- 18 NHL restricted free agents are still unsigned with training camp a month out
- Philadelphia’s $18 million offer sheet on Leo Carlsson reset every price tag behind it
- Read below for the five biggest RFAs left and what each one is asking for
Eighteen restricted free agents still do not have a contract, and camps open in a month.
Scott Maxwell of Daily Faceoff ranked the five who matter most on Tuesday, and Cutter Gauthier is the one at the top. The Anaheim winger put up 41 goals and 69 points in 76 games last season, and he did it on 285 shots, the sixth-highest total in the league.
What blew up his negotiation happened in July. Philadelphia handed his teammate Leo Carlsson a five-year, $90 million offer sheet that Anaheim matched, which put a $18 million comparable in the room. Gauthier can now argue for something in the $14-16 million range against a Ducks group holding $9,073,395 in projected space.
Anaheim does have one piece of leverage. Gauthier is short of the three years of NHL service an offer sheet requires, so no rival club can put a number in front of him, and the Ducks can let this run deep into September if they want.
Adam Fantilli sits second after a 24-goal, 59-point season in all 82 games for Columbus. With Carlsson and Macklin Celebrini both north of $18 million and Connor Bedard at $15 million, a $12 million ask from the Blue Jackets now looks light, and their $13,495,001 in space does not stretch far past it.
| RFA | Team | 2025-26 | Team cap space |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Cutter Gauthier, LW | Ducks | 76 GP, 41 G, 69 P | $9,073,395 |
| 2. Adam Fantilli, C | Blue Jackets | 82 GP, 24 G, 59 P | $13,495,001 |
| 3. Simon Edvinsson, D | Red Wings | 72 GP, 9 G, 25 P | $19,572,084 |
| 4. Alexander Nikishin, D | Hurricanes | 81 GP, 11 G, 33 P | $9,880,182 |
| 5. Zachary Bolduc, RW | Canadiens | 78 GP, 12 G, 30 P | $9,783,924 |
Simon Edvinsson is the name most often floated as an offer-sheet target, and Detroit has $19.5 million in room to shut that idea down. Ansar Khan of MLive said on the Jason Gregor Show in July that the Red Wings were never sweating it:
Alexander Nikishin is fourth, and his ask is the loudest one on the board. Carolina has $9,880,182 to work with, and when a reporter put the rumored $8 million figure to the Russian defenseman, he grinned and raised it:
That one word, “More,” is why the Hurricanes spent part of the summer testing his trade value instead. Nobody met the price, so Carolina is back at the table.
Zachary Bolduc closes out the five. He gave Montreal 30 points in 78 games, and Kent Hughes has a template for this exact player, having bridged Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook on four-year deals around $3 million.
Bolduc gets signed. Gauthier and Fantilli are the two who could still be sitting out when the buses pull up in September.
