NHL Free Agency began almost a week ago on July 1. According to CapWages.com, 389 players were seeking new contracts, and the list has been reduced to roughly 223 heading into the second official week of the NHL off-season. 

When free agency kicked off, 19 former Calgary Flames players became free agents, and now that list has dwindled to eight. Today, we are going to look at the top five players still looking for a new team for 2026-27.

Anthony Mantha had a resurgence season last year with the Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring a career-high 33 goals and 64 points on a team that bounced back and qualified for the playoffs.

The 11-year veteran is one of the top wingers still available, and at 31, he may be looking for a long-term deal, but could end up settling on another one-year prove-it deal before landing a multi-year contract. During Mantha's one season with the Flames, in 2024-25, he scored just four goals and seven points in 13 games.

Cam Talbot is an ageless wonder, just recently turning 39 and still looking for a gig in the NHL. For the last two years, he'd been in goal for the Detroit Red Wings, posting a 33-28-11 record on a team that failed to qualify for the playoffs in either of the years he was there. After 13 seasons in the league, he's 278-204-53 with a .911 SV% and 2.69 GAA.

Moreover, last season, Talbot produced a .883 SV% and 3.19 GAA, his totals of the decade, making it a little more difficult to land a starting or backup role on a contender.

For the past four seasons, Calle Järnkrok has played with the Toronto Maple Leafs, beginning his tenure there with a 20-goal season back in 2022-23. Since then, he's tallied a total of 16 games over the past three seasons. Meanwhile, he was minus-15 last year, the seventh-worst total on the club.

After 13 seasons, Järnkrok has 143 goals and 316 points in 774 games. He'll be 35 at the beginning of the season, and could be looking for a fresh start with a new club on one of his final NHL deals.

Travis Hamonic was a teammate of Talbot in Detroit last season, where he played just 26 games and recorded two points with a minus-11 rating. He'll be 36 next month, which may be a reason why he's still looking for a new deal. Considering his most productive seasons came almost a decade ago, he'll be looking for a modest contract to get him closer to retirement after 17 seasons.

Curtis Lazar played for the Flames' provincial rival, the Edmonton Oilers, last season, appearing in 45 games and picking up six points, including four goals. Two years ago, he had a 25-point season, a career-high for the bottom-six player. Considering Lazar has never played 82 games in a single season, he'll be hard-pressed to land a role on a contender, in what would be his 13th NHL season.

The three other former Flames players left looking for new deals also include Derek Forbort, Jordan Oesterle, and Kevin Rooney. Interestingly, all three of them combined to play four games in the league last season, so the likelihood of them landing a new NHL contract is slim, but never say never. Considering all three are still under 35, they could continue playing professionally with a chance of a call-up.