With the salary cap rising this offseason, this season's free agency period seemed more understated and even anticlimactic. With more cap room, more teams were able to re-sign their pending unrestricted free agents (nice bit of work, Florida) or they were able to take care of their business before the starting bell (Vegas and Mitch Marner). As for the significant free agent signings that were, you can follow along on our Fantasy Take – Latest NHL Moves page.

I didn't find any significant news items on Friday, other than maybe Christian Fischer retiring and onetime Dobber favorite Alex Barre-Boulet signing a two-way contract with Colorado. It seems like the dog days of summer are upon as, as news items to discuss will now be few and far between. To follow the most recent player news, you can check out the Frozen Tools NHL Player News feed.

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Just as I did last season, let's examine the potential fantasy value of the free agents that are remaining. Many teams still have plenty of available cap space, so at least some of these players should find a home soon.

Feel free to debate the categories I placed these players in. They are more blink of an eye choices as opposed to heavy analysis. In terms of fantasy value, these are players that you might add from the waiver wire at some point instead of drafting universally.

Players who could be fantasy relevant if signed: Jack Roslovic, Matt Grzelcyk, Victor Olofsson, Ilya Samsonov, Nikolai Kovalenko, Max Pacioretty

Roslovic was in the same spot last year as a post-July 1 signing. Scoring at a 40-50-point pace, he could be described as a weak C2 or a strong C3. A team would be more assured slotting him in as a C3, since he can run very hot and cold. Roslovic started the 2024-25 season hot with nine goals in his first 12 games, yet he was colder than the month of January with a 12-game point drought that month. Carolina even made him a healthy scratch for a few playoff games.

Grzelcyk registered his first 40-point season in 2024-25 after the Penguins unexpectedly used him on the top power play at times over the more established Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang. In fact, Grzelcyk ended up with the same number of power-play points as Karlsson (15 PPP) and more than Letang (12 PPP).

Vegas is too capped out to bring back Olofsson, but it's worth mentioning that he scored six power-play goals in just 56 games with the Golden Knights this past season. A three-time 20-goal scorer, Olofsson has also scored at least seven power-play goals four times in his career. He has also averaged over two shots per game in his career.

Speaking of the Golden Knights, it looks like they might be going with Akira Schmid as the backup to Adin Hill (although another option appears tongue-in-cheek later). Samsonov said he would test free agency and not re-sign with Vegas, but so far, he has not been able to find a new team. At this point, Samsonov is about a league-average goalie who could comfortably be a team's backup or fill-in starter. Samsonov's situation could begin to resemble that of Kevin Lankinen, who signed a one-year contract on September 21 after the Canucks discovered that Thatcher Demko would not be ready to start the season.

Only 25 years of age, Kovalenko just completed his first full NHL season after debuting in the 2023-24 playoffs for Colorado. Surprisingly, San Jose didn't submit a qualifying offer for Kovalenko just before free agency, even though he was a key part of the Sharks' return in the Mackenzie Blackwood trade. There are rumors that he is considering a return to the KHL next season, which is something to keep an eye on.

Pacioretty's 2024-25 regular season wasn't particularly notable with just 13 points in 37 games. However, I might be rating him in this category due to the recency factor. Pacioretty stepped up his play in the playoffs with eight points in 11 games. He was particularly productive when playing on a line with John Tavares and William Nylander. Remember that Patches came to 2024 Leafs camp on a PTO, so ultimately that might be what he is looking at this season. Injuries would also have to be accounted for.

Players that can probably be ignored if signed: Jeff Skinner, Joel Kiviranta, Robby Fabbri, Kevin Labanc, Luke Kunin, Daniel Sprong, many others

Is this the end of the road for Skinner? The former Sabre has sunk from 82 points in 2022-23 to 46 points in 2023-24 to just 29 points this past season. In other words, the one-year, $3 million "prove it" contract following the Buffalo buyout didn't work out in Skinner's favor. He may not have been used on one of the ideal forward lines as much as hoped, but he didn't exactly capitalize on his opportunities with McDavid or Draisaitl either.

Fabbri can play in a team's top 6, as nearly half of his even-strength minutes in 2024-25 were with Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier. Until that season, he had consistently produced at a 40-to-50-point pace. However, he is a Band-Aid Boy in the true sense of the word with multiple injuries, and he might not have as much left in terms of skating because of that.

Remember when we discussed whether Labanc could take the next step to fantasy stardom? This is just a reminder that it doesn't happen for every player. Since a 56-point season with the Sharks in 2018-19, Labanc has failed to crack 35 points in a season. Following a successful PTO with the Devils where he scored six goals in four preseason games, Labanc signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jackets for 2024-25. Unfortunately, he couldn't replicate that success with just two goals in 34 games.  

The ship has probably sailed with Sprong, whose defensive shortcomings are simply too much for NHL coaches to handle. Coming off back-to-back seasons with 40+ points while averaging only 11-12 minutes per game, Sprong played 30 games split between three different teams in 2024-25, registering just two goals and five assists.

Wild cards: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marc-Andre Fleury

So much for the three years remaining on his KHL contract, as Kuznetsov is reportedly trying to return to the NHL for the 2025-26 season. In his one season with SKA St. Petersburg, Kuznetsov finished with 37 points in 39 games. His last NHL season didn't end well with just 24 points in 63 games split between Washington and Carolina. Selke jokes aside, a team that believes it can surround him with structure and more defensive-minded forwards might throw a one-year contract his way. Then who knows. Maybe you hold your breath and click the Add button on him at some point during the season on a Sunday when you're truly desperate.

Kuznetsov is so eager to rejoin the NHL that he's willing to be a team's EBUG if he has to.

I know Fleury has announced his retirement, but I'll just put this out there:

Who do you think those teams are?

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