Last off season the St. Louis Blues sent shockwaves around the NHL when they issued two offer sheets to restricted free agents. Both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg of the Edmonton Oilers were extended two-year contract offers worth $2.29 million and $4.5 million per season respectively.

Once these were signed by each player, the Oilers had a chance to match the contracts in an effort to keep each player. Instead, because of constraints due to their salary cap situation, they opted to let both players go. This decision sent Holloway and Broberg to the Blues, while the Oilers received a 2nd and a 3rd round draft pick as compensation. The picks both are for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and the there were two because of the contract values, it was the 2nd round pick for Holloway and the 3rd round selection for Broberg.

With only four teams still playing, most of the league is preparing for the upcoming off season. Many in the media are hoping the St. Louis Blues have started a new trent and expect to see many more offer sheets this summer. If that’s the case, lets look at a few players who could switch teams by way of an offer sheet this summer.

Will Cuylle (New York Rangers)

The New York Rangers are currently projected to have only $8.4 million under next year’s salary cap ceiling. They have a number of young players who will be looking to break into their forward group, but they also already have a lot of money invested in their top-six forward group. The group that is currently made up of Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere, Mika Zibanejad, and Chris Kreider will see youngsters like Juuso Parssinen and Gabe Perreault try to push their way in.

Cuyle showed durability and versatility by playing in all 82 games this past season. He finished the season with 45 points and showed he’s not afraid to add physicality to his game. A physical forward who stands at 6’3″ and can shoot the puck well is something any team would be interested in adding and a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick wouldn’t be a bad price for such a player. A shorter-term deal could land in the range of $2.3 million over a year or two would be a solid low-risk move to make. A deal like this would keep the draft pick compensation at a 3rd round pick and 25 teams have their own selection to offer. If a team is willing to take a slightly bigger chance by trying to go longer on term, an AAV closer to $4.6 million would still be reasonable.

Teams like Boston, Chicago, Seattle or even Utah could take a risk on such a player. We also know that, while they have a lot of work to do to their rosters, Julien BriseBois and Kelly McCrimmon will do whatever they think will keep open the cup windows for Tampa Bay and Vegas respectively so we can’t rule them out either. Chris Drury has already made it known that he isn’t afraid to make a big deal. He dealt away both Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba during this past season, so it’s possible he moves off another large contract and makes efforts to keep the former 60th overall selection.

Mavrik Bourque (Dallas Stars)

Only 23-years-old, Bourque has 74 games at the NHL level and has shown great promise at the NHL level. The Stars have had a lot of depth in their forward group, and only Jamie Benn, Mikael Granlund, and Matt Duchene are looking for new contracts.

It’s likely Benn and Duchene will want to remain in Dallas, but at lower cap hits. It’s very possible that Jim Nill looks to keep Bourque around on a short-term, “bridge” contract and give him a slight raise to something around $1-1.25 million. However, without a trade sending a large contract out, Nill will only have $4.95 million to work with in cap space. Another team could see greater upside in the player and be willing to offer a longer-term contract.

A longer contract, say 4-5 years, could come with a cap hit closer to $4.6 million. Such an offer would only cost the offering team a 2nd round draft pick. Just extending this offer would force Dallas’s hand. They would be in major cap trouble if they matched, and if they don’t they would forfeit the former 30th overall pick. Not a terrible risk for a division rival, such at Utah, to take – especially given the fact that they also have the Senator’s and Rangers 2nd-round selections.

Cody Glass (New Jersey Devils)

Tom Fitzgeral brought Cody Glass in as the Devils were preparing for a deep playoff run. He added versatility and depth to the lineup, but just wasn’t enough to replace both Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Glass also suffered his own injury during the playoffs.

Glass was picked by Vegas 6th overall back in 2017, but is still looking to settle in with a team. He’s spent time with Nashville and Pittsburgh in addition to being with Vegas and New Jersey. Now the question is whether or not Fitzgerald views Glass as part of the Devils long-term future. He will have roughly $12.4 million to work with in cap space, however 11 players from the NHL roster this season will need new contracts.

The last contract Glass signed was for two years and carried a salary and average annual value of $2.5 million. This was the contract he was on when he was brought into New Jersey, but Glass will likely be looking for a raise. Glass is another perfect candidate to get an offer-sheet, however the term of that offer-sheet will be what makes is most interesting. Another candidate for an offer-sheet that would risk a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick, would put the AAV between $1.5 million and $4.6 million.

Nils Lundkvist (Dallas Stars)

As stated above, Jim Nill only has $5.8 million in cap space to work with. Right shot defensemen are also highly valuable and many general managers will likely be willing to look past Lundkvist going on Long Term Injured Reserve due to an injury he suffered against the Carolina Hurricanes. Prior to his injury, Lundkvist was averaging roughly 15 minutes of ice time per game. He’s shown great ability to make and set up plays with his ability to move the puck in addition to being an excellent skater.

He’s only 24-years-old, and is showing the promise of a future top-4 defenseman which is already highly coveted around the league. He adds additional value by being a right shot and having the status of a former 28th overall draft selection. An aggressive offer-sheet to Lundkvist would put Dallas in an extremely tough position given they already have both Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin already locked in for their right side for the 2025-26 season.

The Dallas Stars have a lot of very tough decisions to make this off season. Their exit in the Western Conference Final, again, only puts them under the microscope further for these decisions. If a team let’s Jim Nill know they plan to execute an offer-sheet, he may find it more suitable to make a significant trade instead. We know Dallas will look very different going into next season, and both Nils Lundkvist and Mavrik Bourque will be crucial decisions going forward.

Nicolas Hague (Vegas Golden Knights)

The success that Vegas has had since entering the league still hasn’t deminished, and neither has their desire to make major moves. It’s highly likely that Vegas has already tried to move Shea Theodore and Hague would be the reason why. Both Theodore and Hanifin are locked up until 2032 and Brayden McNabb is signed through the end of the 2027-28 season. All of them shoot and play on the left side and have full no trade clauses in their contracts.

Vegas has a total of nine players, including seven forwards, who are in need new contracts for the 2025-26 season. Kelly McCrimmon has his work cut out for himself given how much of his roster is facing turnover and the fact that he only has $9.6 million of salary cap space to work with. The 26-year-old has been in the league for six seasons at this point and has 44 playoff games plus a Stanley Cup Championship to his name.

All this to say, he would be a significant add to the blueline of any team, especially one that is trying to elevate a young team to the next level. Teams like Utah or Chicago would be excellent fits and they have extra draft picks and strong prospect pools which would allow them to be more aggressive in the restricted free agent market. It’s likely Nill doesn’t let it get to an offer-sheet, but a team putting one forward would certainly add to the possible trade discussion for Dallas.