The Unleashed 2020: Potential Group VI Unrestricted Free Agents

Though most players have to wait until after their 27th birthday to become an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team in the league without compensation, there are a few other ways to get to the open market. Players that complete seven full seasons in the NHL are eligible for UFA status, as are restricted free agents that do not receive qualifying offers. There is another way however, offered to those players who don’t get a long opportunity in the NHL but have put in several years at the professional level: Group VI unrestricted free agency.

Earlier this month, CapFriendly compiled a complete list of players on track to become free agents early. To refresh your memory on how a player qualifies for Group VI free agency, they must meet three requirements:

The player is 25 years or older (as of June 30th of the calendar year the contract is expiring).
The player has completed 3 or more professional seasons – qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19 year old player), or 1 or more professional games (for a player aged 20 or older). This can include NHL, minor league, and European professional league seasons played while under an SPC.
The player has played fewer than 80 NHL games, or 28 NHL games of 30 minutes or greater for a goaltender.

The entire list of players at risk can be found below, but make sure you check out CapFriendly for more detailed information on how they could avoid the designation this summer.

*Indicates that the player could still play in enough games this season to become ineligible for Group VI free agency

Anaheim Ducks

Andrew Poturalski
Justin Kloos

Arizona Coyotes

(none)

Boston Bruins

Ryan Fitzgerald

Buffalo Sabres

(none)

Calgary Flames

Ryan Lomberg
Rinat Valiev
Jon Gillies

Carolina Hurricanes