Every team has a list of players it wants to keep and is prepared to make an offer to do so. Many of the top teams from the 2018-19 season, including the newest Stanley Cup champion, have plenty of large contracts to address as they try to recreate their success.
The St. Louis Blues have 12 roster players with expiring contracts, including Jordan Binnington, Pat Maroon, Ivan Barbashev, Oskar Sundqvist, Sammy Blais and Carl Gunnarsson, and are projected to have just $17.7 million to spend on them. Each of those players was integral to the Blues’ second-half turnaround and the team would like to keep as many as possible.
NHL free agency: Arbitration tracker | PTO tracker
No one may have more to do during free agency than Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen, who was a heavy buyer of expiring contracts at this year’s trade deadline. Kekäläinen bolstered his roster by bringing in Ryan Dzingel and Matt Duchene, who will both become unrestricted free agents on Canada Day. Columbus’ offseason was already looking busy before the trade; Kekäläinen will also have to decide whether to re-sign two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin and nine other players.
Below is a list of each team’s major pending free agents.
(UFA = unrestricted free agent; RFA = restricted free agent; NQO/UFA = no qualifying offer, unrestricted free agent; a player’s name in italics indicates a non-roster/AHL player):
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Calgary Flames
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
NHL free agency 2019: Keeping track of all 40 players who filed for salary arbitration
Colorado Avalanche
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
NHL free agency tracker 2019: Full list of signings, best available players
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals
Winnipeg Jets
The above information is courtesy of CapFriendly.
