Free Agency 2024: Salary Projections for the Top-100 Free Agents
Alexander MacLean
2024-01-27
Another calendar year gone, and that means we're closer to the upcoming free agency period than last year's. As always, I have my final list of projected annual cap hits for each of the top-100 free agents.
Out now! The 16th annual Midseason Fantasy Hockey Guide (order it here).
There are a bunch of intriguing RFAs, and some useful UFAs if you know how to use them and don't need them to fill key roles for your team, and this year there seem to be some more exciting options than last year at this point, even taking into account players like Steven Stamkos and Tyler Toffoli who are strong bets to re-sign. We could realistically see Jake Guentzel, Sam Reinhart, Elias Lindholm, Brandon Montour, and Gus Forsling all test the open market. In reality, the Panthers will likely prioritize getting at least one or two of them locked up long-term, but they won't be able to re-sign everyone.
On the RFA side, how much does William Nylander's contract set the bar for Elias Pettersson? Then can he add some money on top of that by carrying the team on a long playoff run? There are plenty of other interesting younger players likely looking for some term, including Quinton Byfield, Owen Tippett, Sean Durzi, and more.
There are always a few goalies available, with the top ones this year (outside of the RFAs) being Cam Talbot and Martin Jones. Both revived their careers this year, and may have earned themselves a bit of a bump on their next contracts before they are phased out by the younger wave.
Regardless of how it plays out, I'm hoping for some fireworks this offseason, and for my cap league, a few veterans like Jordan Eberle and Anthony Mantha to take big prove-it discounts.
Anyone not on the list below is projected somewhere between the $1.9 million mark, and the league-minimum cap hit of $775K next season.
If you note a mistake, or have any further questions about the ranking system, please let me know. You can find me on Twitter here @alexdmaclean. Comments are always appreciated.
| Rank | Name | Age | Pos | Status | Projected Cap Hit |
| 1 | Elias Pettersson | 25 | F | RFA | $12,690,000 |
| 2 | Jake Guentzel | 29 | F | UFA | $9,300,000 |
| 3 | Sam Reinhart | 28 | F | UFA | $9,270,000 |
| 4 | Steven Stamkos | 33 | F | UFA | $8,660,000 |
| 5 | Elias Lindholm | 29 | F | UFA | $7,960,000 |
| 6 | Martin Necas | 25 | F | RFA | $7,090,000 |
| 7 | Quinton Byfield | 21 | F | RFA | $6,980,000 |
| 8 | Brandon Montour | 29 | D | UFA | $6,480,000 |
| 9 | Noah Hanifin | 26 | D | UFA | $5,780,000 |
| 10 | Filip Hronek | 26 | D | RFA | $5,750,000 |
| 11 | Moritz Seider | 22 | D | RFA | $5,710,000 |
| 12 | Jake DeBrusk | 27 | F | UFA | $5,670,000 |
| 13 | Gustav Forsling | 27 | D | UFA | $5,670,000 |
| 14 | Tyler Bertuzzi | 28 | F | UFA | $5,590,000 |
| 15 | Brady Skjei | 29 | D | UFA | $5,570,000 |
| 16 | Ryan Lindgren | 25 | D | RFA | $5,450,000 |
| 17 | Chandler Stephenson | 29 | F | UFA | $5,400,000 |
| 18 | Tyler Toffoli | 31 | F | UFA | $5,380,000 |
| 19 | Casey Mittelstadt | 25 | F | RFA | $5,380,000 |
| 20 | Sean Durzi | 25 | D | RFA | $5,140,000 |
| 21 | Teuvo Teravainen | 29 | F | UFA | $4,980,000 |
| 22 | Matty Beniers | 21 | F | RFA | $4,880,000 |
| 23 | Jeremy Swayman | 25 | G | RFA | $4,820,000 |
| 24 | Dawson Mercer | 22 | F | RFA | $4,780,000 |
| 25 | Dylan DeMelo | 30 | D | UFA | $4,570,000 |
| 26 | Lucas Raymond | 21 | F | RFA | $4,390,000 |
| 27 | Matt Duchene | 33 | F | UFA | $4,320,000 |
| 28 | Brett Pesce | 29 | D | UFA | $4,300,000 |
| 29 | Jonathan Marchessault | 33 | F | UFA | $4,150,000 |
| 30 | Anton Lundell | 22 | F | RFA | $3,900,000 |
| 31 | Victor Olofsson | 28 | F | UFA | $3,880,000 |
| 32 | Kirill Marchenko | 23 | F | RFA | $3,830,000 |
| 33 | Jordan Eberle | 33 | F | UFA | $3,820,000 |
| 34 | Kaapo Kakko | 22 | F | RFA | $3,820,000 |
| 35 | Jason Zucker | 32 | F | UFA | $3,770,000 |
| 36 | Seth Jarvis | 21 | F | RFA | $3,670,000 |
| 37 | Barrett Hayton | 23 | F | RFA | $3,650,000 |
| 38 | Viktor Arvidsson | 30 | F | UFA | $3,640,000 |
| 39 | Vladimir Tarasenko | 32 | F | UFA | $3,590,000 |
| 40 | Max Domi | 28 | F | UFA | $3,560,000 |
| 41 | David Perron | 35 | F | UFA | $3,560,000 |
| 42 | Joe Pavelski | 39 | F | UFA | $3,550,000 |
| 43 | Nikita Zadorov | 28 | D | UFA | $3,510,000 |
| 44 | Alexander Barabanov | 29 | F | UFA | $3,490,000 |
| 45 | Jack Roslovic | 26 | F | UFA | $3,480,000 |
| 46 | Kaiden Guhle | 22 | D | RFA | $3,480,000 |
| 47 | Cam Talbot | 36 | G | UFA | $3,480,000 |
| 48 | Rasmus Sandin | 23 | D | RFA | $3,440,000 |
| 49 | Tyson Barrie | 32 | D | UFA | $3,430,000 |
| 50 | Adam Henrique | 33 | F | UFA | $3,430,000 |
| 51 | Shayne Gostisbehere | 30 | D | UFA | $3,420,000 |
| 52 | Juuso Parssinen | 22 | F | RFA | $3,330,000 |
| 53 | Timothy Liljegren | 24 | D | RFA | $3,290,000 |
| 54 | Sam Lafferty | 28 | F | UFA | $3,270,000 |
| 55 | Dakota Joshua | 27 | F | UFA | $3,260,000 |
| 56 | Blake Lizotte | 26 | F | RFA | $3,240,000 |
| 57 | Erik Gustafsson | 31 | D | UFA | $3,240,000 |
| 58 | Lukas Reichel | 21 | F | RFA | $3,150,000 |
| 59 | Dillon Dube | 25 | F | RFA | $3,110,000 |
| 60 | Tony DeAngelo | 28 | D | UFA | $3,090,000 |
| 61 | Jonathan Drouin | 28 | F | UFA | $3,060,000 |
| 62 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 24 | G | RFA | $2,990,000 |
| 63 | Sean Monahan | 29 | F | UFA | $2,930,000 |
| 64 | Eeli Tolvanen | 24 | F | RFA | $2,920,000 |
| 65 | Sammy Blais | 27 | F | UFA | $2,920,000 |
| 66 | Anthony Mantha | 29 | F | UFA | $2,890,000 |
| 67 | Tommy Novak | 26 | F | UFA | $2,880,000 |
| 68 | Cole Perfetti | 22 | F | RFA | $2,850,000 |
| 69 | Luke Kunin | 26 | F | RFA | $2,790,000 |
| 70 | Matt Roy | 28 | D | UFA | $2,760,000 |
| 71 | Sean Walker | 29 | D | UFA | $2,760,000 |
| 72 | Yakov Trenin | 27 | F | UFA | $2,750,000 |
| 73 | James van Riemsdyk | 34 | F | UFA | $2,700,000 |
| 74 | Henri Jokiharju | 24 | D | RFA | $2,660,000 |
| 75 | Joe Veleno | 24 | F | RFA | $2,640,000 |
| 76 | Matt Dumba | 29 | D | UFA | $2,620,000 |
| 77 | Martin Jones | 34 | G | UFA | $2,610,000 |
| 78 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 32 | D | UFA | $2,570,000 |
| 79 | Chris Tanev | 34 | D | UFA | $2,550,000 |
| 80 | Eetu Luostarinen | 25 | F | RFA | $2,540,000 |
| 81 | Dominik Kubalik | 28 | F | UFA | $2,510,000 |
| 82 | J.J. Moser | 23 | D | RFA | $2,430,000 |
| 83 | Tomas Tatar | 33 | F | UFA | $2,430,000 |
| 84 | Antti Raanta | 34 | G | UFA | $2,420,000 |
| 85 | Blake Wheeler | 37 | F | UFA | $2,410,000 |
| 86 | Kent Johnson | 21 | F | RFA | $2,370,000 |
| 87 | Samuel Ersson | 24 | G | RFA | $2,370,000 |
| 88 | Stefan Noesen | 31 | F | UFA | $2,320,000 |
| 89 | Connor McMichael | 23 | F | RFA | $2,290,000 |
| 90 | Nils Lundkvist | 23 | D | RFA | $2,250,000 |
| 91 | Daniel Sprong | 26 | F | UFA | $2,210,000 |
| 92 | Tyler Motte | 28 | F | UFA | $2,210,000 |
| 93 | Dante Fabbro | 25 | D | RFA | $2,190,000 |
| 94 | Justin Schultz | 33 | D | UFA | $2,190,000 |
| 95 | Taylor Raddysh | 25 | F | RFA | $2,130,000 |
| 96 | Michael Rasmussen | 24 | F | RFA | $2,110,000 |
| 97 | Thomas Harley | 22 | D | RFA | $2,030,000 |
| 98 | Erik Brannstrom | 24 | D | RFA | $2,010,000 |
| 99 | Jordan Spence | 22 | D | RFA | $1,920,000 |
| 100 | Warren Foegele | 27 | F | UFA | $1,900,000 |
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