NHL free agency: Live analysis of the biggest moves

The NHL's annual free-agent frenzy started a day early this year, with reports of multiple impact signings across the league filtering out Monday afternoon.

The market officially opens Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.

Follow along for live analysis of every major deal during one of the busiest times on the hockey calendar. You can also find a full list of offseason transactions here.

Pietrangelo out indefinitely, maybe forever

The Golden Knights announced Monday night that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will be sidelined indefinitely with a significant hip injury. Pietrangelo, 35, won't play anytime soon - if ever ever again - as he said "the likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play." Pietrangelo is a potential future Hall of Famer with two Stanley Cups and an Olympic gold medal. Vegas' blue line took two hits Monday, with Nic Hague traded to the Predators earlier in the day. Shea Theodore, Noah Hanifin, Zack Whitecloud, Brayden McNabb, Jeremy Lauzon, and Kaedan Korczak are the top six D-men right now. Expect a depth add after the market opens.

Effective Kane re-ups with Red Wings

Red Wings sign F Patrick Kane to 1-year, $3-million contract extension

It's looking more and more like Patrick Kane will retire as a Red Wing. This is Kane's third deal with the Detroit franchise that won the sweepstakes for his services following career-threatening hip surgery in 2023. The latest extension includes extensive games-played and team-success bonuses. Kane, who turns 37 in November, recorded 59 points in 72 games last year to bring his Red Wings total to 106 points in 122 games, or 0.87 per game. That's pretty good for a former superstar supposedly well past his prime. The extension was a no-brainer for Detroit, who had the 22nd-ranked offense in 2024-25.

CBJ getting (puzzling) business done early

It's fair to assume Don Waddell isn't totally enamored by the free-agent crop. While some of his peers have sat tight, Columbus' general manager has traded for forwards Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood and re-signed pending UFA defensemen Dante Fabbro and Ivan Provorov over a four-day span. These moves make the Blue Jackets better in the short term and extra competitive in a meh Metropolitan Division. The medium- and long-term outlooks, on the other hand, are less rosy, with what's remaining on Wood's contract ($2.5 million AAV for the next four years) and the entirety of Provorov's ($8.5 million AAV, seven years) jumping out as future liabilities. Wood is a 29-year-old bottom-six winger who could theoretically be replaced by a younger, cheaper player in Years 3 and 4, and Provorov is a 28-year-old second-pair defenseman who's flat-out not worth the sizable cap hit OR lengthy term.

Bouchard deal a sign of the times

Oilers sign D Evan Bouchard to 4-year, $42-million contract extension

Whoa, sticker shock - Bouchard signed for how much over only how many years?! Expect to see more of these short-term, big-AAV deals as the salary cap keeps jumping. It's going from $88 million in 2024-25 to $95.5 million in 2025-26 to $104 million in '26-27, and then, finally, up to $113.5 million in '27-28. Bouchard's cap hit accounts for a lower percentage of the Oilers' total payroll with each passing year. He's using the changing landscape to his advantage; upon expiry of this new deal, the blue-liner will be able to cash in again as a 29-year-old free agent in the summer of 2029. Bouchard's an offensive dynamo with insane playoff numbers (81 points in 75 games) but a habit of turning the puck over at inopportune times.

Bill Zito continues to put on clinic

Panthers reportedly sign F Brad Marchand to 6-year, $31.5-million contract extension

It didn't seem probable, but the Stanley Cup champions are running it back. Zito, the Panthers' shark of a general manager, convinced winger Marchand, defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and center Sam Bennett to all sign below-market extensions before July 1. The key selling point, of course, was term, with Ekblad (who also signed Monday at a $6.1 million AAV) and Bennett (signed last Friday at an $8 million AAV) committing to eight years at 29 years old and Marchand six years at 37. None of these deals will age gracefully, but that's beside the point. Zito and the Panthers are shooting for a fourth straight trip to the Cup Final and third straight Cup victory to seal dynasty status, and these three tunnel-vision transactions bring them closer to achieving that goal.

Marner takes talents to Sin City

Maple Leafs reportedly sign F Mitch Marner to 8-year, $96-million contract extension, trade him to Golden Knights for F Nicolas Roy

This is savvy asset management by Brad Treliving.

The Leafs general manager would have lost Marner for nothing if the winger reached free agency Tuesday. Any trade, then, is worthy of a thumbs-up. To receive a legitimate NHLer instead of a mid-round draft pick (the going rate for trading the rights of a pending UFA star) is a massive win. Roy, 28, is a 6-foot-4 two-way center who'd long been buried on Vegas' depth chart. He slots in nicely behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares as the Leafs' 3C. His cap hit of $3 million through 2026-27 leaves plenty of room for upgrades elsewhere.

The Golden Knights, meanwhile, continue to care about one thing and one thing only: challenging for the Stanley Cup every season. Regardless of risk.

Marner, arguably the NHL's most well-rounded winger, is fresh off a 102-point campaign. He joins a forward group that orbits around two other stars acquired via trade in Jack Eichel and Mark Stone. Does Marner, 28, find a home on Eichel's wing? William Karlsson's? Either way, he's escaped the Toronto microscope and added $96 million to his career earnings (though he surely could have reeled in a heftier deal on the open market). Time will tell if his checkered playoff production follows him to the Western Conference.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).