Three NHL Teams Who Actually Did Something With Their Free Agency Money

NHL free agency opened on July 1 and within a week, some franchises managed to reshape their futures. Others just wrote checks and hoped for the best. The winners are obvious if you’ve been paying attention.

Here is how three teams turned a chaotic week into something that actually matters.

The Oilers finally addressed the goaltending problem

Edmonton’s front office had a plan and they stuck to it. Before free agency even started, they locked up Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson on five-year deals. Solid. But the real move was shipping out Darnell Nurse and his $9.25 million cap hit. That opened up options.

They brought back Kasperi Kapanen. They signed Ryan Shea for five years at just $4 million AAV, a deal that looks smart if he stays healthy. Mathieu Joseph and Max Jones add depth on the wings.

But the headline move was fixing the net. Edmonton’s goaltending has been a disaster in the playoffs for three straight years. So they traded for Devon Levi from Buffalo, then signed Frederik Andersen away from Carolina. Andersen just won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes, going 13-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average and three shutouts in the postseason. That’s the kind of stability this team has never had when it mattered most. Now they need him to do it again.

Washington built around Ovechkin’s return

The Capitals didn’t just make moves. They made a statement. It started with a trade for Jordan Kyrou from St. Louis, then adding Alex Tuch from Buffalo. Two top-six forwards in one week changes the look of any roster.

Then they signed Boone Jenner, the former Blue Jackets captain who can play center or wing and brings the kind of leadership that doesn’t show up in box scores. On defense they added Justin Holl on a one-year deal and Vincent Desharnais, who has quietly developed into a legit second-pairing defenseman. Pair that with Jakob Chychrun, Martin Fehervary, and Cole Huston and the Caps have a blue line that can actually match up with the top teams.

The whole thing was designed to convince Alex Ovechkin to come back for another season. It worked. The NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer is back and the lineup is deep enough that he could realistically play on the third line with Jenner and Ryan Leonard. That is not a team anyone wants to face in April.

Toronto remade itself after a disaster season

The Maple Leafs missed the playoffs in 2025-26 after nine straight years of making it. That stung. So they cleaned house in the front office and coaching staff, then won the draft lottery and took Gavin McKenna first overall. Auston Matthews returned from injury. That alone would have been enough for most fan bases.

They kept going. They did a sign-and-trade with Tampa Bay for defenseman Darren Raddysh. Then they solved their goaltending problem by signing two-time Vezina winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion Sergei Bobrovsky. That gave them the flexibility to trade Dennis Hildeby and bring in Nick Paul from the Lightning.

The bottom six got remade too. Jack Roslovic signed after a 21-goal season in Edmonton. Colton Sissons and Teddy Blueger came in on two-year deals. Brandon Duhaime rounds out the group. The Leafs have depth now. They have defense. They have goaltending. They have a reason to believe the 2026-27 season won’t look anything like the last one.