An NHL offer sheet is a contract offer that a restricted free agent signs with another team. His current team then has seven days to match it and keep him, or let him go and collect draft picks from the signing team. For offer sheets in the 2026 offseason, compensation ran from nothing for an average annual value (AAV) of about $1.58 million or less up to four first-round picks for an AAV above about $11.94 million, according to the NHL's thresholds as reported by Pro Hockey Rumors from PuckPedia. In July 2026 both offer sheets signed were matched: Utah kept Barrett Hayton and Anaheim kept Leo Carlsson.
Updated for the 2026-27 season.
Who is a restricted free agent in the NHL?
Under Article 10 of the NHL-NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, a player whose contract expires becomes a Group 2 restricted free agent (RFA) if he is not yet eligible for unrestricted free agency. A player becomes an unrestricted free agent once he has seven accrued seasons or is 27 or older as of June 30 at the end of a league year.
To be a Group 2 player, he also needs enough professional experience, which depends on his age when he signed his first NHL contract:
| Age at first NHL contract | Professional experience needed for Group 2 |
|---|---|
| 18 to 21 | 3 years |
| 22 to 23 | 2 years |
| 24 or older | 1 year |
A year of experience means 10 or more NHL games for an 18- or 19-year-old, or 10 or more professional games for a player 20 or older. A player with less experience cannot sign an offer sheet; his club keeps exclusive rights if it makes him a qualifying offer.
What is a qualifying offer?
A qualifying offer (QO) is a one-year contract offer the team must make to keep its rights to an RFA. If the team makes it on time, it gets the right of first refusal on any offer sheet, or draft-pick compensation if it declines to match. If it does not, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent unless the club has instead elected salary arbitration where the CBA allows it.
Under Section 10.2 of the CBA, the offer is due by 5 p.m. New York time on the later of June 25 or the first Monday after the NHL Draft. It cannot be accepted before July 1 and expires at 5 p.m. on July 15 unless the club extends it in writing. NHL.com reported that the 2026 deadline was 5 p.m. ET on the Monday after the draft.
How much is a qualifying offer?
The minimum salary in a qualifying offer is a percentage of the player's prior-year NHL base salary (Paragraph 1 salary, which excludes signing bonuses). The 2025 memorandum of understanding (MOU) that extended the CBA raised the salary thresholds. The 2026 offers, made before the new agreement's term began on Sept. 16, 2026, used the old thresholds, as NHL.com's 2026 free agency explainer shows.
| Prior-year base salary | Qualifying offer (2025 MOU) | Qualifying offer (2013 CBA, used in 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Low tier | 110% for $1,250,000 or less | 110% for $660,000 or less |
| Middle tier | 105% for more than $1,250,000 and less than $1,750,000, capped at $1,750,000 | 105% for more than $660,000 and less than $1,000,000, capped at $1,000,000 |
| Top tier | 100% for $1,750,000 or more | 100% for $1,000,000 or more |
The 2020 MOU added a limit for contracts signed after it took effect: if the minimum salary in the qualifying offer would be more than 120% of the expiring contract's average annual value, the qualifying offer is 120% of that average instead. The MOU's own example is a three-year deal paying $3 million, $6 million and $9 million, whose qualifying offer is $7.2 million rather than $9 million.
The offer must be one-way (same pay in the NHL and the minors) for a player with 180 or more NHL games over the previous three seasons and at least 60 the previous season who has not cleared waivers in the window the CBA sets.
What is an offer sheet in the NHL?
An offer sheet is a contract an RFA signs with a new team (the "New Club" in the CBA). Under Section 10.3, the player gives it to his current team, the "Prior Club," and the signed offer sheet is irrevocable. It must state the "principal terms": the length of the deal, salary, signing bonus and reporting bonus. Those amounts must be fixed and readily determinable cash, with no conditions.
The CBA also sets these rules:
- The signing team must have the required draft picks available and unencumbered. The league checks this as soon as the offer sheet arrives and holds those picks in reserve; if they are not available, the offer sheet is void.
- A team can have several offer sheets outstanding at once only if it has the cap room and the draft picks to cover all of them if every one were accepted.
- Once the Prior Club receives an offer sheet, it cannot trade its right of first refusal.
- A player who has elected salary arbitration, or whose club has, generally cannot negotiate with other teams or sign an offer sheet. The CBA has a narrow exception for some club-elected arbitration cases.
When can offer sheets be signed?
Offer sheets can be signed once free agency opens, at 12 p.m. ET on July 1 in 2026, per NHL.com. There is no single closing date for offer sheets in the CBA, but Section 11.4 sets a hard deadline for every Group 2 RFA: a contract not signed and filed by 5 p.m. New York time on Dec. 1 is void, and the player cannot play that season.
How long can an offer sheet be?
The 2025 MOU shortened maximum contract lengths. A contract can now run up to six years, while a team can sign a player for up to seven years only if he has been on its reserve list or RFA list since the most recent trade deadline. A team signing another club's RFA is therefore limited to six years. The 2025 MOU also limits signing, roster and reporting bonuses to 60% of a contract's total pay.
How much is NHL offer sheet compensation?
If the Prior Club does not match, the signing team must give it draft picks. Section 10.4 bases the number and round of picks on the offer sheet's AAV, worked out by dividing its total principal terms by the number of years or five, whichever is less. The dollar thresholds rise every year at the same rate as the league's average salary.
These are the thresholds for offer sheets signed in the 2026 offseason, as reported by Pro Hockey Rumors from PuckPedia in May 2026:
| Offer sheet AAV | Compensation owed |
|---|---|
| $1,575,960 or less | None |
| $1,575,960 to $2,387,832 | 2027 third-round pick |
| $2,387,832 to $4,775,666 | 2027 second-round pick |
| $4,775,666 to $7,163,498 | 2027 first- and third-round picks |
| $7,163,498 to $9,551,332 | 2027 first-, second- and third-round picks |
| $9,551,332 to $11,939,166 | 2027 and 2028 first-round picks, plus 2027 second- and third-round picks |
| More than $11,939,166 | First-round picks in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 |
Why the divide-by-five rule matters
Because the total is divided by no more than five, a longer offer sheet produces a higher compensation figure than its actual cap hit. A six-year, $60 million offer sheet has a $10 million AAV, but for compensation purposes it counts as $60 million divided by five, or $12 million, which is in the four-first-round-picks tier.
Which draft picks can be used?
The signing team must use its own picks. Under Section 10.4, a club cannot acquire other teams' picks to pay offer sheet compensation, though it can use its own picks that it traded away and later got back. The picks also have to be in specific drafts:
- One pick, or two or three picks in different rounds, must be available in the next draft.
- Two picks in the same round must be available within the next three drafts, three in the same round within the next four, and so on.
- The signing team does not choose which years; the next available picks go to the Prior Club.
In 2024, St. Louis had to reacquire its own 2025 second-round pick from Pittsburgh before it could sign Philip Broberg to an offer sheet, TSN reported.
How long does a team have to match an offer sheet?
Seven days. Under Section 10.3, the Prior Club has seven days from receiving the offer sheet to match. If it matches, the player signs with his old team on the offer sheet's principal terms. If not, the player joins the new team and the Prior Club receives the draft-pick compensation.
Can a team trade a player after matching an offer sheet?
Not for a year. Section 10.3(b) says the Prior Club may not trade the player for one year from the date it exercises its right of first refusal. That rule shaped the 2026 Hayton case: Utah matched a one-year deal, so the Mammoth cannot trade him before he reaches unrestricted free agency, ESPN and TSN reported.
Recent NHL offer sheets
| Year | Player (Prior Club) | Signing team | Terms | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Leo Carlsson (Ducks) | Flyers | 5 years, $90 million ($18 million AAV) | Matched |
| 2026 | Barrett Hayton (Mammoth) | Devils | 1 year, $4.775 million | Matched |
| 2024 | Philip Broberg (Oilers) | Blues | 2 years, $4,580,917 AAV | Not matched; Edmonton got a 2025 second-round pick |
| 2024 | Dylan Holloway (Oilers) | Blues | 2 years, $2,290,457 AAV | Not matched; Edmonton got a 2025 third-round pick |
| 2021 | Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Canadiens) | Hurricanes | 1 year, $6.1 million | Not matched; Montreal got 2022 first- and third-round picks |
Barrett Hayton, 2026
The Devils signed Utah center Barrett Hayton to a one-year, $4.775 million offer sheet on July 1, 2026, the first offer sheet of the summer and the first since the Blues' 2024 pair, TSN reported. Because the AAV fell in the second-round tier, Utah would have received a New Jersey second-round pick if it had not matched. The Mammoth matched the offer sheet on July 8. Hayton becomes a free agent on July 1, 2027, and is eligible to sign an extension with Utah as early as Jan. 1, ESPN reported.
Leo Carlsson, 2026
On July 3, 2026, the Flyers signed Ducks center Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million offer sheet, an $18 million AAV that the AP said was the highest annual salary of the salary cap era. With an AAV far above the top threshold, the price for not matching was four Flyers first-round picks. TSN, citing Darren Dreger, reported close to $20 million of it was paid in signing bonuses at registration. Anaheim matched on July 9, a day before the deadline, making Carlsson the NHL's highest-paid player, $1 million a year above Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov.
Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, 2024
The Blues signed two Oilers RFAs, defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway, to two-year offer sheets in August 2024. Edmonton declined to match on Aug. 20, 2024, and received a 2025 second-round pick for Broberg and a 2025 third-round pick for Holloway. The AP noted the decision left Edmonton room to negotiate long-term deals with Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and earlier cases
In 2021, Carolina signed Montreal center Jesperi Kotkaniemi to a one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet, and the Canadiens declined to match on Sept. 4, 2021. NBC Sports reported it was only the second successful offer sheet of the salary cap era, after Edmonton signed Dustin Penner away from Anaheim in 2007. It came two years after Montreal's offer sheet to Carolina's Sebastian Aho, which the Hurricanes matched. Matching is the norm for big offers: the AP noted that Nashville matched the Flyers' 14-year, $110 million offer sheet to defenseman Shea Weber.
Related reference pages
Sources
- NHL-NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (Feb. 15, 2013), Articles 10, 11, 12 and 50 — NHLPA
- NHL-NHLPA Memorandum of Understanding (2020), item 68: Qualifying Offers — NHLPA
- NHL-NHLPA Memorandum of Understanding (June 27, 2025), items 32, 36 and 38 — NHLPA
- Collective Bargaining Agreement documents — NHLPA
- NHL sets offer sheet thresholds for 2026 (May 20, 2026) — Pro Hockey Rumors, via PuckPedia
- 2026 free agency overview (June 28, 2026) — NHL.com / Hurricanes.com
- Qualifying offers extended to restricted free agents (June 30, 2026) — NHL.com
- Devils tender one-year offer sheet to Mammoth's Hayton (July 1, 2026) — TSN
- Mammoth match Hayton offer sheet from Devils, cannot trade pending UFA (July 8, 2026) — TSN
- Barrett Hayton to stay with Mammoth, can't be traded for year (July 8, 2026) — ESPN
- Flyers sign Ducks center Carlsson to 5-year, $90 million offer sheet; Anaheim has 7 days to match (July 3, 2026) — The Associated Press, via KSL.com
- Will the Ducks match Flyers' record-setting offer sheet to Carlsson? (July 6, 2026) — TSN
- Ducks match Carlsson offer sheet from Flyers, take on $18M cap hit (July 9, 2026) — TSN
- Edmonton Oilers decline to match St. Louis Blues offer sheets on Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway (Aug. 20, 2024) — TSN
- Blues get Broberg, Holloway after Oilers don't match offer sheets (Aug. 20, 2024) — The Associated Press, via NBC Sports
- Montreal Canadiens will not match Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet (Sept. 4, 2021) — NBC Sports