By Krishna Bhagnathsingh, The Hockey News intern
With the NHL season entering the closing stretch, pending UFAs are looking to secure big paycheques on their next deal.
Mitch Marner (Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)
Here’s a look at the top 10 UFA skaters – ranked by points this season – and three UFA goalies, who will look for new deals this summer.
TOP 10 UFAs (based on points this season)
1. Mitch Marner, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs (74 points)
Expiring contract: 6 years, $65.41 million
Marner, who recently recorded his 500th career assist (and added one more against the Rangers on Friday), has been the Leafs’ runaway leader in helpers since arriving in the NHL in 2016-17. He’s more than 150 assists ahead of the next-closest Leafs player during that time (Morgan Rielly, 343 assists since 2016-17). With Toronto already paying Auston Matthews a $13.25-million cap hit until 2028, William Nylander receiving $11.5 million per season through 2032 and John Tavares also being a UFA this summer – it’ll be interesting to see if, and when, Marner gets a raise, and how the Leafs will manage those contracts.
2. Mikko Rantanen, RW, Carolina (69 points)
Expiring contract: 6 years, $55.5 million
Everyone knows that Rantanen is skilled, but questions the jury is out on whether or not the Canes will be prepared to pay for his prodigious talent when it comes time to put pen to paper? He’s in line to make $10 million-plus per season on his next contract, but will the Canes want to throw that much at him? Carolina has very little cap space to play with, so the Hurricanes have to decide whether to free up some money and give Rantanen a rich new deal, trade him at the deadline or let him walk this summer if the funds aren’t available.
3. Matt Duchene, C, Dallas Stars (60 points)
Expiring contract: 1 year, $3 million
Duchene has shown the NHL that he ages like fine wine, as he’s currently producing at just over a point-per-game pace this season for the Dallas Stars. The Stars must be happy with his performance and could definitely look to bring him back on a longer deal with a bigger AAV. Simply put, teams will pay for point-per-game players.
4. Mikael Granlund, C, Dallas Stars (51 points)
Expiring contract: 4 years, $20 million
Another veteran on the Stars’ roster shows that Dallas is willing to invest in older players who are still able to perform. Granlund can provide depth scoring while keeping up with the youngsters. If you don’t believe it, he’s currently the…