When drafting a player out of North America or any European country with a transfer agreement, a team acquires exclusive negotiating rights for a set amount of time. Each year on June 1, a long list of players see those rights expire and become unrestricted free agents (or choose to re-enter the draft, depending on specific circumstances).
With the deadline in a matter of days, it’s time to examine which players may become UFAs (data courtesy of CapFriendly). Some of the players listed below have already signed overseas, and others will have agreements announced soon after their current rights expire.
Anaheim Ducks
LW Connor Hvidston (139th overall, 2022)
C Ben King (107th overall, 2022)
C Albin Sundsvik (160th overall, 2020)
Boston Bruins
G Reid Dyck (183rd overall, 2022)
Buffalo Sabres
C Jakub Konecny (216th overall, 2020)
LD Mats Lindgren (106th overall, 2022)
RD Albert Lyckåsen (193rd overall, 2020)
Carolina Hurricanes
RW Zion Nybeck (115th overall, 2020)
Chicago Blackhawks
RD Michael Krutil (110th overall, 2020)
Colorado Avalanche
LD Graham Sward (146th overall, 2022) rights acquired from Predators via trade
G Ivan Zhigalov (225th overall, 2022)
Dallas Stars
C Daniel Ljungman (154th overall, 2020)
Detroit Red Wings
G Jan Bednar (107th overall, 2020)
LD Tnias Mathurin (137th overall, 2022)
C Theodor Niederbach (51st overall, 2020)
Edmonton Oilers
LW Jeremias Lindewall (200th overall, 2020)
Florida Panthers
C Liam Arnsby (214th overall, 2022)
C Elliot Ekmark (198th overall, 2020)
RD Kasper Puutio (153rd overall, 2020)
Los Angeles Kings
G Juho Markkanen (112th overall, 2020)
C Kasper Simontaival (66th overall, 2020)
Minnesota Wild
C Servác Petrovský (185th overall, 2022)
Montreal Canadiens
C Jared Davidson (130th overall, 2022) (has since signed with Montreal)
C/LW Cédrick Guindon (127th overall, 2022)
LD Petteri Nurmi (194th overall, 2022)
RD Miguël Tourigny (216th overall, 2022)
New Jersey Devils
C Jaromír Pytlík (99th overall, 2020)
New York Islanders
LW Alexander Ljungkrantz (90th overall, 2020)
LD Matias Rajaniemi (183rd overall, 2020)
New York Rangers
LW Maxim Barbashev (161st overall, 2022)
C Oliver Tärnström (92nd overall, 2020)
Pittsburgh Penguins
RD Nolan Collins (167th overall, 2022)
RD Thimo Nickl (104th overall, 2020) rights acquired from Ducks via trade
San Jose Sharks
G Mason Beaupit (108th overall, 2022)
Seattle Kraken
C Kyle Jackson (196th overall, 2022)
St. Louis Blues
RW Landon Sim (184th overall, 2022)
Tampa Bay Lightning
G Nick Malík (160th overall, 2022)
Toronto Maple Leafs
LW Brandon Lisowsky (218th overall, 2022)
Utah all players selected by the Arizona Coyotes franchise, rights transferred to Utah in sale of hockey operations in April
C/LW Filip Barklund (173rd overall, 2020)
RW Elliot Ekefjärd (192nd overall, 2020)
LD Jérémy Langlois (94th overall, 2022)
Vancouver Canucks
RD Viktor Persson (191st overall, 2020)
Vegas Golden Knights
LW/C Patrick Guay (145th overall, 2022)
Washington Capitals
C Jake Karabela (149th overall, 2022)
C/RW Oskar Magnusson (211th overall, 2020)
Winnipeg Jets
LD Anton Johannesson (133rd overall, 2020)
Kinda surprised to see Mason Beaupit on there. There was a time when he was held up as one of the better goalie prospects in San Jose. His numbers aren’t great though, and there’s plenty of better goalies ahead of him in the depth chart.
Still very confused that Brett Brochu remains unsigned… 0.920 sv% in the ECHL is far better than what goalies in the same age group with NHL training camps behind them are posting. Sign this man! Columbus maybe? Del Bel Belluz and Brochu reunion?
The year he was drafted certainly helped him out. 2022 was perhaps the weakest goalie class I can remember. He didn’t even make his WHL team this year. Was re-assigned to BCHL Langley, where he’s been average