Holy restricted free agent drama.
The 2026 RFA class got rocked with a pair of offer sheets in early July: a one-year steal attempt of Utah’s Barrett Hayton by New Jersey and a ground-shifting, $90-million whopper lobbed at Leo Carlsson by Philadelphia.
Both were matched.
Both show a heightened desperation from talent-starved clubs now getting creative and aggressive in an attempt to secure young players.
Then the Chicago Blackhawks signed Connor Bedard to a whopper — five years times $15 million — that can walk the phenom to unrestricted free agency at age 25.
As we enter late July, plenty of intriguing twentysomethings remain unsigned for 2026-27.
As these RFAs look to bank off their platform campaigns and managers wonder how to spend their spiking salary-cap dollars, several tense negotiations (or trades? or offer sheets? or arbitration hearings?) are on deck.
Salary arbitration hearings will be held from July 20 to Aug. 1, and those who have filed are no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet.
As most arbitration cases have already been settled in advance, here is where things stand with the top 10 unsigned RFAs of 2026.
Age: 22
Position: Left wing
2025-26 salary cap hit: $950,000
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Fifth-overall draft pick. World junior and world championships gold medallist. 41-goal sniper. Anaheim traded a star to obtain him. The Ducks’ internal cap ceiling just got jacked up.
The latest: Rejuvenated by his trade west from Philadelphia, Gauthier is filling the net and playing a major role in the Ducks’ rapid rise to relevance. His age aligns perfectly with a contention window that appears to be opening soon.
Despite the fine fit, GM Pat Verbeek treated the Gauthier negotiations like Carlsson’s. Which is to say, talks were pushed off until Anaheim’s encouraging run through two playoff rounds.
“We got a handful of months before camp starts up again,” said Gauthier, sounding unworried. “I don’t think it’ll be an issue, but you never know. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Gauthier cruised through his first 41-goal, 69-point campaign and made an immediate impact in his first playoffs. Nice.
The winger may not be worth Carlsson’s $18-million AAV, but he has every right to ask for more than the $9 million the Ducks currently have available on their cap sheet.
“The intention is to get Cutter signed. Wherever Cutter comes in, I’m going to have some work to do to make sure we can fit everyone in. I’ve got two and a half months to figure that out,” Verbeek said on July 9.
“With RFAs, I think the increased cap space has led to different circumstances. This offer sheet is going to be felt around the rest of the league. Certainly, we are going to have to do business in a different manner moving forward.”
Worth noting: As a 10.2(c) player, Gauthier is the only RFA on this list not eligible for an offer sheet.
There are conflicting reports as to what Gauthier will accept…
Age: 21
Position: Centre
2025-26 salary cap hit: $950,000
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Third-overall pick. World junior and world championships gold medallist. Broke out with a 31-goal, 54-point, 82-game performance as a sophomore.
The latest: Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell and Fantilli’s agent, Pat Brisson, engaged in initial discussions in 2025 but let this situation simmer all season long.
Waddell had struck a cautious tone regarding his No. 1 centre during a late-October appearance on Real Kyper & Bourne, noting that while point totals are important for this wave of platform players, earning the coaches’ trust and contributing to winning is imperative to the franchise about to cut the cheque.
A plus player in 2024-25, Fantilli dipped to a minus-13 in 2025-26, but he rebounded to be a 24-goal, 59-point contributor after a sluggish start.
The price for young, gifted centremen isn’t coming down. Fantilli is Waddell’s top re-signing priority — even if a bridge is the easiest play.
Safe to say, the Blue Jackets can ill afford to mishandle a talent of Fantilli’s calibre if they want to increase their relevancy in the sporting landscape.
Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko are both question marks to re-sign long-term and could be dealt this summer. And Fantilli is an offer-sheet candidate. Yikes.
“I’ve been on both sides of (an offer sheet),” Waddell told reporters June 25. “You’re making the offer because you can get the player, not to force the other team to pay the player.
“We’ve got Fantilli, who I believe is going to get a raise. Greaves is going to get a raise. (Cole) Sillinger is going to get some raise, too.”
Waddell let UFAs Boone Jenner, Mason Marchment, and Erik Gudbranson walk to focus his resources on younger players like Fantilli.
Does the Carlsson offer sheet ramp urgency to finish this deal?
Age: 23
Position: Defence
2025-26 salary cap hit: $894,167
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Top-pair defenceman on one of the NHL’s best duos. Wonderful complement to franchise stud Moritz Seider. Sixth-overall pick. World juniors and world championships medallist.
The latest: Early in the season, when the Detroit Red Wings explored a potential trade for Quinn Hughes out of Vancouver, the Canucks’ asked for a package that included Edvinsson in return, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
That former Wings GM Steve Yzerman said no should tell you all you need to know about how highly the organization thinks of the big Swede.
Logging 22-plus minutes a night while contributing at both ends of the ice, tilting it against matchups against the league’s top forward lines, Edvinsson has positioned himself worthy of a max-term, life-changing contract extension.
Think LaCombe in Anaheim (eight years, $78 million) or Luke Hughes in New Jersey (seven years, $63 million).
When the season ended, Edvinsson said “of course” he’d sign a long-term pact.
“It’s where I got drafted. I felt like ever since I came here, it’s been great. All the people around, teammates, fans around, it’s been great,” he told reporters on April 17.
“So, yeah, it would be an honour.”
The Red Wings would be wise not to mess around with a bridge — nor Edvinsson’s chemistry with Seider.
“We’re two big bodies. We cover a lot of space out there. He’s a great skater,” Seider said. “Puts his body on the line every single night. Blocks a lot of shots. Rarely gets out of position.
“We’ve been clicking, obviously. Very effective for us. And, yeah, just feel good out there with him.”
The Cup-winning Hurricanes, who failed to lock up John Carlson (Tampa Bay), are rumoured to be entertaining an offer sheet for Edvinsson as they seek to tweak their blueline.
With Yzerman stepping back and Detroit’s front office in flux, the Edvinsson file may be in a vulnerable place.
Age: 24
Position: Defence
2025-26 salary cap hit: $925,000
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Stanley Cup champion. 2022 Olympic silver medallist. Played 81 of 82 games for 2025-26’s best squad. Made the 2026 All-Rookie Team and finished seventh in Calder voting. Drafted 69th overall. Nice.
The latest: Nikishin has been on the trade block for weeks, as the Carolina Hurricanes believe the defenceman’s asking price on his next deal is too rich.
That’s why the champs attempted a (failed) trade-and-sign with pending UFA John Carlson last month and are believed to have interest in Detroit's Simon Edvinsson. The Canes are already looking for a Nikishin replacement.
The Rangers and Blues expressed some interest in trading for Nikishin, but the holdup with any trade partner will be the player’s willingness to sign with his new team.
In a perfect world, Carolina would love to dump Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s contract as part of a Nikishin package; the underperforming Finnish centre has a contract that stretches through 2029-30 at a $4.82-million cap hit.
Regardless, Nikishin is a nice talent, who posted 11 goals and 33 points as a rookie while committing to shot-blocking and physical play.
He’s getting a juicy raise somewhere.
5. Collin Graf
Age: 23
Position: Right wing / centre
2025-26 salary cap hit: $941,667
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Late-blooming, 20-goal man. First-unit penalty killer. Age aligns nicely with Sharks' young core. College star named 2024’s ECAC Hockey Player of the Year.
The latest: The Macklin Celebrini extension (he’s been eligible to re-sign since July 1) tops GM Mike Grier’s to-do list this summer.
But the well-timed emergence of undrafted winger Graf — who surprised pleasantly with 21 goals and 46 points in 2025-26 — demands the front office’s attention.
The team holds leverage here, but if San Jose identifies Graf as a key piece of its intriguing forward corps, it would be wise to lock him up early and watch him outplay his deal.
“It’s a time that we haven’t really been in this situation before to really try and push it forward and really make the team a lot better,” Grier said. “It’s probably the most interesting summer so far.”
Grier told reporters in July that the Sharks and Graf’s camp are not too far apart in terms of what the player’s next deal looks like.
6. Zachary Bolduc
Age: 23
Position: Left wing / Centre
2025-26 salary cap hit: $863,334
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: First-round draft pick. Quebec native. Memorial Cup champ. Top eight in 2025 Calder voting. Back-to-back 30-point seasons. Age aligns with Montreal’s core and contention window.
The latest: Slotted in the Canadiens’ bottom six, Bolduc showed well in his longest post-season run to date, chipping in seven points and throwing 47 hits in 19 playoff games in 2026 despite averaging just a shade over 11 minutes per night.
A versatile energy forward, Bolduc has yet to reach his ceiling. The Blues have already traded him away. The Canadiens must decide whether to bet on further development and buy long-term or settle on a bridge deal for a streaky performer whose defensive game is a work in progress.
Fellow RFA Peyton Krebs recently extended with the Buffalo Sabres for four years at $4.5 million per season. Krebs’s contract could be seen as a comparable for Bolduc’s next deal.
Habs GM Kent Hughes recently settled the Kirby Dach file. Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj are next on the to-do list.
More unsigned RFAs: Nikita Grebenkin, Arber Xhekaj, Jacob Melanson, Ethan Del Mastro, Kevin Korchinski, Vincent Iorio
*Filed for arbitration.
All salary info via the excellent PuckPedia.com.
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