Sixteen NHL fan bases eagerly awaited the offseason after missing the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Here is one move for each of those franchises that would help them either get back into playoff contention, move closer to playoff contention or at least help achieve other objectives. The teams are ordered from most to least points this season.
16. Calgary Flames: 41-27-14, 96 points | Move: Trade forward Morgan Frost
Frost didn’t fit in well with the Flames in the 32 games with the team after his trade from the Flyers. Moving on from Frost, a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, would allow Calgary to use that cap space on a third-line center who can drive offense in softer matchup minutes for a team that finished 29th in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes.
15. Vancouver Canucks: 38-30-14, 90 points | Move: Trade defenseman Quinn Hughes
Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford gave away the game when he told media during an end-of-season news conference that superstar defender Hughes wants to eventually play with his brothers Jack and Luke, who are with New Jersey. Short of a trade to bring the Hughes brothers to Vancouver, the Canucks should rip this Band-Aid off now and extract as much value out of a Quinn Hughes trade as possible, whether that’s to the Devils or a team that understands he’s a two-year rental. The pieces acquired in this deal could remake the Canucks.
14. Utah Hockey Club: 38-31-13, 89 points | Move: Sign Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard to an offer sheet
Utah HC has everything it needs to make a move like this — an overflowing surplus of draft capital, prospects, rising stars and theoretical cap space. They won’t be able to use every asset on the ice, which makes it more useful to leverage the assets it has and pair a rising star at a position of need with other rising stars, creating a core the franchise has never had.
13. Columbus Blue Jackets: 40-33-9, 89 points | Move: Sign Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad, a pending free agent
This is a tough summer to need a goaltender, which Columbus would ideally get to pair with 24-year-old Jet Greaves following his eye-popping 5-0-0 finish with a .975 save percentage. Instead, taking a massive swing on a big, experienced, right-handed two-way defenseman with championship pedigree is the best move.
12. Detroit Red Wings: 39-35-8, 86 points | Move: Sign Carolina defenseman Brent Burns, a pending free agent
There will be an allure to do something bigger now that the Wings have gone an Original Six-worst nine consecutive seasons without appearing in the playoffs. But the Wings’ best path forward is probably to improve in the short term without doing any long-term damage considering the caliber of prospects coming through the system. Burns’ days as a top-pairing guy are probably over, but a short-term pairing on Detroit’s second defensive pair with promising left-handed defenseman Simon Edvinsson would be invaluable for the highly touted prospect and push Justin Holl down the lineup.
