2026 Offseason

[SharksGM]

The draft order page is up to date, but please double-check your picks anyway. The contract calculator is also up to date. As with last year, I will need to undo cap retention on expiring contracts (though I don't think there were any for RFAs). I don't think there are pending trade conditions to resolve.

I haven't started the draft. I think Kevin is planning to do the same old big spreadsheet like last year, while watching the World Cup as many of you probably are too. It will probably take a month to finish like last year. Trades have been open for a while so do as you will. I have no particular plans for rule changes besides maybe taking another stab at the playoff cap idea, but I haven't thought about how to deal with the retention issue so that might not go anywhere.

[SharksGM]

Forgot to mention that I updated the file with pending trades the other day. Let me know if I missed anything.

[SharksGM]

Work is continuing on the draft, with the top half mostly done and the boring bottom half remaining. Obviously, we'll be starting later than last year's Aug. 8, so I suppose we'll be compressing the preseason more than usual. If you'd like to lend a hand to fill in rounds 3-5, hop on Discord for instructions.

[SharksGM]

We're halfway through the draft, so I'll be posting about free agent re-signings later today (Sunday). The file is updated. Also a reminder that the current vacancies and temp GMs are Columbus (DET), Edmonton (MTL) and Philly (SJ).

[SharksGM]

Here are this year's retirements:

Retiring 9 players over 42 and years <= inf
Cam Ward OV=76
Joni Pitkänen OV=73
Paul Ranger OV=69
Rick Nash OV=75
Jay Bouwmeester OV=75
Pierre-Marc Bouchard OV=73
Thomas Vanek OV=69
Zach Parisé OV=70
Milan Michalek OV=72

Retiring 54 players over 37 and years <= 0
Adam Courchaine OV=68
Anthony Peluso OV=45
Logan MacMillan OV=70
Nick Petrecki OV=63
Spencer Machacek OV=51
Brett Sonne OV=63
Scott Darling OV=72
Ian Cole OV=65
John Negrin OV=58
Evgeni Dadonov OV=64
Billy Sweatt OV=66
Thomas Hickey OV=70
Casey Pierro-Zabotel OV=60
Mark Katic OV=66
Alex Plante OV=60
Drew Schiestel OV=62
Michael Raffl OV=69
Ryan Stanton OV=52
Ben Bishop OV=72
Dustin Tokarski OV=72
Riley Nash OV=67
Aaron Palushaj OV=70
Blake Kessel OV=60
Keith Aulie OV=49
Raphael Herburger OV=65
Ryan Stoa OV=74
Mikael Backlund OV=67
Nathan Horton OV=75
Michal Repík OV=71
Tyson Sexsmith OV=71
Timo Pielmeier OV=64
Jake Hansen OV=68
Nick Palmieri OV=68
Colton Sceviour OV=59
Alex Grant OV=47
Taylor Ellington OV=60
Ryan Getzlaf OV=63
Braydon Coburn OV=69
Dustin Brown OV=73
Andrei Kostitsyn OV=76
Jean-François Jacques OV=68
Paul Postma OV=61
Antti Raanta OV=74
T.J. Brennan OV=68
Kyle Quincey OV=65
Jim O'Brien OV=63
Wojtek Wolski OV=70
Colton Gillies OV=64
Keith Yandle OV=72
Riley Holzapfel OV=54
Nick Ross OV=56
Jamie McBain OV=70
Simon Danis-Pepin OV=50
Michael Caruso OV=54

Retiring 112 players over 30 and years <= 1
John Vittinghoff OV=42
Patrick McNally OV=40
Elias Lindholm OV=47
Justin Faulk OV=42
Artturi Lehkonen OV=37
Kerby Rychel OV=27
Anthony Duclair OV=41
Kevin Sundher OV=50
Ryan Strome OV=47
Christian Thomas OV=49
Kevin Elgestål OV=49
Matt MacKenzie OV=46
Joel Edmundson OV=48
Maxwell Reinhart OV=49
Tyler Wotherspoon OV=45
Brett Ponich OV=49
Casey Thrush OV=42
Tyler Shattock OV=50
Victor Berglind OV=44
Philippe Desrosiers OV=50
Zac Dalpe OV=46
Lukas Sutter OV=10
Matthew Murphy OV=10
Peter Ceresnak OV=50
Robert Baillargeon OV=44
Peter Stoykewych OV=48
Alexander Guptill OV=46
Quinton Howden OV=49
Joseph Cramarossa OV=47
Peter Holland OV=50
Patrik Noren OV=46
Troy Donnay OV=15
Luke Adam OV=47
Patrick Koudys OV=44
Tim Erixon OV=49
Anthony Camara OV=50
Garrett Meurs OV=50
Travis Hamonic OV=50
Adam Reid OV=43
Michael Mersch OV=46
Michael Paliotta OV=49
Keevin Cutting OV=49
Sebastian Aho OV=48
Alex Iafallo OV=50
Frank Corrado OV=50
Stepan Jenik OV=47
Christian Marti OV=48
Norman Hauner OV=51
Stephan Kronthaler OV=49
Marc-Andre Bourdon OV=48
Mathieu Brodeur OV=48
Ben Chiarot OV=50
Nikita Kvartalnov OV=45
Brayden McNabb OV=50
Kurt Etchegary OV=50
Frank Vatrano OV=48
Nick Wolff OV=38
Ian Schultz OV=48
Joshua Burnside OV=49
Jake Guentzel OV=47
Clark Bishop OV=48
Martin Houde OV=40
Thomas Ebbing OV=45
Julius Honka OV=29
Filip Karlsson OV=49
Brandon Maxwell OV=48
Austin Czarnik OV=47
Dylan Wruck OV=43
Joonas Rask OV=50
Roberts Bukarts OV=47
Braden Holtby OV=36
Anton Zlobin OV=42
David Savard OV=48
Teemu Eronen OV=40
Stefan Della Rovere OV=50
Juraj Petro OV=48
Nikita Yazkov OV=50
Harrison Ruopp OV=50
Rushan Rafikov OV=50
Adin Hill OV=50
Connor Crisp OV=50
Curtis McKenzie OV=49
Michal Jordan OV=46
Greg Carey OV=48
Dallas Valentine OV=42
Bryce Van Brabant OV=47
Mathieu Corbeil OV=50
Vyacheslav Kulemin OV=45
Garrett Wilson OV=49
Colin Campbell OV=50
Aleksandr Mikulovich OV=42
Dylan Sadowy OV=45
Fedor Belyakov OV=50
Yaroslav Alshevsky OV=42
Cory Conacher OV=50
Lars Neher OV=46
Anthony Angello OV=49
Zane Gothberg OV=46
Tomas Filippi OV=44
Mitch Wahl OV=51
Justin Hamonic OV=48
Maxime Clermont OV=46
Chad Ruhwedel OV=51
Mitchel Slattery OV=46
Rey Kidd OV=45
Jonathan Johansson OV=47
Jonathan Iilahti OV=48
Ben Wright OV=38
Danny Biega OV=51
Trevor Cann OV=50
Kevin Shattenkirk OV=10
Jon Gillies OV=23

[SharksGM]

Alright, I think we're ready to have the post-draft rollover on Sunday night and begin UFA on Monday, provisionally at noon (I'll post a separate thread for UFA). Let's say 9PM for the live rollover, exclusively on Discord.

[SharksGM]

The rollover is done and here's what happened. 16/18 single boosters succeeded... hmph.

Player Fischer, Lukas [team:PIT, rights:PIT], 20.01yrs, 600000x4 (PIT, 77 CON) boosted from 56 to 76
Player Danford, Ben [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 20.60yrs, 600000x4 (WPG, 78 CON) boosted from 57 to 67
Player Luchanko, Jett [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 20.06yrs, 1050000x4 (WPG, 87 CON) boosted from 67 to 77
Player Smith, Jackson [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.34yrs, 1100000x4 (WPG, 76 CON) boosted from 69 to 79
Player Genborg, Eddie [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.40yrs, 1000000x4 (WPG, 82 CON) boosted from 64 to 74
Player Tullio, Tyler [team:FLA, rights:FLA], 24.44yrs, 600000x1 (FLA, 90 CON) boosted from 55 to 65
Player Nilson, Eric [team:SJ, rights:SJ], 19.34yrs, 700000x4 (SJ, 75 CON) boosted from 69 to 79
Player Elias, Florian [team:NYI, rights:NYI], 24.10yrs, 800000x2 (NYI, 85 CON) boosted from 59 to 69
Player Nesbitt, Jack [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.67yrs, 1050000x4 (WPG, 75 CON) boosted from 67 to 77
Player Murtagh, Jack [team:TB, rights:TB], 19.06yrs, 600000x4 (TB, 78 CON) boosted from 68 to 78
Player Zonnon, Bill [team:CAR, rights:CAR], 19.95yrs, 850000x4 (CAR, 76 CON) boosted from 67 to 77
Player Reschny, Cole [team:CGY, rights:CGY], 19.44yrs, 600000x4 (CGY, 80 CON) boosted from 68 to 78
Player Henry, Ty [team:BUF, rights:BUF], 20.15yrs, 600000x4 (BUF, 75 CON) boosted from 58 to 68
Player Hensler, Logan [team:NYR, rights:NYR], 19.92yrs, 600000x4 (NYR, 84 CON) failed to boost from 68 POT
Player Moore, William [team:PHI, rights:PHI], 19.47yrs, 750000x4 (PHI, 76 CON) boosted from 65 to 75
Player Vansaghi, Shane [team:LA, rights:LA], 19.92yrs, 650000x4 (LA, 75 CON) boosted from 66 to 76
Player Stockselius, Theo [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.14yrs, 800000x4 (WPG, 76 CON) boosted from 65 to 75
Player Procyszyn, Ethan [team:DET, rights:DET], 20.18yrs, 600000x4 (DET, 78 CON) boosted from 64 to 74
Player Read, Noah [team:DET, rights:DET], 19.69yrs, 600000x4 (DET, 75 CON) boosted from 65 to 75
Player Hopkins, Tyler [team:PIT, rights:PIT], 19.64yrs, 600000x4 (PIT, 76 CON) boosted from 62 to 72
Player Benák, Adam [team:PIT, rights:PIT], 19.43yrs, 600000x4 (PIT, 78 CON) boosted from 69 to 79
Player Klingsell, Viktor [team:BUF, rights:BUF], 19.59yrs, 600000x4 (BUF, 46 CON) busted from 79 to 59
Player Lafrenière, Tommy [team:LA, rights:LA], 19.66yrs, 600000x4 (LA, 77 CON) boosted from 67 to 77
Player Barnhill, Sean [team:CAR, rights:CAR], 19.68yrs, 600000x4 (CAR, 76 CON) failed to boost from 65 POT
Player Boumedienne, Sascha [team:PIT, rights:PIT], 19.66yrs, 600000x4 (PIT, 81 CON) boosted from 58 to 68
Player Prokhorov, Daniil [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.38yrs, 1050000x4 (WPG, 75 CON) failed to boost from 57 POT
Player Koblar, Tinus-Luc [team:TB, rights:TB], 19.15yrs, 600000x4 (TB, 80 CON) boosted from 58 to 68
Player Horcoff, William [team:FLA, rights:FLA], 19.64yrs, 950000x4 (FLA, 82 CON) boosted from 56 to 66
Player Zharovsky, Alexander [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.56yrs, 600000x4 (WPG, 75 CON) boosted from 58 to 78
Player Limatov, Kurban [team:PHI, rights:PHI], 19.49yrs, 600000x4 (PHI, 77 CON) boosted from 56 to 66
Player Moe, Mason [team:SJ, rights:SJ], 19.47yrs, 600000x4 (SJ, 75 CON) boosted from 55 to 65
Player Griffin, Owen [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.43yrs, 600000x4 (WPG, 75 CON) boosted from 59 to 69
Player Kevan, Benjamin [team:COL, rights:COL], 19.69yrs, 600000x4 (COL, 80 CON) boosted from 55 to 65
Player Schock, Drew [team:SJ, rights:SJ], 19.60yrs, 600000x4 (SJ, 77 CON) boosted from 57 to 67
Player Trethewey, Charlie [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.12yrs, 600000x4 (WPG, 76 CON) boosted from 54 to 64
Player Nansi, Harry [team:DET, rights:DET], 19.01yrs, 600000x4 (DET, 75 CON) failed to boost from 57 POT
Player Kongsbak Klyvø, Mads [team:TB, rights:TB], 19.36yrs, 600000x4 (TB, 81 CON) boosted from 51 to 61
Player Belle, William [team:WPG, rights:WPG], 19.66yrs, 600000x4 (WPG, 77 CON) boosted from 53 to 63
Player Psenicka, Max [team:CAR, rights:CAR], 19.65yrs, 600000x4 (CAR, 83 CON) failed to boost from 58 POT
Player Amico, Carter [team:VAN, rights:VAN], 19.50yrs, 900000x4 (VAN, 87 CON) boosted from 55 to 65
Player Castagna, Jonathan [team:OTT, rights:OTT], 21.40yrs, 750000x3 (OTT, 78 CON) boosted from 52 to 62
Player Wang, Haoxi [team:DAL, rights:DAL], 19.13yrs, 950000x4 (DAL, 82 CON) failed to boost from 59 POT
Player Phillips, Mace'o [team:VAN, rights:VAN], 19.55yrs, 850000x4 (VAN, 78 CON) boosted from 58 to 68
Player Bausov, Roman [team:OTT, rights:OTT], 19.38yrs, 600000x4 (OTT, 78 CON) boosted from 53 to 63