This summer's offer-sheet brackets have now been set by the league. For the uninitiated, PuckPedia describes the mechanism as a contract handed to an RFA by some team that isn't the one currently holding his rights.
Should the player ink that proposal, his original side gets the chance to either equal the terms and retain him or take back compensation paid out through draft choices. A steeper contract means a bigger return for the team losing him.
Below are the rules governing such deals this year:
Each row below shows the annual cap figure at which a bracket begins; the bracket runs up until the next row's starting figure.
| Bracket starts at (annual cap value) | What the team gets back | | --- | --- | | $0 | Nothing owed | | just over $1,575,969 | A single third-rounder | | just over $2,387,832 | A single second-rounder | | just over $4,775,666 | A third plus a first | | just over $7,163,498 | A third, a second, and a first | | just over $9,551,332 | Two first-rounders, one second-rounder, and a lone third\ | | anything reaching $11,939,166 | Four opening-round selections\ |
Aside from the final pair of tiers, each surrendered pick must originate in 2027 and belong to the compensating side itself. Choices picked up earlier via trades with rival teams aren't allowed in any such package.
At the next-to-top tier, a side has to surrender two firsts pulled from the coming three drafts (beginning in 2027). Under the top tier, those four firsts must arrive across the following five drafts (likewise dating from 2027).
A host of high-profile RFAs can be approached with these deals this offseason. The Vegas winger Pavel Dorofeyev makes the list, as does Philadelphia's Trevor Zegras. Among the other big names are the Kings' Brandt Clarke, Buffalo's Zach Benson, Columbus center Adam Fantilli, Anaheim's Leo Carlsson, the Blackhawks' Connor Bedard, and Dallas star Jason Robertson.
Clubs are clear to open talks with these players once June 30 reaches its evening hours, though nothing may be finalized before the market officially launches July 1. Last summer produced no offer-sheet signings, but two years prior, St. Louis poached a pair of Edmonton skaters, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg.