The opening day of NHL free agency began with a report that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski had vetoed a trade.
The day continued with Werenski and general manager Don Waddell putting out statements that the Norris Trophy winner wanted to stay in Columbus and try to end a six-season playoff drought.
The day also began with the champion Carolina Hurricanes holding the rights to John Carlson after acquiring them at the draft. It ended with the defenseman signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In between, there were lots of signings and trades. Here are the winners and losers of a busy July 1:
WINNERS
Stanley Cup-winning goalies in demand
Frederik Andersen and Sergei Bobrovsky are headed to teams that need better goaltending to get them to the top.
Bobrovsky got the better deal, signing for three years and $21 million with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s coming off his worst season but had led the Florida Panthers to championships in 2024 and 2025 and Toronto is counting on that pedigree.
Andersen, who won the 2026 title with the Hurricanes, is heading to the Edmonton Oilers on a bonus-laden one-year deal. Edmonton has been seeking better goaltending, an issue even when it went to back-to-back finals.
Toronto Maple Leafs
In addition to getting Bobrovsky, the Maple Leafs remade their bottom six with Jack Roslovic, Nick Paul, Colton Sissons and Teddy Blueger. Add in No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna and new general John Chayka is putting his imprint on the team.
Utah Mammoth
They landed Vincent Trocheck in a trade and signed Anders Lee, adding them to an already impressive forward group.
Washington Capitals
They already made a splash before free agency by trading for Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou. Then they added former Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner in free agency. Defenseman Vincent Desharnais will help them with injured Rasmus Sandin expected to be out 6-9 months after April knee surgery.
LOSERS
Chicago Blackhawks
Is Bowen Byram really worth $12.5 million a year, making him the NHL’s highest-paid defenseman? The Blackhawks raised eyebrows when they traded the fourth-overall pick to get Byram. They raised eyebrows again with the extension.
Vegas Golden Knights
Salary cap problems caused them to trade Pavel Dorofeyev at the draft. The same issue prevented them from finding an adequate replacement. Victor Olofsson, a three-time 20-goal scorer, was their signing, but he had only 15 goals when he played in Vegas in 2024-25. They also traded popular Keegan Kolesar for draft picks. They did re-sign Rasmus Andersson and gave an extension to fellow defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.
Dallas Stars
Dallas was the team that Werenski reportedly turned down. Thomas Harley’s name leaked out as going the other way. Does that cause problems? The Stars still have to re-sign leading scorer Jason Robertson and they lost promising Mavrik Bourque, trading him because of cap concerns.
Minnesota Wild
They’re still looking for an upgrade at center. They decided to move on from Mats Zuccarello, who worked well with Kirill Kaprizov. He signed a one-year, bonus-laden deal with the Kings. Minnesota native Anders Lee chose Utah. General manager Bill Guerin said the team won’t panic because it didn’t get what it wanted on the first day.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL free agency winners, losers: Blackhawks’ big extension raises eyebrows
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