feature much high-level activity. Sure, teams have made some good depth additions, but so far there’s been no major “wow!” moment of the day.

While that could change at any moment with a major trade or other move, it seems as if the signings have slowed to a trickle now.

After winning the Stanley Cup with the Panthers earlier in the summer, Schmidt now heads to join the Utah Mammoth on a three-year, $10.5 million deal.

The Kraken pick up former Avalanche defenseman Lindgren on a four-year, $18 million deal. While not the flashiest name out there, Lindgren should provide some stability to the Kraken’s blue line amidst a rapidly thinning defensive market.

In the biggest head-scratcher so far, the Bruins signed Jeannot to a five-year, $17 million deal. That’s a hefty price to pay for a player who hasn’t projected to be anything higher than a fourth line winger.

Jeannot agrees to 5 year contract in Boston. $3.4 per.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2025

New York takes the biggest defensive UFA off the board after signing Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million deal. The Rangers have a lot to prove in the 2025-26 season after an extremely disappointing year last year, so Gavrikov’s addition is an interesting one to say the least.

Hopefully Perry doesn’t bring along his Stanley Cup Final curse to Los Angeles, as the veteran NHL forward has signed a one-year deal with the Kings.

All signs seemed to indicate that Boeser would be moving on from Vancouver, but Tuesday the Canucks surprised everyone across the hockey world with a new contract for the forward. The deal is a great one for the Canucks, who lock up a key top-six forward through his mid-30s, but it absolutely takes yet another big name off the market.

Unlike in years past, the NHL seems to be taking free agency slower than usual due to concerns about being caught tampering by the league. So it took a full 10 minutes for a deal to be announced, which came from the Flyers camp with their signing of center Christian Dvorak to a one-year, $5.4 million deal.

Christian Dvorak 1 x $5.4M

Philadelphia

(First tweet had salary backwards)

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 1, 2025

The free agent goaltender market lost its biggest piece as the New Jersey Devils goaltender re-signed with the team on a five-year, $9 million deal ahead of the start of free agency. It’s a good deal for New Jersey, even though the term would take Allen until his age 39 season, which is a gamble for a goaltender.

Jake Allen NJ: 5 x $1.8M AAV

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 1, 2025Marner, Marchand, Ekblad and more taken off the board before July 1

It’s fair to say that hockey fans have a right to be disappointed about July 1 out of the gate. Marner, the headliner of this so-so free agent class, was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday after days of rumors between the two sides. The Panthers retained all of their major free agent pieces from their back-to-back Stanley Cup victory in locking up Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad AND Brad Marchand. Even second-tier free agents like Ivan Provorov and Claude Giroux re-signed with their respective clubs before Tuesday, putting a major damper on the proceedings.

There could still be some interesting movement on Tuesday despite all of this, but with many of the top-tier free agents already locked up, it’s looking like it’ll be a slow day.

When does the 2025 NHL free agency period open?

NHL teams can begin signing free agents at 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 1.

Where can I watch 2025 NHL free agency coverage on TV?

NHL Network will be playing host to live coverage of all the free agency action on Tuesday in the United States. You can find NHL Network streaming on Hulu + Live TV, Fubo or Sling TV.