Players typically have to wait until their 27th birthday to become an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team. But there are other ways to make it to the open market, including Group VI Free Agents. This CBA clause allows players under contract to become unrestricted free agents, if they meet the following clauses:
- The player is 25 years or older (as of June 30th of the calendar year the contract is expiring).
- The player has completed three (3) or more professional seasons – qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19-year-old player), or one (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. This games played requirement is subject to pro-rating due to the shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
Each season, a handful of players maintain Group VI eligibility and depart from their team’s control early. Earlier today, CapFriendly outlined which players are eligible this year (series of Twitter links). As always, we’ll compile all pending Group VI free agents below.
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Ryan McGregor
Cameron Crotty
Travis Barron
John Leonard
Nathan Smith
Matt Villalta
Boston Bruins
Oskar Steen
Reilly Walsh
Linus Weissbach
Kyle Keyser
Buffalo Sabres
Brandon Biro
Justin Richards
Brett Murray
Calgary Flames
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Nathan Clurman
Riley Tufte
Arvid Holm
Ivan Prosvetov
Columbus Blue Jackets
Carson Meyer
Nick Blankenburg
Joshua Dunne
Dallas Stars
Fredrik Karlstrom
Scott Reedy
Nicholas Caamano
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
Matt Kiersted
Lucas Carlsson
Alex True
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins
Jack Rathbone
Valtteri Puustinen
Dmitri Samorukov
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Kraken
Tampa Bay Lightning
Mitchell Chaffee
Sean Day
Cole Koepke
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals
Lucas Johansen
Matthew Phillips
Winnipeg Jets
Chaffee might have bottom 6 value. Blankenburg is sortof interesting. Nothing else intrigues me.
Any decent goalies in there?
Can’t imagine that with the dearth of goaltending league-wide any team would LET a quality goaltending prospect wither on the vine to the tune of a Group VI.
An uninspiring group, yep.