Kelley is a 22-year-old undrafted free agent, who scored a goal in his NHL debut with the Senators last season. He spent almost the entire season in the AHL, scoring 10 goals with eight assists (18 points) in 33 games with Belleville.
Suzuki is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and will get a huge raise next season, going from $863.3K AAV to $7.875M AAV. With Philip Danault now in Los Angeles, Suzuki will be tasked with playing major minutes in 2021-22, as he looks to build on his 60-point pace from a season ago.
The Predators selected Matier with the No.124 overall pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft. The 18-year-old defenseman had nine assists in 56 games with the Ottawa 67's in his draft year.
Boyle was in Penguins' camp on a PTO and earned a roster spot for at least the early part of the season. With both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin out, the Penguins are in serious need of centres and Boyle figures to open the season as their fourth-line centre.
With both Wyatt Kalynuk and Caleb Jones going down with injuries late in training camp, Gustafsson has been signed to play on the third pair and second power-play unit early the season. After a breakout 60-point (17G / 43A) season in 2019, Gustafsson has struggled to find a stable home. In 95 games since, Gustafsson has tallied just nine goals and 34 assists (41 points) with the Blackhawks, Flames, Flyers and Canadiens.
Vesey went into Devils training camp on a PTO and came out with a one-year deal after scoring two goals in three preseason games. Most recently, Vesey was in Vancouver, where he had just three assists in 20 games in 2021.
Zibanejad is entering the final year of a five-year, $26.75M contract and is now signed through the 2030 season. The $8.5M AAV cap-hit represents a $3.15M AAV raise for the 28-year-old centre, who has registered 199 points (95G / 104A) in 195 games over the last three seasons.
Johnson didn't play a lot in 2021, registering just one goal in 13 games with the Rangers. This preseason, he was in Avalanche camp on a PTO and earned a one-year deal to be their No.6 defenseman to open the season. With Devon Toews out, Johnson should be a fixture on the blueline in the early part of the season but will likely fall back into a reserve role once Toews is healthy enough to play.
Neal was in Blues' training camp on a PTO and earned a contract by leading them with four goals in four preseason games. Neal is expected to open the season on the Blues' third line with Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko. The veteran winger had just five goals and five assists (10 points) in 29 games with the Oilers a season ago.
Gauthier is a former first-round pick of the Maple Leafs, who spent 2021 with the Arizona Coyotes. He played most of his time in the AHL, tallying two goals and five assists (seven points) in 18 games with Tucson. He'll likely report to Binghamton (AHL) to start the 2022 season.
Barkov is entering the final year of a six-year, $35.4M deal and is now signed through the 2030 NHL season. The $10.0M AAV cap-hit for Barkov represents a $4.1M AAV raise for the 26-year-old. Barkov is coming off of a season in which he scored 26 goals with 32 assists (58 points) in 50 games.
Ennis was in Senators' training camp on a PTO and earned a one-year deal. On Thursday, the Senators also announced that Colin White will be out 4-to-6 months, which made signing Ennis a necessity. Ennis had three goals and six assists (nine points) in 30 games with the Oilers last year.
