Soderberg, who has one-year left at $4.75M AAV, set a new career-high with 23 goals last season while adding 26 assists (49 points) in 82 games with Colorado. Heading to Arizona means that he will likely remain in a second-line centre role behind Derek Stepan and shutdown centre Brad Richardson.
Clendening spent the majority of the year in the AHL, where he led all Cleveland defensemen and was third on the team in points with 37 (4G / 33A) in 45 games. The 26-year-ol has 24 points (4G / 20A) in 90 career NHL games with seven different organizations (CHI, VAN, PIT, EDM, NYR, ARI and CBJ).
Goloubef appeared in just five games with Ottawa this season, spending most of the year in the AHL, where he had 12 points 3G / 9A) in 30 games. Goloubef is expected to start the 2020 season with Belleville.
Orpik enjoyed a 15-year career, playing 10 seasons with the Penguins and the last five with the Capitals. The 38-year-old defenseman wraps up his career with 194 points (18G / 176A) in 1,035 games. Orpik is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist.
Kampfer served as the Bruins seventh defenseman in 2019, picking up just six points (3G / 3A) in 35 games. He spent some time in the AHL but should be a No.6/7 defenseman in the 2020 season.
In his second season with the Golden Knights, Karlsson expectedly saw his shooting percentage drop from 23.4% to 14.2% which led to him scoring just 24 goals with 32 assists (56 points) in 82 games. Over the last two seasons, Karlsson ranks 17th in goals (67) and tied for 45th in points (134). His new cap-hit is the same last Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, which is tied for 109th highest in the NHL—extremely reasonable for a player who is in the top-50 in scoring.
Saarela was originally a third-round pick of the Rangers but has spent the last two full seasons with Charlotte (AHL). This season, Saarela was second among Checkers with 54 points (30G / 24A) in 69 games. Saarela has a good chance to crack the Blackhawks roster out of training camp.
In his first and only season with the Hurricanes, de Haan registered one goal with 13 assists (14 points) in 74 gmaes. It was the worst statistical season of de Haan’s 378-game career. The 28-year-old has three year’s left with $4.55M cap-hit and represents the second offseason addition to the Blackhawks blueline—they acquired Olli Maatta from the Penguins just over a week ago.
Forsig had three goals and six assists (nine points) in 43 games with Chicago last season. He has appeared in at least 38 games in each of his first three NHL seasons, tallying a total of 27 points (8G / 19A) in 122 career games. Forsling is still a pending RFA but will likely get a contract to be the Hurricanes No.5/6 defenseman in 2020.
Forsberg spent the entire 2019 season with Rockford (AHL), going 15-17-1 with a 2.64 GAA and .919 SV% in 32 games. Forsberg has gone 11-24-4 with a 3.21 GAA and .901 SV% in 45 career NHL games with Columbus and Chicago. He will likely report to Charlotte (AHL) to start the 2020 season.
Hartman is a pending RFA, who split last year between the Predators and Flyers. Overall, he had 12 goals and 14 assists (26 points) in 83 games. Hartman should be an offensive upgrade in the Stars’ bottom-6.
Pitlick has one-year left on his three-year contract that carries a $1.0M cap-hit. During his second season with the Stars, Pitlick scored eight goals with four assists (12 points) in 47 games. He will replace Hartman in the Flyers’ bottom-6.
Thomas suffered the injury during Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals but appeared in two games in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Blues announced that Thomas will rehab the injury throughout the offseason and will undergo a full evaluation ahead of training camp.
Sanheim had a terrific first full NHL season in 2019, scoring nine goals with 26 assists (35 points) in 82 games with the Flyers. Through the first two months of the season, Sanheim played just 16:19 TOI/gm but by February he was second among Flyers defenseman in TOI, averaging 21:42 per game. Even with Philadelphia bringing in veteran blueliners Justin Braun and Matt Niskanen, Sanheim still projects to be a top-pairing defenseman next to Ivan Provorov in 2020.
Hunt has bounced around the NHL over the last few seasons but will stick in Minnesota for a couple of seasons. Hunt was acquired from Vegas in the middle of the 2019 season and finished with five points (3G / 2A) in 29 games with the Wild—12 points (5G / 7A) in 42 games overall.
Stevens was a fifth-round pick (No.125 overall) in 2016 and turned pro in 2019. The 22-year-old played four years at Northeastern University, finishing third on the team in points (42) in his final season (2018). Stevens had nine goals and nine assists (18 points) in 59 games with San Antonio (AHL) this year.
Nolan appeared in 14 games with the Blues last season, picking up two assists and 14 PIMS. The 30-year-old spent most of the campaign in San Antonio (AHL), where he had 35 points (17G / 18A) in 59 games. That’s likely where he’s headed to start 2020.
Perron had 18 goals and 29 assists (47 points) in 63 games with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) this year. Perron is a former seventh-round pick who was dealt to San Jose as a part of the Erik Karlsson trade. Perron will likely start 2020 with Utica (AHL).
Pyatt started last season with the Senators, where he had two assists in 37 games. He was eventually dealt to the Canucks where he played the rest of the season out with Utica (AHL), picking up 19 points (6G / 13A) in 36 games. The 32-year-old will likely report to the AHL to start 2020.
