The Chicago Blackhawks have locked in their new No. 1 defenceman long-term.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported early Wednesday morning that the Blackhawks reached an agreement to extend Bowen Byram for six years. The contract, which begins in 2027-28, will carry an AAV of $12.5 million, making him the highest-paid defenceman in the NHL.

Byram, 25, signed on the first day he became eligible for an extension as he begins the final year of his current contract, which pays him $6.25 million annually.

The Blackhawks acquired Byram and forward Jordan Greenway from the Buffalo Sabres last week as part of a blockbuster trade in which they sent the fourth overall pick in the 2026, a second-round pick and defenceman Louis Crevier the other way.

Byram is coming off a big year in Buffalo. He played all 82 games and set career highs in goals (11), assists (31) and points (42), while playing 22:20 per game. As a fixture in Buffalo’s mobile, offensive, defensive core, Byram helped the Sabres snap the longest playoff drought in NHL history, ending the streak at 14 years.

Another top-four defenceman came off the free agent board on July 1, as the Golden Knights re-signed 29-year-old Rasmus Andersson to a seven-year deal that carries an AAV of $8.5 million.

Andersson is the latest in a long list of players who decided to return to their former teams rather than go elsewhere as unrestricted free agents.

Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon paid a premium at the trade deadline to acquire the right-shot defenceman, making this contract extension one of the club’s priorities.

Andersson started the season with the Calgary Flames, who originally drafted him in the second round back in 2015, before being dealt to Vegas in mid-January. The Malmö, Sweden native registered a career-high 17 goals and 47 points in 81 games this past season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a new starting goaltender this fall. The team signed veteran Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year contract with an AAV of $7 million on Wednesday.

Bobrovsky, 37, recently completed the final year of a seven-year deal with the Florida Panthers, which paid him $10 million per season. That was the biggest deal in the Panthers franchise history at the time.

His tenure in South Florida didn’t get off to the smoothest start, with some questioning whether he could live up to his hefty payday. Despite the early struggles, Bobrovsky would go on to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Panthers in 2024 and 2025, playing some of his best hockey in the postseason.

He will join Anthony Stolarz in the Toronto crease next season, after the Leafs parted ways with Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby this offseason.

A gritty, productive forward is on his way to the Bay Area.

The San Jose Sharks signed forward Mason Marchment to a five-year contract with an AAV of $6.75 million to open free agency.

Marchment’s late father, Bryan, played for the Sharks from 1997 to 2003 and worked for the team’s hockey operations department after his playing career ended.

His previous deal, signed by the Dallas Stars, carried an annual cap hit of $4.5 million, making the move to San Jose not only an emotional one for Marchment but also a lucrative one.

The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired the Uxbridge, Ont. native before this year’s trade deadline. He scored 15 goals and finished with 32 points in 39 games in Columbus in a red-hot finish to the season.

Known for his mix of grit and offensive production, Marchment will join Kiefer Sherwood as another physical forward who the Sharks will rely on for secondary scoring.

The Colorado Avalanche added some depth on the wing to open up free agency, as they inked Jaden Schwartz to a three-year contract worth $3.25 million per season.

Schwartz had just wrapped up the final year of his five-year contract with the Seattle Kraken, with whom he registered 26 points in 50 games this past season. He missed 32 games due to a combination of injuries that included a facial fracture and lower-body injuries.

His new deal in Colorado comes in at a modest cap hit and will pay him until the 2028-29 season, when he turns 37 years old.

The Florida Panthers have committed to a long-term reunion with Radko Gudas. Gudas signed a six-year extension with the Panthers on Wednesday, which carries an AAV of $1.5 million. The deal, set to begin this upcoming season, will carry through the 2031-32 season.

The contract is certainly an interesting one for a 36-year-old defenceman heading into the home-stretch of his career, but the Panthers are likely happy to get the lower AAV while they’re in win-now mode.

The physical right-shot defenceman will make his return to Sunrise after spending the past three seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, where he signed in free agency in the summer of 2023. In his last campaign with the Panthers, the team made a surprise appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Cats will hope that Gudas’ veteran experience will help them bounce back and return to the playoffs after an injury-riddled 2025-26 season that saw the club take a step back.