The more things change in the NHL, the more they stay the same. While plenty of teams rose or fell in 2024-25, the end result — the Florida Panthers beating the Edmonton Oilers for the Stanley Cup — was identical to the year before.

However, that doesn’t mean the league ever stands still. Between a flurry of trades and free-agent signings, the rosters we’ll see in training camp a couple of months from now will look markedly different from the ones that closed out the season.

Since business wrapped up on the ice, the Vegas Golden Knights landed the offseason’s biggest addition, while the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks kept climbing from rock bottom. The Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs now face re-tooling tasks of varying urgency, and the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens made themselves more intriguing. Even the two-time champion Panthers had to reshuffle the deck, despite their effort to keep as much of their core together as possible.

To judge all the pieces in motion, let’s revisit a familiar methodology from last season and track the net effect of each team’s comings and goings. Specifically, we’ll use each incoming or outgoing player’s “established level” of performance — a three-year weighted average of his Goals Above Replacement (GAR) — to tally up every team’s offseason gains and losses. Why three years? This approach smooths out fluky seasons while still giving more weight to the most recent one, offering a better forecast of future impact than single-year stats.

Regardless of how we measure it, there were fewer high-impact names on the move this summer than last. But among the players who did shift around, which newcomers helped their teams come out on top? And which teams might regret their offseasons of action (or inaction)?

Let’s look at both ends of the spectrum, and finish with a full ranking to list every team.

Jump to a topic:
Teams that added value | Teams that lost value
Full rankings for all 32 teams

Six teams that gained the most value

1. San Jose Sharks (plus-22.0 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 32 offense | No. 32 defense | No. 30 goalies | No. 32 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 21.1 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: -0.9

Top additions by 3Y GAR: D Dmitry Orlov (9.3); C Adam Gaudette (4.7); D Nick Leddy (3.3); G Alex Nedeljkovic (2.8); D John Klingberg (1.0)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: F Walker Duehr (0.1); C Thomas Bordeleau (0.0)

The Sharks still have a long way to go after ranking as the league’s worst team by goal differential for the second consecutive season. But after an offseason of solid gains and no major subtractions, they’re set up to continue their gradual rebuild toward respectability — adding to what was the NHL’s fourth-youngest roster with a number of veteran acquisitions on defense, in net and up the middle.

The best of the bunch by GAR was Orlov, who posted quality numbers from Carolina’s back line last season (as usual). Klingberg, though, has the potential to be San Jose’s most impactful addition if he can reclaim the old Dallas-era powerplay QB form that has eluded him for years. Either way, this offseason was about building structure without sacrificing the future of Macklin Celebrini & Co.

2. Anaheim Ducks (plus-17.7 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 30 offense | No. 29 defense | No. 5 goalies | No. 26 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 25.6 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 7.9

Top additions by 3Y GAR: LW Chris Kreider (10.2); C Mikael Granlund (6.9); G Petr Mrazek (5.4); C Ryan Poehling (3.1)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: G John Gibson (7.8); C Trevor Zegras (2.4)

Losing Gibson in net stings after years of watching him turn aside what was, at times, a historic volume of shots behind the Ducks’ swiss-cheese defense. But the emergence of Lukáš Dostál as Anaheim’s No. 1 of the future mitigates that loss — especially with Mrazek now in place as a competent backup. Likewise, for all his wizardry with the puck, Zegras never stayed healthy or productive enough to be truly missed. Instead, this accounting system sees value in the additions of Kreider and Granlund to a forward unit that ranked 31st in GAR last season, building support around the talented young core of Jackson LaCombe, Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson.

The elephant in the room is new coach Joel Quenneville, whose Cup-winning record in Chicago was tarnished by his role in the Blackhawks’ sexual assault scandal — making him one of the most controversial hires of the offseason. But he’ll have more talent to work with in 2025-26 than Ducks coaches have had in years.

3. Seattle Kraken (plus-13.1 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 16 offense | No. 23 defense | No. 21 goalies | No. 20 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 18.9 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 5.8

Top additions by 3Y GAR: F Mason Marchment (9.6); D Ryan Lindgren (5.0); C Frederick Gaudreau (3.6)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: LW Andre Burakovsky (3.2); C Michael Eyssimont (2.2)

After taking a step back on defense — despite a step forward on offense — in 2024-25, the Kraken’s biggest offseason addition addressed both ends of the ice: Marchment, a physical winger who has topped 20 goals in back-to-back seasons while also rating as one of the league’s better defensive forwards.

Add in extra depth (including Cup-winning goalie Matt Murray, whose presence gives Seattle another option in net) and minimal subtractions (since Burakovsky never quite recaptured his Colorado form), and the Kraken check in with a solid offseason of progress for their new leadership team of coach Lane Lambert and general manager Jason Botterill.

4. Montreal Canadiens (plus-11.1 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 17 offense | No. 22 defense | No. 19 goalies | No. 21 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 18.2 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 7.1

Top additions by 3Y GAR: D Noah Dobson (10.7); C Zack Bolduc (6.2)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: RW Joel Armia (2.4); C Christian Dvorak (2.1); D David Savard (2.1); LW Emil Heineman (1.4)

The Habs were already one of the NHL’s most improved up-and-coming young teams last season, even making the playoffs for the first time since their Cinderella Cup final run in 2021. Then Montreal continued riding that momentum into the summer, with a June trade for Dobson that landed them one of the top young defensemen in the game today. (Among D-men who were aged 25 or younger last season, only Quinn Hughes, Evan Bouchard and Rasmus Dahlin had more GAR than Dobson since 2021-22.)

Bolduc shouldn’t be overlooked after a breakout season with St. Louis, either, and Montreal’s offseason losses were manageable. The Canadiens’ future is arriving faster than expected, and this offseason only accelerated their timeline.

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 5 offense | No. 2 defense | No. 14 goalies | No. 3 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 19.9 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 11.2

Top additions by 3Y GAR: RW Mitch Marner (18.5); C Colton Sissons (1.4)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: C Nicolas Roy (5.2); LW Tanner Pearson (3.3); D Nicolas Hague (2.7)

The Knights landed the biggest fish of the summer when they reeled in a sign-and-trade for Marner, whose 102 points last season would’ve easily set a new single-season record in Vegas franchise history. The cost — both in dollars (Marner’s new contract spans eight years and $96 million) and depth (with Roy heading to Toronto) — was steep.

But Vegas already ranked third in total GAR last season, and they came out ahead on net value added this offseason. GM Kelly McCrimmon has never been shy about pushing chips to the middle, and he just went all-in for another Cup run with this Jack Eichel-led core.

T-5. Nashville Predators (plus-8.7 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 31 offense | No. 26 defense | No. 26 goalies | No. 30 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 11.8 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 3.1

Top additions by 3Y GAR: D Nick Perbix (5.4); LW Erik Haula (3.8); D Nicolas Hague (2.7)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: C Colton Sissons (1.4); D Marc Del Gaizo (1.3)

If at first you don’t succeed, try again — and the Predators are back on our list of top net offseason gainers, even after last season’s promising setup collapsed in disastrous fashion. This time, the moves were less splashy — Perbix and Hague are reliable defensemen, not high-scoring snipers — but they should help bolster a defense that plummeted from 13th to 27th in goals allowed.

A lot still hinges on positive regression to the mean from a number of slumping stars (Josi, Saros, Stamkos, Forsberg, Skjei, Marchessault… the list goes on), but GM Barry Trotz has kept Nashville in position to bounce back without a full-scale rebuild.

Honorable Mention: Detroit Red Wings (added G John Gibson), New Jersey Devils (RW Evgenii Dadonov), Utah Mammoth (RW JJ Peterka, D Nate Schmidt), Boston Bruins (LW Viktor Arvidsson)

Six teams that lost the most value

32. Dallas Stars (minus-25.3 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 3 offense | No. 12 defense | No. 4 goalies | No. 5 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 0.8 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 26.1

Top additions by 3Y GAR: C Radek Faksa (0.8)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: F Mason Marchment (9.6); C Mikael Granlund (6.9); RW Evgenii Dadonov (5.3); D Cody Ceci (4.4)

In an offseason defined by seismic instability — coach Peter DeBoer, who led the Stars to three straight Western Conference finals, was fired after falling short of the Cup Final and replaced by once-and-future Stars coach Glen Gulutzan — Dallas’ net GAR situation is just another tremor.

Though the core of Jake Oettinger, Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen & Co. remains intact, the Stars turned over much of their supporting cast, losing more three-year GAR talent than any other NHL team this summer. Team brass clearly felt the previous group had plateaued — but time will tell whether this level of disruption pushes the Stars over the hump, or knocks them off balance.

31. Edmonton Oilers (minus-13.1 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 11 offense | No. 9 defense | No. 20 goalies | No. 10 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 5.5 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 18.6

Top additions by 3Y GAR: LW Andrew Mangiapane (5.2)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: RW Corey Perry (5.0); LW Viktor Arvidsson (4.9); LW Evander Kane (3.4); RW Connor Brown (3.4); D John Klingberg (1.0)

As previously mentioned, Edmonton fell just short for the second straight year, losing to Florida in the Final — a frustrating end to what had been another strong season with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid leading the way. And through the wheeling and dealing of late June and early July, the Oilers mostly lost players.

They did add Mangiapane — though his 35-goal breakout of 2021-22 was so long ago now that it missed the window for our three-year GAR tracker — plus Curtis Lazar to provide depth. But the highest-stakes move for Edmonton might be the one it didn’t make: standing pat in net with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, despite some speculation the Oilers would try to upgrade after that duo collectively struggled to an .866 SV% in another Cup loss.

30. Toronto Maple Leafs (minus-12.3 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 7 offense | No. 17 defense | No. 2 goalies | No. 8 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 9.1 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 21.4

Top additions by 3Y GAR: C Nicolas Roy (5.2); LW Matias Maccelli (3.9)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: RW Mitch Marner (18.5); RW Pontus Holmberg (2.1)

Though a continuation of the Marner-Leafs relationship wasn’t completely ruled out heading into free agency — he had, after all, averaged a point per game in the playoffs — the talented winger ultimately landed in Vegas, taking with him a foundational part of Toronto’s recent core. That, in turn, caused the Maple Leafs to show up prominently here on our list of offseason losers, despite recouping value in the Marner deal by acquiring Roy, a good two-way center.

Another deal with the Mammoth yielded Maccelli, who could use a change in scenery after a rough first season in Utah; he is still not yet 25 years old and had come close to 20 goals and 60 points two seasons ago. The subtractions outweigh the additions, but Toronto remains a team with no shortage of top-end talent.

29. New York Rangers (minus-9.3 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 12 offense | No. 24 defense | No. 10 goalies | No. 15 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 11.3 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 20.7

Top additions by 3Y GAR: D Vladislav Gavrikov (8.4); RW Taylor Raddysh (1.6); D Scott Morrow (1.5)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: LW Chris Kreider (10.2); D K’Andre Miller (6.8); RW Arthur Kaliyev (1.9); D Zac Jones (1.3)

It has been an active offseason for the Rangers thus far, as in addition to a coaching change (from Peter Laviolette to former Penguins bench boss Mike Sullivan), New York also added a fair amount of GAR talent — and subtracted even more, ending up in the red according to our accounting. The biggest losses were Kreider and Miller, who’d debuted as Rangers and played a combined 18 seasons on Broadway, but a pair of dud seasons made each expendable.

The headline replacement along the blue line is Gavrikov, a staunch defender who is coming off a career-best season (10.5 GAR) with the Kings, and the Rangers needed help in that department. The rest will be up to internal improvements — chiefly, whether New York’s existing stars can rediscover their pre-2025 form.

T-27. Winnipeg Jets (minus-7.4 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 3 offense | No. 3 defense | No. 1 goalies | No. 1 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 10.4 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 17.8

Top additions by 3Y GAR: RW Gustav Nyquist (4.7); LW Tanner Pearson (3.3); LW Cole Koepke (1.4)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: LW Nikolaj Ehlers (12.3); C Mason Appleton (3.4); LW Brandon Tanev (1.8)

There are — or at least, there should be — huge questions about how much the Jets will regress to the mean in 2025-26, following a dream regular season that saw them win the Presidents’ Trophy and set new franchise records for wins and points in a single season.

Many of those will focus on the team’s offense, which leapt to third in the league in goals per game after not ranking any better than 12th in any of the previous five seasons, and the offseason loss of Ehlers won’t help either. He’ll take his 24 goals and 63 points to the Hurricanes, and while Winnipeg tried to re-tool their forwards around the additions of Nyquist and others, the loss of established GAR value is but one sign pointing toward the Jets falling back to earth some next season.

T-27. Colorado Avalanche (minus-7.4 net 3-year weighted GAR)

2024-25 team GAR ranks: No. 6 offense | No. 7 defense | No. 18 goalies | No. 7 overall
Weighted 3Y GAR added: 13.2 | Weighted 3Y GAR lost: 20.6

Top additions by 3Y GAR: D Brent Burns (13.0)
Top losses by 3Y GAR: C Charlie Coyle (6.5); LW Jonathan Drouin (6.4); D Ryan Lindgren (5.0); LW Miles Wood (1.6); D Calle Rosén (1.1)

For cost-cutting reasons, Colorado had to let the trade and free-agent markets chip away even further at a supporting cast already hollowed out from the team’s 2022 Cup peak. (That championship squad had six players post 15+ GAR and nine in double figures; by 2024-25, those numbers were down to three and six, respectively.)

The Avalanche did add an intriguing veteran in Burns, who still brings value even if he’s far from his prime. And with an elite core still intact — led by Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews and newcomer Brock Nelson — Colorado’s ceiling remains high. But there’s no doubt this was another offseason of attrition in Denver.

(Dis)honorable mention: Carolina Hurricanes (lost Ds Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov), Vancouver Canucks (C Pius Suter), Minnesota Wild (RW Gustav Nyquist)

All-32 team NHL rankings