We won’t sugarcoat it, folks.
The NHL’s 2026 free agent class has taken a Marty Supreme–like public beating since training camp opened.
Consider the long list of star talent who had the option of going to the highest bidder on Canada Day but instead elected to re-up with their current team. Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor, Martin Necas, Artemi Panarin, Nick Schmaltz and Adrian Kempe all extended their stays. Same goes for reliable veteran defencemen like Mattias Ekholm, Mike Matheson, Ryan McDonagh and Cam Fowler. Starting goalies Filip Gustavsson, Anthony Stolarz, Jacob Markstrom, Brandon Bussi and Scott Wedgewood all chose not to stray from their crease.
Yet, even with most of the best players off the board, a bunch of established and emerging talent is still trending toward joblessness on July 1. Stanley Cup champions, team captains, starting goalies, top-four blueliners and game-breaking scorers may all be available to eager GMs.
And with the salary cap projected rising by another $8.5 million — to $104 million in 2026-27 — those spendthrift general managers should have even more budget to splash the pot on the next all-star to tread in open waters.
Here’s a rundown and ranking of hockey’s best impending unrestricted free agents with July 1 fast approaching, plus the latest buzz circulating about their future.
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Age on July 1: 30
Position: Right wing
2025-26 salary cap hit: $4.75 million
The latest: The Buffalo Sabres find themselves in a fascinating predicament with one of Western New York’s own.
By waiting to commit to his hometown squad, the heart-on-sleeve Tuch has done himself a great service financially, as several clubs are seeking dependable scorers capable of 36 goals and 70-plus points.
The Sabres have Jeff Skinner’s buyout charge ($6.44 million) and RFA Zach Benson’s raise set to eat cap space but can ill afford to let talent walk out the door. Not to mention Tuch’s intangible value to the dressing room, culture, and community. (He’s also held up as proof that the Eichel trade wasn’t entirely a waste.)
And yet, Tuch’s most productive seasons may well be in the rearview and his next deal is going to be a whopper.
The player’s asking price should begin with eight digits, but Buffalo’s initial offer reportedly began with an 8 on an AAV. The Sabres aren’t willing to go that far yet. Talks cooled during Buffalo’s thrilling playoff run, but mutual interest on a long-term commitment remains.
Jarmo Kekalainen said on March 6 that he’s “not concerned at all” and is hopeful to lock in an extension before July 1. The GM doubled down at the May exit meeting, telling Tuch he wants to keep him in blue and gold.
As the best forward standing, Tuch might fetch more than, say, Kempe’s $10.625 million if his sole objective is to maximize his money. But something special is brewing in Buffalo these days.
The sides will dig into negotiations in early June. This one could slide either way.
“I have no idea. I wish I could tell you the future,” said Tuch, who expressed his love for the city and his team, and who also understands his market value. “I’m going to do whatever is best for myself and my family.
“I don’t know how the talks are going to proceed. I don’t know what they are going to say. I don’t know the future. But my main priority is my family.”
Another wrinkle here is that Buffalo, like Winnipeg, has been reluctant to incentivize with juicy signing bonuses. If they want to keep the player, the Sabres may have to bend that policy. The Jets did for Connor.
Age on July 1: 29
Position: Defence
2025-26 salary cap hit: $4.55 million
The latest: In the trade everyone saw coming, Andersson was dealt from rebuilding Calgary to go-for-it Vegas in January. Curiously, though, the move did not come with a contract extension in place.
Talented, minute-munching, edgy, right-shot defencemen with leadership skills are too rare in this league, so Andersson’s value is high.
The suspected holdup here is that the spendy Golden Knights are very much challenged by budget. GM Kelly McCrimmon has $4.6 million in cap space for 2026-27, and that’s without Andersson — or offer-sheet candidate Pavel Dorofeyev — on the books.
Most believe Vegas and Andersson intend to extend, but some roster surgery would be necessary. Looming over this situation is the uncertainty of fellow right-shot Alex Pietrangelo’s future.
The blueline stalwart is on LTIR this season but has one more year on his deal at $8.8 million.
“You look at this lineup, and this is a real contender,” Andersson said after settling in Vegas. “And that’s what I wanted to go to.”
Should something go sideways here, Andersson would have suitors aplenty on July 1. The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs are just two teams that were poking around for a trade earlier.
Age on July 1: 30
Position: Defence
2025-26 salary cap hit: $975,000
The latest: The timing of the Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman’s offensive breakout couldn’t be better, what with the salary cap spiking and right-shot blueliners at a premium.
The undrafted Raddysh was the most productive of all pending 2026 UFAs, racking up 70 points from the back end, with a plus-21 and six game-winning goals to boot.
The Toronto native’s career year has been bolstered by increased usage on the power play and five-on-five, as he is averaging nearly 23 minutes per night.
“He’s just playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of swag, and it’s paying off,” coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “His shot, it’s lethal.”
The Lightning will explore extending Raddysh, who has never earned so much as a $1 million salary and could be looking for a deal nearing that of partner J.J. Moser’s four-year pact at $6.75 million. A figure that large likely prices him out.
“The type of season he just had was not on the radar for us,” GM Julien BriseBois told reporters at locker cleanout. “He stepped up big time when we need him to this year.”
Tampa has a projected $12.3 million in 2026-27 cap space and must make decisions on UFA forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Corey Perry, keeping in mind that MVP Nikita Kucherov (UFA 2027) is eligible to sign a monster extension as early as July 1.
“I’m very thankful for everything Tampa’s given me. They gave me a shot to play in the NHL,” a noncommittal Raddysh said on May 5, when he was asked about re-signing. “I’ve been here the past four years, and I can’t say anything bad about this organization.”
BriseBois said he has been in contact with Raddysh’s agent, Craig Oster, throughout the season, “sharing concepts and ideas,” and will revisit talks soon.
Should Raddysh hit the open market, expect his hometown Maple Leafs, the Bruins, and Flyers to be just a few of several teams with interest.
Age on July 1: 36
Position: Defence
2025-26 salary cap hit: $8 million
The latest: We’re wading into tricky territory here, because there is a chance some of the aging but effective stars on this list could opt for retirement instead of another contract.
“No, that’s not a thought,” said Carlson, who is still logging excellent, top-pair minutes.
While it was difficult to imagine the Stanley Cup champ and one of the best D-men of his era in anything but a Capitals sweater, Washington didn’t rush to re-sign Carlson and then shipped him to Anaheim in a trade deadline stunner.
The idea of Carlson circling back and re-upping in D.C. has been floated, but Ducks GM Pat Verbeek gave up a first- and third-round pick for the stud right shot. He’d rather Carlson not be a pure rental.
As of mid-May, no numbers had been exchanged on a fresh extension. Carlson described his time in Anaheim as a thrill, but he’ll consider what’s best for his wife and family. Rumours have suggested a potential return east.
“That’s the part of it that I don’t have answers for right now,” Carlson said (via The Athletic). “I certainly loved it here. There’s a lot of moving parts to that to properly answer the question. But, yeah, I’ve loved my time. It’s a special place here for sure, with some extraordinary talent and a really bright future. That certainly is attractive to anyone, not just myself.”
The way Carlson performed in Anaheim’s encouraging two-round playoff run, we don’t see a pay cut coming yet.
Does a two-year deal, perhaps with performance bonuses, keep him in Orange County?
Age on July 1: 39
Position: Centre
2025-26 salary cap hit: $6.1 million
The latest: Watched Malkin play hockey lately?
The man looks as engaged in Year 20 as he was in his prime, even if that means going overboard. And as the Pittsburgh Penguins look to quench their playoff drought and shock the hockey world, they’re leaning on him.
But will the no-brainer Hall of Famer return for 2026-27?
“We would love to have him back, and we continue to work with J.P. (Barry, Malkin’s agent) on it,” GM Kyle Dubas said, following the team’s Round 1 exit.
No pending UFA registered a better points-per-game pace (1.09) this season than No. 71.
Dubas is in an interesting spot with vets like Malkin, and the two sides have already met multiple times to discuss the player’s expiring deal.
“I don’t think it benefits Geno or really benefits the Pittsburgh Penguins for us to lay all that out publicly, as much as the public may have an interest in it,” Dubas said at the deadline.
Malkin would prefer to retire a Penguin. A one-year contract would keep him on the team through Sidney Crosby’s deal.
“I mean, I want to play (in the) NHL, for sure,” Malkin reiterated on May 1. “But again, I know it’s not easy for Kyle. Maybe he wants new blood here. I understand it’s business, and I understand he wants maybe (a) new team, see new faces here. But for me, I want to play one more year in the NHL. I’m not looking (to go) back to KHL, play in Russia. But if not Pittsburgh, I hope some team.”
While participating in the world championships, Crosby told The Athletic’s Josh Yohe that it should go without saying how highly he thinks of Malkin.
“I’ve just always expected to be playing with him,” Crosby said. “I don’t know. After talking with everyone at the end of the year, it felt like it was in a good place in terms of getting something done.”
2025-26 salary cap hit: $8 million
The latest: Outside of the recently locked-in Jackson LaCombe, the future of the Anaheim Ducks’ blue line is wide open.
Trouba joins Carlson and captain Radko Gudas in the category of rugged, mid-30s, right-shot defencemen without a deal in place for 2026-27. GM Verbeek also has three pending RFAs — righty Ian Moore and lefties Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger — at the position.
Trouba has fit in nicely in Orange County since his messy December 2024 divorce from the Rangers and logged big minutes into the playoffs alongside LaCombe.
“This year the step he took is pretty impressive. He’d be a great guy to play with for years to come,” Trouba said in May. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that’s going to be a partner if you’re here. Things change, obviously. Whoever gets the opportunity to play (with) him is in a very good spot.”
Trouba said extension talks with Verbeek around trade deadline “didn’t get very far.”
Ever patient, Verbeek described Trouba as a “quality” player but notes the Ducks have “a lot of quality players in our system.”
The executive’s plan was to play out the season, evaluate Trouba, then decide on roster changes.
“At some point, I got to look to see how we can improve the team,” Verbeek told reporters, following elimination. “It’s obvious we’re not quite good enough to get to the third round, so we’ve got some more work to do. But I think there’s going to be certain things. There’ll be maturity amongst our younger guys; they got another year under their belt. Can expect another step from them and just kind of keep growing it.”
Age on July 1: 31
Position: Right wing / Left wing
2025-26 salary cap hit: $2.5 million
The latest: If you can make sense of Mantha’s goal totals over the past eight seasons — 24, 25, 16, 15, 9, 11, 23, 4, 33 — perhaps you should be the one negotiating his next contract.
Dubas bought low on the power forward and was rewarded with a healthy contributor who registered a career-high 64 points and became the Penguins’ Masterton nominee.
Mantha hired a mental coach, avoided injury, and took full advantage of a more prominent role under coach Dan Muse.
“It’s confidence, the trust level from the team, teammates, coaches, my work I put in mentally, physically,” Mantha said (via NHL.com). “Good things are happening.”
Considering the player’s history of injury and inconsistency, we may hesitate to give Mantha a long-term deal, but he’s positioned himself to be a major attraction on July 1.
One buyer-beware note: Mantha’s ridiculous 21.7 shooting percentage this season dwarfs his career average of 13.8.
“For a guy his size, he’s been moving lately, you know?” Muse said. “He’s just able to be a real threat, whether it’s off the rush or in zone. He’s shown he can play either wing. He’s a guy who’s shown that he can kind of move in and play with some different guys and adapt pretty quickly. And so, that’s a credit to him.”
Dubas met with Mantha about the forward’s future and told reporters that Mantha was “clear with his plans.”
Reading between the lines: This is the injury-prone veteran’s best crack at term and money. Sounds like he’ll capitalize on his impressive breakout somewhere else on July 1.
Age on July 1: 29
Position: Left wing
2025-26 salary cap hit: $1.5 million
The latest: The late-blooming McMann never had quite the burst of offence in Toronto like the one he enjoyed in his 18 games with the Seattle Kraken: 10 goals, 14 points and a bump up this list.
The speedy middle-six winger said he would be open to re-signing with the Leafs, but lottery-bound Toronto balked at the type of long-term contract extension he could command. That would be something in the ballpark of the five-year, $28.75-million pact the San Jose Sharks gave to his nearest comparable, Kiefer Sherwood.
Seattle got a motivated winger in exchange for second- and fourth-round picks; McMann got a taste life in the Pacific Northwest.
“Someone who can play in our top nine. We look at Bobby as a player that brings speed to our lineup, gets pucks to the net, gets to the net, and I think can complement the rest of our group very well,” Seattle GM Jason Botterill said.
“It’s a situation of seeing how he fits in with our group and making sure that he likes Seattle, he likes his role here, and then we’ll see where it goes in the off-season.”
McMann told reporters at locker cleanout that no extension talks with Botterill had taken place yet and that his greatest priority in free agency is winning.
“Honestly, it just never happened. I think with how hectic the end of the season was, there was no…” McMann told reporters, before rephrasing. “Neither side was trying not to discuss it. I tried to stay out of it. There was a little bit of contact back and forth. Just like, ‘We like having him here’ kind of thing, is what I think we heard on my end. But then it was reciprocated, that I enjoyed being here, that I was enjoying the opportunity, but no real discussions were started.”
The Kraken are in the middle of an organizational audit after parting ways with president Ron Francis, so individual player files will need to wait a bit.
Fans in Detroit, Columbus and Ottawa — among others — are already circling McMann as a UFA target if he doesn’t stay in the Pacific.
Age on July 1: 27
Position: Goaltender
2025-26 salary cap hit: $2.5 million
The latest: The 2026 UFA goaltending market is like Charlie Bucket’s Grandpa Joe: thin and old.
The best option under age 30, far and away, is Skinner, whose inconsistencies have been well documented. (Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen are a couple of wily vets looking for new deals.)
Still, workhorse goalies with a career save percentage safely above league average and back-to-back Cup Final appearances are hard to find.
Much like the Oilers, Skinner got off to a rough start. The Edmonton native was packaged and dealt to Pittsburgh in what most believe was a lateral move, at best, for the Oil.
Skinner had been rumoured as a flip candidate at the deadline remained a Penguin and registered a fourth consecutive season of 50-plus starts and 20-plus wins.
He already has 53 games of playoff experience under his belt and got the nod early in Round 1 for his new team before losing his net to Arturs Silovs.
If Dubas lets the veteran walk and goes with the young tandem of Silovs and Sergei Murashov next season, Skinner will have no problem finding employment elsewhere.
There is simply not enough supply for the demand for saves.
“I’ve got two kids that I’m taking care of and a wife to take care of,” Skinner told TribLive.com in April. “I’m not too worried about what the contract’s going to look like or anything like that.”
Age on July 1: 34
Position: Left wing
2025-26 salary cap hit: $5.5 million
The latest: The Kraken forward still has plenty of pop in his game and is one of the most dependable scorers on a roster desperate to return to the post-season in 2027, but he also battled multiple injuries in this contract campaign.
Heading into the season, Schwartz was just one of Botterill’s important contributors on an expiring contract. Botterill is working down the list. He re-upped captain Jordan Eberle and traded Marchment away midseason.
Decisions still await on Schwartz, Eeli Tolvanen and Jamie Oleksiak.
Is McMann filling in for Schwartz temporarily or permanently?
File this one under wait-and-see. Schwartz shares the organization’s frustration with missing the playoffs three years running.
“I love it here in Seattle. Really grateful and thankful that I got the opportunity to come here. I don’t know what’s going to happen going forward,” Schwartz said at locker cleanout.
“I’m certainly interested in coming back here and helping this group, but we’ll know more in the weeks going forward.”
Age on July 1: 31
Position: Left wing
2025-26 salary cap hit: 4.5 million
The latest: Marchment has suited up for three NHL franchises over the past two seasons and a total of five since his 2019-20 debut. Now, the two-time 22-goal scorer has a chance to pick a sixth.
With impact forwards scarce and Marchment a gritty, 40-plus-point guy, expect multiple teams to be lining up offers, including the Penguins, whose GM regrets trading Marchment to Florida before his breakout.
Columbus GM Don Waddell — who rented Marchment for 39 games and saw his effectiveness spike during the Blue Jackets’ failed playoff push — has interest in re-signing the middle-six winger, naturally.
But Waddell already spent a wad ($36 million) to retain fellow pending UFA Charlie Coyle and must save dollars for RFAs Adam Fantilli and Jet Greaves.
The undrafted, late-blooming player holds all the cards here.
Age on July 1: 40
Position: Left wing
2025-26 salary cap hit: $9.5 million
The latest: The lone member of the 900-goal club may have just skated out his final season in the National Hockey League and — having now fulfilled his duties and crushed his records — could well take his talents to Moscow or hang ’em up entirely.
But we’d be remiss not to include the game’s greatest goal scorer on the list, just in case he wants to re-up in D.C. and keep the ticker going to 1,000.
Noticeably slowing, Ovechkin’s production and defensive usage dipped compared to 2024-25’s chase year.
That he started a ridiculous 90.2 per cent of his shifts in the O-zone and essentially played the entirety of every Capitals power play is both hilarious and telling.
Ovechkin took the Carlson trade hard, and the retooling Caps missed the playoffs.
“I don’t know if it’s the end or not,” Ovechkin said. “I’m still enjoy it. I’m still have fun. I’m still happy to be with the boys.
“It’s just healthwise, you know? If I was 35 or 25, it’s one thing. But when you’re 40, you have to think for future.”
GM Chris Patrick hasn’t dived into extension talks with the face of his franchise yet. The Capitals would like to know the captain’s intentions prior to June’s draft, though.
“We’re giving him some time here to get away from the season a little bit and think things through and talk to his family. And then he’ll meet with both (president Brian MacLellan) and I, and we’ll continue to support him in however his decision process plays out,” Patrick said.
“We’ll be able to have a plan with or without him. It’s no different than really any offseason where you have some players that are expiring, and you can go down different paths depending on what happens with them. So, same thing with him, even though he’s the greatest goal scorer of all time.”
Our take: If Ovechkin wants to remain in the NHL, owner Ted Leonsis will make sure he remains a Capital. If not? Dynamo’s ticket sales are about to spike.
More notable UFAs in 2026: Victor Olofsson, Sergei Bobrovsky, Boone Jenner, Eeli Tolvanen, Patrick Kane, Patrik Laine, Anders Lee, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Claude Giroux, Mats Zuccarello, Jamie Benn, Reilly Smith, Corey Perry, Jack Roslovic, Michael Bunting, Ilya Mikheyev, Cam Talbot, Frederik Andersen, Evander Kane, Brent Burns, Erik Haula, Marcus Johansson, Mario Ferraro, A.J. Greer, Radko Gudas