Welcome back, everyone! With NHL Playoffs right around the corner, we're not too far from NHL free agency beginning.For this week, let's focus on our blueliners that are set to get a pay raise here as we get closer to July 1^st. For this, we're not going to include d-men that already have an extension in place, as that AAV has already been determined.

Darren Raddysh, D, Tampa Bay Lightning, 30 yrs old. Expiring – $970K AAV

The stars really aligned for Darren Raddysh heading into what should be a substantial payday. He not only plays on one of the league's premier power plays—featuring, arguably, the best power‑play forward on the planet in Nikita Kucherov—but he also benefited from extended opportunity this season with Victor Hedman missing time. If you rostered Raddysh this year, you struck gold. That price tag, however, is about to rise.

A couple of months ago, Tampa Bay's GM mentioned he needed to see a "bigger sample size" from Raddysh before determining his next contract. It was an odd comment on the surface, but realistically, what else is a GM supposed to say when pressed? From here, two outcomes feel plausible. The first is Tampa locking him in at something around three years with a $6.5M AAV—well within their reach given a rising cap and roughly $12M in projected space. The second is a team coming out of nowhere, jumping that number by a couple million and adding term. Given Raddysh's season, neither scenario feels far‑fetched.

Raddysh isn't just the top defenseman on the market—he might be the most sought‑after UFA overall, leading all pending free agents in points. With the cap climbing, you'll have some flexibility, but absorbing his hit likely means reallocating funds elsewhere.

Rasmus Andersson, D, Vegas Golden Knights, 29 yrs old. Expiring $2.27M AAV

The will‑he‑or‑won't‑he saga around a Rasmus Andersson trade finally ended in January when he was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights. Now the real question is where his next contract will come from.

Given what Vegas gave up to acquire him, you'd expect Andersson to be a priority to re‑sign. The challenge is that the Golden Knights are heading into the offseason with the least cap space in the NHL. Even so, Andersson has been a strong addition in his first 20 games with the team—shooting nearly 13% and piling up his usual heavy block totals with 29 over that stretch. His next deal could easily double his current salary, and from a fantasy perspective he's absolutely a priority hold.

John Carlson, D, Anaheim Ducks, 36 yrs old. Expiring $8M AAV

If you zoom out from his slower start in Calgary, the picture becomes clearer: once he arrived in Vegas, both his shooting percentage and his points per 60 began to climb. Whether your fantasy roster is dealing with tight cap constraints or has room to maneuver, Andersson is the type of defenseman you keep. He delivers offense, he delivers peripherals, and he delivers consistency from the blue line.

The final year of John Carlson's eight‑year, $8M contract has arrived, though it will not conclude with the team that originally signed him, the Washington Capitals. Regardless, Carlson is headed for a shorter‑term, lower‑AAV deal this summer.

Wherever he lands, Carlson should maintain solid fantasy value at 36–37 years old. His roster rates—hovering around 90% on both Yahoo and Fantrax—show that managers still trust his production. His numbers have dipped slightly of late, but that's tied more to the Ducks' recent struggles than his individual play. Since joining Anaheim, he's posted nine points in 12 games and remains a reliable fantasy contributor.

In deeper salary‑cap formats, the blue line is full of underwhelming options in the $4M AAV range, and in some leagues that number creeps closer to $6M. Carlson, even on a reduced contract, should still offer strong power‑play production and hover around two points per 60 minutes. Given his likely lower AAV and steady output, he remains a worthwhile hold in salary‑cap leagues heading into next season.

*Salary Cap data from PuckPedia.com  

For continued fantasy news and notes, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz.