The NHL’s free-agency period is nearly upon us, and when the kickoff happens July 1, the temptation for many teams will be to spend to the last penny of their available salary cap space.
Big expectation, big-budget teams like the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars all will be looking to utilize all their cap space by bidding on star UFA players, including Toronto’s Mitch Marner, Vancouver’s Brock Boeser and Florida’s Aaron Ekblad. But before fans of the aforementioned teams start dreaming in technicolor about the potential of adding marquee talent via free agency in the next few days, here’s an important question to ask: might it not be better for these teams to show some discipline when it comes to spending, and wait until next summer’s class of free agents hits the open market?
Here’s why: simply put, the potential 2026 UFA group is far deeper and more talented than this year’s. As noted in a previous THN article, the names that could be hitting free agency include Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, Minnesota star winger Kirill Kaprizov, Rangers star left winger Artemi Panarin, Vegas star center Jack Eichel, Stars left winger Jason Robertson, Los Angeles left winger Adrian Kempe and Winnipeg star left winger Kyle Connor. And that’s only naming a few needle-movers who could be available.
Granted, some, if not all, of those names could be off the market if the teams find a way to sign top players to contract extensions. But with the salary cap rising exponentially in the immediate years ahead, it makes more financial sense for those elite players to wait it out, play through the 2025-26 campaign, and go to market next summer. That was the direction Marner took this past season, and he’s now in a position to get a substantial raise on the $10.9 million he earned in 2024-25. So he’s an instructive example of the pros of playing through a contract year.
Thus, teams that choose not to blow through their cap space this summer could find themselves in a very favorable position at this time next year. Not spending all their cap space now might not sit well with impatient fan bases, and to be sure, there are teams that absolutely should be spending close to or right to the cap limit right now – teams like the Stars, Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings, who either need to make the playoffs desperately (in the case of the Sabres and Red Wings) or those who have a lineup built to win now (like Dallas).
However, if you’re Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving or Rangers counterpart Chris Drury, hanging onto the cap space you have at the moment might prove to be the better road to take. A little bit of patience and forethought could pay off in a major way at this time next off-season. Teams would need to be honest with their paying customers about showing restraint with this year’s group of free agents, but we believe fans of franchises that went that route would be understanding – and be excited at the prospect of going bigger-game-hunting in 2026.
In some regards, spending all your cap space right away obviously has its benefits. Your team gets better instantly, and who knows – something may happen on the trade front or on the health front that gives you a good deal of cap space next summer anyway.
But there is something to be said for prudent spending habits. Teams that keep their pocketbook tied up tightly right now will likely look back on that decision next summer and be very happy they did so.
So if your favorite team doesn’t come away with a ton of UFA signings in the next week or so, don’t be incensed. The proper move in many cases is to show discipline with spending habits, and if teams come away with big fish in the UFA class of 2026, it will be in no small part because they didn’t go nuts on the spending front this summer.
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