While the NHL’s free agency period was in flux after the COVID-19 pandemic paused the season — and the normal date of July 1 has long passed — the signing period began at 12 p.m. ET on Oct. 9.
Whether it’s unrestricted or restricted free agents, there are some big fish for teams to reel in. Where they’ll land is a big unknown, but the salary cap is remaining at $81.5 million for the 2020-21 season.
This will impact who can land those big fish and who will net a group of minnows. There’s also the fun game of roulette that teams sometimes play when they risk their next four first-round draft picks for one of the surefire restricted free-agent stars.
NHL FREE AGENCY 2020: Complete list of all 31 teams’ RFAs, UFAs
Sporting News has all the top free-agent signings right here.
NHL free agency tracker: Full list of signings in 2020
Top 50 UFA players available
| Player | Pos. | 2019-20 team(s) | 2020-21 team |
| 1. Alex Pietrangelo | D | Blues | |
| 2. Torey Krug | D | Bruins | Blues (7 years, $45.5 million) |
| 3. Taylor Hall | LW | Devils/Coyotes | |
| 4. Robin Lehner | G | Blackhawks/Golden Knights | Golden Knights (5 years, $25 million) |
| 5. Tyler Toffoli | W | Kings/Canucks | |
| 6. Jacob Markstrom | G | Canucks | Flames (6 years, $36 million) |
| 7. TJ Brodie | D | Flames | Maple Leafs (4 years, $20 million) |
| 8. Ilya Kovalchuk | LW | Kings/Canadiens/Capitals | |
| 9. Mike Hoffman | W | Panthers | |
| 10. Tyson Barrie | D | Maple Leafs | |
| 11. Anton Khudobin | G | Stars | Stars (3 years, $10 million) |
| 12. Derek Grant | C | Ducks/Flyers | |
| 13. Jesper Fast | RW | Rangers | |
| 14. Kevin Shattenkirk | D | Lightning | Ducks (3 years) |
| 15. Sami Vatanen | D | Devils/Hurricanes | |
| 16. Cam Talbot | G | Flames | Wild (3 years, $11 million) |
| 17. Mikael Granlund | C | Predators | |
| 18. Bobby Ryan* | F | Senators | Red Wings (1 year, $1 million) |
| 19. Braden Holtby | G | Capitals | Canucks (2 years, $8.6 million) |
| 20. Thomas Greiss | G | Islanders | |
| 21. Erik Gustafsson | D | Blackhawks/Flames | |
| 22. Travis Hamonic | D | Flames | |
| 23. Chris Tanev | D | Canucks | Flames (4 years, $18 million) |
| 24. Justin Schultz | D | Penguins | Capitals (2 years, $8 million) |
| 25. Pat Maroon | LW | Lightning | Reportedly re-signed with Lightning |
| 26. Corey Crawford | G | Blackhawks | Devils (2 years, $7.8 million) |
| 27. Cody Eakin | C | Golden Knights/Jets | |
| 28. Erik Haula | LW | Hurricanes/Panthers | |
| 29. Derick Brassard | C | Islanders | |
| 30. Evgenii Dadonov | RW | Panthers | |
| 31. Alex Galchenyuk | C | Penguins/Wild | |
| 32. Joe Thornton | C | Sharks | |
| 33. Wayne Simmonds | RW | Devils/Sabres | Maple Leafs (1 year, $1.5 million) |
| 34. Joel Edmundson | D | Hurricanes/Canadiens | Canadiens (4 years, $14 million) |
| 35. Kyle Clifford | LW | Kings/Maple Leafs | |
| 36. Henrik Lundqvist^ | G | Rangers | Capitals (1 year, $1.5 million) |
| 37. Josh Leivo | LW | Canucks | |
| 38. Nate Thompson | C | Canadiens/Flyers | |
| 39. Conor Sheary | LW | Sabres/Penguins | |
| 40. Brenden Dillon | D | Sharks/Capitals | Capitals (4 years, $15.6 million) |
| 41. Vladislav Namestnikov | C | Avalanche | |
| 42. Matt Martin | LW | Islanders | |
| 43. Zdeno Chara | D | Bruins | |
| 44. Andy Greene | D | Devils/Islanders | |
| 45. Dylan DeMelo | D | Senators/Jets | Jets (4 years, $12 million) |
| 46. Mark Borowiecki | D | Senators | Predators (2 years, $4 million) |
| 47. Patrick Marleau | C | Sharks/Penguins | |
| 48. Zach Bogosian | D | Sabres/Lightning | |
| 49. Mikko Koivu | C | Wild | |
| 50. Jimmy Howard | G | Red Wings |
*Bought out by Senators on Sept. 26
^ Bought out by Rangers on Sept. 30
Top 25 RFA players available
| Player | Pos. | 2019-20 team | 2020-21 team |
| 1. Mathew Barzal | C | Islanders | |
| 2. Josh Anderson | RW | Blue Jackets/Canadiens (traded Oct. 6) | Canadiens (7 years, $38.5 million) |
| 3. Tristan Jarry | G | Penguins | Penguins (3 years, $10.5 million) |
| 4. Matt Murray | G | Penguins/Senators (traded Oct.7) | Senators (4 years, $25 million) |
| 5. Anthony Cirelli | F | Lightning | |
| 6. Pierre-Luc Dubois | F | Blue Jackets | |
| 7. Max Domi | C | Canadiens/Blue Jackets (traded Oct. 6) | Blue Jackets (2 years, $10.6 million) |
| 8. Anthony Duclair | LW | Senators (became UFA on Oct. 7) | |
| 9. Tony DeAngelo | D | Rangers | |
| 10. Alexandar Georgiev | G | Rangers | |
| 11. Jake DeBrusk | LW | Bruins | |
| 12. Andrew Mangiapane | LW | Flames | |
| 13. Mikhail Sergachev | D | Lightning | |
| 14. Dominik Kubalik | LW | Blackhawks | Blackhawks (2 years, $7.4 million) |
| 15. Andreas Athanasiou | LW | Red Wings/Oilers (became UFA on Oct. 7) | |
| 16. Kevin Labanc | RW | Sharks | |
| 17. Sam Reinhart | C | Sabres | |
| 18. Vince Dunn | D | Blues | |
| 19. Tyson Jost | C | Avalanche | |
| 20. Mackenzie Blackwood | G | Devils | |
| 21. Nolan Patrick | C | Flyers | |
| 22. Ethan Bear | D | Oilers | |
| 23. Victor Mete | D | Canadiens | Canadiens (1 year, $735,000) |
| 24. Travis Dermott | D | Maple Leafs | |
| 25. Tyler Bertuzzi | LW | Red Wings |
