If you thought the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline lacked pop, this summer’s free agent frenzy might somehow outdo it. For all of us in hockey media (and anyone who follows the sport, really), we of course hope that won’t be the case.  Unfortunately, with each pending UFA that gets locked up, the likelihood of that increases. And on Wednesday morning, that’s exactly what happened when Nick Schmaltz re-upped with the Utah Mammoth in the form of an eight-year contract at $8 million annually.

With Schmaltz now off the board, the list of notable pending UFAs looks something like this:

– Alex Tuch
– Rasmus Andersson
– John Carlson
– Jack Roslovic
– Jacob Trouba
– Evgeni Malkin
– Michael Bunting
– Jaden Schwartz
– Mason Marchment
– Anthony Mantha
– Oliver Bjorkstrand
– Boone Jenner
– Anders Lee
– Bobby McMann
– Scott Laughton

How likely is Tuch to re-sign in Buffalo? We’d say it’s likely, given what the Sabres are on the cusp of ending their long playoff drought and that Tuch stuck with them through the lean years. Would that leave Jack Roslovic as the top leading scorer?

One thing that will be interesting to see is just how much the market inflates. With the cap going up — and rumoured to be continuing to go up even more in the coming years — teams have money to spend, and we’ve already seen some inflation taking effect with deals that have been signed lately. For example, Kiefer Sherwood getting five years at $5.75 million annually from the San Jose Sharks certainly carries a level of sticker shock, but nobody can really earnestly suggest he wouldn’t have gotten at least a similar number on the open market. Could second and third-line centres start to see their earnings balloon to over $6 million per year? And will they get term?

After signing his one-year show me deal in Philadelphia, Christian Dvorak recently signed an extension with the Flyers to stay on for five years at $5.15 million per year. That’s presumably a higher number than what Dvorak was being offered on July 1st, and with him out of the way, a player like Roslovic — who also took a one-year deal to prove his worth to the league and cash in on a weaker free agent pool — must be licking his chops in anticipation of hitting the open market this summer.

Of course, if you’re a Canucks fan, you’re hoping that the lack of options available on the free agent market will make teams look long and hard at the Canucks’ players, and be willing to give up some premium assets in order to bring them in. We’re talking your Jake DeBrusks, Marco Rossis, Brock Boesers, Elias Petterssons (but we really just mean one), etc.

It’s a phenomena we got a glimpse of at this year’s Trade Deadline. With the cap going up and the options dwindling, the Columbus Blue Jackets had no problem giving up a 2nd and a 3rd round pick to bring in Conor Garland, knowing full well that they’d be on the hook for his $6 million cap hit for the next six seasons after this one. Teams need players, and if there’s no players out there to sign, they’ll look at other avenues to bring in players they like.

That’s something we explored just yesterday, and you can read about it by clicking below!