The 22-year-old Morrow has not yet established himself as a full-time NHL player but has high expectations after brief stints with the Carolina Hurricanes. He had six points (1G / 5A) in 14 games with the Hurricanes last season. He could be poised to take a more regular role with the Rangers in the 2025-26 season.
Miller has been rumoured in trades since last season, finally materializing in a deal sending him to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Scott Morrow, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick. The 25-year-old Miller will likely step into a larger role on Carolina's blueline after the expected departure of Brent Burns. He spent his first five seasons with the New York Rangers, recording 132 points (36G / 96A), 504 blocks, and 661 hits in 368 career games.
The Sharks are heading in a different direction between the pipes in the 2025-26 season, now with Alex Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov battling for the crease. The 29-year-old Nedeljkovic posted a subpar 3.12 GAA and .894 SV% in 38 appearances last season (14-15-5) on a Pittsburgh Penguins team that struggled defensively.
Buffalo shed $2 million worth of salary just minutes before Tuesday's free agency window by trading Sam Lafferty to Chicago for a 2026 6th-round pick. The 30-year-old center appeared in 60 games in 2024-25, picking up four goals, seven points and a -15 plus/minus. He is expected to take a bottom-six role with Chicago in the upcoming season.
St. Louis and Montreal completed a one-for-one prospect swap on Tuesday after moving forward Zack Bolduc for defensemen Logan Mailloux. The 22-year-old Mailloux was Montreal's 2021 1st round pick (31st overall) but only appeared in seven games in 2024-25, still managing to pick up two goals and four points. He is expected to compete for one of St. Louis' final defensive spots to start the 2025-26 season.
Montreal and St. Louis completed a one-for-one prospect swap just hours before the Free Agency window after they agreed to trade forward Zack Bolduc for Logan Mailloux. Bolduc is a 22-year-old right-winger who was drafted in the 1st round (17th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. Across 72 games with St. Louis in his first full season in 2024-25, he had 19 goals, 36 points and a +20 plus/minus.
Edmonton has shed $4 million for the upcoming season after it traded Viktor Arvidsson to Boston for a 2027 5th-round pick on Tuesday. The 32-year-old winger is entering his 12th NHL season after a down year with Edmonton in 2024-25, picking up 15 goals, 27 points and 24 PIMs in 67 games played.
The Hurricanes solidified their goaltending by acquiring Primeau, who will likely rank third on their depth chart behind Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. The 25-year-old Primeau had spent the entirety of his career with the Montreal Canadiens. He struggled last season, posting a 4.70 GAA and .836 SV% in 11 games with the Canadiens (7-2-3).
By acquiring Marner's rights, the Golden Knights were able to secure an eight-year contract worth $12M AAV before free agency opened on July 1st. Marner entered the league as a 19-year-old in the 2016-17 season and played the entirety of his nine-year career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, being amongst the league leaders over that time with 741 points (221G / 520A) in 657 games. The 28-year-old Marner will be motivated to continue his point-per-game production with a new team, likely playing alongside Jack Eichel.
Roy spent the previous six seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, winning a Stanley Cup in the 2022-23 season, but will spend the 2025-26 season with the Maple Leafs after being acquired in a trade that sent superstar Mitch Marner the other way. The 28-year-old Roy has a $3 million cap hit and scored 31 points (15G / 16A) while averaging 15:13 time-on-ice in 71 games with Vegas last season.
The 2027 3rd round pick can become a 2029 2nd round pick if the Maple Leafs make the playoffs and Maccelli records at least 51 points during the 2025-26 season. Maccelli had a down-year in 2024-25, but in the two years prior to that he averaged 16 goals and 44 assists (60 points) per 82 games. With Mitch Marner likely on his way out, Maccelli should provide some of the playmaking from the wing that their top-6 is losing.
The Red Wings signed Tarasenko last season to play alongside Patrick Kane, but the experiment didn't last long, with Tarasenko spending portions of the season on the third and fourth lines. The former 40-goal scorer was limited to only 33 points (11G / 22A) in 80 games with the Red Wings. The 33-year-old will hope to re-establish his scoring prowess by playing alongside countryman Kirill Kaprizov.
Minutes after being acquired from Vegas in a trade for Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon, Nashville signed Nicolas Hague to a four-year, $22 million contract extension ($5.5 million AAV). The 26-year-old appeared in 68 games for Vegas in his sixth season with the Golden Knights, picking up five goals, 12 points and 40 PIMs.
Late Sunday, Vegas announced that they had moved the rights to Nicolas Hague to Nashville for Jeremy Lauzon and Colton Sissons. Lauzon is a 28-year-old defenseman who appeared in only 28 games for Nashville during the 2024-25 season, struggling offensively, with a modest assist and 37 PIMs, while averaging 17:58 TOI/GP. He is expected to battle for one of Vegas' final defensive spots ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Vegas moved on from six-year veteran Nicolas Hague on Sunday when they agreed to a deal with Nashville for Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon. Sissons is a 31-year-old centre who should battle for a bottom-six position with Vegas in 2025-26. He appeared in 72 games with Nashville in 2024-25, producing his lowest goal (7), point (21) and SOG (80) totals since 2020-21.
NHL trades are decided between two or more team general managers. The front office’s job is building a winning team. Building a winning team means discussing trades with other general managers across the league.
During the NHL regular season, players can be traded up until the trade deadline. The deadline is the official cutoff point for when teams can no longer make moves between each other. Players can also be traded throughout the offseason.
Teams trade players in hockey for a variety of reasons, but generally, it is done to find success, whether that is in the short term or long term. Teams may trade their top players in search of draft picks if they are undergoing a rebuild, whereas contending teams may look to acquire talent to boost their playoff chances.
Trades are a common occurrence throughout the NHL and happen often. Some years feature less trades than others, it all depends on each teams needs and the availability of attractive talent.
