Top 40 2025 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents

This year’s UFA class once looked like it had plenty of promise, but things have changed in recent months. Igor Shesterkin signed a massive eight-year extension with the New York Rangers, taking him off the UFA board, while Mikko Rantanen signed for eight years with the Dallas Stars after they acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes.

Related: 8 NHLers Who Could Be Offer Sheet Targets This Offseason

The 2025 free-agent class is nowhere near as strong as 2024’s. With the UFA market continuing to weaken, it looks like we could be in for a chaotic year that sees plenty of terrible contracts given out by teams desperate to improve and make the playoffs next season.

2025 Free Agent Class Has No Shine

With John Tavares re-signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner heading to the Vegas Golden Knights, the 2025 free-agent class continues to weaken. With Marner to Vegas official, that leaves Nikolaj Ehlers as our No. 1 UFA heading into free agency today. No disrespect to Ehlers, who’s a great player, but it shows how weak a UFA class is if we go into July 1 with him leading our top 40 UFAs.

Ehlers could move the needle for some team, but free agency lacks difference-makers this year. You can round out your middle six with some capable complementary players, but there will be some terrible contracts handed out since there’s so much demand and not enough supply. There are middle-of-the-lineup players like Jonathan Drouin who should interest teams, but that’s where the dropoff begins.

There are premier defensemen in this year’s UFA class after Aaron Ekblad re-signed with the Florida Panthers on June 30. Jakob Chychrun signed an eight-year extension with the Washington Capitals, while Marcus Pettersson inked a new deal with the Vancouver Canucks after they acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That leaves Vladislav Gavrikov as the best defender in this year’s UFA class. Gavrikov may not offer much offensively, but he is one of the best shutdown defenders in the NHL. There could be a bidding war for his services if the Los Angeles Kings don’t re-sign him.

Shesterkin hitting free agency would have changed the goalie market, but there aren’t many desirable names otherwise. Adin Hill and Karel Vejmelka signed extensions with the Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth, so that likely leaves Jake Allen as the best UFA goalie, assuming he doesn’t re-sign with the New Jersey Devils. If you’re a team that needs a starting netminder, you’ll probably have to look to the trade market.

With NHL free agency off to the races, here are our top 40 UFAs. Contract details are provided in the list below (via CapWages).

Player	Age	Position	Games Played	Goals	Points	Current Cap Hit
1. Nikolaj Ehlers	28	LW/RW	69	24	63	$6 million
2. Brock Boeser	27	RW	75	25	50	$6.65 million
3. Jonathan Drouin	30	LW/RW	43	11	37	$2.5 million
4. Mikael Granlund	33	C	83	22	66	$5 million
5. Vladislav Gavrikov	29	D	82	5	30	$5.875 million
6. Pius Suter	28	C/LW	81	25	46	$1.6 million
7. Jake Allen	34	G	31	.910 SV%		$3.85 million
8. Dmitry Orlov	33	D	76	6	28	$7.75 million
9. Evgenii Dadonov	36	LW/RW	80	20	40	$2.25 million
10. Connor Brown	31	RW	82	13	30	$1 million
11. Jack Roslovic	28	C/RW	81	22	39	$2.8 million
12. Andrew Mangiapane	29	LW/RW	81	14	28	$5.8 million
13. James van Riemsdyk	36	RW/LW	71	16	36	$900,000
14. Nick Perbix	27	D	74	6	19	$1.125 million
15. Matt Grzelcyk	31	D	82	1	40	$2.75 million
16. Corey Perry	40	RW	81	19	30	$1.15 million
17. Brian Dumoulin	33	D	80	3	19	$3.15 million
18. Victor Olofsson	29	LW/RW	56	15	14	$1.075 million
19. Christian Dvorak	29	C	82	12	33	$4.45 million
20. Anton Forsberg	32	G	30	.901 SV%		$2.75 million
21. Jeff Skinner	33	LW/RW	72	16	29	$3 million
22. Nate Schmidt	33	D	80	5	19	$800,000
23. Mason Appleton	29	LW/RW	71	10	22	$2,166,667
24. Brandon Tanev	33	RW	79	10	22	$3.5 million
25. Nick Bjugstad	32	C	66	8	19	$2.1 million
26. Ryan Lindgren	27	D	72	4	22	$4.5 million
27. Justin Brazeau	27	RW	76	11	22	$775,000
28. Dan Vladař	27	G	30	.898 SV%		$2.2 million
29. Gustav Nyquist	35	RW	79	11	28	$3.185 million
30. Cody Ceci	31	D	85	4	24	$3.25 million
31. Anthony Beauvillier	28	LW/RW	81	15	25	$1.25 million
32. Michael Carcone	29	LW/RW	53	7	19	$775,000
33. Tanner Pearson	32	RW/LW	78	12	57	$775,000
34. Taylor Raddysh	27	RW	80	7	27	$1 million
35. Joel Kiviranta	29	LW	79	16	23	$775,000
36. Lars Eller	36	C/LW	80	10	22	$2.45 million
37. Cole Koepke	27	LW/RW	73	10	17	$775,000
38. Michael Eyssimont	28	LW/RW	77	9	16	$800,000
39. Colin Blackwell	32	RW/LW	63	6	17	$775,000
40. Robby Fabbri	29	F	44	8	16	$4 million