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 noon ET. (Be sure to check out Daily Faceoff’s two-hour live stream from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 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:
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 |
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!