3 Winners and Losers of 2025 NHL Free Agency

This year, the fellas on the ice beat out the fellas on the court.

The 2025 NHL free agency was significantly more surprising than its NBA counterpart. We saw Mitchell Marner signed and traded to an unexpected contender in the Vegas Golden Knights in a deal that also bolstered the Toronto Maple Leafs. We saw the Florida Panthers' drama conclude in perhaps the most shocking fashion. Plus, we saw huge money handed out to some of the sport's best.

There's no doubt that the way the free agent cycle played out has influenced who will hoist Lord Stanley's Cup in 2026.

Who won free agency? Who was a loser? These are my three picks for each category.

2025 NHL Free Agency Winners and Losers

Winner: Florida Panthers

I was among who thought that there was no way the Panthers could bring back all of their key guys, but Florida's culture that has produced consecutive Stanley Cups was on display in early July.

On team-friendly deals, the club was able to resign Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Brad Marchand in the opening hours of free agency, re-announcing Florida's presence as the sport's team to beat.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows for the South Florida squad, though. They'll have to shed $2.95 million in cap space before the start of the season, per Puckpedia. They also lost depth defenseman Nate Schmidt to the Utah Mammoth.

Still, I expected Florida to take a substantial step back with multiple players leaving. It's hard to point to anyone else as the 2026 favorite now.

Loser: Los Angeles Kings

I identified the Los Angeles Kings as a potential pre-free agency value in terms of odds to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel.

They entered this year's period with $21.7 million in cap space. It's safe to say things didn't go exactly as planned. L.A. was unable to secure one of the true difference-makers in the pool, settling for 40-year-old Corey Perry as perhaps the "whale" of the group.

They also added former Calgary Flames powerplay regular Andrei Kuzmenko at wing, an inconsistent goaltending option in Anton Forsberg, and veteran defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci for added depth on the blue line.

It wasn't a complete strikeout, but Nikolaj Ehlers and Aaron Ekblad seemed like seamless fits, and the team also kicked the tires on Mitchell Marner before he went to Vegas.

Perry has lost in the Stanley Cup Final an incredible five of the last six years, so perhaps his signing is good fortune to win the Western Conference. Realistically, though, this team didn't take the leap needed to be a true contender to get there.

Winner: Carolina Hurricanes

The Eastern Conference seemed to get a whole lot clearer as the Panthers returned key pieces in addition to the Carolina Hurricanes getting what they needed.

Carolina made the splash that L.A. couldn't. The Canes traded for athletic defenseman K'Andre Miller and gave the former New York Rangers contributor an 8-year, $60 million deal. They also won the Nikolaj Ehlers sweepstakes, awarding one of my best available free agents a 6-year, $51 million deal to lure him away from the Winnipeg Jets.

They weren't finished. The team also extended Logan Stankoven and brought in low-risk darts in the form of center Tyson Jost and goalie Cayden Primeau.

Armed with $10.6 million in remaining cap space, Carolina is +370 to win the Eastern Conference, trailing only Florida (+340). The Tampa Bay Lightning (+750) are the next-closest squad. Can they use the rest of the space to win the arms race?

Loser: Winnipeg Jets

No team has tallied more points (226) than the Winnipeg Jets in the last two seasons. Their Presidents' Trophy chances took a major hit this summer.

While Ehlers is the headlining loss off the team's top powerplay unit, the team also lost Brandon Tanev and Mason Appleton.

Frankly, the replacements are underwhelming -- at best. 37-year-old Jonathan Toews hasn't played since 2023 and hasn't crested 40 points since 2020, so the former Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks is more of a name than substance. Tanner Pearson and Gustav Nyquist were also both demoted off the top powerplay at their previous stops.

Winnipeg was always hard-pressed to hold off the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche in the Central, and they're just going to take a step back. Most of their $19.1 million in remaining cap space will be soaked up by returners. Restricted free agents Gabriel Vilardi and Dylan Samberg need contracts as Kyle Connor also demands an extension.

I don't think it's crazy that the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs take place sans the vaunted Jets.

Winner: Ivan Provorov

The Columbus Blue Jackets had a ton of cap space, and the Florida moves left them with one place to put it.

Some were surprised at the mammoth 7-year, $59.5 million contract that Ivan Provorov scored from his previous team, but the Jackets looked around and figured they could do worse than the 29-year-old. He's not a priority on the powerplay and still topped 30 points in consecutive seasons since coming over in a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers.

Was it an overpay? Undoubtedly, but Columbus wanted to ensure they weren't a team like Winnipeg or Los Angeles that got left without a dancing partner. They still have $16.3 million in cap space.

Provorov may not be winning a Stanley Cup anytime soon, but he's definitely making bank for his production level.

Loser: Marc-Edouard Vlasic

This can be a rough business.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic has spent his entire career since 2006 with the San Jose Sharks. At 38, Vlasic was bought out of his final year of what was an 8-year, $56 million deal at signing in 2018.

It's not as if it was a poor decision as Vlasic had just 3 points in 25 games last season, contributing far less than his cap hit would indicate.

That move saved San Jose about $2.3 million in cap space, but the truly offensive part of this transaction is that the Sharks still have $23.9 million to spend.

They had plenty of room to keep the veteran in the mix, and the team's 500-to-1 odds to win it all imply it doesn't really make a difference to "upgrade" his spot. They just wanted to save a little cash.

It might work out for Vlasic to end up as a veteran presence on a contender, but as days pass without a deal, it's possible he'll be forced into retirement following the buyout.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.