Elliotte Friedman Hints at Possible Game-Changing Free Agency Next Season

This off-season, NHL insiders hyped up the summer as one that would be full of shock moves, offer sheets, blockbuster deals and surprising signings, but from the moment the off-season began, it's been slow, with absolutely no surprises in the slightest.

Next off-season, it's likely to be the exact same story from insiders around the league, but this time, there's enough star power for free agency to potentially be intriguing and landscape changing around the league.

On the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the NHL's top insider Elliotte Friedman made a major prediction about next year, revealing his belief that plenty of the top names in the current class could test the market and change the landscape of the National Hockey League.

While it's unlikely that players like Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel make it to free agency, Friedman names players like Alex Tuch and Kyle Connor as ones that will likely test the market, and with the salary cap continuing to go up, there's going to be big time money thrown around.

Most fans around the NHL won't get their hopes up after no big names made it to free agency this off-season, but with players such as Patrik Laine, Artemi Panarin, Jason Robertson and Martin Necas among others hitting free agency, this may be the most loaded class we've seen in recent times.

Ultimately though, there's a chance that these players can sign extensions this season, but given the salary cap rise and the money teams will have to spend, it wouldn't be surprising if the 2026 summer finally delivered on the chaos and the change that fans have been expecting for years.