Less than three weeks ago, when the Florida Panthers defeated the Oilers to hoist the Stanley Cup for the second time in a row, one question loomed large. Will the two-time Stanley Cup champions be able to keep their team intact with $19 million in cap space? Fast-forward a little over two weeks, and the NHL team has made its limited cap space work, but it’s not just the Panthers.

Not only did the defending champions manage to retain their big three (Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Aaron Ekblad), but they also added Jeff Petry, Nolan Foote, and others. Other teams have also landed blockbuster deals. The Vegas Golden Knights picked up Mitch Marner from the Leafs and still have money to spare. And talking about money to spare, there seems to be a lot of it.

Top NHL agent Allan Walsh, who has worked with icons like 3x Stanley Cup winner Marc-Andre Fleury, dropped a bombshell. “There is approximately $275 million of available cap space remaining within the system for next year. The most common comment from NHL teams right now – ‘We have the cap dollars but no players to spend them on.'” Walsh wrote on X.

“Watch for the trade market to heat up next week,” added Walsh, hyping up the excitement for the changes NHL teams are gearing up to make. However, player scarcity is certainly a thing. While the usual demand for positions like centers remains unchanged, this year’s teams are scrambling to secure promising goaltenders. Allan Walsh himself dropped a bombshell.

Speaking to SDPN, the sports agent revealed just how desperate teams have become for a goalie. “July 1, I got called by five teams asking if there was any way Marc-André Fleury would un-retire,” said Octagon-Hockey’s Co-Managing Director. Now, teams wanting to sign a three-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie is no surprise, but the issue is that Flower retired for good after the 2024-25 season.

Although he did play for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship, Canada’s shock defeat in the tournament marked the end of the road for Fleury. While Walsh clarified that his former client has no plans of coming out of retirement, it’s not like the free agency market is completely dry.

Who’s left in the NHL free market?

The NHL free market was set to be an absolute frenzy had every player who was up for free agency actually made it past July 1. However, massive names like Sam Bennett, Mitch Marner, Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, Evan Bouchard, and more never even made it to the free market. Meanwhile, others like Jeff Petry found short but lucrative opportunities in the opening days.

Yet, that doesn’t mean the NHL free market has no one to offer. Hockey center Joe Veleno has become the talk of the town, with multiple teams reportedly eyeing the star from Quebec. Blogger Marc-Olivier Beaudoin said that the Golden Knights, Panthers, and Canadiens are among the three most interested teams. Meanwhile, teams looking for wingers won’t be disappointed.

Wingers Jack Roslovic (Carolina Hurricanes), Max Pacioretty (New York Islanders), Jeff Skinner (Edmonton Oilers), and Victor Olofsson (Vegas Golden Knights) are among the top of the free agency crop still on the market. And talking about the Golden Knights, the team that made it to the 2025 NHL playoffs, also offloaded goalie Ilya Samsonov.

And seeing just how desperate teams are for goaltenders, as per Allan Walsh, the 28-year-old may be a good pick for teams like the Edmonton Oilers, who are looking for them. Then again, the Oilers did sign Matt Tomkins to a two-year, $775,000 AAV contract. So you may not see Samsonov in an Oilers jersey. And assuming the Oilers were one of the five teams who called Walsh, that still leaves four more.