Matt Duchene, Blake Wheeler rocket toward the top of Daily Faceoff’s Top 50 Free Agents

Credit: © Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

An unusually thin Free Agent crop in another flat cap summer was injected with some much-needed intrigue on Friday when Blake Wheeler and Matt Duchene were bought out of the final years of their contracts with the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators.

Two $8 million players, who hadn’t quite lived up to their pay last season, will now hit the market on Saturday with a chance to double dip next season and get paid from two clubs simultaneously.

Both Duchene and Wheeler rocketed toward the top of Daily Faceoff‘s Top 50 Free Agents ranking on the eve of the free agent window opening on Saturday at 12 noon ET. (Be sure to check out Daily Faceoff’s two-hour live stream from 11am to 1pm ET.)

Duchene, 32, scored 65 goals over the last two seasons – including a 43-goal campaign in 2021-22. Wheeler, 36, has very quietly averaged 71 points over an 82-game pace over the last four seasons. That’s down from the twin 91-point seasons he strung together for the Jets that earned him the $42 million deal recently bought out.

Wheeler is eligible for an “Over-35” bonus-incentivized contract structure. It will be interesting to see what Duchene prioritizes on the market, whether it’s a chance to contend on a short-term, short money deal that may set him up for next season when the cap increases – or more stability and term with his young family.

Either way, the Class of 2023 got a whole lot more interesting on Friday. Here are a few other nuggets:

Sounds like there is significant interest in Max Pacioretty coming off a re-ruptured Achilles that limited him to five games in Carolina. Teams indicated the Canes have granted Pacioretty permission to peruse the market early. Pacioretty and Connor Brown (ACL tear) are both eligible to sign performance bonus-based deals by virtue of being on the injured list for more than 100 days last season.
The San Jose Sharks had yet to make progress on a new deal with newly acquired goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who can become a UFA on Saturday without a $3.36 million qualifying offer. Blackwood hasn’t made the board yet because he isn’t a UFA, but the goalie market will be fascinating. Cam Talbot, Laurent Brossoit, James Reimer, Anthony Stolarz, Jaroslav Halak and Martin Jones are just a few of the other goalies available outside of the Top 50.
Max Comtois joined the board as one of the pending RFA players not qualified by his club. He was due a $2.4 million qualifying offer. That list will go once teams officially decide not to qualify others on Friday at 5pm.
Similarly, it sounds like Matthew Phillips will hit the market on Saturday. Calgary has made an offer to the Group VI UFA, believed to be a two-year deal, and the door isn’t closed on a return. But for a young player who has been one of the best in the AHL the last few years, more opportunity elsewhere has to be attractive.

Here are the Top 50 pending Free Agents, with salary projections courtesy of @AFPAnalytics.

Rank	Player	Pos	Age	Team	Cap Hit	GP	G	PTS	AFP Projection
1	Dmitry Orlov	LD	31	BOS	$5.1M	66	7	36	5 x $6.25m
2	Tyler Bertuzzi	LW	28	BOS	$4.75M	50	8	30	6 x $5.25m
3	J.T. Compher	C	28	COL	$3.5M	82	17	52	5 x $5.3m
4	Ryan Graves	LD	28	NJD	$3.17M	78	8	26	5 x $5.1m
5	Alex Killorn	RW	33	TBL	$4.45M	82	27	64	4 x $5.25m
6	Blake Wheeler	RW	36	WPG	$8.25M	72	16	55	2 x $3m
7	Ryan O’Reilly	C	32	TOR	$7.5M	53	16	30	3 x $5.5m
8	Matt Duchene	C/W	32	NSH	$8M	71	22	56	3 x $3.8m
9	Vladimir Tarasenko	RW	31	NYR	$7.5M	69	18	50	3 x $5m
10	Michael Bunting	LW	27	TOR	$950K	82	23	49	5 x $5.25m
11	Oliver Ekman-Larsson	LD	31	VAN	$8.25M	54	2	22	3 x $3.25m
12	Max Pacioretty	LW	34	CAR	$7M	5	3	3	1 x $1.5m
13	Tristan Jarry	G	28	PIT	$3.5M	47	2.9	.909	4 x $4.8m
14	Connor Brown	RW	29	WSH	$3.6M	4	0	0	4 x $3.3m
15	Max Domi	C	28	DAL	$3M	80	20	56	5 x $4.75m
16	Patrick Kane	RW	34	NYR	$10.5M	73	21	57	3 x $5.75m
17	Scott Mayfield	RD	30	NYI	$1.45M	82	6	24	3 x $3.75m
18	Carson Soucy	LD	28	SEA	$2.75M	78	3	16	3 x $2.5m
19	Joonas Korpisalo	G	29	LAK	$1.3M	39	2.87	.914	2 x $2.6m
20	Frederik Andersen	G	33	CAR	$4.5M	34	2.48	.903	2 x $4m
21	John Klingberg	RD	30	MIN	$7M	67	10	33	3 x $4.6m
22	Semyon Varlamov	G	35	NYI	$5M	23	2.70	.913	2 x $2.75m
23	Matt Dumba	RD	28	MIN	$6M	79	4	14	3 x $4.4m
24	Radko Gudas	RD	33	FLA	$2.5M	72	2	17	3 x $3.3m
25	Luke Schenn	RD	33	TOR	$850K	70	4	22	1 x $1.6m
26	Jason Zucker	LW	31	PIT	$5.5M	78	27	48	5 x $5.4m
27	Connor Clifton	RD	27	BOS	$1M	78	5	23	2 x $1.75m
28	Shayne Gostisbehere	LD	30	CAR	$4.5M	75	13	41	4 x $4.8m
29	Alex Kerfoot	LW	28	TOR	$3.5M	82	10	32	4 x $3.5m
30	James van Riemsdyk	LW	34	PHI	$7M	61	12	29	1 x $1.8m
31	Garnet Hathaway	RW	31	BOS	$1.5M	84	13	22	4 x $2m
32	Gustav Nyquist	LW	33	MIN	$5.5M	51	11	27	2 x $3.2m
33	Pierre Engvall	RW	27	NYI	$2.25M	76	17	30	4 x $4.1m
34	Max Comtois	LW	24	ANA	$2.04M	64	9	19	2 x $1.93m
35	Tomas Tatar	LW	32	NJD	$4.5M	82	20	48	3 x $3.3m
36	Evan Rodrigues	C	29	COL	$2M	69	16	39	3 x $3.7m
37	Ian Cole	LD	34	TBL	$3M	78	3	17	2 x $2.75m
38	Ryan Donato	LW	27	SEA	$1.2M	71	14	27	2 x $1.8m
39	Conor Sheary	LW	30	WSH	$1.5M	74	14	34	3 x $3.25m
40	Nick Bjugstad	C	30	EDM	$900K	78	17	29	2 x $2.3m
41	Erik Gustafsson	LD	31	TOR	$800K	70	7	42	3 x $3.4m
42	Justin Holl	RD	31	TOR	$2M	80	2	18	3 x $3m
43	Erik Johnson	RD	35	COL	$6M	63	0	8	1 x $975K
44	Miles Wood	LW	27	NJD	$3.2M	76	13	27	3 x $2.6m
45	Antti Raanta	G	34	CAR	$2M	27	2.23	.910	2 x $3.2m
46	Jonathan Drouin	C	28	MTL	$5.5M	58	2	29	1 x $2m
47	Noel Acciari	C	31	TOR	$1.25M	71	13	21	2 x $1.5m
48	Teddy Blueger	C	28	VGK	$2.2M	63	4	16	2 x $1.1m
49	Matthew Phillips	RW	25	CGY	$750K	2	0	0	1 x $750k
50	Jonathan Toews	C	35	CHI	$10.5M	53	15	31	1 x $2.25m

_____

Discover Betano.ca – a premium Sports Betting and Online Casino experience. Offering numerous unique and dynamic betting options along with diverse digital and live casino games, Betano is where The Game Starts Now. 19+. Please play responsibly.

Matt Duchene, Blake Wheeler rocket toward the top of Daily Faceoff’s Top 50 Free Agents

Recently by Frank Seravalli