Top 25 Restricted Free Agents for 2023

Most hockey fans keep tabs on unrestricted free agents during the offseason, and rightfully so. Unless they sign extensions with their current teams before July 1, chances are they end up with new clubs for the following season. And sometimes, some big names hit the market on July 1 (i.e. a John Tavares or Dougie Hamilton). 

But even though UFAs make most of the noise on July 1, fans shouldn’t look past the crop of restricted free agents. Sure, most RFAs end up signing with their current teams. But RFAs also have an impact on the trade market. Case and point, look at Kevin Fiala, who got dealt to the Los Angeles Kings from the Minnesota Wild last offseason. Let’s take a look at the RFA class for 2023.

DeBrincat Headlines Talented RFA Class

This summer’s cast of RFAs has quite a bit of talent, some of who could be potential trade candidates. After getting dealt to the Ottawa Senators at the 2022 draft, Ottawa Sun reporter Bruce Garrioch recently reported that extension talks with Alex DeBrincat were not going well and that he could get traded at this year’s draft. He’s an RFA with arbitration rights and is one year away from UFA status, so it wouldn’t be a shock if the Senators moved him if it doesn’t appear they have a deal in the works heading toward July 1. 

Likewise, the Winnipeg Jets will have a decision to make on Pierre-Luc Dubois, who’s also an RFA with arbitration rights and is one year away from UFA status. He’s made it clear in the past that he’d like to play for the Montreal Canadiens. If the Jets can’t find a way to convince him to stay in Winnipeg long-term, he’ll likely get dealt; he appeared at No. 8 on The Athletic’s initial offseason trade board, with DeBrincat right behind him at No. 9 (From “NHL offseason trade board: What we’re hearing about Jets stars, Leafs’ Core 4 and other targets” – The Athletic, 5/15/2023). 

Those two players are the most likely RFAs to be traded this offseason, at least as of this writing. Still, some teams will have interesting negotiations ahead of them. Based on Jesper Bratt and New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald’s comments in their end-of-season pressers, it appears the two sides will agree to an extension. But on top of that, Fitzgerald will have to get a long-term contract done with Timo Meier, who the Devils acquired from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline. 

Though not quite in the same position as the Devils, the Anaheim Ducks have two marquee names to re-sign in Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry. Both players are integral parts of the organization getting out of their rebuild, meaning long-term deals could be in the cards for both forwards. 

Related: Top 30 Free Agents for 2023

And while most of the marquee RFAs are skaters this summer, a couple of goaltenders could be in for paydays. After coming out of nowhere in 2022-23, Filip Gustavsson is in line for a significant raise after posting a .931 save percentage in 39 games during the regular season. In Boston, Jeremy Swayman will be looking to cash in after another impressive regular season in which he posted a .920 SV%. 

Most of these RFAs will re-sign with their current teams. But in a flat cap era with a weak UFA class, don’t be surprised if some find themselves on the move via trades. Also of note, Shane Pinto is on this list, but he falls in the 10.2(c) category, meaning he’s a player who does not meet the UFA requirements or the Group 2 RFA requirements but has been issued a qualifying offer. He’s only eligible to negotiate and sign a contract with the team that holds his rights (all this per CapFriendly). Without further ado, here are our top 25 RFAs for the 2023 offseason. (asterisk indicates player has signed a new contract)

Rank	Player	Position	Age	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Team	Cap Hit
1	Alex DeBrincat	RW	25	82	27	39	66	OTT	$6.4 million
2	Jesper Bratt	RW	24	82	32	41	73	NJD	$5.45 million
3	Timo Meier	LW/RW	26	82	40	26	66	NJD	$6 million
4	Trevor Zegras	C	22	81	23	42	65	ANA	$925,000
5	Pierre-Luc Dubois	LW	25	73	27	36	63	WPG	$6 million
6	Vince Dunn	D	26	81	14	50	64	SEA	$4 million
7	Troy Terry	RW	25	70	23	38	61	ANA	$1.45 million
8	Evan Bouchard	D	23	82	8	32	40	EDM	$863,333
9	Filip Gustavsson	G	24	39	2.10 GAA	.931 SV%		MIN	$787,500
10	K’Andre Miller	D	23	79	9	34	43	NYR	$925,000
11	Cole Caufield*	RW	22	46	26	10	36	MTL	$880,833
12	Jeremy Swayman	G	24	39	2.27 GAA	.920 SV%		BOS	$925,000
13	Daniel Sprong	RW	26	66	21	25	46	SEA	$750,000
14	Matias Maccelli	LW	22	64	11	38	49	ARI	$853,333
15	Gabe Vilardi	RW	23	63	23	18	41	LAK	$825,000
16	Bowen Byram	D	22	42	10	14	24	COL	$894,167
17	Ross Colton	LW	26	81	16	16	32	TBL	$1.125 million
18	Noah Cates	LW	24	82	13	25	38	PHI	$925,000
19	Ilya Samsonov	G	26	42	2.33 GAA	.919 SV%		TOR	$1.8 million
20	Shane Pinto	C	22	82	20	15	35	OTT	$925,000
21	Alexis Lafreniere	LW	21	81	16	23	39	NYR	$925,000
22	Calen Addison	D	23	62	3	26	29	MIN	$795,000
23	Morgan Frost	C	24	81	19	27	46	PHI	$800,000
24	Alex Newhook	C/LW	22	82	14	16	30	COL	$908,333
25	Yegor Sharangovich	C/LW	25	75	13	17	30	NJD	$2 million