Each summer free agency is a time for NHL teams to improve their roster from the outside. While the best teams in the league are built through the draft, free agency has allowed some of the best teams around to add that little extra bit of star power.
The 2023-24 season will kick off on Oct. 10, so free agency might seem like something too far away to look at just yet, but now is the time to start looking at potential players. This is a contract year for a lot of star players, so there is a lot to discuss.
NHL Free Agents 2024: Early look at the top five players
This past summer, some of the top free agents included Ryan O’Reilly and Tyler Bertuzzi. So many different teams were able to land players that are going to help their roster this season, and next summer looks to have a lot of names on the list.
Today, I am only going to focus on UFAs who can jump onto a team next summer. While there are a lot of RFAs available like Elias Pettersson, Rasmus Dahlin or even Mortiz Seider, teams seem to not go out of their way to target RFAs from other franchises, that being said there are a lot of UFAs.
The past few seasons the salary cap has not seen any significant rise, but that could change. No one knows for sure when the salary cap will go up, but there is a chance the cap could get a bump in 2024-25. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at the top five players who could be heading to free agency.