6 interesting teams to watch in free agency

Folks, the NHL silly season is upon us (as evidenced by a whopping nine player trades during the draft on Saturday).

Though all 32 general managers are bound to be attached to their phones when the free-agent market opens Monday at noon ET, we've singled out a handful of teams that should draw a bit more attention.

Let's assess six of the most interesting squads entering free agency:

Boston Bruins

The Bruins' problems this summer are child's play compared to last year when they had to contend with the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci while having barely any cap space to fill the gaps.

Luckily for general manager Don Sweeney, that's no longer his reality, and he vowed to be "aggressive" this offseason. Boston hasn't made a deep playoff run since making the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, so that mindset is precisely what the team needs to gain some postseason staying power. The organization has around $21.6 million in projected cap space to work with, though a hefty chunk will have to go toward pending RFA goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Sweeney also has a new deal to mull over for forward Jake DeBrusk, Boston's top upcoming UFA, which would further cut into the funds.

Sweeney has already made his first move by sending goaltender Linus Ullmark and his $5-million cap hit to the Ottawa Senators, therefore cementing Swayman's status as a true No. 1. Even though the Bruins got struggling goalie Joonas Korpisalo and depth forward Mark Kastelic in return, the trade saved them a smidge over $1 million while netting them a first-round pick - a luxury they previously hadn't had since 2021.

Based on Sweeney's post-elimination promise, it's safe to assume he's got at least a few more tricks up his sleeve this summer, with a focus on the open market. Likely near the top of the Bruins' offseason wish list is pending UFA center Elias Lindholm, who's been linked to Boston for quite some time. Beantown may also look to add a top-four rearguard and a scoring winger.

That's a lot to ask. Let's see how aggressive Sweeney is willing to get.

Carolina Hurricanes

Every team has to go through some level of change in the offseason, but the Hurricanes are going to look different in 2024-25.

First, let's address the elephant in the room: Jake Guentzel. The Canes acquired him in a blockbuster deal prior to the deadline, a wise acquisition after they were done in by one-goal losses during last spring's Eastern Conference Final. Guentzel fit in well, chipping in with four goals and nine points in 11 postseason games. However, it wasn't enough as the Canes were ousted in the second round by the New York Rangers.

Keeping Guentzel should be a priority, but he won't come cheap and his market will be competitive (more on that later). As one of the summer's top free agents, he's projected to sign a seven-year deal with a $9.678-million cap hit, and there's word that Carolina is willing to offer him an eight-year pact with an average annual value of $8 million. Either of those numbers could be difficult to swallow for the Canes - who have just under $24 million to work with - because of the gaps on their roster.

Let's just recap: Jordan Martinook, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei are all pending UFAs, while Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis, and Jack Drury are about to become RFAs. Carolina seems interested in saving some money by testing the market for Necas, but Jarvis will eat into its budget as he's predicted to ink an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $8.519 million. Oh, and cash needs to be set aside for key blue-liner Jaccob Slavin, who can ink an extension on July 1.

Even Carolina's front office isn't the same, as Don Waddell has gone to Columbus. But, hey, maybe a major shake-up is exactly what the Hurricanes need. They once again fell short in the playoffs after a sparkling regular season, and it'd be a shame if they kept treading the same ground amid Sebastian Aho's prime.

Florida Panthers

Experience the NHL, where you can go from winning the Stanley Cup to stressing over the free-agent market in the span of a single week.

The Panthers may be in for a tough summer once the dust settles on Sunday's parade. Armed with around $19.5 million in projected cap space, general manager Bill Zito simply won't be able to afford to keep everyone, no matter how badly both sides want to work something out.

Likely topping Florida's priority list will be ironing out a new deal for pending UFA Sam Reinhart, who smartly waited until a contract year to have a 57-goal season. If he stays in the Sunshine State, he'll take up the majority of the Panthers' dollars: He's projected to ink a seven-year deal with an average annual value just under $11 million.

Though Reinhart is the biggest name, he's far from the only question mark on Florida's roster. Key defenseman Brandon Montour's pact is about to expire, same with trade-deadline pickup Vladimir Tarasenko's. There's also a slew of depth players to consider, including Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov, backup netminder Anthony Stolarz, and pending RFA Anton Lundell.

The bottom line is Zito is going to need to be careful about how he navigates this summer, lest he cause problems for his future self. Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, and Aaron Ekblad all have one season left on their current deals and will be eligible to sign new extensions on July 1. It's quite an intricate balancing act. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the salary cap isn't about to help them out by miraculously increasing by $100 million, so they're going to have to get crafty.

Nashville Predators

By all accounts, Barry Trotz's first campaign as general manager of the Predators exceeded expectations. They were one of the best teams after the All-Star break and made the playoffs after missing out last spring.

Nashville's improvement was largely driven by Trotz's aggressiveness in the free-agent market last year when he added Gustav Nyquist, Ryan O'Reilly, and Luke Schenn. With over $26 million at his disposal this summer, he has the room to have a similarly active offseason.

Trotz has already warmed up with a trade that sent defenseman Ryan McDonagh and his $6.75-million cap hit to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Moving that money out helps mitigate the nearly $12 million in dead cap cutting into Trotz's wallet in 2024-25. Though the executive said the move wasn't about clearing salary, he did concede a little tidbit that should have Nashville fans' attention: "We will maybe be a little more active in some free agents that we weren't considered to be in." Couple that with his desire to add a scoring forward to his group, and Trotz may be about to cook.

Of course, we can't talk about Nashville's offseason without mentioning Juuse Saros, who's eligible to sign an extension on July 1. It already sounds as though Trotz has taken care of that particular piece of business, but then there's the question of what Saros' reported eight-year pact means for up-and-comer Yaroslav Askarov. Will Trotz ship out the promising 22-year-old netminder as part of a larger package to upgrade in other areas? Decisions, decisions.

Tampa Bay Lightning

What in the world is going on with the Lightning and Steven Stamkos?

The longtime captain and pending UFA has been eligible to sign an extension with the club since last summer, but it just hasn't happened yet. Stamkos didn't seem thrilled by that before the start of the 2023-24 season, but general manager Julien BriseBois emphasized his desire to keep the franchise icon several times throughout the campaign.

The Bolts raised some eyebrows by reacquiring McDonagh and every cent of his $6.75-million salary in May, giving them just $5.3 million in cap space to work with at the time. However, BriseBois was confident the trade wouldn't impact his ability to re-sign Stamkos. Initially, the math wasn't adding up: Stamkos is projected to sign a three-year pact with an average annual value of $8.443 million. But, the general manager cleared a boatload of cap space in a hurry on Saturday, shipping off Mikhail Sergachev ($8.5-million salary) to Utah and Tanner Jeannot ($2.665-million salary) to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Bolts now have $16.5 million in cap space, giving them ample room to re-sign Stamkos. Easy peasy, right? Maybe not. Stamkos' agent, Don Meehan, said on Friday that his client will test the market and become a free agent on July 1. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is rumored to be interested in taking a run at Guentzel. BriseBois confirmed Saturday that he didn't increase his offer to Stamkos despite his influx of cap space, though he didn't completely close the door on an extension, either.

Of course, the Lightning's newfound money needs to cover more than just one player: they currently have 16 roster slots out of 23 filled. Also not inconsequential in all this is the fact that veteran defenseman Victor Hedman can sign a new deal on July 1.

Your move, BriseBois. Things might get messy if Guentzel doesn't head to Tampa Bay on Monday.

Utah

Given its flurry of trades on Saturday, Utah is sizing up to be one of the summer's biggest wild cards.

The organization is no longer tied to a college-sized arena and, for the first time in years, won't be constantly battered by relocation rumors. General manager Bill Armstrong is finally free of his extremely unique ball and chain, and that has to feel good.

The question is, will the executive's newfound freedom under owner Ryan Smith loosen his purse strings? Armstrong has money to throw around on the free-agent market if he's so inclined, even after restructuring his blue line by adding Sergachev and John Marino. Utah has around $26 million in cap space to work with and that number can rise to $34 million when accounting for long-term injured reserve candidates. Of course, Armstrong has to take care of his own first as Sean Durzi and Barrett Hayton are pending restricted free agents, but the club will still have plenty of room to add another piece after the fact - like a top-six forward.

The key here will be balance. The team labored in Arizona for the past few seasons and looked set to challenge for a playoff spot in 2023-24 before fizzling out halfway through the campaign. Simply put, Utah isn't going to adopt a Stanley Cup or bust attitude just because it has some extra cash and a new home.

But there's something to be said about the intrigue Utah brings to the table for unrestricted free agents looking to try something new. The state has never had an NHL franchise, the organization has a lot of young talent (with more on the way because of its deep prospect pool), and it could afford to pay players more than they'd fetch elsewhere. By no means is it an unattractive locale.

(Salary source: CapFriendly)
(Contract projections: Evolving-Hockey)