To quote Samuel L. Jackson in Jurassic Park: hold onto your butts. Historically, significant changes in the rules surrounding NHL free agency have yielded truly bananas activity when the market opens. We saw it in 2005 when the salary cap was created. It happened in 2013 after the NHL introduced the early negotiation window, which has since been eliminated. This summer: we’re seeing an NHL-record $7.5 million jump in the cap, from $88 million to $95.5 million. Not only that, but the cap will rise to $104 million next summer and $113 million in 2027. General managers have their most bountiful war chests yet. 



Also factoring in that the 2025 offseason represents the final opportunity for players to sign eight-year deals internally and seven-year deals on the open market <a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/nhl-nhlpa-framework-new-cba-announcement-friday-84-game-season-ltir/">before the max terms shrink to seven and six years</a>, respectively: we’re set up for fireworks. As one player agent told Daily Faceoff, “teams are going to blow their brains out” this summer.<div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="163"></div>



And we haven’t even touched on who is available in free agency yet. The board below includes a 100-point scorer, two Hart Trophy winners, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner and a Norris Trophy winner. We’ve outlined the list as a top 75.



Before you dive in, some background reading:



<a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/2025-nhl-ufa-all-value-team-best-bargain-free-agents/">UFA All Value Team –&nbsp;The best bargains on the market</a> <a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/buyer-beware-unrestricted-free-agents-contracts-bennett-boeser-ekblad-granlund-lindgren-marchand-provorov/">Buyer Beware –&nbsp;The big-ticket UFAs in danger of being overpaid </a><a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/nhl-goalie-market-which-teams-shopping-who-available-trade-john-gibson-thatcher-demko/">The Goalie Market –&nbsp;Who’s available? Who’s shopping?</a> <a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/2025-nhl-ufa-matchmaker-free-agency-best-fits-marner-bennett-marchand-ehlers/">UFA Matchmaker: Finding ideal fits for the top 10 free agents</a>



The players on the list below are ranked based on my personal evaluation of quality. The board includes <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WuCp8WHgCaTAijtVsww-C-1qmdBdNBiTbDIPdJr_Fwo/edit?gid=1769332179#gid=1769332179">contract projections from AFP Analytics</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td>Rank</td><td>Player</td><td>Pos</td><td>Age</td><td>Cap&nbsp;Hit</td><td>GP</td><td>G</td><td>PTS</td><td>AFP Project</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Mitch Marner</td><td>RW</td><td>27</td><td>$10.9M</td><td>81</td><td>27</td><td>102</td><td>7 x $13M</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Brad Marchand</td><td>RW</td><td>37</td><td>$6.1M</td><td>71</td><td>23</td><td>51</td><td>2 x $5.1M</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Nikolaj Ehlers</td><td>LW</td><td>29</td><td>$6M</td><td>69</td><td>24</td><td>63</td><td>6 x $8.1M</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Aaron Ekblad</td><td>RD</td><td>29</td><td>$7.5M</td><td>56</td><td>3</td><td>33</td><td>7 x $7.8M</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Vladislav Gavrikov</td><td>LD</td><td>29</td><td>$5.9M</td><td>82</td><td>5</td><td>30</td><td>7 x $7.6M</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Brock Boeser</td><td>RW</td><td>28</td><td>$6.7M</td><td>75</td><td>25</td><td>50</td><td>6 x $8.5M</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Mikael Granlund</td><td>C</td><td>33</td><td>$5M</td><td>83</td><td>22</td><td>66</td><td>2 x $5M</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Patrick Kane</td><td>RW</td><td>36</td><td>$4M</td><td>72</td><td>21</td><td>59</td><td>1 x $3.5M</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Ivan Provorov</td><td>LD</td><td>28</td><td>$6.8M</td><td>82</td><td>7</td><td>33</td><td>7 x $7M</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Dmitry Orlov</td><td>LD</td><td>33</td><td>$7.8M</td><td>76</td><td>6</td><td>28</td><td>3 x $5.8M</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Claude Giroux</td><td>C</td><td>37</td><td>$6.5M</td><td>81</td><td>15</td><td>50</td><td>2 x $5.2M</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Jonathan Drouin</td><td>LW</td><td>30</td><td>$2.5M</td><td>43</td><td>11</td><td>37</td><td>4 x $5.9M</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Jake Allen</td><td>G</td><td>34</td><td>$3.9M</td><td>31</td><td>2.66</td><td>0.906</td><td>2 x $3.5M</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>Dante Fabbro</td><td>D</td><td>27</td><td>$2.5M</td><td>62</td><td>9</td><td>26</td><td>4 x $4.5M</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Pius Suter</td><td>C</td><td>28</td><td>$1.6M</td><td>81</td><td>25</td><td>46</td><td>4 x $5M</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>Jack Roslovic</td><td>RW</td><td>28</td><td>$2.8M</td><td>81</td><td>22</td><td>39</td><td>3 x $4.1M</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>Andrei Kuzmenko</td><td>LW</td><td>29</td><td>$5.5M</td><td>66</td><td>11</td><td>37</td><td>3 x $4.5M</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>Corey Perry</td><td>RW</td><td>40</td><td>$1.2M</td><td>81</td><td>19</td><td>30</td><td>1 x $1M</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>Nate Schmidt</td><td>RD</td><td>33</td><td>$800K</td><td>80</td><td>5</td><td>19</td><td>2 x $3M</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Trent Frederic</td><td>RW</td><td>27</td><td>$2.3M</td><td>58</td><td>8</td><td>15</td><td>2 x $3.5M</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>Brandon Tanev</td><td>LW</td><td>33</td><td>$3.5M</td><td>79</td><td>10</td><td>22</td><td>2 x $2.1M</td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>Nick Perbix</td><td>RD</td><td>26</td><td>$1.1M</td><td>74</td><td>6</td><td>19</td><td>2 x $2.7M</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>Anthony Beauvillier</td><td>RW</td><td>28</td><td>$1.25M</td><td>81</td><td>15</td><td>25</td><td>3 x $3.22M</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>Matt Grzelcyk</td><td>LD</td><td>31</td><td>$2.8M</td><td>82</td><td>1</td><td>40</td><td>3 x $3.8M</td></tr><tr><td>25</td><td>Max Pacioretty</td><td>LW</td><td>36</td><td>$1.5M</td><td>37</td><td>5</td><td>13</td><td>1 x $921K</td></tr><tr><td>26</td><td>Evgenii Dadonov</td><td>RW</td><td>36</td><td>$2.3M</td><td>80</td><td>20</td><td>40</td><td>2 x $3.3M</td></tr><tr><td>27</td><td>Andrew Mangiapane</td><td>LW</td><td>28</td><td>$5.8M</td><td>81</td><td>14</td><td>28</td><td>2 x $3.9M</td></tr><tr><td>28</td><td>Alex Lyon</td><td>G</td><td>32</td><td>$900K</td><td>30</td><td>2.81</td><td>0.896</td><td>2 x $1.8M</td></tr><tr><td>29</td><td>Anton Forsberg</td><td>G</td><td>32</td><td>$2,75M</td><td>30</td><td>2.72</td><td>0.901</td><td>2 x $1.69M</td></tr><tr><td>30</td><td>Victor Olofsson</td><td>RW</td><td>29</td><td>$1.1M</td><td>56</td><td>15</td><td>29</td><td>3 x $3.4M</td></tr><tr><td>31</td><td>Joel Armia</td><td>LW</td><td>31</td><td>$3.4M</td><td>81</td><td>11</td><td>29</td><td>2 x $2.5M</td></tr><tr><td>32</td><td>Adam Gaudette</td><td>RW</td><td>28</td><td>$0.8M</td><td>81</td><td>19</td><td>26</td><td>1 x $1.1M</td></tr><tr><td>33</td><td>Ryan Lindgren</td><td>LD</td><td>27</td><td>$4.5M</td><td>72</td><td>4</td><td>22</td><td>3 x $4M</td></tr><tr><td>34</td><td>Mason Appleton</td><td>LW</td><td>29</td><td>$2.2M</td><td>71</td><td>10</td><td>22</td><td>3 x $3.2M</td></tr><tr><td>35</td><td>Tony DeAngelo</td><td>RD</td><td>29</td><td>$775K</td><td>35</td><td>4</td><td>19</td><td>1 x $2.05M</td></tr><tr><td>36</td><td>Gustav Nyquist</td><td>RW</td><td>35</td><td>$3.2M</td><td>79</td><td>11</td><td>28</td><td>2 x $3.3M</td></tr><tr><td>37</td><td>Brent Burns</td><td>RD</td><td>40</td><td>$8M</td><td>82</td><td>6</td><td>29</td><td>1 x $5.3M</td></tr><tr><td>38</td><td>Michael Eyssimont</td><td>RW</td><td>28</td><td>$800K</td><td>77</td><td>9</td><td>16</td><td>2 x $1.35M</td></tr><tr><td>39</td><td>Dan Vladar</td><td>G</td><td>27</td><td>$2.2M</td><td>30</td><td>2.8</td><td>0.898</td><td>1 x $1.5M</td></tr><tr><td>40</td><td>Cody Ceci</td><td>RD</td><td>31</td><td>$3.3M</td><td>85</td><td>4</td><td>24</td><td>3 x $3.5M</td></tr><tr><td>41</td><td>Connor Brown</td><td>RW</td><td>31</td><td>$1M</td><td>81</td><td>13</td><td>30</td><td>3 x $2.9M</td></tr><tr><td>42</td><td>Justin Brazeau</td><td>RW</td><td>27</td><td>$800K</td><td>76</td><td>11</td><td>22</td><td>2 x $1.5M</td></tr><tr><td>43</td><td>Radek Faksa</td><td>C</td><td>31</td><td>$3.25M</td><td>70</td><td>5</td><td>15</td><td>2 x $1.4M</td></tr><tr><td>44</td><td>James van Riemsdyk</td><td>LW</td><td>36</td><td>$900K</td><td>71</td><td>16</td><td>36</td><td>1 x $1M</td></tr><tr><td>45</td><td>Henri Jokiharju</td><td>RD</td><td>26</td><td>$3.1M</td><td>60</td><td>3</td><td>10</td><td>3 x $3.6M</td></tr><tr><td>46</td><td>Jeff Skinner</td><td>LW</td><td>32</td><td>$3M</td><td>72</td><td>16</td><td>29</td><td>1 x $2.5M</td></tr><tr><td>47</td><td>James Reimer</td><td>G</td><td>37</td><td>$1M</td><td>24</td><td>3.04</td><td>0.896</td><td>1 x $ 1.14M</td></tr><tr><td>48</td><td>Luke Kunin</td><td>RW</td><td>27</td><td>$2.75M</td><td>75</td><td>11</td><td>18</td><td>2 x $1.78M</td></tr><tr><td>49</td><td>Ilya Samsonov</td><td>G</td><td>28</td><td>$1.8M</td><td>29</td><td>2.82</td><td>0.891</td><td>1 x $2M</td></tr><tr><td>50</td><td>Cody Glass</td><td>C</td><td>26</td><td>$2.5M</td><td>65</td><td>6</td><td>22</td><td>3 x $2.9M</td></tr><tr><td>51</td><td>Philipp Kurashev</td><td>C</td><td>25</td><td>$2.25M</td><td>51</td><td>7</td><td>14</td><td>2 x $1.71M</td></tr><tr><td>52</td><td>Christian Dvorak</td><td>C</td><td>29</td><td>$4.45M</td><td>82</td><td>12</td><td>33</td><td>2 x $1.77M</td></tr><tr><td>53</td><td>Brian Dumoulin</td><td>LD</td><td>33</td><td>$3.15M</td><td>80</td><td>3</td><td>22</td><td>2 x $3.19M</td></tr><tr><td>54</td><td>Sean Kuraly</td><td>C</td><td>32</td><td>$2.5M</td><td>82</td><td>6</td><td>17</td><td>2 x $1.5M</td></tr><tr><td>54</td><td>Lars Eller</td><td>C</td><td>36</td><td>$2.45M</td><td>80</td><td>10</td><td>22</td><td>1 x $2.13M</td></tr><tr><td>55</td><td>David Rittich</td><td>G</td><td>32</td><td>$1M</td><td>34</td><td>2.81</td><td>0.887</td><td>2 x $1.14M</td></tr><tr><td>56</td><td>Michael Carcone</td><td>LW</td><td>29</td><td>$775K</td><td>53</td><td>7</td><td>19</td><td>1 x $965K</td></tr><tr><td>57</td><td>Steven Lorentz</td><td>LW</td><td>29</td><td>$775K</td><td>80</td><td>8</td><td>19</td><td>2 x $1.45M</td></tr><tr><td>58</td><td>Taylor Raddysh</td><td>RW</td><td>27</td><td>$1M</td><td>80</td><td>7</td><td>27</td><td>3 x $2.65M</td></tr><tr><td>59</td><td>Joel Kiviranta</td><td>LW</td><td>29</td><td>$775K</td><td>79</td><td>16</td><td>23</td><td>2 x $1.09M</td></tr><tr><td>60</td><td>Tanner Pearson</td><td>LW</td><td>32</td><td>$775K</td><td>78</td><td>12</td><td>27</td><td>1 x $944K</td></tr><tr><td>61</td><td>Luke Glendening</td><td>C</td><td>36</td><td>$800K</td><td>77</td><td>4</td><td>7</td><td>1 x $775K</td></tr><tr><td>62</td><td>Cole Koepke</td><td>LW</td><td>27</td><td>$775K</td><td>73</td><td>10</td><td>17</td><td>2 x $1.38M</td></tr><tr><td>63</td><td>Kasperi Kapanen</td><td>RW</td><td>28</td><td>$1M</td><td>67</td><td>6</td><td>14</td><td>1 x $936K</td></tr><tr><td>64</td><td>Tanner Jeannot</td><td>LW</td><td>28</td><td>$2.67M</td><td>67</td><td>7</td><td>13</td><td>2 x $1.42M</td></tr><tr><td>65</td><td>Nico Sturm</td><td>C</td><td>30</td><td>$2M</td><td>62</td><td>7</td><td>14</td><td>2 x $1.42M</td></tr><tr><td>66</td><td>Alexandar Georgiev</td><td>G</td><td>29</td><td>$3.4M</td><td>49</td><td>3.71</td><td>0.875</td><td>1 x $1.96M</td></tr><tr><td>67</td><td>Justin Danforth</td><td>RW</td><td>32</td><td>$1.1M</td><td>61</td><td>9</td><td>21</td><td>2 x $1.45M</td></tr><tr><td>68</td><td>Nick Bjugstad</td><td>C</td><td>32</td><td>$2.1M</td><td>66</td><td>8</td><td>19</td><td>2 x $2.3M</td></tr><tr><td>69</td><td>Craig Smith</td><td>RW</td><td>35</td><td>$1M</td><td>59</td><td>9</td><td>18</td><td>1 x $968K</td></tr><tr><td>70</td><td>Colin Blackwell</td><td>RW</td><td>32</td><td>$775K</td><td>63</td><td>6</td><td>17</td><td>1 x $1.09M</td></tr><tr><td>71</td><td>Robby Fabbri</td><td>LW</td><td>29</td><td>$4M</td><td>44</td><td>8</td><td>16</td><td>1 x $992K</td></tr><tr><td>72</td><td>Nick Cousins</td><td>LW</td><td>31</td><td>$800K</td><td>50</td><td>6</td><td>15</td><td>1 x $1.09M</td></tr><tr><td>73</td><td>Radek Faksa</td><td>C</td><td>31</td><td>$3.25M</td><td>70</td><td>5</td><td>15</td><td>2 x $1.34M</td></tr><tr><td>74</td><td>Vitek Vanecek</td><td>G</td><td>29</td><td>$3.4M</td><td>22</td><td>12</td><td>0.883</td><td>1 x $875K</td></tr><tr><td>75</td><td>Jeff Petry</td><td>RD</td><td>37</td><td>$6.25M</td><td>44</td><td>1</td><td>8</td><td>1 x $1M</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>







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