Top-pair defencemen and No. 1 goalies. Bridge candidates and budding superstars who need to be locked up ASAP.
The 2024 summer class of unsigned restricted free agents offers a little bit of everything, even as September begins.
And while several potential RFAs avoided the drama and uncertainty by signing well before July 1 (Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek) or weeks before training camp (Seth Jarvis, Matty Beniers), the Blues’ double offer sheet of Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg gave us some late-summer fireworks.
As these RFAs look to bank off their platform campaigns and managers wonder how to spend their shrinking cap space, plenty of tense negotiations (or trades?) remain on deck.
The situations in Boston and Detroit are particularly compelling.
Here’s where things stand with the top RFAs of 2024 still looking for a deal with training camp set to open in under two weeks.
1. Jeremy Swayman (Boston)
Age: 25
Position: Goaltender
2023-24 salary cap hit: $3.475 million
Arbitration rights: Yes — but did not file
Bargaining chips: World junior medallist. 2023 William Jennings Trophy co-winner. Career save percentage of .919. Three consecutive 20-win seasons. 2024 All-Star Game representative. Big hugger. Playoff stud.
The latest: Despite sharing the Boston Bruins’ crease with pal Linus Ullmark, Swayman played an integral role in the club’s run to the 2023 Presidents’ Trophy and took over as the team’s go-to goalie in the 2024 post-season.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in early March that Swayman and GM Don Sweeney had begun negotiating his next contract, which should be a biggie now that the goaltender has sparkled during his one-year prove-it pact.
Swayman politely declined comment on the report but did not deny that talks were underway.
The goalie, remember, went through arbitration last summer, where he said he was subjected to “hearing things that a player should never hear” before getting a one-year award.
The inevitable raise for Swayman prompted Boston’s trade of hug buddy Ullmark (locked into a $5 million cap hit) to Ottawa.
The price to keep Swayman happy only jumped with his .933 save percentage in the post-season.
He’s the real deal.
“Something will get done. There’s no question,” Bruins president Cam Neely said Aug. 22 during an appearance on WZLX’s The Rich Shertenlieb Show. “Not every negotiation is as smooth as you’d like it. I know our fan base would certainly love to have something done by now. But I’m fully confident that both sides will come to an agreement before too long here.”
Neely’s comments have fallen in line with Swayman’s own sentiment when it comes to contract talks.
“There’s a lot of confidence,” Swayman said during an August appearance on the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. “And I say that because I’ve treated it like business as usual this year. I’ve been at Warrior, I’ve been working out with our guys, our staff, our players. And I know that there’s something special building in this locker room this year, and I can’t be more excited about that.”
Swayman did not exercise his arbitration rights this time around.
With training camp looming on Sept. 18 and the Bruins down to $8.6 million in cap space, there is pressure to give most of that (or more?) to Swayman on a long-term deal.
WEEI Sports Radio’s Rich Keefe reported on Aug. 26 that Swayman is seeking $10 million per season. That has been met with a raised eyebrow.
“I understand the cap is going up and where it will be in years. I understand my comparables and how I can’t ruin the goalie market for guys that are gonna be in my shoes down the line,” Swayman told the Shut Up Marc Podcast a day later.
“I went to the school of business for the University of Maine, and I love the business side of it all.”
Even as Ryan Whitney reports that the Bruins floated a lowball offer of four years at $6.2 million per season Swayman’s way, the goalie is attending captain’s skates in Boston.
2. Moritz Seider (Detroit)
Age: 23
Position: Defence
2023-24 salary cap hit: $863,333
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Top-six draft pick. 2022 Calder Trophy winner. Silver medallist at the 2023 World Championship. Named to the 2021 and 2023 World Championships all-star team. Six-foot-three, 205-pound right-shot horse with edge. Can run a power play and kill a penalty. Led all Red Wings in ice time (22:22). Capable of 50 points while taking on hard matchups. Only NHLer with 200 blocks and 200 hits this season.
The latest: Seldom do rebuilding clubs mess around trying to nickel-and-dime their young stud defencemen.
Consider how swiftly Ottawa locked up Jake Sanderson with an eight-year, $64.4-million extension. Or how Buffalo gave Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power monster offers they couldn’t refuse to secure their prime seasons.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman should be willing to ink Seider the maximum term of an eight-year extension and make the German his highest-paid defenceman by a mile.
“He battles hard every game,” Yzerman said after the season ended. “He blocks shots, gets hit, makes plays. We’re asking him to do a lot. He’s got the mental toughness to weather it all.
“As our team gets better around him, Mo’s role might change a little bit. He’ll be used a little bit differently, which I think will allow him to display the offensive side of his game.”
How does an AAV around $8.6 million sound?
That would tuck Seider in just below team captain and payroll leader Dylan Larkin ($8.7 million cap hit).
“It’s not a big secret I want to be a Red Wing,” Seider said.
“I’m also confident enough that I could be a good asset for this organization, and that really matters to me. I think then you can talk about numbers, lengths and how long the contract should be, but those two first parts fit well — and they do — then I’m pretty confident we’ve got something done.”
On Aug. 28, Detroit Hockey Now reported that Seider and the Wings are “close” on a new deal.
3. Lucas Raymond (Detroit)
Age: 22
Position: Right wing / Left wing
2023-24 salary cap hit: $925,000
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Fourth-overall pick. World junior star twice over for Sweden. Two-time 20-goal, 57-point forward. His age fits well with Red Wings’ trajectory for improvement. Led Detroit in scoring in 2023-24 (72 points) and played all 82 games.
The latest: While Yzerman keeps his plans under lock and key, the Detroit GM’s previous actions may tell us where things may go with Raymond.
When Yzerman signed stud RFA Alex DeBrincat to a four-year contract averaging $7.875 million per season, he suggested a preference for mid-term commitments instead of longer deal — like, say, the seven-year, $49-million whopper Anaheim gave to RFA Troy Terry last summer.
“You’re starting to see more players, at least this off-season, and I think it might be a trend, signing shorter-term contracts, not necessarily going the full seven, eight years,” Yzerman said.
“I’m not sure I have a hard-set philosophy on contracts. There’s risk in every deal. There’s the short-term risk you lose control of the player. On the back end, the long-term risk is a lot of things can happen that affect a player’s ability to perform on a long-term deal.
“What is my philosophy? I try to make a deal with the player and try to understand what they’re looking for and what’s important to them, but ultimately, I’m comfortable. I like these mid-term deals.”
Something to keep in mind when talks heat up.
“What I do know is that I love this team,” Raymond said. “I love the city, and I want to be here.”
At his pre-draft availability, Yzerman raised eyebrows when discussing the unsigned Seider and Raymond.
“Ultimately, I can’t force anything. They’ll get done in due time,” the GM said. “I prefer to have them done. But to be quite honest, I don’t anticipate that happening at this stage. And we’ll just work around it and make decisions along the way fully aware … that we will try to get them under contract or plan to get them under contract.”
Does Seth Jarvis’s late-August pact with Carolina — $63.2 million over eight years — provide the perfect max-term comparable for Raymond?
4. Thomas Harley (Dallas)
Age: 23
Position: Defence
2023-24 salary cap hit: $863,333
Arbitration rights: No
The latest: The emergence of a slowly groomed Harley has an incredible subplot for the Dallas Stars this season as they sped toward another Western Conference final.
General manager Jim Nill, you’ll recall, bridged his last breakout RFA, Jason Robertson, so he may well do the same with Harley — who only has one full NHL campaign on his resume and lacked the arbitration leverage of Ty Dellandrea (traded to the Sharks) and Sam Steel (re-signed).
Whether it’s this summer or one down the line, Harley is building a sturdy case for a significant windfall.
Nill already has veteran lefties Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell under contract for 2024-25 and supplemented the loss of Ryan Suter and Chris Tanev with Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin. But Harley’s youth and offensive acumen will be needed.
Nill, you may recall, bet big on a young John Klingberg coming out of his entry-level deal in 2015, securing that D-man’s best seasons at a bargain rate.
A theory: Is Harley’s agent, Andy Scott, waiting for Seider to sign his monster deal first so he can make a case for his client to come a shade under Seider’s number?
5. Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg)
Age: 22
Position: Left wing / Centre
2023-24 salary cap hit: $925,000
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: Top-10 draft pick. 2021 World junior silver medallist and world championship gold medallist. High hockey IQ. Creative playmaker. Posted career highs in goals (19) and points (38) in 2024-25.
The latest: Perfetti heads to the negotiating table after a healthy but uneven campaign that saw him thrive for stretches in the Winnipeg Jets’ top six, but he also endured a 23-game goal drought and 11 healthy scratches.
A superstar in junior, the forward admitted to struggling mentally with his inconsistent usage and performance. And as the Jets sped toward the post-season, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff went out and rented a couple more top-six forwards, Tyler Toffoli and Sean Monahan, to eat up meaningful minutes.
Rick Bowness coached to win and trusted his veterans more.
Perhaps, with Monahan and Toffoli walking out the door, Perfetti gets a fresh start under new coach Scott Arniel.
“I think Cole’s a guy that really stands to gain a lot,” Cheveldayoff said at the draft.
Perfetti’s situation appears like a classic bridge-deal case: The team needs to see more, and the player doesn’t want to negotiate long-term based on a stat line that should only escalate over the next two or three seasons.
“I believe there has been communication between Perfetti and newly appointed Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel and his coaching staff where the player heard some positive things,” the Winnipeg Sun‘s Scott Billeck reported on July 23.
“I’m led to believe it could sway Perfetti to sign longer term, provided the Jets are interested in going the same route they went with Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor in the past.
“That’s a significant development after Perfetti seemed to fall out of favour with the retired Rick Bowness.”
With the Jets losing Rutger McGroarty to Pittsburgh, making things work with Perfetti becomes more important.
Cheveldayoff said talks were still ongoing as of Aug. 22 and was hopeful a deal would be struck sooner rather than later.
NHL Network Radio’s Dave McCarthy said some clubs would be willing to offer-sheet Perfetti at two years around $4.5 million. Catch is, at that number, the Jets would surely match.
6. Dawson Mercer (New Jersey)
Age: 22
Position: Right wing / Centre
2023-24 salary cap hit: $894,167
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: First-round draft pick. 2020 world junior gold medallist and 2021 world junior silver medallist. 2022 world championship silver medallist. Two 20-goal campaigns in three seasons.
The latest: Tom Fitzgerald has had a busy off-season, hiring new coach Sheldon Keefe, tweaking his blueline and goaltending via trade, and spending $15 million in the first two days of free agency.
The Devils GM now turns his attention to negotiations with his most valuable RFA, who has shined bright throughout his entry-level deal.
New Jersey still has roughly $5 million in cap space, so budget isn’t a great issue here.
Fitzgerald has been prudent with his spending and has a nice track record of getting his core forwards under contract for a reasonable AAV.
Mercer has little to no leverage here. And even if he were tempted to sign an offer sheet, Fitzgerald should be able to match.
If the sides go the bridge route, recent RFA signees Shane Pinto (two years at $3.75 million) and Kirill Marchenko (three years at $3.85 million) are apt comparables here.
Agent Pat Brisson to The Hockey News on Aug. 19: “We have had many conversations, and we will continue to speak here this week. That’s pretty much all I can say publicly.”
The Fourth Period‘s David Pagnotta reported on Aug. 26 that Mercer and the Devils were “not close” but continue communication.
7. Peyton Krebs (Buffalo)
Age: 23
Position: Centre
2023-24 salary cap hit: $863,334
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: First-round draft pick. 2021 world junior silver medallist. 2023 world championship gold medallist. Key prospect as part of trade involving franchise player Jack Eichel. Smooth skater with edge and scoring potential. Provides energy.
The latest: A highly regarded prospect and prolific scorer in junior, Krebs is still searching to make a top-six impact at the NHL level, mustering just four goals over his 80 games with Buffalo in 2023-24.
GM Kevyn Adams’ veteran bottom-six acquisitions this summer — Ryan McLeod, Sam Lafferty, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Jason Zucker, Beck Malenstyn — place Krebs in a precarious position.
The Sabres still have about $8.4 million in cap space, so that’s not an issue in getting Krebs — their lone unsigned RFA — under contract.
A short-term, prove-it deal is the most likely outcome for a player with so little leverage, though a trade should not be ruled out.
8. Philip Tomasino (Nashville)
Age: 23
Position: Centre
2023-24 salary cap hit: $863,334
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: First-round draft pick. 2021 world junior silver medallist. Nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL. Plenty of offensive upside (20 points in 41 games) for a team always in search of goals.
The latest: The Predators and ’tweener Tomasino find themselves at a crossroads after another season split between Milwaukee and Nashville.
When asked about Tomasino’s future in May, coach Andrew Brunette challenged the young forward.
“He needs to grab a little bit of the identity that we’ve created here,” Brunette said, per The Tennessean. “If he can, and if he puts the work in, and he’s relentless, then his skill will take over.
“If, like at different times this year where (Tomasino) wanted the skill first without the work, I’m not sure he has a chance to play for us next year.”
Yikes.
Still, the Preds submitted the RFA a $874,125 qualifying offer and shed another young centre, Cody Glass, after slamming themselves up against the cap in a UFA spending spree (Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skjei).
Tomasino can elect to withhold his services or sign for less than he believes he’s worth.
Rumoured potential trade destinations include Buffalo and Edmonton.
9. Arthur Kaliyev (Los Angeles)
Age: 23
Position: Right wing
2023-24 salary cap hit: $894,167
Arbitration rights: No
Bargaining chips: 33rd-overall draft pick. 2021 world junior gold medallist. Ripped 51 goals and 102 points in the OHL. Wicked one-timer. Plenty of offensive upside on a team that needs more scoring.
The latest: After posting 14 and 13 goals, respectively, in his first two NHL campaigns, Kaliyev experienced a down year in 2023-24 (seven goals), which has tempered the organization’s hopes and the player’s asking price upon exit of his entry-level deal.
GM Rob Blake qualified the underwhelming young forward, but Kaliyev is bargaining for more.
A frequent healthy scratch who needs to improve his skating and sharpen his defensive game, Kaliyev could well benefit from a change of scenery.
There is a parallel here to Robertson in Toronto. Frustration with ice time has the player open to a trade away from a playoff team — despite the team needing inexpensive wingers who can put the puck in the net.
More notable RFAs: Nikita Okhotyuk, Juuso Parssinen, Nikita Alexandrov, Jakob Pelletier, Jonatan Berggren
Contract info via the late, great CapFriendly.com and PuckPedia.com.