Each year, July 1 is free agent frenzy in the National Hockey League. Teams look to upgrade their rosters by signing unrestricted free agents, often to long-term deals that might be considered overpays. Meanwhile, teams that still own the player\u2019s rights and are pending restricted free agents, negotiate on new contracts or, at worst, extend qualifying offers to retain their rights. But somewhere between the UFA and RFA divide there\u2019s a slight crack where a third category of player can sometimes fall into: Group 6 Free Agency.<\/p>\n
Group 6 UFAs are players that often have a few cup of coffees with one or more NHL clubs but don\u2019t quite stick to be regulars on the roster. The players must be 25 years of age when their current restricted free agent deal expires (the age is calculated based on the player\u2019s age as of June 30 when the contract ends). Players must also have played less than 80 NHL games. For goalies, it\u2019s 28 games, but the goalies had to have 30 or more minutes of playing time in those 28 games. The third criteria is that the player has three or more professional seasons either in Europe, the AHL, or ECHL. If an 18-year-old or 19-year-old is signed to an NHL club, a non-NHL season at that age is deemed to be 11 games. Once you turn 20, that is reduced to simply one game per season (regardless of regular season or playoff). If you meet those three criteria, you can become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n
As of May 25, there are currently over 50 players who are Group 6, including two Flyers: Defensemen Adam Ginning and Maxence Guenette, the latter acquired in the trade with Ottawa last season for Dennis Gilbert are the pair. Meanwhile, former Flyer Olle Lycksell (currently with Ottawa), is another pending Group 6. <\/p>\n
However, there might also be a few of those roughly 50 that Philadelphia\u2019s general manager Danny Briere takes a look at and possibly signs. We take a look at a few of those free agents (in no particular order) who might fit a need the Flyers have heading into 2026-27.<\/p>\n
Need some very cheap depth that could be had for nothing but some promise that they don\u2019t have to make the trip over to Europe for next season? There\u2019s some talent here.<\/p>\n
Ville Heinola, D<\/p>\n
The Winnipeg Jets took defenseman Ville Heinola at 20th overall at the 2019 NHL Draft and it still feels like he\u2019s barely scratched the surface on an NHL job. That feels like an opportunity for the Flyers.<\/p>\n
Heinola seems to have all the right skills to succeed in the NHL, but he\u2019s been bit by the injury bug a few times. In 2023, in Winnipeg\u2019s final exhibition game, Heinola broke his ankle and required surgery which caused him to miss a chunk of the season. Nearly a year later, Heinola had to go under the knife on the same ankle<\/a> as an infection developed in the area. Over those two seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25) he played just 61 games between the Jets and their AHL affiliate the Manitoba Moose.<\/p>\n The defenseman is known for eating up a number of minutes when healthy, and he can move the puck quite well. Heinola has all the trademarks of a reclamation project that Briere isn\u2019t averse to working with. It would possibly be a low-risk, high-reward opportunity if Philadelphia was to take a look at him. <\/p>\n And he\u2019s lighting up the World Championships for Finland right now, so there might be other suitors for his talent.<\/p>\n Raphael Lavoie, C\/LW<\/p>\n Raphael Lavoie is a center with some size and was known for some scoring prowess. Originally drafted in the second round (38th overall) by the Oilers in 2019, Lavoie had some fine seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads, scoring 30-plus goals in consecutive seasons and scoring 20 goals in 23 playoff games in the 2019 playoffs for Halifax. Lavoie (6\u20194\u2033, 217 pounds) had three decent seasons with Edmonton\u2019s farm club in Bakersfield, have consecutive 25-plus goal seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24). However, things never materialized for Lavoie with Edmonton, going pointless in just seven games.<\/p>\n