After several offseasons where it felt as though the UFA pool was quite shallow, from where I sit there is no shortage of likely impact players set to hit this summer's market as unrestricted free agents. Although some will play well enough to justify their price tags, history has shown several will prove to be major disappointments. Who might they be? Let's have your votes decide!

What follows are arguably the 20 highest profile UFAs to be, with apologies to the likes of Max Domi, Ondrej Palat, and Ryan Strome, among others, who didn't quite make the cut. Your task is to select the five you believe will be the biggest disappointments versus expectations over the course of their entire contract. That last part is the key, as some could outperform the others by quite a lot yet still be rightfully perceived as a bigger disappointment if expectations for them were that much higher. In other words, it's all relative. Plus, we're not just talking about how well they do in 2022-23, but rather their performance over the course of their entire contract.

Also, it doesn't matter if some of these guys end up re-signing with their current teams before July 13th; if they're unrestricted free agents as of today, then they're considered UFAs for purposes of this poll. Of course, it would be easier to wait until free agency has played out to make these assessments, especially to see where everyone lands; but with some fantasy teams looking to make offseason trades or, in certain cases, keeper decisions, before free agency begins on July 13th, I felt now was a good time for a poll like this.

*Editor's Note: Joe Pavelski was included at the time of the author writing, though he was already re-signed. He's a higher profile player and worth considering here anyways as he comes off a career high in points. Bryan Rust re-signed as well after the article was submitted for editing. *

Here, then, are your 20 voting choices, in alphabetical order. Remember that you're picking the five who'll turn out to be the biggest disappointments versus expectations over the course of their entire contract. The link to cast your votes will be at the end of the column.

Patrice Bergeron – With Bergeron almost assured to re-up with the Bruins if he doesn't opt to retire, and his scoring rate almost exactly the same the past three seasons, conventional wisdom suggests he'll do just as well in 2022-23. But perhaps this is the where he slips down another notch, as not only would he be 37 when the season starts but his legs have more miles on them due to the two regular-season's worth of games he's logged in his playoff career.

Andre Burakovsky – No question Burakovsky would have a more prominent role on a new team. The question is if he goes elsewhere whether he can step up to be a top performer with the spotlight shining more squarely on him, as he's never been in that type of position in his career.

Jack Campbell – A glorified journeyman until suddenly starting to connect the dots in 2020-21, it looked as if Campbell was on his way to a huge payday after the first few weeks of 2021-22. But then he came back down to earth, which, along with his lack of prior success, and failure to help pilot the Leafs to a first round playoff win, might make a team more hesitant to hand the keys to the kingdom to him, resulting in some reduced expectations.

Andrew Copp – Amazingly, 2021-22 marked the sixth season in a row where Copp's scoring pace rose (note: more on season scoring streaks in next month's poll). He's more than doubled his SOG per game output from just three seasons ago. All seems to be in place for Copp to excel in a top-six role on a new team, especially when most won't expect much more from him than what he's already done.

Marc-Andre Fleury – Yes, I realize there's a chance that like Bergeron he retires; but comments made toward the end of the season suggest Fleury is leaning toward continuing his career. The line of suitors for his services should be longer than it was last summer, but with that, and his career track record, will come lofty expectations.

Filip Forsberg – Always projected to be a top performer, Forsberg waited until this season to truly deliver, blowing away his prior career best scoring rate. The timing is concerning, as is that he still missed his usual assortment of games. With a fat contract in his pocket it's not clear if he'll put forth the same effort as we just saw, even amid what will be major expectations.

Johnny Gaudreau – The top UFA prize, Gaudreau will likely be torn between staying on the team and line where he resurrected his career, versus taking a huge payday to return to his roots with either New Jersey or Philly. If he goes the latter route, it's not clear if he'll be able to come close to matching what he did in 2022-23 despite people expecting that from him.

Claude Giroux – Will Giroux return to the Flyers, to play out his career in familiar confines? If so, expectations likely will be lower. But if Giroux goes to another squad, and after how well he did on the Panthers, much will be expected of him. The question is will the 34-year-old be able to deliver, as despite his reputation he's had just two point-per-game seasons in his last eight.

Nazem Kadri – If the UFA disappointment volume is on high for Forsberg, it's blaring for Kadri, who never produced anywhere close to how he did in 2021-22. Is it possible he's just coming into his own a bit later? Yes; but more likely is the explanation that between a UFA push and being sheltered by defenses keying in on Nathan MacKinnon, Kadri is a let-down waiting to happen.

Phil Kessel – For his last UFA deal Kessel took the decent money, low expectations option of playing in the desert. Is it time now for him to latch onto a team that could give him hopes of hoisting another Cup? Either way, Kessel could be a pleasant surprise amid not so high expectations.

John Klingberg – Far and away the prized defenseman on the open market, Klingberg will have a long list of suitors and, in turn, should land a hefty deal. But whatever team he selects, they'll undoubtedly want him to be among the top echelon when it comes to blueline offense, so arguably his expectations might be unfairly higher than for the majority of players on this list.

Darcy Kuemper – Was Keumper's very solid 2020-21 a by-product of playing for a spectacular Avs team, or is he the goalie who, in 2018-19 and 2019-20, started to make a case to be a tier one netminder? A lot will depend on where he lands, as at 32 he's likely peaked and could disappoint.

Nick Leddy – Due to a thin UFA market for top four rearguards, both the resulting contract and expectations for Leddy might be higher than one would think. That might make it difficult on the now 31-year-old considering his scoring pace has been above 29 in only one of the past four seasons, although in fairness those were spent playing on the Islanders and Red Wings.

Kris Letang – the first of – spoiler alert – four Pens on the list, it's difficult to envision Letang signing with another team after a lengthy career with Pittsburgh. What isn't as tough to see happening though is a return to Letang's old ways of getting hurt, as his run of three seasons of good health were curiously timed with his impending UFA status.

Evgeni Malkin – Before you say there's no way that Malkin goes elsewhere, remember Mike Modano, Daniel Alfredsson and most recently, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski (more on him next). Either way, Malkin seemed to hit his stride in 2021-22 after a long absence. The question is whether all those missed games will serve to help keep him fresh or instead leave him even more vulnerable to injury in 2022-23.

Joe Pavelski – After finding success over the past two seasons, chances are Pavelski and Dallas both want to see more of the same. Still, with Pavelski defying father time on a daily basis, one has to wonder if we're headed for what we saw in his first season on Dallas, where he was a major disappointment.

David Perron – Reborn after going to Vegas a few seasons ago, Perron struggled for the early portion of 2021-22 but then finished with 36 points in his last 38 games. At his age, and having already won a Cup, Perron might opt to go where he gets the best deal; but wherever that is, he likely will have pretty decent expectations given how he's played in his 30s.

Rickard Rakell – Still just 29, it's difficult to say whether Rakell's talent has faded or, instead, he was a victim of the poor teams around him over the past few seasons. He got his chances with the Pens, but managed to hit the scoresheet in only six of 19 games, although totaling 13 points. He's a wild card, but likely one who won't have major expectations to meet.

Bryan Rust – Rust took less to "keep the band together" in Pittsburgh, although the new deal he inked is still for a good chunk of change, bringing with it expectations which Rust might not be able to match alongside an aging core in Pittsburgh.

Vincent Trocheck – Every time poolies count out Trocheck, he comes back to life, with 2020-21 being the latest case in point. If he does go elsewhere, most likely he won't be stuck as a defensive-focused center, giving him a chance to pad his numbers.

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There you have it – 20 of the arguably highest profile players on expiring UFA contracts this summer. It's up to you to land on the five you believe will disappoint the most versus whatever expectations might accompany them, meaning it's a relative assessment. Click here to cast your votes.

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Questions for Mailbag Column

Next week's mailbag still has room for a couple more questions. To get yours to me, private message "rizzeedizzee" via the DobberHockey Forums or email [email protected] with "Roos Mailbag" as the subject line.