The Fantasy Prospects Report was updated Monday, with notes in the Draftees section stating when they were drafted and by which team – and then handy links to and from that team's section. As well as any prospects who weren't given qualifying offers (and thus became UFA's).

News and Re-Signings of the day (updated through Wednesday afternoon)

Robert Thomas signed an eight-year, $65M contract with the Blues.

Kevin Rooney to Calgary for two years.

Curtis Lazar to Vancouver for three years

Columbus has signed both of their newly-drafted, highly-touted prospect defensemen to their entry-level deals: David Jiricek and Denton Mateychuk

Brendan Smith to New Jersey for two years.

Ian Cole to Tampa for one year.

Buffalo re-signs Victor Olofsson for two years.

Colorado re-signed both Darren Helm (one year) and Josh Manson (four years)

My buddy Vinnie Hinostroza gets a big raise to stay in Buffalo, he's up to $1.7M now.

Alex Edler stays in Los Angeles for another year.

Malcolm Subban signs in Buffalo for a year, but it's a two-way deal as you would expect.

This one is notable – Pierre-Olivier Joseph has re-signed with the Pens and he agreed a two-way deal. This probably would have been a one-way deal were they not able to keep Kris Letang.

Evander Kane remains an Oiler for another four years.

And of course – Evgeni Malkin takes the (to me a massive) hometown discount to stay in Pittsburgh for another four years. This was shocked me, as I thought he was done.

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Welcome to Free Agent Frenzy!

There will be tons of articles today covering each signing that is fantasy relevant. Ian and myself will break it all down from a fantasy perspective. Here are the interesting players who shouldn't be unrestricted free agents right now – yet they are because their teams did not give them a qualifying offer:

ANA – Sam Steel, Sonny Milano

CHI – Dominik Kubalik, Dylan Strome

DET – Olli Juolevi

LAK – Brendan Lemieux, Vladimir Tkachev

MTL – Rem Pitlick, Kale Clague

NSH – David Farrance

OTT – Victor Mete

PIT – Danton Heinen

SEA – Ryan Donato, Daniel Sprong

SJS – Jonathan Dahlen

VAN – Matthew Highmore

VGK – Jack Dugan

WSH – Ilya Samsonov

WPG – Evgeni Svechnikov

Keep in mind – the same team that didn't qualify them, can turn around and sign them anyway. It happens quite often, usually resulting in the team saving several hundred thousand dollars.

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Quick Thoughts

In all, 97 players weren't qualified. I'm not sure what the numbers were historically, but it seems higher than usual this year.

Chicago continues their blowout sale. Key players Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach, Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik have been jettisoned and zero roster players were brought back. They don't have any prospect forwards who are ready to make the jump, other than Mike Hardman who is probably a depth guy. Lukas Reichel could use a full season in the AHL yet, or at least most of one. He's close, but let's not ruin him by bringing him into this situation.

If I'm Toronto or Edmonton I go after Samsonov with everything I can spare. If you can secure him, and he pans out, then you have your main problem solved for the long term. These are two good teams and they each can afford a goalie who struggles for a while if it means this kind of upside. Both teams have veterans in place to be starters, so Samsonov can be brought along slowly.

I have a feeling Anaheim signs Milano anyway. And they save a good $1M in cap space thanks to not giving him the qualifying offer.

Tkachev picked the worst team to sign with last year. I know I keep saying this, but it really was a terrible decision. I assume he's going to Russia, but if not – a team that is thin up front could do worse than give him a look.

Poor Pitlick. The guy produces at a 46-point rate in his rookie season, gets 37 points, and still gets let go by this – his third team (already!). However, his relative possession numbers were horrible and it comes down to a team needing to be able to depend on the player at both ends.

Kubalik makes for a great option. Yes, he's coming off a terrible season and has declining shot numbers (both volume and scoring rate), but he still loves to shoot the puck and on a new team he would shoot at a 2.5/game rate. Teams that have a great setup man in need of a winger – here is a cheap option. He is also entering his Breakout Threshold, having played 202 career NHL games.

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The Flyers not qualifying Matthew Strome means that all three brothers (Dylan, Ryan) will be unrestricted free agents Wednesday.

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) July 11, 2022

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You can find out about all the key prospects via our Fantasy Prospects Report. Be sure to grab it. Since you're getting the Fantasy Guide anyway, just buy the Keeper League Fantasy Pack and the Prospects Report then costs you just an extra six bucks.

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See you next Monday.

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