Trenin will get a big pay upgrade as he signed a four-year, $14 million contract ($3,500,000 AAV) to join the Minnesota Wild on Monday. The 27-year-old bottom-six forward was acquired by Colorado at the trade deadline last season from Nashville and had 12 goals, 17 points and 40 PIMs in 76 games played in 2023-24.

Kapenen will return to the Blues for a third-straight season after putting up six goals and 22 points in 73 games in 2023-24. The 27-year-old will return to St. Louis for at least one more campaign after signing a deal worth $1 million as he enters his 10th NHL season.

Arguably the biggest defensive free agent is off the market early on Monday as Seattle has signed reigning Stanley Cup Champion Brandon Montour to a seven-year deal worth $49.98 million ($7.14M AAV). The 30-year-old smashed his career highs in 2022-23 after he ended the season fifth in the NHL in defensive scoring with 16 goals and 73 points in 80 games but came back down to earth in 2023-24 with eight goals and 33 points in 66 games played.

Despite retirement rumours, 36-year-old Erik Johnson will rejoin the Philadelphia Flyers on a one-year contract extension worth $1,000,000. The defensive defenseman is just 13 games from 1000 played as he enters his 14th NHL season and had five goals, six points and 26 PIMs in 67 games between Buffalo and Philadelphia in 2023-24.

McMichael took a massive step forward with his game in 2023-24 after Niklas Backstrom was ruled out for the season and earned himself a two-year contract extension worth $4.2 million ($2.1M AAV). The 23-year-old averaged 5:21 TOI/GP more than his previous career high last season which led to his 18 goals and 33 points in 80 games played.

Robinson spent 2023-24 between Columbus and Buffalo but has signed a one-year deal to join Carolina worth $950,000. The 29-year-old role-player never really settled into Buffalo during his brief tenure as he had two goals and nine points in 40 games after joining the Sabres early in the season.

Edmonton helped their depth on Monday as they signed left-winger James Hamblin to a two-year, two-way contract. The 25-year-old has spent his first two seasons with Edmonton and had two goals and three points in 31 games played in 2023-24.

After trading for his rights earlier in the weekend, Toronto has completed a six-year contract worth $27.0 million ($4.5M AAV) with veteran Chris Tanev. The 34-year-old appeared in 75 games with Calgary and Dallas in 2023-24, picking up two goals, 19 points, 24 PIMs and a +22 plus/minus. In 14 NHL seasons, he has 33 goals and 190 points in 792 games played.

Toronto locked up their goaltender of the future on Monday as it signed Joseph Woll to a three-year contract extension worth $10.98 million ($3.66M AAV). The 25-year-old netminder took a large step forward in 2023-24 despite battling injuries throughout the season, with his 12-11-1 record, 2.94 GAA and .907 SV% in 25 games played.

After helping Hershey successfully win the Calder Cup in 2023-24, Ethen Frank has earned himself a two-year deal worth $1.55 million ($775K AAV). The 26-year-old is entering his third AHL season after joining Hersey straight from Western Michigan University (NCAA) and had 29 goals and 47 points in 64 games with Hersey last season.

At 28-year-old, Priskie has yet to make his NHL debut but has earned himself a one-year, two-way contract with Washington on Monday. The offensively gifted defenseman is coming off a Calder Cup-winning season with Hershey (AHL) and had eight goals and 34 points in 69 games played.

Gibson spent his first professional season playing 42 games with South Carolina (ECHL) in 2023-24 and has earned himself a one-year, two-way contract with the Capitals. The 25-year-old will add some goaltending depth to the Capitals after he produced a 2.56 GAA and .899 SV% in 42 games with South Carolina after graduating from Harvard after three successful seasons.

Fresh off of helping Florida win its first Stanley Cup, 33-year-old Dmitry Kulikov has signed a four-year contract extension worth $4.6 million ($1.15M AAV). The veteran defensemen just completed his 15th NHL season and had a goal, 20 points, 63 PIMs and a +15 plus/minus in 76 games played.

Brown did not do much in his first regular season with the Oilers, posting just four goals and eight assists (12 points) in 71 games. However, he was much more noticeable during their run to the Stanley Cup Final, posting two goals and four assists (six points) in 19 playoff games. Expect him to be used in the bottom-6 and on the PK again in 2024-25.

Guentzel put up outstanding numbers next to Sidney Crosby since 2019 but also excelled following his trade to Carolina last year, posting 25 points (8G / 17A) in 17 games. With Guentzel now in Tampa Bay, he could find himself on one of the most prolific lines in hockey, next to Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. He's averaged 39 goals and 46 assists (85 points) per 82 games over the last six seasons.

Carrick is a fourth-line penalty killing centre who will help replace Barclay Goodrow in New York. He won't provide a lot of offence but scored double-digit goals for the second time in his career this past season.

Bertuzzi had a very slow start in Toronto but finished the season with 43 points (21G / 22A) in 80 games. In Chicago, he'll be a candidate to skate with Connor Bedard and comes in with four career 20-plus goal and 20-plus assist seasons ('19, '20, '22, '24).

After not receiving a qualifying offer, the Stars signed Steel to a one-year deal to return to the bottom-6. The 25-year-old forward had a productive season for a fourth liner, scoring nine goals with 15 assists (24 points) in 77 games. Look for him to play a similar depth role and serve as a primary penalty killer in 2024-25.

Reinhart absolutely exploded in his contract year, scoring 57 goals, 24 more than his previous career high. He also added 37 assists, to give him 94 points, 12 more than his previous career high. Reinhart was also very strong during the Panthers run to the Stanley Cup, posting 16 points (10G / 6A) in 24 games and scored the Stanley Cup winning goal. Look for him to remain on a line with Aleksander Barkov for the foreseeable future.

Kane can reportedly earn an additional $2.5M in performance bonuses. After joining the Red Wings in mid-December, Kane posted 47 points (20G / 27A) and the Red Wings were 23-22-5 in 50 games. Kane bounced between the first and second line last year and could do the same in 2024-25, especially if the Red Wings add another winger in Free Agency on Monday.