Top remaining NHL free agents: The best 2026 UFAs still on the board
On your mark…get set…sign!
Despite the fact that, wink wink, NHL teams were prohibited from negotiating with unrestricted free agents before noon ET on July 1, the contracts came fast and furious as always. Even with a cluster of the best UFAs signing before the market opened, Day 1 of free agency featured plenty of activity, as GMs were liberated to throw money around with the salary cap rising from $95.5 million to $104 million for 2026-27.
As the opening hours of the spending spree wind down, 145 contracts have been doled out, totalling $911,088,330 so far, according to our partners at PuckPedia.
Who remains in the market? Here’s a list of the best remaining 2026 NHL UFAs, including their rankings on our board as of July 1.
| Rank | 2025-26 Cap Hit | Name | Age | Position | Games Played | Goals (Wins) | Assists (GAA) | Points (SV%) |
| 2 | $8,000,000 | John Carlson | 36 | D | 82 | 14 | 46 | 60 |
| 4 | $9,500,000 | Alex Ovechkin | 40 | LW | 82 | 32 | 32 | 64 |
| 9 | $2,500,000 | Anthony Mantha | 31 | LW | 81 | 33 | 31 | 64 |
| 11 | $3,000,000 | Patrick Kane | 37 | RW | 67 | 16 | 41 | 57 |
| 12 | $2,000,000 | Claude Giroux | 38 | RW | 82 | 14 | 35 | 49 |
| 14 | $8,700,000 | Patrik Laine | 28 | RW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | $1,250,000 | Logan Stanley | 28 | D | 76 | 9 | 17 | 26 |
| 24 | $4,750,000 | Vladimir Tarasenko | 34 | RW | 75 | 23 | 24 | 47 |
| 25 | $4,500,000 | Michael Bunting | 30 | LW | 74 | 14 | 19 | 13 |
| 26 | $3,475,000 | Eeli Tolvanen | 27 | LW | 78 | 12 | 14 | 36 |
| 33 | $2,500,000 | Cam Talbot | 38 | G | 34 | 12 | 3.19 | .883 |
| 34 | $4,000,000 | John Klingberg | 33 | D | 56 | 10 | 17 | 27 |
| 36 | $2,750,000 | Andrew Peeke | 28 | D | 77 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| 37 | $775,000 | Nick Blankenburg | 28 | D | 61 | 8 | 16 | 24 |
| 43 | $1,000,000 | James van Riemsdyk | 37 | LW | 72 | 15 | 16 | 31 |
| 44 | $1,000,000 | Jamie Benn | 36 | LW | 60 | 15 | 21 | 36 |
| 47 | $1,950,000 | Connor Ingram | 29 | G | 32 | 16 | 2.60 | .899 |
| 49 | $4,000,000 | David Perron | 38 | LW | 65 | 13 | 15 | 28 |
On the bubble
David Rittich
Carson Soucy
James Reimer
Adam Henrique
Calle Jarnkrok
David Kampf
David Rittich
Jesse Puljujarvi
Reilly Smith
Danton Heinen
Matt Grzelcyk
Mike Reilly
Jeff Petry
Pavol Regenda
Philipp Kurashev
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