Vladimir Tarasenko leads the NHL's top free agents who enter Day 2 of free agency without a deal.
While the salary cap has been stalled over the last few years, there have been some pretty good UFAs who have had to wait well past July 1 to sign their next contracts and some who have had to settle for less money or less term than they wanted.
Case in point: Danton Heinen, who went until Oct. 30 last season before signing a one-year deal with Boston at the league minimum of $775,000. As one of the best bargains in the league, Heinen logged 17 goals and 36 points in 74 games with the Bruins. On July 1, he parlayed that stat line into a two-year deal at an average annual value of $2.25 million with Vancouver.
He isn't the only late signing who did well for himself last year. Defenseman Simon Benoit signed for the minimum with Toronto on Aug. 28, then impressed management enough that he was offered a three-year extension at $1.35 million by March. And when Oskar Sundqvist returned for a second tour of duty with St. Louis on July 12, he parlayed that chance into at two-year extension at a cap hit of $1.5 million.
This summer, with more money to spend under the $88 million salary cap, GMs have been much hastier with their signings. By the time the sun set on July 1, nearly all of the big names were off the table.
But there are still some options available. This could change at any time, of course, but based on THN’s ranking of the Top 50 free agents, here are the most high profile players who have yet to find a home.
Vladimir Tarasenko, 32 years old
2023-24 cap hit: $5 million
2023-24 teams: Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers
THN.com rank: 18
Last summer, Tarasenko played chess while everyone else was playing checkers. He waited until July 27 before signing a one-year, $5-million deal with Ottawa. Then, his no-trade clause allowed him to engineer a trade deadline move to Florida, where he proceeded to pick up his second Stanley Cup ring.
Not surprisingly, there’s word that Tarasenko would like to stay in the Sunshine State if possible.
Could he execute a similar strategy for a second straight year? The Sens did pick up a pair of mid-round draft picks for their troubles.
Daniel Sprong, 27 years old
2023-24 cap hit: $2 million
2023-24 teams: Detroit Red Wings
THN.com rank: 28
Two years ago, Daniel Sprong had to wait until Oct. 3 before signing a one-year, league-minimum deal with the Seattle Kraken. After putting up 21 goals and 46 points in 2022-23, he got $2 million from Detroit on July 1, 2023. And despite another decent 43-point campaign, Sprong is now back on the market again.
He’s a bit one-dimensional — but it’s a very useful dimension.
Jack Roslovic, 27 years old
2023-24 cap hit: $4 million
2023-24 teams: Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers
THN.com rank: 33
The one-time first-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets had seen his stock fall pretty considerably by the time he was flipped from Columbus to the Rangers for a conditional fourth-round draft pick at the trade deadline. But Roslovic had a pretty solid playoffs for the Blueshirts, chipping in eight points in 16 games. Right-shot centers are always in demand.
Nick Cousins, 30 years old
2023-24 cap hit: $1.1 million
2023-24 team: Florida Panthers
THN.com rank: 49
He might not be answering his phone as he sleeps off the effects of Florida’s Stanley Cup parade on Sunday, but the agitating Cousins did not sign a deal on Monday.
A veteran of six previous teams, Cousins was a Day 1 signing by the Panthers in 2022, when free agency didn’t open until July 13. After he didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Arizona Coyotes in 2019, he waited until July 5 before agreeing to a one-year contract with Montreal.
Other options:
Late additions to the free agency mix include players who get bought out and those who don’t receive qualifying offers.
Two bought-out players, Jack Campbell and Jeff Skinner, found landing spots on Monday. Will Nate Schmidt, Cam Atkinson, Jesper Boqvist or Ryan Suter catch on with new teams?
Meanwhile, out of the more than 60 players who didn’t receive qualifying offers, a handful re-signed with their old teams on Monday, and a few more moved to new spots.
Some of the more prominent Group VI free agents who are still available include former first-round picks Filip Zadina, Kailer Yamamoto and Alex Nylander.