Free Agency 2024: Salary Projections for the Top-100 Free Agents
Alexander MacLean
2024-05-13
With the draft lottery in the recent past now, the world championships underway, and the NHL playoffs not even half over, there aren't many eyes already turned to July first. However, as I always do in the spring, I have my final list of projected annual cap hits for each of the top-100 free agents.
After Gustav Forsling re-signed with the Panthers, it left them with a decision on what to do with Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour once their playoffs are finished. These are two of the top free agents at their respective positions, and it seems unlikely that they will be able to fit both. Jake Guentzel's number will also be fascinating, and they could all still add to that final contract sum with a Stanley Cup win this year.
On the RFA side, we saw William Nylander's contract set the bar for Elias Pettersson, and now we wait to see which of Lucas Raymond, Thomas Harley, or Seth Jarvis can set the pace behind Moritz Seider, who looks primed to lap the RFA field. The teams that have locked in their RFAs earlier have tended to set themselves up better over the last few years, especially with the cap now set to rise north of $87M.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen popping up right beside Jeremy Swayman was surprising at first, but their regular season numbers were startlingly similar this year, and Buffalo doesn't have another starter making big money next year. This is UPL's chance to cash in while his numbers are good and the competition isn't present yet.
Anyone not on the list below is projected somewhere between the $1.5 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 | Projected Cap Hit |
| 1 | Jake Guentzel | 29 | F | $9,720,000 |
| 2 | Sam Reinhart | 28 | F | $8,810,000 |
| 3 | Moritz Seider | 23 | D | $8,450,000 |
| 4 | Martin Necas | 25 | F | $7,110,000 |
| 5 | Brandon Montour | 30 | D | $6,850,000 |
| 6 | Lucas Raymond | 22 | F | $6,190,000 |
| 7 | Filip Hronek | 26 | D | $6,050,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Harley | 22 | D | $5,870,000 |
| 9 | Jeremy Swayman | 25 | G | $5,830,000 |
| 10 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 25 | G | $5,760,000 |
| 11 | Seth Jarvis | 22 | F | $5,650,000 |
| 12 | Vladimir Tarasenko | 32 | F | $5,640,000 |
| 13 | Chandler Stephenson | 30 | F | $5,560,000 |
| 14 | Brady Skjei | 30 | D | $5,500,000 |
| 15 | Steven Stamkos | 34 | F | $5,130,000 |
| 16 | Elias Lindholm | 29 | F | $5,070,000 |
| 17 | Tyler Bertuzzi | 29 | F | $4,830,000 |
| 18 | Sean Walker | 29 | D | $4,560,000 |
| 19 | Casey Mittelstadt | 25 | F | $4,480,000 |
| 20 | Quinton Byfield | 21 | F | $4,480,000 |
| 21 | Anthony Mantha | 29 | F | $4,480,000 |
| 22 | Jonathan Marchessault | 33 | F | $4,380,000 |
| 23 | Cole Perfetti | 22 | F | $4,350,000 |
| 24 | Shayne Gostisbehere | 31 | D | $4,310,000 |
| 25 | Ilya Samsonov | 27 | G | $4,310,000 |
| 26 | Sean Monahan | 29 | F | $4,260,000 |
| 27 | Cam Talbot | 36 | G | $4,250,000 |
| 28 | Matty Beniers | 21 | F | $4,090,000 |
| 29 | Matt Duchene | 33 | F | $4,040,000 |
| 30 | Dylan DeMelo | 31 | D | $4,010,000 |
| 31 | Teuvo Teravainen | 29 | F | $3,970,000 |
| 32 | Nikita Zadorov | 29 | D | $3,900,000 |
| 33 | Anton Lundell | 22 | F | $3,880,000 |
| 34 | Kirill Marchenko | 23 | F | $3,790,000 |
| 35 | Connor McMichael | 23 | F | $3,750,000 |
| 36 | Max Domi | 29 | F | $3,730,000 |
| 37 | Jordan Spence | 23 | D | $3,670,000 |
| 38 | Jake DeBrusk | 27 | F | $3,660,000 |
| 39 | Joe Pavelski | 39 | F | $3,590,000 |
| 40 | Adam Henrique | 34 | F | $3,550,000 |
| 41 | Ryan Lindgren | 26 | D | $3,480,000 |
| 42 | Tyler Toffoli | 32 | F | $3,410,000 |
| 43 | Timothy Liljegren | 25 | D | $3,310,000 |
| 44 | Patrick Kane | 35 | F | $3,270,000 |
| 45 | Sean Durzi | 25 | D | $3,240,000 |
| 46 | Chris Tanev | 34 | D | $3,130,000 |
| 47 | Alexander Barabanov | 29 | F | $2,990,000 |
| 48 | Shane Pinto | 23 | F | $2,950,000 |
| 49 | Eeli Tolvanen | 25 | F | $2,940,000 |
| 50 | Anthony Duclair | 28 | F | $2,890,000 |
| 51 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 32 | D | $2,820,000 |
| 52 | Jake Bean | 25 | D | $2,750,000 |
| 53 | Jack Roslovic | 27 | F | $2,680,000 |
| 54 | Bobby Brink | 22 | F | $2,650,000 |
| 55 | Jonathan Drouin | 29 | F | $2,540,000 |
| 56 | Max Pacioretty | 35 | F | $2,470,000 |
| 57 | Warren Foegele | 28 | F | $2,430,000 |
| 58 | Viktor Arvidsson | 31 | F | $2,400,000 |
| 59 | Scott Perunovich | 25 | D | $2,400,000 |
| 60 | Kaapo Kakko | 23 | F | $2,400,000 |
| 61 | Barrett Hayton | 23 | F | $2,370,000 |
| 62 | Dakota Joshua | 27 | F | $2,360,000 |
| 63 | Drew O’Connor | 25 | F | $2,330,000 |
| 64 | Kevin Lankinen | 29 | G | $2,300,000 |
| 65 | Alex Nedeljkovic | 28 | G | $2,270,000 |
| 66 | Anthony Stolarz | 30 | G | $2,230,000 |
| 67 | Oliver Kylington | 26 | D | $2,190,000 |
| 68 | Matt Dumba | 29 | D | $2,190,000 |
| 69 | Jason Zucker | 32 | F | $2,180,000 |
| 70 | James van Riemsdyk | 35 | F | $2,170,000 |
| 71 | Daniel Sprong | 27 | F | $2,140,000 |
| 72 | Luke Kunin | 26 | F | $2,130,000 |
| 73 | David Perron | 35 | F | $2,120,000 |
| 74 | Dawson Mercer | 22 | F | $2,120,000 |
| 75 | Thomas Bordeleau | 22 | F | $2,090,000 |
| 76 | Pavel Dorofeyev | 23 | F | $2,080,000 |
| 77 | Laurent Brossoit | 31 | G | $2,060,000 |
| 78 | Isac Lundestrom | 24 | F | $2,050,000 |
| 79 | Matt Roy | 29 | D | $2,000,000 |
| 80 | Henry Thrun | 23 | D | $1,850,000 |
| 81 | Brett Pesce | 29 | D | $1,820,000 |
| 82 | Cole Sillinger | 20 | F | $1,790,000 |
| 83 | Arber Xhekaj | 23 | D | $1,770,000 |
| 84 | Nils Lundkvist | 23 | D | $1,750,000 |
| 85 | David Rittich | 31 | G | $1,730,000 |
| 86 | Sam Lafferty | 29 | F | $1,670,000 |
| 87 | Scott Wedgewood | 31 | G | $1,660,000 |
| 88 | Victor Olofsson | 28 | F | $1,650,000 |
| 89 | Yegor Chinakhov | 23 | F | $1,650,000 |
| 90 | Alexandre Texier | 24 | F | $1,630,000 |
| 91 | Colin Blackwell | 31 | F | $1,630,000 |
| 92 | Erik Brannstrom | 24 | D | $1,620,000 |
| 93 | Joe Veleno | 24 | F | $1,610,000 |
| 94 | Stefan Noesen | 31 | F | $1,600,000 |
| 95 | Henri Jokiharju | 24 | D | $1,600,000 |
| 96 | Tyler Myers | 34 | D | $1,580,000 |
| 97 | Casey DeSmith | 32 | G | $1,580,000 |
| 98 | Pierre-Olivier Joseph | 24 | D | $1,570,000 |
| 99 | TJ Brodie | 33 | D | $1,560,000 |
| 100 | Dustin Wolf | 23 | G | $1,530,000 |
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