The Unleashed 2026: Group VI Unrestricted Free Agents

Although most players must wait until after their 27th birthday to become eligible for unrestricted free agency and be able to sign with any team in the league without compensation, there are a few other ways to reach the open market. Players who complete seven full seasons in the NHL are eligible for UFA status, as are restricted free agents who do not receive qualifying offers.

There is another option, however, available to players who don’t receive many opportunities in the NHL but have spent several years at the professional level: Group VI unrestricted free agency.

PuckPedia has a complete list of players who will become free agents through this category. 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 30 of the calendar year the contract expires).
The player has completed three or more professional seasons, qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19-year-old player), or one or more professional games (for a player aged 20 or older). This can include NHL, minor league, and European professional league seasons played while on an NHL contract.
The player has played fewer than 80 NHL games, or 28 NHL games of 30 minutes or greater for a goaltender.

This year’s list is as follows:

Anaheim Ducks

None

Boston Bruins

F Matej Blumel
D Michael Callahan
F John Farinacci
F Georgii Merkulov
F Navrin Mutter
D Victor Soderstrom

Buffalo Sabres

F Trevor Kuntar

Calgary Flames

D Nick Cicek

Carolina Hurricanes

G Amir Miftakhov
F Ryan Suzuki

Chicago Blackhawks