46 prospects set to become free agents on Saturday
46 NHL prospects will become free agents Saturday if their NHL teams don't sign them to contracts including Leafs prospect who scored 42 goals last year.
While many fans considered the NHL Entry Draft the first stage of a team's off-season, the first important date for teams is actually June 1st. After drafting a player in the draft a team has a set negotiation window to exclusively sign that prospect. That timeline differs based on the location that player was drafted from, be it North America or Europe.
However, on June 1st of the expiration year, teams must make the decision whether to sign the player or let their rights expire. This allows the player to either re-enter the NHL draft, age dependent, or sign a contract elsewhere. With this year's deadline less than 24 hours away there still remains a lot of players unsigned.
Some of the players on this list have already signed contracts overseas and have no intention of playing in the NHL. While others just completed their Junior hockey seasons. The following list is provided by
Cap Friendly Anaheim Ducks Connor Hvidston
Ben King
Albin Sundsvik
Boston BruinsReid Dyck
Buffalo SabresJakub Konecny
Mats Lindgren
Albert Lyckåsen
Carolina HurricanesZion Nybeck
Chicago BlackhawksMichael Krutil
Colorado AvalancheGraham Sward
Ivan Zhigalov
Dallas StarsDaniel Ljungman
Detroit Red WingsJan Bednar
Tnias Mathurin
Theodor Niederbach
Edmonton OilersJeremias Lindewall
Florida PanthersLiam Arnsby
Elliot Ekmark
Kasper Puutio
Los Angeles KingsJuho Markkanen
Kasper Simontaival
Minnesota WildServác Petrovský
Montreal CanadiensJared DavidsonCédrick Guindon
Petteri Nurmi
Miguël Tourigny
New Jersey DevilsJaromír Pytlík
New York IslandersAlexander Ljungkrantz
Matias Rajaniemi
New York RangersMaxim Barbashev
Oliver Tärnström
Pittsburgh PenguinsNolan Collins
Thimo Nickl
San Jose SharksMason Beaupit
Seattle KrakenKyle Jackson
St. Louis BluesLandon Sim
Tampa Bay LightningNick Malík
Toronto Maple LeafsBrandon Lisowsky
Utah HCFilip Barklund
Elliot Ekefjärd
Jérémy Langlois
Vancouver CanucksViktor Persson
Vegas Golden KnightsPatrick Guay
Washington CapitalsJake Karabela
Oskar Magnusson
Winnipeg JetsAnton Johannesson
It will be interesting to see if any of these players receive late contract offers or will they all simply have their rights declined. Only time will tell and this marks the beginning of what I expected to be a very busy season.
Previously on Bladeofsteel
POLL |
MAI 31 | 164 ANSWERS 46 prospects set to become free agents on Saturday Who wins the Stanley Cup? |
Edmonton Oilers | 60 | 36.6 % |
Dallas Stars | 14 | 8.5 % |
Florida Panthers | 85 | 51.8 % |
New York Rangers | 5 | 3 % |
List of polls |