<p>Every year, we’re told NHL free agency begins at noon ET on July 1, yet, <em>miraculously</em>, signings pour in by the dozen at breakneck speed when that moment arrives. That was the case July 1, <a href="https://puckpedia.com/">with 117 contracts signed, totalling $666,480,000 as of 8:00 p.m. ET</a>. Teams were not afraid to make big splashes with the salary cap spiking to from $88 million to $95.5 million for 2025-26 –&nbsp;whether that meant retaining their pending UFAs before the market opened or spending wildly on new ones.</p>



<p>Who are the top remaining unrestricted free agents? Here’s a look at the board, with <a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/nhl-top-75-ufa-agent-rankings-2025-daily-faceoff/">players’ ranks in my Top 75</a>&nbsp;included along with contract projections from AFP Analytics.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Rank</strong></td><td><strong>Player</strong></td><td><strong>Pos</strong></td><td><strong>Age</strong></td><td><strong>Cap</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Hit</strong></td><td><strong>GP</strong></td><td><strong>G</strong></td><td><strong>PTS</strong></td><td><strong>AFP Project</strong></td></tr><tr><td>1</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>5</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>8</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>9</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>14</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>15</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>16</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>18</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>21</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>25</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>27</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>28</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>36</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>37</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>38</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>39</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>46</td><td>Evgeny Kuznetsov</td><td>C</td><td>33</td><td>N/A</td><td>––</td><td>––</td><td>––</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>47</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>49</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>50</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>52</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>55</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>58</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>60</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>63</td><td>Klim Kostin</td><td>LW</td><td>26</td><td>$2M</td><td>35</td><td>1</td><td>7</td><td>1 x $775K</td></tr><tr><td>64</td><td>Jakub Lauko</td><td>LW</td><td>25</td><td>$788K</td><td>56</td><td>5</td><td>11</td><td>1 x $1.17M</td></tr><tr><td>65</td><td>Jan Rutta</td><td>D</td><td>34</td><td>$2.75M</td><td>54</td><td>3</td><td>9</td><td>2 x $1.52M</td></tr><tr><td>66</td><td>TJ Brodie</td><td>D</td><td>35</td><td>$3.75M</td><td>54</td><td>2</td><td>10</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>70</td><td>Jon Merrill</td><td>D</td><td>33</td><td>$1.2M</td><td>70</td><td>2</td><td>6</td><td>1 x $1.28M</td></tr><tr><td>71</td><td>Nathan Bastian</td><td>RW</td><td>27</td><td>$1.35M</td><td>59</td><td>4</td><td>10</td><td>1 x $1.32M</td></tr><tr><td>73</td><td>Conor Sheary</td><td>RW</td><td>33</td><td>$2M</td><td>5</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>74</td><td>Daniel Sprong</td><td>RW</td><td>28</td><td>$975K</td><td>30</td><td>2</td><td>7</td><td>1 x $924K</td></tr><tr><td>75</td><td>Arthur Kaliyev</td><td>RW</td><td>24</td><td>$825K</td><td>14</td><td>3</td><td>4</td><td>1 x $867K</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Recently by Matt Larkin</h2>



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