UFA forward Vladimir Tarasenko is one of the top free agents left on the market, but can teams easily afford his projected cap hit?

It didn't take long for most of the best talent in this year's thin free-agent market to get snapped up. Of those still available, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane are the best of the bunch. With Kane expected to miss the start of the season rehabbing from a hip procedure, Tarasenko is the best option for clubs seeking a scoring right winger.

A six-time 30-plus goal scorer who's a year removed from a career-high 82-point performance, Tarasenko was expected to be signed during the opening hours of free agency. Heading into Thursday, however, the 31-year-old winger is still trying to find a suitable destination.

Just before the market opened on July 1, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman speculated that Tarasenko could be among the Carolina Hurricanes' free-agent targets. Later in the day, he reported the Ottawa Senators had also contacted the Russian winger.

On July 3, The Athletic's Shayna Goldman tweeted that it sounded like Tarasenko would be signing with the Hurricanes. Two days later, however, Friedman reported the winger had fired his agent and hired Pat Brisson and JP Barry as his new representatives. He also said the winger had no deals in place with any teams, and the process would start again.

The New York Post's Larry Brooks tweeted that Tarasenko had multiple offers of varying lengths from contenders to rebuilding clubs worth between $5.5 million to $6 million, with the Hurricanes being among them. However, he rejected them all and changed agents.

Tarasenko could be seeking a new deal close to the $7.5 million he received on his previous contract. With the salary cap remaining flattened for 2023-24, most teams lack the cap space to hand out lucrative long-term deals.