Offer sheet talks were rising for the 2025-26 season, and so to some extent, they are heating up. The signing of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway by St. Louis last summer gave a rare sort of reminder that offer sheets do exist as a strategy. Perhaps big-name players would be unrealistic, but these young emerging RFAs with mid-level value should create small bidding wars as the salary cap is expected to rise to $95.5 million.

Due to how crucial they are to their respective clubs and how much money those same clubs have, Evan Bouchard and Matthew Knies are almost untouchable. The opposite may be true for younger players just on the brink of breaking through and being targeted. Depending upon the level of an offer between $4.68 million and $7.02 million, a team may try to lure these talents away by giving up a first- and third-round draft pick in compensation affordable risk for clubs looking for long-term upside.

Players like Marco Rossi from the Minnesota Wild and

Mason McTavish

from the Anaheim Ducks fall in this category. However, due mainly to the flexibility with the cap that their teams currently enjoy, it is very unlikely that these players will be signed away. At least Anaheim is expected to have above $36 million in cap space, so any attempt to lure McTavish over would be a long shot. Dmitri Voronkov's Blue Jackets, on the other hand, are sitting in a solid financial position with more than $41 million in projected cap room.

Of all rumored targets, Cuylle from the New York Rangers is the most plausible candidate. Incapable of holding more than about $8.4 million in cap space, this team is already in the majority under contract for their roster. This scenario puts them in a particularly vulnerable position for setting up a strategic offer sheet against a developing player like Cuylle, who is considered a valuable future asset due to his youth, grit, and scoring touch.Other names being tossed around are JJ Peterka, Gabriel Vilardi, Luke Evangelista, and Kaapo Kakko, with varying degrees of availability and club leverage. But the name of the game is not just in crafting the offer; it is in doing the right timing that won't allow the other side to be able to respond without mortgaging their own future plans.Also Read: Philadelphia Flyers shock the NHL world by hiring Rick Tocchet as new head coachOffer sheets, though rarely utilized, are a powerful tool in NHL building rosters. Usually, star players are beyond reach. Mid-tier RFAs such as Will Cuylle and Marco Rossi may, however, be on the table if an appropriate salary-cap structure emerges. It, thus, remains to be seen if any teams follow through with the idea that the 2025 off-season is an interesting question indeed.