Players still available in 2024 NHL free agency and which teams are potential good fits (2024)

The free-agent frenzy of July 1 is nearly two months in the past. Training camps open in three weeks. But there are still a handful of NHL veterans looking for work, some of whom could help teams with a bit of cap space and a need for depth and experience.

Now, there are plenty of reasons why some of the players listed below haven’t signed yet beyond teams not being willing to commit. Some players who haven’t yet experienced the tryout route aren’t ready to take a flier on one of those, leaving their families behind in most cases to get a chance at earning a spot without any guaranteed money. Some may not want to sign with a team across the continent from where they live, and that pressure starts to build even more with schools starting around the U.S. and Canada this week and next.

There have already been a few notable PTOs agreed to. Tanner Pearson is going to camp with the Golden Knights, Jakub Vrana will try to recapture his early-career magic with the Capitals and Sammy Blais is headed to Canucks camp. Options are starting to dwindle a bit.

But all of the players here want to keep playing. So we’ve got a list of 16 names you know, what their current situations are and a few teams that might be a fit. We’ll see where they land in the coming weeks — with one of the teams we’re projecting, a different team or nowhere at all.

Forwards

Max Pacioretty

The 35-year-old forward has had three adrift seasons thanks to two Achilles tendon injuries to the same leg. He was healthy the back half of last season for the Capitals but scored four goals in 47 games: not ideal if you’re known as a scorer. He’s healthy now, though, and has some suitors — the Leafs and Red Wings are reportedly both interested in adding the one-time Canadiens captain.

Best fits: Not sure Toronto is where he belongs, given the Maple Leafs’ need for a bit more two-way consistency in the middle of their forward group. And the Wings can’t add any more over-30 guys, can they? Pacioretty has to prove he can put the puck in the net still, so teams like the Hawks, Utah or the Flames, where he could play a more prominent scoring role, might be the smarter play. That could also turn into a deadline move to a contender if he has a solid season.

Tyler Johnson

He’s gotten through a serious neck injury and scored 17 goals for the Hawks last season, and he has a winning pedigree. Johnson falls into the sub-category of surprises on this list — you would have figured a team in need of a No. 3 center would have jumped at signing Johnson for a year and $1 million or less by now. But it’s been very quiet around the 34-year-old center for some reason.

Best fits: The Jets seem like a decent spot for a player with Johnson’s skill set. The Sabres added some bottom-six grit in free agency but might be missing some skill in that group. The Bruins won’t have much cap space left after they sign Jeremy Swayman, but that’s a club in need of center depth.

Kailer Yamamoto

He’s only 25 but now he’s been bought out by a Red Wings team that hasn’t made the playoffs in eight years and not been given a qualifying offer by a very middling Kraken team. What gives? Size has been the main concern with Yamamoto over his NHL career but he did score 20 goals on a decent Oilers team three seasons ago so he’s not exactly a total washout. He’ll certainly be motivated to prove he belongs in the league wherever he lands this season.

Best fits: The Predators are in need of forward depth. Yamamoto feels like the sort of Hurricanes reclamation project that could work out, though once Carolina signs Seth Jarvis money will be tight. And the Avalanche are always on the lookout for inexpensive young players.

Cal Clutterbuck

He’ll be 37 in November but the longtime Islanders fourth-liner is coming off his healthiest season in years and plays a style teams crave but don’t always develop well. There should be a market but it might not be more than a PTO.

Best fits: I’d keep an eye on Nashville. Barry Trotz has added a couple of former Islanders in his short time as Preds GM, trading for Anthony Beauvillier last season and signing Kieffer Bellows to a two-way deal this summer; Nashville has plenty of cap space and Trotz has a real affinity for Clutterbuck. Closer to Clutterbuck’s Long Island home, the Devils could use his veteran presence on a still-young team.

Nick Cousins

We know Cousins is one of the league’s most disliked players, but that doesn’t usually prevent a team from signing a villain, especially one coming off a Stanley Cup win. His next team will be the 31-year-old’s seventh in just 10 NHL seasons so maybe he’s not that easy to get along with but he still has value as a fourth-line pest.

Best fits: Genuinely surprised he hasn’t been a Bruin yet. Feels like a natural fit.

Kevin Labanc

A solid contributor for eight seasons in San Jose and he’s still only 28 — a bit surprised he hasn’t latched on anywhere for the vet minimum, but Labanc has also definitely dipped a bit the last couple seasons. So have the Sharks, in fairness.

Best fits: One of the rebuilding teams (Flames, Hawks, Blue Jackets) might be the best way to go.

Matt Martin

He’s 45 games shy of 1,000 for a very unlikely NHL career, a guy who entered the league as an enforcer and turned himself into a valuable fourth-liner on an Islanders team built around that fourth-line identity. He’s 35 and was never the best skater but he is a high-quality person beloved on Long Island.

Best fits: If Lou Lamoriello can find a spot for him as the 13th forward, the Islanders still seem like the place he belongs, even as a part-time player. Trotz might want him in Nashville too.

Blake Wheeler

It was a whirlwind 2023-24 for Wheeler, who was getting some top-six minutes with the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers when he suffered a gruesome ankle injury in February. He managed to get back for a single playoff game in the Eastern Conference final but he clearly needed more time to recover. Wheeler turns 38 this week and his elite playmaking days are behind him but maybe there’s a chance to grab one more shot at an elusive Cup ring. A source close to Wheeler said the Bruins PTO rumor isn’t true, so Wheeler may be deciding on retirement more than a destination at the moment.

Best fits: It doesn’t seem as though a contender would make room on the roster for Wheeler, so going the rebuild route to try and earn his way into a deadline deal is probably his best course of action.

Mike Hoffman

There sure are a lot of recent Sharks on this list, aren’t there? Hard to know how to judge guys after playing on one of the worst teams in recent memory but Hoffman can still play a bit, even if the scoring has dropped off from his early days with the Senators and Panthers.

Best fits: If the Wings are in on Pacioretty and don’t land him, Hoffman might be a decent consolation prize. Not sure Hoffman can hang with the higher-end teams that play a very structured style.

Filip Zadina

Another ex-Shark! Zadina was rumored this week to be going to the Sabres on a PTO but that was quickly shot down. That doesn’t mean that won’t be where he ends up — the 24-year-old former sixth overall pick is surely hoping for a contract still — but he’s not ready for a tryout yet. Zadina never made it happen with the Wings, who drafted him in 2018, but he put up OK numbers on the awful Sharks, so maybe there’s still hope.

Best fits: If it’s not Buffalo, who could use a skilled depth center, maybe one of the other center-poor teams listed above — Bruins or maybe the Stars — would make some sense.

Defensem*n

Justin Schultz

The two Stanley Cups Schultz won with the Penguins are pretty far in the rearview now but even at 34, the right-shot defenseman has kept up a consistent scoring pace over his time with the Caps and Kraken over the last four seasons. He’s known more for offense but the dearth of experienced RHD in general makes it a bit of a surprise he doesn’t have a landing spot yet.

Best fits: The Predators have a load of cap space and not much defensive depth. The Penguins have only two right-shot defensem*n on their roster at the moment despite being up against the cap as usual, but there’s a familiarity with much of the roster and coach Mike Sullivan. The Oilers, another of Schultz’s former teams, might have a need for some offensive flair as well.

Kevin Shattenkirk

He’s already made his money, he won a Cup with the Lightning — there isn’t much left for Shattenkirk to do in the NHL. But he can still produce at 35 and he’s one of the top “good in the room” guys in the league, so a team looking for a cost-effective addition to bolster morale could do a lot worse.

Best fits: Might Shattenkirk be the veteran presence the Oilers need to get over the mountain? That’s probably the ideal spot for him. The Panthers have barely any cap space but they too would be a decent fit, especially with a lack of right-shot defensem*n. If he’s looking for more regular minutes the Hawks might be a good spot.

Tyson Barrie

Strange that a defenseman who put up 55 points just two seasons ago is still on the unemployed list but last season was a rough one for Barrie in Nashville and that may be what’s sticking in teams’ minds. You can see a bit of a theme here from Schultz to Shattenkirk to Barrie: NHL teams may be starting to steer clear of defensem*n who excel on the offensive end of the ice while not being as strong defensively, at least when it comes to potential third-pair additions. Barrie’s the youngest of those three at 33, so maybe he’s at the front of that line.

Best fits: Some talk the Oilers might want him back for a tryout and perhaps Florida, without much on the right side, would work too.

Calen Addison

The defenseman version of Yamamoto, a young (24), small, skilled player who bounced out of the Wild rotation and wasn’t qualified by the Sharks, freeing him up to go anywhere … And yet he’s nowhere right now. Some team has to take a flier on a defenseman still a couple years away from his prime, right? Right?

Best fits: The Avs feel like the spot here, given their lack of RHD depth and a need for lottery tickets to fill in the gaps around their stars. Perhaps a better long-term view would be the Blue Jackets or Flames, teams that should have lots of runway to allow a new young defenseman to get up to speed.

Tony DeAngelo

His various suspensions dating back to his junior days, as well as clashes with former teammates and fan bases, have been well-documented. But he’s still only 28 and fits the same role Barrie, Shattenkirk and Schultz do.

Best fits: He’d have about 50 points in Edmonton so maybe the Oilers choose him over one of the older three RHD. Florida too. He reportedly has an offer from a KHL team, so that may be where he ends up if nothing pans out here.

Goaltender

Kevin Lankinen

Finding a job as a goalie this late in the summer is a heavy lift. Lankinen, who is still relatively young at 29 and coming off a couple solid seasons as Juuse Saros’ backup in Nashville, still being unemployed is a surprise. There’s basically no one left on the market who could step into a regular role.

Best fits: Have to think the Canucks, who are giving off murky vibes about Thatcher Demko’s availability to start the season and have only Arturs Silovs as an alternative, have done their diligence on Lankinen.

(Top photos of Max Pacioretty and Nick Cousins: Patrick Smith and Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)

Arthur Staple has covered New York hockey for The Athletic since 2019, initially on the Islanders beat before moving over to primarily focus on the Rangers in 2021. Previously, he spent 20 years at Newsday, where he covered everything from high schools to the NFL. Follow Arthur on Twitter @stapeathletic