Monday was the deadline for NHL teams to make qualifying offers to restricted free agents. No qualifying offer and the player becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA). With the NY Rangers and most NHL teams in salary cap hell, there were an unusually large number of players not qualified, increasing the pool of UFA’s substantially.
There were some fairly big names added to the UFA pool who may get some consideration from the Rangers as they look to bulk up their roster. Obviously, with New York’s need to find depth at center, the additions there are interesting.
Dylan Strome didn’t get qualified by the Chicago Blackhawks after scoring 22 goals and 48 points. Ryan’s little brother is coming off a contract with an Average Annual Value (AAV) of $3 million and may be worth a look. He is solid on faceoffs with a 52.3% winning percentage last season and is 48.6% lifetime. He’s not the greatest defensive player, but could be an option as a 2C or 3C.
Pittsburgh’s Danton Heinen didn’t get a qualifying offer for the second straight year (Anaheim and Pittsburgh) and has played mostly on the wing though he is listed as a center. He scored 18 goals for the Pens, but is pretty miserable on the faceoff dots. He was an effective two-way forward in the playoffs against the Rangers and is coming off a contract that paid him $1.1 million.
I’ll say his name and dodge the brickbats. Yes, Brett Howden is available having not been qualified by the Vegas Golden Knights. He had nine goals and 20 points in 47 games for Vegas, and yes, two of those nine goals came against the Blueshirts. He made only $885k last season and won’t get much more. He can still win draws (48.1%) and could be a cheap replacement for Kevin Rooney who last scored a goal in 2021.
Sam Steel was a first-round pick for Anaheim in 2016 and has not lived up to that selection, scoring six goals in each of his four seasons. One thing in his favor is his faceoff ability with a career 50.5% winning percentage. Coming off a $874k salary, he is looking for a fresh start and if he can show the skill that had him scoring 50 goals for the WHL’s Regina Pats in 2016-17, he may draw some interest.
One goalie worth noting
It was fascinating that the Washington Capitals did not give Ilya Samsonov a qualifying offer. Once one of the most highly regarded young Russian netminders, the Caps decided to go a different route despite also trading Vitek Vanecek to the Devils. Samsonov has a career W-L record of 52-22-8 and a lifetime .902 save percentage and 2.81 goals against average, numbers elevated by a so-so 2021-22 season.
He’s coming off a $2 million one-year contract and is probably too pricey for the Blueshirts unless no one is willing to meet that number. Could Benoit Allaire work his magic and give the Rangers a Russian tandem in net? Not likely, but intriguing.
Say good-bye
It’s time to say goodbye to the four Rangers prospects who were not offered contracts and are UFA’s. Two were undrafted prospects and two were former draft picks. The Rangers gave up on forwards Jake Elmer and Justin Richards. Right Wing Elmer was signed out of the WHL in 2019 and couldn’t stick with the Hartford Wolf Pack, spending most of three seasons in the ECHL. Justin Richards, a center, was a highly touted defensive player signed out of Minnesota-Duluth in 2020. He made it to the Rangers for one game in 2020-21 and notched an assist. He never became an offensive threat for Hartford and his days as a Blueshirts prospect are over.
Ty Ronning was a seventh-round draft pick in 2016, but the diminutive (5’9″) right wing never lived up to his 61-goal scoring prowess in the WHL. The son of former NHLer Cliff Ronning spent five years in the Rangers organization and showed a scoring touch, but at 24, his slim chance to make it to New York is gone.
Last to become a UFA is goalie Tyler Wall who was a standout at UMass-Lowell. The netminder couldn’t get past Keith Kinkaid or Adam Huska on the Hartford depth chart and though he had decent numbers in limited ECHL action, he is a goner.
The full list
Here’s a full list of the newest batch of UFAs. There are some familiar names including Brendan Lemieux, Sonny Milano, Dominik Kubalik, Rem Pitlick, Adam Gaudette, Ryan Donato and Daniel Sprong. Players with NHL experience are in bold.
Anaheim Ducks
- Forwards: Sam Steel, Sonny Milano, Jack Badini, Lucas Elvenes
- Defense: Jacob Larsson, Brendan Guhle
- Goalie: Roman Durny
Arizona Coyotes
- Defense: Kyle Capobianco, Cole Hults
Calgary Flames
- Defense: Johannes Kinnvall
- Goalie: Tyler Parsons
Carolina Hurricanes
- Forwards: Jack LaFontaine, David Cotton
- Goalie: Beck Warm
Chicago Blackhawks
- Forwards: Dominik Kubalik, Dylan Strome, Cameron Morrison, Andrei Altybarmakyan
- Defense: Wyatt Kalynuk
- Goalie: Cale Morris
Colorado Avalanche
- Forwards: Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Andreas Wingerli, Nicholas Henry
Columbus Blue Jackets
- Forwards: Kevin Stenlund, Gabriel Carlsson
Dallas Stars
- Forwards: Jordan Kawaguchi, Alexey Lipanov
- Goalie: Colton Point
Detroit Red Wings
- Forwards: Mitchell Stephens
- Defense: Olli Juolevi
- Goalies: Kaden Fulcher, Filip Larsson,
Edmonton Oilers
- Forwards: Brendan Perlini, Ostap Safin
- Defense: Filip Berglund
Florida Panthers
- Forwards: Jonas Johansson, German Rubtsov
- Goalie: Evan Fitzpatrick
Los Angeles Kings
- Forwards: Brendan Lemieux, Vladimir Tkachev, Johan Sodergran
Minnesota Wild
- Defense: Fedor Gordeev
- Goalie: Dereck Baribeau
Montreal Canadiens
- Forwards: Rem Pitlick
- Defense: Kale Clague, Josh Brook
New York Islanders
- Forward: Michael Dal Colle
Nashville Predators
- Defense: David Farrance
Ottawa Senators
- Forwards: Adam Gaudette
- Defense: Victor Mete
- Goalie: Michael McNiven
Philadelphia Flyers
- Forwards: Maksim Sushko, Matthew Strome,
- Goalie: Kirill Ustimenko
Pittsburgh Penguins
- Forwards: Danton Heinen, Jan Drozg, Justin Almeida, Jordy Bellerive
- Defense: Cam Lee, Will Reilly, Niclas Almari
San Jose Sharks
- Forwards: Jonathan Dahlen, Joachim Blichfeld, Zach Gallant, Antoine Morand, Jake McGrew, Nicolas Meloche, Defense: Brinson Paschinuk
- Goalie: Zach Sawchenko
Seattle Kraken
- Forwards: Ryan Donato, Daniel Sprong
- Defense: Haydn Fleury, Dennis Cholowski
St. Louis Blues
- Forward: Tanner Kaspick
Tampa Bay Lightning
- Forwards: Otto Somppi, Odeen Tufto, Tye Felhaber
Defense: Alex Green - Goalie: Alexi Melnichuk
Toronto Maple Leafs
- Forwards: Ondrej Kase,
- Defense: Chad Krys, Kristians Rubins, Joseph Duszak
- Goalie: Ian Scott
Vancouver Canucks:
- Forward: Matthew Highmore, Justin Bailey, Juho Lammikko,
Vegas Golden Knights
- Forwards: Brett Howden, Ben Jones. Jack Dugan,
- Goalie: Dylan Ferguson
Washington Capitals
- Goalie: Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg Jets
- Forward: Evgeny Svechnikov
- Defense: Markus Phillips
Free agent frenzy kicks off at noon on Wednesday.