The St. Louis Blues' signing away Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from the Edmonton Oilers with offer sheets was among the NHL's biggest surprises of last summer.
With the salary cap projected to rise from $88 million this season to $95.5 million for 2025-26, several teams with plentiful cap space could be emboldened to follow the Blues' example, targeting some of this summer's notable NHL RFAs.
Chris Johnston of The Athletic believes mid-tier or emerging talent are the most vulnerable since contending teams want to avoid overpaying those players, citing last summer's signings of Holloway and Broberg as examples.
The Oilers' limited salary-cap space was also their undoing. Having invested in re-signing Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry and adding Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner earlier in the summer, they had little room to match those offers for Holloway and Broberg, who now play key roles in the Blues' resurgence in the standings.
Johnston suggested Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque and Florida Panthers left winger Mackie Samoskevich as possible offer-sheet targets. They're promising young players in the final seasons of their entry-level contracts.
The Stars have a projected cap room of about $5.33 million for next season with pending UFA forwards Jamie Benn, Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene to re-sign or replace. Meanwhile, the Panthers have $19 million but could prioritize re-signing UFA-eligible core players Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad.
Johnston cited colleague Peter Baugh suggesting left winger Will Cuylle and defenseman K'Andre Miller of the New York Rangers as offer-sheet options.
The Rangers have a projected cap space of $10.6 million. Cuylle is completing his entry-level deal while Miller is an RFA with arbitration rights.
Marco Rossi of the Minnesota Wild could be another. The 23-year-old center is also finishing an entry-level contract. His 54 points in 70 games this season should earn him a significant raise.
The Wild have a projected $21 million in cap space, but NHL.com's Dan Rosen believes they must maintain sufficient long-term cap room for superstar left winger Kirill Kaprizov's contract extension, which could take up $14 million of their cap room starting in 2026-27.
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