NHL Free Agent Tracker: Johnny Gaudreau, Nazem Kadri, and Claude Giroux provide intrigue
The NHL Free Agent Tracker for 2022 has been updated with the latest news and signings.
The opening bell for NHL Free Agent Frenzy will sound in a few days on July 13 at Noon Eastern. This offseason boasts a great free agent class with plenty of excellent unrestricted players available.
At forward, Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux, Nazem Kadri, and Johnny Gaudreau are the most intriguing names. On defense, P.K. Subban and John Klingberg are great two big names remaining. And for goalies, Stanley Cup winner Darcy Kuemper leads the pack followed by Jack Campbell.
As we get ready for the festivities this week, we’ve listed the Top UFA’s separated by Forwards, Defensemen, and Goaltenders. They are sorted by their expiring cap hit from highest to lowest.
Note: All cap data from CapFriendly.
Update: July 10, 2022 to reflect signings of Marc-Andre Fleury (MIN), Kris Letang (PIT), and Filip Forsberg (NSH). Click on the players name where available for the latest rumors.
Latest Update: July 12, 2022 to reflect signing of Valeri Nichushkin.
NHL Free Agent Frenzy: Top UFA Forwards

Below are the Top 35 unrestricted free agent forwards available.
PLAYER | TEAM | AGE | POS | CAP HIT | SIGNED WITH | TERM/AAV |
Evgeni Malkin | PIT | 35 | C | $9,500,000 | ||
Claude Giroux | FLA | 34 | C | $8,275,000 | ||
Phil Kessel | ARI | 34 | RW | $8,000,000 | ||
Patrice Bergeron | BOS | 36 | C | $6,875,000 | ||
Johnny Gaudreau | CGY | 28 | LW | $6,750,000 | ||
Alexander Radulov | DAL | 35 | RW | $6,250,000 | ||
Filip Forsberg | NSH | 27 | LW | $6,000,000 | NSH | 8 YRS – $8.5M |
Max Domi | CAR | 27 | F | $5,300,000 | ||
Ondrej Palat | TBL | 31 | F | $5,300,000 | ||
Nino Niederreiter | CAR | 29 | F | $5,250,000 | ||
Reilly Smith | VGK | 31 | F | $5,000,000 | VGK | 3 YEARS – $5M |
André Burakovsky | COL | 27 | F | $4,900,000 | ||
Vincent Trocheck | CAR | 28 | F | $4,750,000 | ||
Ryan Strome | NYR | 28 | C | $4,500,000 | ||
Nazem Kadri | COL | 31 | C | $4,500,000 | ||
Victor Rask | SEA | 29 | C | $4,000,000 | ||
David Perron | STL | 34 | F | $4,000,000 | ||
Rickard Rakell | PIT | 29 | F | $3,789,444 | ||
Paul Stastny | WPG | 36 | F | $3,750,000 | ||
Andrew Copp | NYR | 27 | F | $3,640,000 | ||
Bryan Rust | PIT | 30 | F | $3,500,000 | PIT | 6 YRS – $5.125M |
Chris Tierney | OTT | 28 | C | $3,500,000 | ||
Andreas Athanasiou | LAK | 27 | F | $2,700,000 | ||
Frank Vatrano | NYR | 28 | F | $2,533,333 | ||
Valeri Nichushkin | COL | 27 | F | $2,500,000 | COL | 8 YRS – $6.125M |
Cody Eakin | BUF | 31 | C | $2,250,000 | ||
Evander Kane | EDM | 30 | F | $2,108,696 | ||
Vladislav Namestnikov | DAL | 29 | F | $2,000,000 | ||
Zachary Sanford | WPG | 27 | F | $2,000,000 | ||
Calle Järnkrok | CGY | 30 | F | $2,000,000 | ||
Mattias Janmark | VGK | 29 | F | $2,000,000 | ||
Tyler Pitlick | MTL | 30 | F | $1,750,000 | ||
Zach Aston-Reese | ANA | 27 | F | $1,725,000 | ||
Noel Acciari | FLA | 30 | F | $1,666,667 |
NHL Free Agent Frenzy: Top UFA Defensemen

Below are the Top 25 unrestricted free agent defensemen available.
PLAYER | TEAM | AGE | POS | CAP HIT | SIGNED WITH | TERM/AAV |
P.K. Subban | NJD | 33 | D | $9,000,000 | ||
Kris Letang | PIT | 35 | D | $7,250,000 | PIT | 6 YRS – $6.1M |
Mark Giordano | TOR | 38 | D | $6,750,000 | TOR | 2 YRS – $800K |
Anton Strålman | ARI | 35 | D | $5,500,000 | ||
Nick Leddy | STL | 31 | D | $5,500,000 | ||
Danny DeKeyser | DET | 32 | D | $5,000,000 | ||
Calvin De Haan | CHI | 31 | D | $4,550,000 | ||
John Klingberg | DAL | 29 | D | $4,250,000 | ||
Josh Manson | COL | 30 | D | $4,100,000 | ||
Olli Määttä | LAK | 27 | D | $4,083,333 | ||
Justin Schultz | WSH | 31 | D | $4,000,000 | ||
Colin Miller | BUF | 29 | D | $3,875,000 | ||
Nikita Zadorov | CGY | 27 | D | $3,750,000 | ||
Will Butcher | BUF | 27 | D | $3,733,333 | ||
Alexander Edler | LAK | 36 | D | $3,500,000 | ||
Ben Chiarot | FLA | 31 | D | $3,500,000 | ||
Ian Cole | CAR | 33 | D | $2,900,000 | ||
Markus Nutivaara | FLA | 28 | D | $2,700,000 | ||
Michal Kempný | WSH | 31 | D | $2,500,000 | ||
Thomas Hickey | NYI | 33 | D | $2,500,000 | ||
Ryan Murray | COL | 28 | D | $2,000,000 | ||
Marc Staal | DET | 35 | D | $2,000,000 | ||
Erik Gudbranson | CGY | 30 | D | $1,950,000 | ||
Brett Kulak | EDM | 28 | D | $1,850,000 | ||
Justin Braun | NYR | 35 | D | $1,800,000 |
NHL Free Agent Frenzy: Top UFA Goalies

Below are the Top 10 unrestricted free agent goalies available.
PLAYER | TEAM | AGE | POS | CAP HIT | SIGNED WITH | TERM/AAV |
Marc-André Fleury | MIN | 37 | G | $7,000,000 | MIN | 2 YRS – $3.5M |
Darcy Kuemper | COL | 32 | G | $4,500,000 | ||
Mikko Koskinen | EDM | 33 | G | $4,500,000 | SIGNED IN EUROPE | |
Thomas Greiss | DET | 36 | G | $3,600,000 | ||
Joonas Korpisalo | CBJ | 28 | G | $2,800,000 | CBJ | 1 YR – $1.3M |
Martin Jones | PHI | 32 | G | $2,000,000 | ||
Braden Holtby | DAL | 32 | G | $2,000,000 | MAY RETIRE | |
Jack Campbell | TOR | 30 | G | $1,650,000 | ||
Jaro Halak | VAN | 37 | G | $1,500,000 | ||
Casey DeSmith | PIT | 30 | G | $1,250,000 | PIT | 2 YRS – $1.8M |