The St. Louis Blues might have started a trend last summer.
The team broke the NHL’s norm by signing restricted free agents Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to offer sheets in August. The Edmonton Oilers opted not to match the contracts and the two former first-round picks have helped the Blues put together a resurgent season in 2024-25.
After missing the playoffs in back-to-back years, St. Louis appears to be on their way to clinching a Wild Card spot this spring. They have a 41-28-7 record and have jumped into a playoff position thanks to a 10-game winning streak.
Holloway is second on the Blues in scoring with 26 goals and 63 points and Broberg has the highest rating among St. Louis defencemen at plus-20 while logging 20:28 per night on average.
Given how much Holloway and Broberg have helped the Blues while costing the team under $7 million against the salary cap, agent Allen Walsh said he expects other teams to start being more aggressive with restricted free agents this off-season.
“Doug Armstrong comes in last year, does two on the same day and says, ‘F— it, I’m trying to make my team better and this is a tool available to me,’” Walsh told The Athletic. “When he did that, if you’re talking to GMs like I am, there has been a notable change in the way that offer sheets have been perceived.
Fast forward to this offseason — this coming offseason will be known as ‘the summer of offer sheets.’ It will be.”
Since the implementation of the salary cap for the 2005-06 season, there have been 12 players who have signed offer sheets — eight were matched and four were let go.
Back in 2007, the Oilers signed Dustin Penner from the Anaheim Ducks after trying to sign Thomas Vanek from the Buffalo Sabres but having the contract matched. The Ducks didn’t have the cap room to match Penner’s contract and it resulted in a public feud between Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe and Anaheim general manager Brian Burke.
There were a few offer sheets signed in the coming seasons, such as Shea Weber’s 14-year, $110 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, but only one was successful. The Montreal Canadiens tried to sign Sebastian Aho from the Carolina Hurricanes in 2019 but the contract was matched. The Canes came back a couple of years later with an offer sheet to Jesperi Kotkaniemi and the Habs opted not to match.
Though previous offer sheets have led to conflict and retribution like with the examples above, everything last summer between the Oilers and Blues was amicable. Walsh suggested that it’ll become more common to see restricted free agents moving around, especially when younger players are better bets to make on long-term deals.
“The UFA market ain’t that hot,” Walsh continued. “There are not a lot of top-end players available as unrestricted free agents this year.
So many players are locked up on longer-term deals where they’re not going to be available this year and they’re not going to be available next year. But if you’re looking to make your team better, some of the top available players happen to be RFAs, not UFAs.
And would you rather devote $6, $7, $8 million to a 31-year-old where you have to attach term to that deal? Or would you rather throw that money at a 23- or 24-year-old and have a guy that, if you’re successful, you’re getting him for the prime of his career? That’s what will drive (the increase in offer sheets).”
This summer’s group of unrestricted free agents is led by a handful of players who could leave Canadian teams. John Tavares and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to hit the open market while Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets and Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks are also pending free agents. The Florida Panthers also have Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and the newly acquired Brad Marchand on expiring deals.
The biggest name among restricted free agents is Evan Bouchard, who’s third on the Oilers in scoring with 60 points over 74 games. Coming off a two-year bridge deal, Bouchard will likely be looking for a big-money, long-term contract this summer.