The UFA market has been quiet for weeks.
All the top 50 UFAs have already signed contracts, and now players are taking professional tryout agreements. Sammy Blais, Tanner Pearson, and Jakub Vrána are some notable names who have inked early PTOs. Magnus Hellberg was the last UFA signing over two weeks ago when he joined the Stars.
Max Pacioretty is one of the top remaining free agents. He didn’t make our top 50 list because he only scored four goals in 47 games with the Capitals last season. His career took a hit due to back-to-back Achilles tendon tears in 2022 and 2023, but he used to be one of the league’s best snipers when healthy.
Pacioretty’s past performance still boosts his market value a bit. Frank Seravalli from Daily Faceoff reported that Pacioretty is considering offers from at least three teams for a deal in 2024-25. It will likely be a league-minimum salary with performance bonuses. Fans might wonder if he’ll regain his old form.
James van Riemsdyk barely missed our top 50 list but led remaining UFAs in points per game last season with 0.54. He could produce even more this year after shooting a career-low 7.7% with the Bruins, scoring 11 goals and getting 38 points in third-line minutes over 71 games. If he had shot at his career average of 11.8%, he would have scored six more goals for a total of 17.
Van Riemsdyk had just 29 points in 61 games with the Flyers before settling for a one-year, $1M deal in Boston last year. After bouncing back somewhat, he’s likely looking for a small raise, though it might be tough this late into summer.
Other Notable UFAs:
Kevin Shattenkirk is probably the most appealing unsigned defenseman left on the market; JVR’s teammate with the Bruins last season isn’t what he used to be during his Blues days but remains an effective puck-mover and defensively sound player in third-pairing minutes.
Goalies like Kevin Lankinen have been solid backups recently; Lankinen posted a .912 save percentage across two seasons with Nashville Predators . On the other hand, Martin Jones and Antti Raanta bring loads of experience but mixed recent performances—Raanta notably struggled last year with an .872 save percentage leading him to waivers unclaimed.
At this point, goalies such as Aaron Dell, Michael Hutchinson, Keith Kinkaid, and Dustin Tokarski serve mainly as AHL depth options or potential mentors on two-way NHL deals.
Fans might think these signings could change their team’s fortunes or just fill gaps temporarily—what do you think?
