This years free agency may not be as top end heavy as it has been in the past, but it makes up for it with its depth of players available. At forward, there were about 20 players who could have made the top 15. The highlights at the top of the list are Sidney Crosby, Jamie Benn, Anze Kopitar, Patrice Bergeron and Joe Pavelski. It seems like Bergeron and Pavelski are part of every free agency as they are prime candidates for short term deals.

On defense, the depth of talent is quite large. It may be a prime opportunity for someone to sign some defensmen to long term deals without an insane AAV. There are 5 top defensemen who could play top pairing on a lot of teams. Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, Kris Letang and Roman Josi would great additions to any team.

The only weakness in free agency this year is goaltending. This means a large payday Jacob Markstrom and Darcy Kuemper. They are the only goaltenders with starting rates. The rest are just poor backups. With funds being at an all time low, this has the potential for a pretty tame free agency. I am not expecting any 25 million AAV contracts being handed out. We will see how testy Rex and Sumit get.


In no particular order..


Top 15 Forwards


Adam Henrique

Position: Center/Left Wing
Strengths: SC and DF
Expected Salary: $5,750,000 AAV


Anze Kopitar

Position: Center
Strengths: Everything
Expected Salary: $10,000,000 AAV


Charlie Coyle

Position: Center/Right Wing
Strengths: PA and DF
Expected Salary: $5,000,000 AAV


Sidney Crosby

Position: Center
Strengths: PH,PA and SC
Expected Salary: $9,000,000 AAV


Yanni Gourde

Position: Center/Wing
Strengths: PA and DF
Expected Salary: $5,500,000 AAV


Zach Parise

Position: Left Wing
Strengths: PA and DF
Expected Salary: $4,000,000 AAV


T.J. Oshie

Position: Right Wing
Strengths: PH and SC
Expected Salary: $4,250,000 AAV


Josh Anderson

Position:  Left Wing/Right Wing
Strengths: SC and DF
Expected Salary: $4,750,000 AAV


Jamie Benn

Position: Center/Left Wing
Strengths: Everything
Expected Salary: $8,000,000 AAV


Matt Duchene

Position: Center/Right Wing
Strengths: PH, PA, SC
Expected Salary: $7,250,000 AAV


Patrice Bergeron

Position: Center
Strengths: Everything
Expected Salary: $9,000,000 AAV


David Perron

Position: Left Wing/Right Wing
Strengths: PH and SC
Expected Salary: $5,750,000 AAV


Joe Pavelski

Position: Right Wing
Strengths: PH, PA, SC
Expected Salary: $7,750,000 AAV


Kevin Hayes

Position: Center
Strengths: PH and PA
Expected Salary: $4,000,000 AAV


Jason Zucker

Position: Left Wing/Right Wing
Strengths: SC
Expected Salary: $4,250,000 AAV


Top 10 Defensemen

Devon Toews

Strengths: PH, PA and DF
Expected Salary: $7,750,000 AAV


Drew Doughty

Strengths: PH, PA and DF
Expected Salary: $7,000,000 AAV


Erik Karlsson

Strengths: PH, PA and SC
Expected Salary: $8,000,000 AAV


Jared Spurgeon

Strengths: PH and DF
Expected Salary: $6,000,000 AAV


Jeff Petry

Strengths: CK, PH and DF
Expected Salary: $6,750,000 AAV


Brady Skjei

Strengths: PH and DF
Expected Salary: $4,000,000 AAV


Alex Pietrangelo

Strengths: PH, PA and DF
Expected Salary: $8,250,000 AAV


Roman Josi

Strengths: PH, PA, SC and DF
Expected Salary: $10,000,000 AAV


Kris Letang

Strengths: CK, PH, DF
Expected Salary: $7,750,000 AAV


Jani Hakanpaa

Strengths: CK and DF
Expected Salary: $3,250,000 AAV



Top 5 Goalies


Jacob Markstrom

Expected Salary: $12,500,000 AAV


Alex Stalock

Expected Salary: $3,500,000 AAV


Darcy Kuemper

Expected Salary: $5,500,000 AAV


Scott Wedgewood

Expected Salary: $2,500,000 AAV


Casey DeSmith

Expected Salary: $1,450,000 AAV