The 2026 NHL season is near its conclusion, with only four teams left in contention for the chance of winning the Stanley Cup. In the Western Conference, the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights, and in the Eastern Conference, the Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Everyone else is already thinking about the upcoming NHL season, and mainly about how to improve through the offseason. A key part of this is, as in every major American sports league, scourging the free agency market for the best value.
Here are some of the top names that are set to become free agents on July 1st.
Top Players Available In the NFL Free Agency Market
| Player | Position | 2025-26 Team | Status | Expected Contract (AAV) | Market Outlook |
| Alex Tuch | RW | Buffalo Sabres | UFA | $10.0M – $11.0M | Top power-forward target; heavily pursued by Chicago and Detroit. |
| Brock Boeser | RW | Vancouver Canucks | UFA | $8.5M – $9.5M | Premium goal-scorer hitting the market if Vancouver can’t clear cap space. |
| Alex Ovechkin | LW | Washington Capitals | UFA | $4.6M – $6M | Only player in NHL history to reach the 900 regular-season goals milestone |
| Evgeni Malkin | C | Pittsburgh Penguins | UFA | $4M – $5M | Future Hall of Famer who is recognized as one of the greatest players of his generation. |
| Anthony Mantha | RW | Pittsburgh Penguins | UFA | $6.4M | Coming from a bounce-back season, after suffering an ACL injury in 2024 |
| Darren Raddysh | D | Tampa Bay Lightning | UFA | $5M – $7M | Led all NHL defensemen in Power Play goals in 2025-26 |
| Jacob Trouba | D | Anaheim Ducks | UFA | $4.4M – $5.5M | Helped the Ducks secure their first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance since 2018 |
| Rasmus Andersson | D | Vegas Golden Knights | UFA | $8M – $9.65M | Part of Team Sweden for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. |
This doesn’t necessarily mean these players will end up in new teams during the 2026-27 campaign, as there’s every possibility they’ll reach a contract extension agreement before July 1st. It’s also possible that some of them could become free agents, and even then, they could be re-signed by their old teams.
However, things get more complicated with players like Alex Tuch, who are looking for massive extensions. Time will tell what is set to happen in each case.
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