NHL reveals offer sheet compensation for 2025 offseason

If Don Sweeney and the Bruins truly want to go big-game hunting this offseason, the restricted free agent market may be an underrated tool.

And now they know what such a hunt would cost them, with the National Hockey League's offices officially confirming the compensation rules for players signed to and departing their club via offer sheets this summer.

Once considered a bit of a 'taboo' move that would often lead to revenge-centered offer sheets thrown a team's way, rumors of the floodgates on offer sheets opening this summer have lingered over clubs all season long. Especially with the proverbial death of the second contract for young players who have proven to be high-impact talents in a league where young talent continues to make the difference between winning and losing.

The Blues used this tool to their advantage last offseason, and signed both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway away from the Oilers with offer sheets that Edmonton chose not to match in exchange for just a single second-round and third-round draft pick. (The Oilers later traded the second-round pick they acquired from St. Louis to Boston in the Trent Frederic trade.)

And if the Bruins wanted to take a page from the St. Louis playbook this offseason, it's worth noting that the Bruins possess all of the picks required to make a play for any restricted free agent. Keeping in mind that teams need to put forth offer sheets with their natural picks, Boston is only lacking a third-round pick in 2027 (they parted with that in the Andrew Peeke trade at the 2024 trade deadline) when it comes to natural draft picks that play into potential draft-pick compensation packages.

The RFA class is obviously headlined by the Maple Leafs' Matthew Knies (a career-high 29 goals and 58 points this past season), while Sabres forward J.J. Peterka and Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard also stand out as pending restricted free agents worthy of a potential big-dollar offer sheet.

And from a Bruins point of view, Morgan Geekie could also be a player targeted with an offer sheet after a breakout 33-goal campaign for the B's.

For what it's worth, Sweeney has already said that Geekie will be on the Black and Gold's roster next season, meaning that it'll likely require something downright stupid from an offer sheet standpoint for the Bruins to walk away from Geekie this offseason. A team could make the Bruins sweat with an offer sheet that tests the limits of that fourth threshold, maybe even going as high as $7 million a season (20 teams have the picks to do that to Boston this offseason). But if it exceeds that and goes to the fifth threshold, it's worth noting that only 12 teams have the picks to pull off that kind of offer sheet, and most of them are rebuilders or fringe playoff teams and thus not in the position to part with those picks for Geekie.

Geekie is one of five pending RFAs on Boston's NHL roster, with Geekie joined by forwards Johnny Beecher, Marat Khusnutdinov, Jakub Lauko, and defenseman Mason Lohrei on that front.