The NHL Trade Deadline has passed. We won\u2019t see significant roster movement for several months now. That gives us some time for reflection on how the UFA market has shifted \u2013\u00a0especially since several re-signed in the days leading up to the Trade Deadline after so many of the top-drawer free agents re-upped with their teams earlier this season.<\/p>\n
How does the market shape up for 2026, with the salary cap projected to rise from $95.5 million to $104 million? And how did the Trade Deadline change the outlook for several of the best players available?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the latest look at our top 50 UFAs. Ages as of July 1, 2026; salary information courtesy of our friends at PuckPedia.<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 30 Go ahead and yell it out: first-place Buffalo Sabres. When they took down the Tampa Bay Lighting on Sunday in one of the century\u2019s best regular-season games, an 8-7 thriller at KeyBank Center, the Sabres seized first place in their division for the first time in 16 years. They\u2019ve gone an incredible 29-5-2- over their last 36 games, a run that started less than a week before they fired GM Kevyn Adams. Each win, and each inch of daylight north of the playoff bubble, made the decision to keep Alex Tuch easier, even if he\u2019s an own rental. But now the Sabres have, hopefully, many more months to win Tuch\u2019s heart. He had already expressed a strong desire to stay in Buffalo before the season started; if he can do so knowing he\u2019s part of a Stanley Cup contender, his odds of re-signing skyrocket. All Buffalo has to do is meet what should be a significant asking price in the $10 million to $11 million range. Will GM Jarmo Kekalainen do it?<\/p>\n Age: 37 Remember when \u2018Bob\u2019 had one of the NHL\u2019s worst contracts a few years back? Now he\u2019s a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Panthers, a certified stud clutch goaltender, a 400-game winner and, having won two Vezina Trophies before signing with the Cats, a surefire Hall of Famer. Who would\u2019ve expected he could ever flirt with another $10-million AAV on a contract? A goaltending-starved wannabe contender might pay him almost that much on a short-term deal next year. But if Florida continues keeping the band together and inking players to team-friendly pacts that break the game, we can expect Bob to re-sign for considerably less. Could we see two or three years at a $7-million AAV? What about a \u201clong-term\u201d contract similar to Brad Marchand\u2019s, guaranteed to land \u2018Bob\u2019 on LTIR halfway through?\u00a0As coach Paul Maurice said a few months back<\/a>, \u201cThe future of the Florida Panthers is Sergei Bobrovsky.\u201d They made that pretty clear when they traded Spencer Knight. Bobrovsky generated some interest around the Trade Deadline with the Panthers looking like they\u2019ll miss the playoffs, but GM Bill Zito has since reaffirmed the team\u2019s desire to keep Bobrovsky aboard as their starter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Age: 40 I was so confident in Ovi\u2019s fate \u2013\u00a0retirement from the NHL or re-signing with the Caps, no other options \u2013 that I declined to even list him on my previous 2026 UFA board in the fall. But Washington ripped his heart out by trading John Carlson, who sits second only to \u2018Alexander the GR8\u2019 on the franchise games list. Ovechkin called the move last week the saddest moment of his career<\/a>, and he expressed some uncertainty over his future. Could he stay in the NHL for his age-41 season but play on another team? I certainly wouldn\u2019t bet on it, but the odds went from zero percent to one percent, and that warrants placing the goal-scoring G.O.A.T. on this list.<\/p>\n Age: 30 What a remarkably odd career trajectory. Raddysh didn\u2019t play a full NHL campaign until he was 27. He brought secondary offense to the Bolts for a couple years, but his role exploded this season with Victor Hedman struggling to stay healthy. Three quarters of the way through the year, Raddysh still averages more than a point per game. He\u2019ll likely receive down-ballot Norris Trophy votes at this point. The Bolts have interest in re-signing him, but Raddysh has never even earned $1 million in a season. His next contract will be a true life-changer, so Tampa\u2019s offer will have to be significant in dollars and term to keep him from going to market. Why wouldn\u2019t you if you were Raddysh?<\/p>\n Age: 29 It seemed like Andersson was upping his value just in time for free agency, posting nice offensive numbers in Calgary before it traded him to a Stanley Cup contender. He has struggled since joining Vegas in January, however; only Jeremy Lauzon has a worse on-ice expected goal share among Vegas D-men since the trade, and Andersson has barely seen power-play work with Vegas. He\u2019s been a break-even defensive player at best, and his offense has cratered. Still, he\u2019s only played 16 games with Vegas and has experienced a turbulent year with a trip to the Olympics factored in, so there\u2019s still time for him to find his role with the Golden Knights and re-establish his value.<\/p>\n Age: 36 I\u2019m still in shock that the Caps moved the most productive, longest-tenured defenseman in their history for a pick when they were four points out of a Wildcard spot and while he and legend Ovechkin were in the final seasons of their deals. I get planning for the future but, sheesh, the juju element of the trade was tough to stomach. Is there a scenario in which Carlson, a family man entrenched in the community across his 17 seasons, returns to D.C. at a discount in the summer, or did the trade sever the bond for good? Even at 36, he\u2019s enough of an impact maker offensively, especially on the power play, that he\u2019ll attract plenty of offers.<\/p>\n Age: 33 Jenner\u2019s situation was similar to Tuch\u2019s: possible trade chip if team bombed out of playoff race, must-keep as an own rental if team stayed in playoff race. No one has suited up for more games in a Blue Jackets jersey. Whether he stays could depend on whether the Blue Jackets make the playoffs. It would be weird to see him in another jersey, but he\u2019s through his prime years and might want to chase a championship at some point.<\/p>\n Age: 39 Malkin wants to keep playing. He wants to keep playing for the Penguins. He\u2019s been quite vocal about that, and it\u2019s created a bit of friction between his camp and GM Kyle Dubas. That tells us it\u2019s not a lock that we see \u2018Geno\u2019 back with the only club he\u2019s ever known, but it\u2019s also far likelier than not that the two sides hammer something out. Helping Malkin\u2019s chances: his resurgent season and the fact Pittsburgh is a playoff contender.<\/p>\n Age: 34 \u201cBringing size, playoff experience and penalty-killing acumen, he\u2019s a quintessential third-line center who can play higher up someone\u2019s lineup if injuries strike\u201d\u2026is what I wrote about Coyle in November. He\u2019s since scored at the highest per-game pace of his career while playing heavy defensive minutes. You could make a case that Coyle is having his best all-around season at 34, so he might earn himself a No. 2 center contract. It\u2019s a risky proposition given his age, despite his exemplary work in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Age: 27 Ferraro plays a simple, grinding game and can log 20-plus minutes a night in his sleep. His under-the-hood defensive metrics typically aren\u2019t pretty, but it\u2019s hard to evaluate them given he\u2019s played on a bottom-dwelling Sharks team most of the time. Ferraro might flourish in a depth role on a higher-end team, but he\u2019s also a key leader for a Sharks team on the rise, and he\u2019s relatively young, so the Sharks have to consider paying market value to keep him.<\/p>\n Age: 32 The bruising hitter has revived his career at an opportune moment with the Ducks surging into competitiveness just in time for his contract year. The Joel Quenneville effect? It\u2019s going to get Trouba a nice multi-year deal, whether it\u2019s in Anaheim or elsewhere.<\/p>\n Age: 30 Before the Toronto Maple Leafs traded him at the deadline last week, reports indicated McMann was seeking a contract in the range of five years at $5 million per. Would a deal like that represent a trap for anyone looking to sign him? He possesses a tantalizing mix of speed and size, but he bloomed so late that he\u2019ll already turn 30 before signing his next deal. He was also invisible during the playoffs last year, failing to score a goal in 13 games. A successful playoff run with the Kraken \u2013 assuming they get in \u2013\u00a0would do wonders for McMann\u2019s value.<\/p>\n Age: 33 Murphy opened the year looking like a complete afterthought in Chicago, barely getting 14 minutes a night, to the point I surmised GM Kyle Davidson had missed the selling window. But Murphy found a groove working on the NHL\u2019s top-ranked penalty kill unit, his minutes rose, and he wound up garnering a second-round pick in a trade to Edmonton. Murphy has immediately stepped into top-four minutes with the Oilers and suddenly looks like a player who could match his previous AAV on his next deal, even at 33. He brings size, veteran leadership and right handedness, after all.<\/p>\n Age: 28 Stanley has a wide range of outcomes following his trade to Buffalo. He\u2019s a towering, mean defenseman with a heavy shot and could establish himself as a difference maker on a team with sleeper potential to make a deep playoff run. On the other hand: Stanley is a below-average defender and could be exposed or given limited minutes during the stretch run and postseason if he struggles. The next few months are crucial for his wallet.<\/p>\n Age: 35 The Isles\u2019 captain is classy, consistent and relatively durable. But with Bo Horvat signed long-term, this team has another ready-made captain, and it could make sense to turn the roster over as it transitions to the Matthew Schaefer era. Isles GM Mathieu Darche expressed little urgency to re-up Lee before the season, and that remains the case. If Lee is willing to sign a team-friendly deal in term and\/or AVV, however, there\u2019s little reason not to bring him back and keep his veteran presence around.<\/p>\n Age: 37 When healthy, Kane can still be a power-play asset at this stage of his career.<\/p>\n I asked Kane point-blank before the season: when you only have so many years left in the NHL, why do you place your faith in a Detroit team that hasn\u2019t made the playoffs in nine years?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good situation for me, it really is,\u201d he said, \u201cespecially coming into this year with Todd McLellan as a coach. It got a lot better under him last year when we made the switch. The team got a little bit more aggressive, and we started playing better as a team as well. But playing in the top six, playing on the top power play, I think as you get older, you really want to win, and I think we can do that there\u2026And we haven\u2019t been in the playoffs the past couple of years, but we really feel like we\u2019re on the verge and we should do it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wings have proven Kane right so far this season. He sees Detroit as somewhere he can win, but will that still be the case if they slump at the wrong time in the next six weeks and the drought reaches 10 years?<\/p>\n Age: 31 He functions best as a disruptive middle-sixer who can chip in offensively and get in opponents\u2019 heads. That worked well when he was a cog in the Dallas Stars machine. Asked to do a bit more on a weaker Kraken team and playing the most minutes of his career, Marchment struggled, but he\u2019s been fantastic as a Blue Jacket since the midseason trade, flirting with point-per-game production.<\/p>\n Age: 38 Re-signing was an easy decision for Giroux a year ago. He was playing for the city in which he lives with his family in the offseason, and the club was on the rise, offering a chance to chase a championship. A year later? The Sens have regressed, putting Giroux in a pickle as he nears the end of his career. If he wants to play another year, does he stay where he\u2019s comfortable or aim for more of a surefire contender in hopes of winning his first Stanley Cup?<\/p>\n Age: 38 Even if he\u2019s pushing 40 and his body is breaking down, Zuccarello is handy as a power-play specialist, and his chemistry with Kirill Kaprizov in Minnesota tells us Zuccarello can still keep up with elite players.<\/p>\n Age: 31 Mantha\u2019s stat line elicits a double take if you haven\u2019t been paying attention: he\u2019s two goals and one point away from setting new career highs in both categories. He has always graded out well as a play-driving forward, and analytics-minded Pens GM Kyle Dubas clearly saw something he could unlock. The question now is: does Mantha seek to hit the market and cash in on the best season of his life, or will he embrace the best fit he\u2019s found yet during a turbulent career that has bounced him to five different franchises?<\/p>\n 21. Patrik Laine, RW, Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n Age: 28 Laine\u2019s bank account badly needs him back in the Habs lineup. He\u2019s played just five games this season due to an abdominal injury, which is brutal timing for his walk year. Laine needs a fresh start; he\u2019s still young enough, and his shot is still deadly enough, that he could help someone as a power-play trigger man. Even this lesser version of Laine leads all NHL players in goals and shots per 60 on the power play since the start of 2023-24.<\/p>\n Age: 34 It feels like Schwartz has toiled in obscurity out in the Pacific Northwest, playing for a franchise with one playoff appearance in its first four seasons. But Schwartz, who won a Stanley Cup with the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues, still has game. He\u2019s coming off a 26-goal season but is showing signs of decline \u2013 or at least regression to his 2022-24 level after a resurgent 2024-25 season. He could sign on as a middle-six forward on an elite team or a top-six forward on a middling team as he is now.<\/p>\n Age: 35 \u201cUpside\u201d is a strange word to attach to a player who turns 35 in May, but Haula has more upside than other players in his archetype; he\u2019s your classic bottom-six, penalty-killing center, but he\u2019s delivered a double-digit goal total nine times and can play higher in a lineup in spurts. He still has plenty of value due to his versatility.<\/p>\n 24. Scott Laughton, C, Los Angeles Kings<\/p>\n Age: 32 Laughton found his game as a Leaf, particularly on the leadership side of things, this season, but they cashed him out as a pending UFA, dealing him to L.A. He plays with a ton of energy, wins faceoffs, kills penalties and can chip in a double-digit goal total. He makes for a fine No. 3 center or an excellent No. 4.<\/p>\n Age: 29 The speedy Roslovic has provided great value relative to his AAV. Will he parlay that into a multi-year commitment from the Oilers? He\u2019s been pretty valuable to a team whose depth was decimated over the 2025 offseason.<\/p>\n Age: 33 It felt like Arvidsson\u2019s career was winding down after an injury-shortened 2023-24 and an unproductive 2024-25, but he\u2019s bounced back with Boston and, if we zoom out, he\u2019s only had one bad year. It looks like Arvidsson still has value as a feisty middle-six scoring threat.<\/p>\n Age: 30 On the trade market, Dickinson fetched a first-round pick even as a rental. That tells us he\u2019s valued even if he isn\u2019t flashy. Taking pride in shutting down the opposition and strong on the PK, Dickinson is one of the league\u2019s most trusted checking centers, elite at smothering the opposition in 5-on-5 play<\/a>.<\/p>\n Age: 31 He\u2019s big, strong, defensively responsible and has enough skill to deliver a double-digit goal total every year. Mikheyev will never have trouble finding a job \u2013\u00a0and he also brings tools the Blackhawks may want to keep. They opted not to trade him last week after selling off other rental assets, and GM Kyle Davidson has expressed a desire to re-sign Mikheyev.<\/p>\n Age: 36 Gudas\u2019 ice time has cratered to the second-lowest mark of his career as he reaches his mid-30s. But he still brings game-changing nastiness, leadership as the Ducks captain and an ability to shut down opponents in relatively sheltered matchups.<\/p>\n Age: 34 He\u2019s no longer a marquee scorer, but he remains an efficient one. Tarasenko sits fourth on the Wild in even-strength goals despite playing south of 15 minutes a night. He likely doesn\u2019t warrant a long-term deal at his age, but he can still offer valuable goal production in a middle-six deployment.<\/p>\n 31. Michael Bunting, LW, Dallas Stars<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 30 Bunting\u2019s star, no pun intended, doesn\u2019t burn as brightly as it did when he broke into the NHL, but maybe that\u2019s because he was an old rookie who finished third in the Calder Trophy vote at 26. He may simply be past his prime now. But he\u2019s still a solid agitating middle-six forward.<\/p>\n Age: 27 Tolvanen never reached the heights promised when he was an exciting KHL prospect. Nevertheless, he\u2019s a physical forward whose shot power places him in the 92nd percentile<\/a> and is dangerous enough to suit him for a PP2 unit. He\u2019s still young enough that he may have a career season in him yet.<\/p>\n Age: 30 DeAngelo will never be confused with Jaccob Slavin. The whole \u201cplaying defense\u201d thing will never be for Tony D. But he moves the puck and produces points like few others at his position. Over the past three seasons, he sits in the 91st percentile for primary assists per 60 among defensemen at 5-on-5.<\/p>\n Age: 31 I can\u2019t imagine teams will pay extra for his random goal-scoring surge, buoyed by a shooting percentage roughly double his career average. Still Blueger makes for a perfectly reasonable fourth-line center option who is used to tough matchups and kills penalties.<\/p>\n Age: 41 You\u2019d think he\u2019d retire one of these years, but we say that every offseason, don\u2019t we? Perry is still making an impact with his agitation ability and clutch scoring. If wants to suit up in 2026-27, he\u2019ll find a home.<\/p>\n Age: 27 He\u2019s mostly been a disaster since his trade to the Pens, but he played on back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final in the two seasons prior. He\u2019s still young in goalie years and should catch on as a backup who, despite his extreme volatility, has undeniable upside when he\u2019s on one of his heaters.<\/p>\n Age: 35 \u2018MoJo\u2019 wowed with 32 points in his first 38 games this season, but puck luck was his friend; he scored 12 times thanks to an unsustainable shooting percentage of 20.7 percent. He\u2019s since crashed back to Earth, but he\u2019s at least proven he can still hang in the NHL as a middle-six two-way forward.<\/p>\n 38. Jamie Oleksiak, D, Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n Age: 33 Oleksiak makes very little happen offensively but remains effective as a second- or third-pair hammer who can win his minutes<\/a> if not asked to do too much. General managers will always pay up for players with his size and reach.<\/p>\n Age: 38 Talbot was quite good in five of his previous six seasons before this (bad) one. The Wings\u2019 crease belongs to John Gibson and, soon, Sebastian Cossa, meaning Talbot almost certainly will go to market. But he turns 39 on July 5; there\u2019s no guarantee his performance rebounds at his age, assuming he wants to keep playing.<\/p>\n Age: 36 Is Andersen nearing the end? He hasn\u2019t even been an average NHL goaltender for two years. He\u2019s been usurped in Carolina\u2019s net by breakout success story Brandon Bussi. Pyotr Kochetkov is under contract another season and will be healthy by this spring. If Andersen wants to continue his NHL career, it will almost certainly happen on a new team.<\/p>\n Age: 31 The raw talent hasn\u2019t gone anywhere, but Bjorkstrand has struggled to find his scoring touch in a diminished role since arriving in Tampa, with just 16 goals and 38 points in 80 games. Bjorkstrand may be entering the \u201cmercenary contract\u201d phase of his career, in which he catches on with a lower-end team that will place him on a scoring line and inflate his trade value.<\/p>\n Age: 33 He\u2019s stayed relatively healthy this season, enough that he\u2019s already surpassed his combined game total of 2023-24 and 2024-25, and he\u2019s made a splash as a puck-moving blueliner and shooter on an ascendant Sharks team. Klingberg has quietly played almost 21 minutes a game this season, his largest workload since his final season with the Dallas Stars. He\u2019s mostly just good at one thing these days, but plenty of teams still need what he brings.<\/p>\n 43. Victor Olofsson, RW, Calgary Flames<\/p>\n Age: 30 The Colorado Avalanche tossed him overboard to balance the money in the Nazem Kadri trade last week. That\u2019s\u2026not the worst thing for Olofsson\u2019s UFA value? The Flames have already installed him on their top power-play unit. His shooting percentage is way down this year and might positively regress in time for him to puff up his numbers over the final six weeks of the season.<\/p>\n 44. Andrew Peeke, D, Boston Bruins<\/p>\n Age: 28 Your classic meat-and-potatoes righty. Peeke defends at roughly a league-average level but adds size and strength and is in his prime.<\/p>\n Age: 32 He\u2019s not flashy, but he plays pretty mistake-free hockey as a bottom-pair guy and has quite a bit of playoff experience. He also grades out as above-average in foot speed <\/a>even in his early 30s.<\/p>\n Age: 27 Will anyone ever maximize Liljegren\u2019s potential? He\u2019s shown great skating and play-driving potential for most of his career and is more physical than he gets credit for. He just hasn\u2019t shown the IQ to put it all together. Maybe rejoining former Leaf teammate Rasmus Sandin in Washington via trade last week will bring out the best in Liljegren before he goes to market?<\/p>\n Age: 41
2025-26 cap hit: $4,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $10,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $9,500,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $975,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,550,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $8,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $3,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $6,100,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $5,250,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $3,250,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $8,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $1,350,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,400,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $1,250,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $7,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $3,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,500,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,125,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,500,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $8,700,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $5,500,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $3,150,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $3,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $1,500,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,250,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,500,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $3,475,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $1,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $1,800,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,600,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $800,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,600,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,500,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $5,400,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $4,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $1,575,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $2,750,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $3,000,000<\/p>\n
2025-26 cap hit: $1,000,000<\/p>\n