NHL free agency officially begins on Wednesday at noon ET, but it's already been an absolutely wild offseason in hockey.
With the salary cap rising by only $1 million from last season, teams have been forced into difficult decisions, such as:
The Minnesota Wild traded winger Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings, while the Tampa Bay Lightning traded veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators.
We've seen teams reach contract impasses with star players ahead of unrestricted free agency, like the Pittsburgh Penguins with Evgeni Malkin and the St.