Happy Canada Day, and happy free agent frenzy day! The day leading up to free agency had plenty of news items to discuss, including buyouts, signings, and qualifying offers.

The large-scale changes continue in Winnipeg. Following the trade of Pierre-Luc Dubois to Los Angeles, the Jets have placed Blake Wheeler on waivers with the intent of buying out the final year of his contract. Wheeler and his $8.25 million cap hit seemed untradable (even with salary retention), so a buyout makes sense here. Now we wait to find out if Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck are moved this offseason.

Wheeler has played in Winnipeg for the past 12 seasons, and he was the last remaining Atlanta Thrasher in Winnipeg. The former Jets captain had maintained consistency in the 0.9-1.15 PTS/GP pace for seven seasons until 2021-22, but his production had fallen off to 0.76 PTS/GP (55 PTS in 72 GP) in 2022-23. A decreased shot total (126 SOG, 1.8 SOG/GP) was a factor, as was decreased power-play usage (48.6 PP%). He will be turning 37 just before the season starts, so age-related decline could be in effect. He's no longer a player that should be rostered in all fantasy leagues, but he should still have something to provide in mid-sized to deeper leagues.

According to Darren Dreger, the Dallas Stars are one team that is reportedly interested in signing Wheeler, probably for quite a bit less. Elliotte Friedman has reported that Wheeler's agent has stated that he would prefer the Eastern Conference. I would imagine that any Wheeler signing is not announced right on July 1 due to the waiver process, although teams seem to work as quickly on July 1 as Santa Claus does on the night of December 24.

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Matt Duchene's buyout was definitely more surprising than Wheeler's, although I haven't been a huge fan of the contract since the day it was signed. Duchene had three years remaining with an $8 million cap hit, which seemed rather expensive given Duchene's production for much of his time in Nashville. The Predators have been committed to shedding salary since the trade deadline, so this move seems par for the course.

Duchene had been wildly inconsistent during his four seasons in Nashville, with a 0.38 PTS/GP season (13 PTS in 34 GP) in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season followed by an outlier 1.10 PTS/GP campaign (career-high 86 PTS in 78 GP) in 2021-22. His 56 points in 71 games in 2022-23 was more reflective of what we should expect from him going forward. Expect him to sign somewhere as a second-line center, which should help him maintain good but not great fantasy value in the coming season.

With Ryan Johansen and now Duchene out of Nashville, I'm even more committed to Tommy Novak as a potential sleeper in drafts this fall – free agent signings notwithstanding, of course. With Johansen and eventually Duchene out for the season, Novak scored 32 points over his last 30 games to finish the season.

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A day after being acquired from the Oilers, Kailer Yamamoto has been added to the buyout list by the Red Wings. Yamamoto had two more seasons remaining at a $3.1 million cap hit. The Red Wings have a considerable amount of cap space to play with this offseason, so I expect them to be major players in free agency. They also seem like favorites to acquire Alex DeBrincat from Ottawa.

After recording a point-per-game pace over a small sample (26 PTS in 27 GP) in 2019-20, Yamamoto appeared to be on his way toward hitting some huge point totals. However, he has finished with a sub-0.5 PTS/GP pace over each of the last three seasons. Yamamoto should be a potential value signing somewhere, although the fact that he couldn't quite make it work with the Oilers' major weapons over the past few seasons is cause for concern.

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Mike Reilly also received the buyout treatment on Friday. He was set to earn $3 million from the Bruins in 2023-24, the final year of his contract. He was held to just a single assist in 10 games last season. The 29-year-old defenseman will try to land somewhere this offseason, perhaps at a league-minimum contract.  

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Adin Hill has leveraged his playoff success into an extension with the Vegas Golden Knights, signing a two-year contract with a cap hit of $4.9 million. Hill played in just 27 regular-season games with the Golden Knights, but he made a name for himself in the playoffs, posting an 11-2-2 record with a 2.17 GAA and .932 SV% in backstopping the Knights to a Stanley Cup.

With Laurent Brossoit and Jonathan Quick (rumored to be signing with the Rangers) set to hit the open market and Robin Lehner's status unknown, Vegas appears to be rolling with a tandem of Hill and Logan Thompson next season. Thompson was making a strong case for the Calder Trophy before being sidelined with a lower-body injury late in the regular season. However, Hill now has both the contract and the Cup, so he should be at minimum the slight favorite to earn the majority of the starts.

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A day after trading for his UFA rights, the Blackhawks made Corey Perry's signing official, which was an offer he couldn't refuse: one year, $4 million. In signing 35+ veterans Perry and Nick Foligno to identical contracts, the Hawks are hardly being efficient in their attempt to reach the cap floor. In other words, they're committing to another season of full tank mode. That's too bad for Connor Bedard. Although the first overall pick should be a strong favorite (THE favorite?) for the Calder Trophy, Bedard's true potential for the 2023-24 season may be limited. We'll have to wait and see what happens during free agency, though.

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Jesper Fast will be returning to Carolina and not hitting UFA. According to multiple reports, he will receive a two-year contract with a $2.4 million AAV. Fast finished with 29 points in 80 games last season, which places him on the outside looking in for most fantasy leagues. However, he has proven to be a reliable depth option for the Hurricanes, mainly skating on a line with Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook last season.

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Mattias Janmark has signed a one-year, $1 million extension with the Oilers. Janmark has recorded between 20 and 30 points in each of the last five seasons, so at least he's consistent. Janmark should provide bottom-6 depth at the forward position for the Oilers.

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Teams also needed to submit all of their qualifying offers by Friday. Some of the most notable players not receiving a QO include the following:

Jesse Puljujarvi

Denis Gurianov

Mackenzie Blackwood

Ethan Bear

Maxime Comtois

Tyson Jost

Anders Bjork

Travis Dermott

Morgan Geekie

Caleb Jones

Nolan Patrick

Colin White

Kieffer Bellows

Austin Wagner

Christian Fischer

Michael McLeod

Daniel Sprong

Sam Steel

Klim Kostin

All of these players and more are set to become unrestricted free agents, although they could still sign with their existing teams. For the full list, go to this page on CapFriendly.

Sometimes it's more nuanced than the team simply didn't like the player. It's about the amount of the qualifying offer and the injury status of the player. For example, I think the Canucks would have qualified Bear had he not been injured at the World Championship. He would have needed a qualifying offer of $2.2 million, which isn't easy for the cap-tight Canucks to pay for a defenseman who is expected to be out until December due to shoulder surgery.

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I'll take a stab at predicting where the top unrestricted free agents will end up tomorrow. Hopefully I do better at this than I did at picking the draft order (does predicting that Connor Bedard would be drafted by Chicago count as a sizzling take?) A total of 21 players are listed below, so if I get one right, that's good… and two right that's really good? I don't have any insider information, in case I get lucky. Some of these are based on what is out there in the rumor mill, while others are crazy hunches. I've done my best to make the cap hits work, although that aspect is probably not perfect either.

Dmitry Orlov – Detroit

Frederik Andersen – Carolina

Max Domi – Chicago

Tristan Jarry – Pittsburgh

Ryan O'Reilly – Detroit

Ryan Graves – Seattle

Tyler Bertuzzi – Boston

Joonas Korpisalo – Chicago

Alex Killorn – NY Islanders

J.T. Compher – Anaheim

Vladimir Tarasenko – Chicago

Michael Bunting – Nashville

Patrick Kane – NY Rangers

Radko Gudas – Philadelphia

Shayne Gostisbehere – Florida

John Klingberg – Carolina

Max Pacioretty – Colorado

Blake Wheeler – Dallas

Matt Duchene – Montreal

Matt Dumba – Buffalo

Jason Zucker – Arizona

Don't forget to check out the site tomorrow, as we break down the key signings from a fantasy perspective. Of course, if you have Canada Day activities planned or are just busy, you can always come back later. We'll be here.

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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.