The NHL’s free agency period doesn’t officially start until July 1 but there’s been quite a lot of activity leading up to Tuesday’s main event.
While we’re still in the dark on where many free agents will land, certain NHL teams have been pretty busy locking up players or moving on from major assets that were set to hit the market. The Toronto Maple Leafs shipped out Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade that had been rumored for a few days prior, taking the top free agent off the board with a shiny new eight-year extension in the desert. Somehow, the Florida Panthers managed to re-sign Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand to new contracts and keep the band together for a run at a Stanley Cup three-peat.
As such, in the hours leading up to the start of the NHL’s free agent period, things are looking a bit … bleak. The expanded salary cap for the 2025-26 season and beyond seemingly has NHL teams ready and willing to re-sign players they’re already familiar with instead of treading into new waters. It makes sense, but the activity certainly has the heads of hockey fans spinning after all the pre-free agency chaos.
In an effort to make sense of all this noise, here’s our ranking of the best upcoming UFAs left going into July 1.
Age: 28
Position: Right wing
2024-25 salary cap hit: $6.65 million
2024-25 production: 25 goals, 50 points (75 games played)
Age: 29
Position: Left wing
2024-25 salary cap hit: $6 million
2024-25 production: 24 goals, 63 points (69 games played)
Age: 29
Position: Defense
2024-25 salary cap hit: $5.875 million
2024-25 production: 5 goals, 30 points (82 games played)
Age: 34
Position: Goaltender
2024-25 salary cap hit: $3.85 million
2024-25 production: .908 save percentage, 2.66 GAA (31 games played)
Age: 33
Position: Center
2024-25 salary cap hit: $5 million
2024-25 production: 22 goals, 66 points (83 games played)
Age: 29
Position: Center
2024-25 salary cap hit: $1.6 million
2024-25 production: 25 goals, 46 points (81 games played)
Age: 36
Position: Right wing
2024-25 salary cap hit: $4 million
2024-25 production: 21 goals, 59 points (72 games played)
Age: 33
Position: Defense
2024-25 salary cap hit: $7.75 million
2024-25 production: 6 goals, 28 points (76 games played)
Age: 30
Position: Left wing
2024-25 salary cap hit: $2.5 million
2024-25 production: 11 goals, 37 points (43 games played)
Age: 27
Position: Defense
2024-25 salary cap hit: $4.5 million
2024-25 production: 4 goals, 22 points (72 games played)
Age: 33
Position: Defense
2024-25 salary cap hit: $800,000
2024-25 production: 5 goals, 19 points (80 games played)
Age: 28
Position: Center
2024-25 salary cap hit: $2.8 million
2024-25 production: 22 goals, 39 points (81 games played)
Age: 40
Position: Right wing
2024-25 salary cap hit: $1.15 million
2024-25 production: 19 goals, 30 points (81 games played)
Age: 32
Position: Defense
2024-25 salary cap hit: $1.755 million
2024-25 production: 1 goal, 4 points (11 games played)
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The best remaining NHL free agents in the 2025 offseason
