Like everything else in 2021, the NHL’s shopping season does not begin until later than the norm. This year, free agency begins on July 28.
The date circled is when unrestricted free agents begin signing with new teams, restricted free agents with arbitration rights begin having their next contracts dictated by a third party and general managers start playing the fun game of, “Should we or should we not do an offer sheet?”
This season’s list of unrestricted free agents is intriguing, with the likes of Taylor Hall, Alex Ovechkin, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins among the top players on the market. Have we seen the last of Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton and the NHL’s leader in career games, Patrick Marleau? Will we see an offer sheet this year with Elias Pettersson and Brady Tkachuk among the notable RFAs?
MORE: NHL playoff schedule 2021: Updated bracket, dates, times, TV channels for every semifinal series
It should be noted that this year is also a smidge different: The NHL’s newest club, the Kraken, do have an opportunity to sign players in advance; the team can chat with UFAs and restricted free agents as early as 10 a.m. ET on July 18 and then ink them beginning on July 21. However, if they do announce a signing, it counts as the player they select from his 2021 NHL team in the expansion draft.
(UFA: unrestricted free agent; RFA: restricted free agent; NQO/UFA: no qualifying offer/unrestricted free agent; QO: given a qualifying offer; a player’s name in italics indicates a non-roster, taxi squad or AHL player)
Anaheim Ducks
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
David Backes
F
UFA
Maxime Comtois
F
RFA
Ryan Getzlaf
F
UFA
Danton Heinen
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Max Jones
F
RFA
Isac Lundestrom
F
RFA
Sam Steel
F
RFA
Alexander Volkov
F
RFA
Andy Welinski
D
UFA
Vinni Lettieri
F
UFA G6
Sam Carrick
F
UFA
Chase De Leo
F
UFA
Arizona Coyotes
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Derick Brassard
F
UFA
Michael Bunting
F
UFA G6
Hudson Fasching
F
UFA G6
Connor Garland
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
John Hayden
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Dryden Hunt
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Lane Pederson
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Jason Demers
D
UFA
Alex Goligoski
D
UFA
Niklas Hjalmarsson
D
UFA
Aaron Ness
D
UFA
Jordan Oesterle
D
UFA
Adin Hill
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Antti Raanta
G
UFA
Michael Chaput
F
UFA
Frederik Gauthier
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Boston Bruins
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Anton Blidh
F
UFA G6
Trent Frederic
F
Signed two-year, $2.1 million extension
Taylor Hall
F
UFA
Cameron Hughes
F
Signed one-year, $750,000 extension
Ondrej Kase
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
David Krejci
F
UFA
Sean Kuraly
F
UFA
Greg McKegg
F
UFA
Nick Ritchie
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Zach Senyshyn
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Bradon Carlo
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Steven Kampfer
D
UFA
Kevan Miller
D
UFA
Mike Reilly
D
UFA
Jarred Tinordi
D
UFA
Jaroslav Halak
G
UFA
Tuukka Rask
G
UFA
Paul Carey
F
UFA
Buffalo Sabres
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Rasmus Asplund
F
RFA
Drake Caggiula
F
UFA
Casey Mittelstadt
F
RFA
Sam Reinhart
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Tobias Rieder
F
UFA
Riley Sheahan
F
UFA
Rasmus Dahlin
D
RFA
Matt Irwin
D
UFA
Henri Jokiharju
D
RFA
Carter Hutton
G
UFA
Linus Ullmark
G
UFA
Brandon Davidson
D
UFA
Steven Fogarty
F
UFA
Michael Houser
G
UFA
Calgary Flames
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Dillon Dube
F
RFA
Glenn Gawdin
F
RFA
Josh Leivo
F
UFA
Joakim Nordstrom
F
UFA
Matthew Phillips
F
RFA
Brett Ritchie
F
UFA
Buddy Robinson
F
UFA
Derek Ryan
F
UFA
Dominik Simon
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Oliver Kylington
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Connor Mackey
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Nikita Nesterov
D
UFA
Michael Stone
D
UFA
Juuso Valimaki
D
10.2(c)
Louis Domingue
G
UFA
Luke Philp
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Zac Rinaldo
F
UFA
Colton Poolman
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Alexander Yelesin
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Tyler Parsons
G
RFA
Artyom Zagidulin
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Carolina Hurricanes
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Warren Foegele
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Morgan Geekie
F
RFA
Jordan Martinook
F
UFA
Max McCormick
F
UFA
Brock McGinn
F
UFA
Cedric Paquette
F
UFA
Drew Shore
F
UFA
Andrei Svechnikov
F
RFA
Jake Bean
D
RFA
Jani Hakanpaa
D
UFA
Dougie Hamilton
D
UFA
Maxime Lajoie
D
RFA
Roland McKeown
D
UFA G6
Joakim Ryan
D
UFA
Antoine Bibeau
G
UFA
Petr Mrazek
G
UFA
Alex Nedeljkovic
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
James Reimer
G
UFA
Yegor Korshkov
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
David Warsofsky
D
UFA
Chicago Blackhawks
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Adam Gaudette
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Brandon Hagel
F
10.2(c)
Vinnie Hinostroza
F
UFA
David Kampf
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Alex Nylander
F
RFA
Pius Suter
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Nikita Zadorov
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Josh Dickinson
F
RFA
Brandon Pirri
F
UFA
John Quenneville
F
UFA G6
Anton Lindholm
D
UFA G6
Colorado Avalanche
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
F
UFA
Tyson Jost
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Gabriel Landeskog
F
UFA
Jayson Megna
F
Signed two-year, $1.5 million extension
Liam O’Brien
F
UFA G6
Brandon Saad
F
UFA
Miikka Salomäki
F
UFA
Kiefer Sherwood
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
T.J. Tynan
F
UFA
Kyle Burroughs
D
UFA G6
Dennis Gilbert
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Cale Makar
D
RFA
Patrik Nemeth
D
UFA
Daniel Renouf
D
UFA
Conor Timmins
D
RFA
Devan Dubnyk
G
UFA
Philipp Grubauer
G
UFA
Jonas Johansson
G
Signed one-year, $750,000 extension
Adam Werner
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Sheldon Dries
F
UFA
Ty Lewis
F
RFA
Columbus Blue Jackets
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Zac Dalpe
F
UFA
Mikhail Grigorenko
F
UFA
Patrik Laine
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Ryan MacInnis
F
UFA G6
Stefan Matteau
F
UFA
Kole Sherwood
F
RFA
Kevin Stenlund
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Alexandre Texier
F
RFA
Michael Del Zotto
D
UFA
Mikko Lehtonen
D
UFA
Andrew Peeke
D
10.2(c)
Cliff Pu
F
RFA
Adam Clendening
D
UFA
Cam Johnson
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Dallas Stars
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Andrew Cogliano
F
UFA
Blake Comeau
F
Signed one-year, $1 million extension
Jason Dickinson
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Justin Dowling
F
UFA
Rhett Gardner
F
Signed two-year, $1.5 million extension
Joel Kiviranta
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Miro Heiskanen
D
RFA
Jamie Oleksiak
D
UFA
Mark Pysyk
D
UFA
Sami Vatanen
D
UFA
Nicolas Caamano
F
RFA
Taylor Fedun
D
UFA
Julius Honka
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Landon Bow
G
UFA G6
Detroit Red Wings
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Tyler Bertuzzi
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Mathias Brome
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Adam Erne
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Valterri Filppula
F
UFA
Sam Gagner
F
UFA
Luke Glendening
F
UFA
Darren Helm
F
UFA
Michael Rasmussen
F
RFA
Bobby Ryan
F
UFA
Evgeny Svechnikov
F
RFA
Jakub Vrana
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Alex Biega
D
UFA
Dennis Cholowski
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Christian Djoos
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Filip Hronek
D
RFA
Gustav Lindstrom
D
RFA
Marc Staal
D
UFA
Jonathan Bernier
G
UFA
Taro Hirose
F
UFA G6
Givani Smith
F
RFA
Dominic Turgeon
F
UFA G6
Hayden Verbeek
F
RFA
Dylan McIlrath
D
UFA
Calvin Pickard
G
UFA
Edmonton Oilers
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Alex Chiasson
F
UFA
Tyler Ennis
F
UFA
Gaetan Haas
F
UFA
Dominik Kahun
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Jujhar Khaira
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
F
Signed eight-year, $5.125 million extension
Joakim Nygard
F
UFA
Russell Patrick
F
UFA
Kailer Yamamoto
F
RFA
Tyson Barrie
D
UFA
Slater Koekkoek
D
UFA
Dmitry Kulikov
D
UFA
Adam Larsson
D
UFA
Mike Smith
G
UFA
Tyler Benson
F
RFA
Adam Cracknell
F
UFA
Cooper Marody
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Alan Quine
F
UFA
Florida Panthers
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Sam Bennett
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Anthony Duclair
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Nikita Gusev
F
UFA
Juho Lammikko
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Lucas Wallmark
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Alexander Wennberg
F
UFA
Scott Wilson
F
UFA
Lucas Carlsson
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Gustav Forsling
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Noah Juulsen
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Brady Keeper
D
UFA G6
Brandon Montour
D
UFA
Chase Priskie
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Philippe Desrosiers
G
UFA G6
Chris Driedger
G
UFA
Samuel Montembeault
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Los Angeles Kings
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Andreas Athanasiou
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Blake Lizotte
F
Signed one-year $800,000 extension
Matt Luff
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Trevor Moore
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Christian Wolanin
D
Signed one-year, $750,000 extension
Lias Andersson
F
RFA
Bokondji Imama
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Troy Grosenick
G
UFA
Minnesota Wild
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Nick Bjugstad
F
Signed one-year, $900,000 extension
Nick Bonino
F
UFA
Joseph Cramarossa
F
UFA
Brandon Duhaime
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Joel Eriksson Ek
F
Signed eight-year, $42 million extension
Kevin Fiala
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Marcus Johansson
F
UFA
Luke Johnson
F
UFA G6
Kirill Kaprizov
F
10.2(c)
Kyle Rau
F
UFA
Louis Belpedio
D
UAF G6
Ian Cole
D
UFA
Brad Hunt
D
UFA
Dakota Mermis
D
UFA
Andrew Hammond
G
UFA
Dmitry Sokolov
F
RFA
Matt Bartkowski
D
UFA
Ian McCoshen
D
UFA G6
Montreal Canadiens
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Joel Armia
F
UFA
Alex Belzile
F
UFA
Laurent Dauphin
F
Signed one-year, $750,000 extension
Philip Danault
F
UFA
Michael Frolik
F
UFA
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
F
RFA
Artturi Lehkonen
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Corey Perry
F
UFA
Eric Staal
F
UFA
Tomas Tatar
F
UFA
Cale Fleury
D
RFA
Erik Gustafsson
D
UFA
Otto Leskinen
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Jon Merrill
D
UFA
Michael McNiven
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Charlie Lindgren
G
UFA
Joseph Blandisi
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Jacob Lucchini
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Ryan Poehling
F
10.2 (c)
Jordan Weal
F
UFA
Gustav Olofsson
D
UFA G6
Nashville Predators
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Mikael Granlund
F
UFA
Erik Haula
F
UFA
Tanner Jeannot
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Michael McCarron
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Mathieu Olivier
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Brad Richardson
F
UFA
Eeli Tolvanen
F
RFA
Jeremy Davies
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Dante Fabbro
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Erik Gudbranson
D
UFA
Ben Harpur
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Tyler Lewington
D
UFA G6
Luca Sbisa
D
UFA
Kasimir Kaskisuo
G
UFA
Pekka Rinne
G
UFA
Juuse Saros
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Michael Carcone
F
UFA G6
Lukas Craggs
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
New Jersey Devils
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Janne Kuokkanen
F
RFA
Michael Mcleod
F
RFA
Nick Merkley
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Yegor Sharangovich
F
RFA
Connor Carrick
D
UFA
Ryan Murray
D
UFA
Jonas Siegenthaler
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Matt Tennyson
D
UFA
Aaron Dell
G
UFA
Scott Wedgewood
G
Signed one-year, $825,000 extension
Brett Seney
F
UFA G6
Ben Street
F
UFA
Marian Studenic
F
RFA
David Quenneville
D
RFA
Colton White
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Evan Cormier
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Gilles Senn
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
New York Islanders
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Cole Bardreau
F
UFA
Anthony Beauvillier
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Kieffer Bellows
F
RFA
Casey Cizikas
F
UFA
Michael Dal Colle
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Anatoly Golyshev
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Otto Koivula
F
RFA
Kyle Palmieri
F
UFA
Dmytro Timashov
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Travis Zajac
F
UFA
Braydon Coburn
D
UFA
Andy Greene
D
UFA
Adam Pelech
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Cory Schneider
G
UFA
Ilya Sorokin
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Bobo Carpenter
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Tanner Fritz
F
UFA
Joshua Ho-Sang
F
UFA G6
New York Rangers
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Pavel Buchnevich
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Filip Chytil
F
RFA
Phillip Di Giuseppe
F
UFA
Julien Gauthier
F
RFA
Libor Hajek
D
RFA
Brett Howden
F
Signed one-year, $885,000 extension
Brendan Smith
D
UFA
Igor Shesterkin
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Tim Gettinger
F
RFA
Patrick Newell
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Ty Ronning
F
RFA
Jack Johnson
D
UFA
Darren Raddysh
D
UFA G6
Adam Huska
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Ottawa Senators
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Ryan Dzingel
F
UFA
Michael Amadio
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Artem Anisimov
F
UFA
Drake Batherson
F
RFA
Derek Stepan
F
UFA
Brady Tkachuk
F
RFA
Victor Mete
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Marcus Hogberg
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Vitaly Abramov
F
RFA
J.C. Beaudin
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Logan Brown
F
RFA
Jonathan Davidsson
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Micheal Haley
F
UFA
Matthew Peca
F
UFA
Cody Goloubef
D
UFA
Filip Gustavsson
G
RFA
Philadelphia Flyers
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Patrick Nolan
F
RFA
Carsen Twarynski
F
RFA
Samuel Morin
D
UFA G6
Travis Sanheim
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Brian Elliott
G
UFA
Carter Hart
G
RFA
Alex Lyon
G
UFA
Connor Bunnaman
F
RFA
David Kase
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Derrick Pouliot
D
UFA
Nate Prosser
D
UFA
Pittsburgh Penguins
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Zach Aston-Reese
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Teddy Blueger
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Frederick Gaudreau
F
UFA
Mark Jankowski
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Evan Rodrigues
F
UFA
Colton Sceviour
F
UFA
Radim Zohorna
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Cody Ceci
D
UFA
Kasper Bjorkqvist
F
RFA
Sam Miletic
F
RFA
Kevin Czuczman
D
UFA
Jesper Lindgren
D
RFA
Zach Trotman
D
UFA
Maxime Lagace
G
UFA
San Jose Sharks
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Rudolfs Balcers
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Joachim Blichfeld
F
RFA
Ryan Donato
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Kurtis Gabriel
F
UFA
Dylan Gambrell
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Noah Gregor
F
RFA
Patrick Marleau
F
UFA
Matt Nieto
F
Signed two-year, $1.7 million extension
Marcus Sorensen
F
UFA
Christian Jaros
RFA (arbitration eligible)
St. Louis Blues
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Ivan Barbashev
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Tyler Bozak
F
UFA
Mike Hoffman
F
UFA
Jordan Kyrou
F
RFA
Zachary Sanford
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Jaden Schwartz
F
UFA
Robert Thomas
F
RFA
Vince Dunn
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Carl Gunnarsson
D
UFA
Jacob De La Rose
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Nathan Walker
F
UFA
Mitch Reinke
D
UFA G6
Jon Gillies
G
UFA
Tampa Bay Lightning
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Alex Barre-Boulet
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Blake Coleman
F
UFA
Ross Colton
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Barclay Goodrow
F
UFA
Boris Katchouk
F
RFA
Taylor Raddysh
F
RFA
Gemel Smith
F
UFA
Andreas Borgman
D
UFA G6
Fredrik Claesson
D
UFA
Cal Foote
D
RFA
Luke Schenn
D
UFA
David Savard
D
UFA
Ben Thomas
D
UFA G6
Christopher Gibson
G
UFA
Curtis McElhinney
G
UFA
Anders Nilsson
G
UFA
Boo Nieves
F
UFA
Otto Somppi
F
RFA
Sean Day
D
RFA
Brian Lashoff
D
UFA
Toronto Maple Leafs
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Nick Foligno
F
UFA
Alex Galchenyuk
F
UFA
Zach Hyman
F
UFA
Riley Nash
F
UFA
Wayne Simmonds
F
Signed two-year, $1.8 million extension
Jason Spezza
F
Signed one-year, $750,000 extension
Joe Thornton
F
UFA
Zach Bogosian
D
UFA
Travis Dermott
D
Signed two-year, $3 million contract
Ben Hutton
D
UFA
Frederik Andersen
G
UFA
David Rittich
G
UFA
Kenny Agostino
F
UFA
Denis Malgin
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Stefan Noesen
F
UFA
Nicolas Petan
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Scott Sabourin
F
UFA
Calle Rosen
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Veini Vehvilainen
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Joseph Woll
G
10.2(c)
Vancouver Canucks
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Justin Bailey
F
UFA G6
Travis Boyd
F
UFA
Tyler Graovac
F
UFA
Jayce Hawryluk
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Marc Michaelis
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Brandon Sutter
F
UFA
Jimmy Vesey
F
UFA
Jalen Chatfield
D
UFA G6
Alex Edler
D
UFA
Travis Hamonic
D
UFA
Quinn Hughes
D
10.2(c)
Olli Juolevi
D
RFA
Elias Pettersson
F
RFA
Sven Baertschi
F
UFA
Kole Lind
F
RFA
Guillaume Brisebois
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Brogan Rafferty
D
UFA G6
Ashton Sautner
D
UFA
Josh Teves
D
UFA G6
Vegas Golden Knights
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Patrick Brown
F
UFA
Mattias Janmark
F
UFA
Tomas Nosek
F
UFA
Dylan Coghlan
D
RFA
Alec Martinez
D
UFA
Tomas Jurco
F
UFA
Dylan Sikura
F
UFA G6
Carl Dahlstrom
D
UFA G6
Nick DeSimone
D
UFA G6
Oscar Dansk
G
UFA
Washington Capitals
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Alex Ovechkin
F
UFA
Zdeno Chara
D
UFA
Paul LaDue
D
UFA
Craig Anderson
G
UFA
Henrik Lundqvist
G
UFA
Daniel Carr
F
UFA
Beck Malenstyn
F
Signed one-year, $750,000 extension
Michael Raffl
F
UFA
Lucas Johansen
D
RFA
Cameron Schilling
D
UFA
Ilya Samsonov
G
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Winnipeg Jets
PLAYER
POS
STATUS
Andrew Copp
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Trevor Lewis
F
UFA
Matthieu Perreault
F
UFA
Paul Stastny
F
UFA
Nate Thompson
F
UFA
Jordie Benn
D
UFA
Derek Forbort
D
UFA
Neal Pionk
D
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Tucker Poolman
D
UFA
Logan Stanley
D
RFA
Laurent Brossoit
G
UFA
Marko Dano
F
RFA (arbitration eligible)
Dominic Toninato
F
Signed two-year, $1.5 million extension
Eric Comrie
G
UFA G6
The above information is courtesy of CapFriendly .
