A week from today free agency begins. Although a lot of attention will – rightfully – be placed on the great crop of RFAs, this poll is about UFAs. What you're voting on is which five of these 20 UFAs will be the biggest fantasy busts over the course of the contracts they're about to sign. What determines if someone is a fantasy bust? It's a sliding scale of fantasy performance versus salary. Thus, the more money a player is being paid, the better he'll need to produce in fantasy in order to avoid the "bust" label, whereas the less he makes over the course of his contract the poorer he's have to perform from a fantasy perspective to truly be labeled a "bust." We're talking about performance in fantasy here, not the "real world." Many of these players will have value to their teams in ways that don't count in fantasy categories. All we're concerned about in this poll is fantasy performance, with the benchmark being the metrics used to determine the Top 100 Roto Rankings.

What follows, in alphabetical order, are 20 notable who are all age 35 or less UFAs, with the toughest omissions being Blake Coleman, Phillip Danault, Alex Edler, Nick Foligno, Antti Raanta, Alex Goligoski, Mike Reilly, Alexander Wennberg, and Keith Yandle, plus anyone else bought out on or after I submitted this column July 16th. A link to cast votes is at the end of the column. For an expert's opinion – albeit from six weeks ago – as to how much these players stand to be paid, click here. Keep in mind that is just a guide – it's not meant to be a substitute for your estimates on what each of player will actually earn via his new UFA deal.

Frederik Andersen – Although he won plenty of games for Toronto, Andersen is now 31 and his GAA either declined or held steady every season of his Toronto tenure, with his SV% dropping in each of his last three. Then there's this – what was the last big name, big money, UFA goalie who didn't land with a thud? Last season it was Jacob Markstrom and before that it was Sergei Bobrovsky. In fact, I looked up data for a bunch of seasons and couldn't find a goalie who inked a somewhat recent UFA deal for more than $4M per season who didn't ultimately disappoint.

Tyson Barrie – Perhaps no UFA to be upped his value in 2020-21 more than Barrie in posting career best stats as Edmonton's go to option for rearguard offense. Yet just a season earlier Oscar Klefbom led all d-men in PP time per game and had 18 PPPts in 62 games, adding up to nearly half his prior career total. Barrie is certainly a talent; but the rising tide in Edmonton certainly lifted his boat. He's also turning 30 this month and might be set to see his totals drop.

Chris Driedger – As impressive as Driedger was for 2020-21, this is someone who's played in fewer than 40 NHL games….total! He's also 27. Is he the next Carter Hutton; or could he be a great goalie just waiting to be handed the keys to the kingdom?

Mikael Granlund – How does one go from back to back 70+ point pace campaigns as recently as 2016-17 and 2017-18 to cumulatively scoring exactly point per every other game over the last two seasons? Frankly, it's difficult to believe. However, just as everyone was ready to write Granlund off completely, he goes and puts up nine points in his last nine regular season contests. Yes he will turn 30 this season, but he might surprise in a good way.

Philipp Grubauer – Yes, Grubauer is younger than Andersen; but this is a goalie who essentially lost the starting job to Pavel Francouz for chunks of 2019-20 and just so happened to have put up career best numbers on the cusp of becoming a UFA? Maybe he is just hitting is prime. Or maybe he too will join the list of big money UFA goalies who crashed and burned after signing.

Taylor Hall – Has there ever been a player for whom the potential output could range so widely? His scoring rate has gone from 100, to 92, to 66, to 52 this season; however, despite being a second liner for the Bruins at ES and on the PP, he posted 14 points in 16 games while firing 48 SOG. His recent downtick in scoring will cost him dollars, perhaps enough to make it difficult to label him a disappointment when all is said and done.

Dougie Hamilton – A scoring machine, Hamilton's 2020-21 was even better than it seems, as he tallied 31 points in his last 36 games. Still, this is a player who despite his talent has been traded not once but twice. Has he figured things out? Or could he just have been peaking at the right time to lock in a huge deal, after which he'll coast? With his track record, one can't be sure.

Mike Hoffman – Don't make the mistake of thinking Hoffman is washed up by solely looking at his season-long numbers, as he finished 2020-21 very strong, to the tune of 15 points in 16 games despite taking the ice for over 15:00 in fewer than half those games. He has gas left in the tank, and someone likely will get a bargain when they sign him.

Zach Hyman – Yes, he benefitted from being on lines with some of the most talented forwards in all of the NHL, but without him it's not clear they could've risen to the levels they did. What we'll likely find out now is whether he can score when he's counted on – and paid as – more of a "they guy" player and less of a steadying influence who also can chip in with points.

David Krejci – Raise your hand if you realized that in 2020-21 Krejci scored not only at a higher pace than first line center Patrice Bergeron but also, at age 34, better than Jack Eichel, Brayden Point, Evgeni Malkin, and Elias Lindholm, to name just a few! The question is, if he leaves the familiar confines of Boston will he get to shine even more, or be hurt by his line being the focal point for defenses for the first time pretty much ever.

Gabriel Landeskog – We know those like Landy, who've made a career of playing a rough and tumble style, have had a tendency of late to slow by age 30 (he turns 29 in November). And if indeed he leaves the Avs, he might be in for a rude awakening, especially with what will be a big spotlight on him to go with the sizeable contract he signs.

Alec Martinez – In 2020-21 Martinez essentially duplicated his cumulative offensive output from 2018-19 and 2019-20, all while playing tough minutes and blocking every shot that came in his direction. With him turning 34 two days before the UFA period begins and a no track record of this level of success, he might get a contract that will far exceed his fantasy value.

Petr Mrazek – Although Mrazek had a GAA under 2.40 in two of his three seasons in Carolina, he also had barely a 50% Quality Start Percentage. At 29, and yet to put together a truly great season, he probably won't be signed to be a true #1, although he probably will get a chance to play as much as he did in Carolina, perhaps more if somehow has a late career breakout.

Alex Ovechkin – While not the unparalleled talent he once was, Ovi yet again posted a 40+ goal pace in 2020-21. Still, with a season where he had his lowest SOG rate since 2016-17 and no longer the PP weapon he once was, he stands a chance of disappointing versus what will still be lofty expectations even though he turns 36 before the puck drops on 2021-22.

Kyle Palmieri – The forward who had a scoring rate between 54 and 57 for an amazing five straight seasons saw his production crater to not even a point per every other game just as he was hitting unrestricted free agency. As with Landy, having learned lessons about players of his style breaking down when they hit 30, which is now old Palmieri turned this season, teams likely will exercise restraint in terms of dollars and term when it comes to signing him.

Tuukka Rask – On the surface, Rask's 2020-21 stats seem decent, but a closer look reveals this was the first time he'd failed to average two Quality Starts per three games while also averaging one Really Bad Start every five contests. At the age of 34, plus being used to starting fewer games of late, Rask might be on the verge of seeing his numbers enter a period of continual decline. On the flip side, when pushed back into more service he could show he's still the Rask of old.

Jaden Schwartz – The poster boy for good season followed by bad season unfortunately for him lined up to have a bad one just as he's hitting unrestricted free agency. Still, he's only 29 and has shown the ability to be a solid top six option who can produce on the PP. On the right team he could thrive.

Paul Stastny – After barely managing a point per every other game despite spending most of the season in the Winnipeg top six and on PP1, Stastny, who turns 36 this season, looks like he's no longer a threat to produce the kind of numbers he did in 2018-19, which is the only season of his last five where he's scored at a pace above 53.

Tomas Tatar – Will teams be seduced by Tatar's 74-point scoring pace from 2019-20, and even his 59-point pace from 2018-19? Or will they focus instead on his 49-point pace from 2020-21 and the fact he turns 31 during the upcoming season. With many teams using a "glass half full" view of UFAs, chances are Tatar will get a nice payday. Whether he produces in line with what he's paid, only time will tell.

Linus Ullmark – On the plus side, Ullmark has seen his GAA shrink and SV% rise in each of the past two seasons. However, in doing so he also saw his games played total decrease. Will teams see him as a talented goalie trapped in a bad system and capable of being "the guy," or instead will they view him as at best a 1B? At 28 he's young enough to still improve, so chances are if he signs for not a lot of money he should be able to perform in accordance with his worth, if not even better.

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So, are you up to the task of participating in this poll, requiring you to assess not one but two unknowns, namely a player's future performance plus how much he'll be paid as a UFA? If you want your voice to be heard, you need to vote for the five (no more, no less) of these 20 players who you believe will be the biggest fantasy UFA busts in view of pay and performance. To cast your votes, click here.

Scheduling Note, and Questions for Mailbag column Because it's the first day of free agency, there will be no Roos Lets Loose column next week. But on August 4th will be my monthly mailbag, which has room for another question or two. To get yours to me, you can either private message “rizzeedizzee” via the DobberHockey Forums, or instead, send an email to [email protected] with “Roos Mailbag” as the subject line.