Top 10 Biggest NHL Free Agent Signings in the Last 10 Years
NHL free agency, which typically begins on July 1st each year, is an exciting time for hockey fans. When players aren’t extended by their current teams by the time free agency rolls around, it is common to see these players sign with brand new teams. This list will rank the top 10 biggest free agent signings that signed on new teams in the last 10 seasons, spanning from 2016 to the current day, where the criteria will be for how important these players were at the time of their signing, not necessarily how successful that signing ended up being. Players involved in a “sign-and-trade” are also eligible for this list. Although unrestricted free agents (UFAs) will dominate this list, restricted free agents (RFAs) are also eligible, and has one entry on this list.
10 - 2019 Matt Duchene
On July 1, 2019, Matt Duchene signed a seven-year, $56 million contract ($8 million AAV) with the Nashville Predators, departing from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Duchene came off of a 70 points season split among the Ottawa Senators and the Columbus Blue Jackets, tying his career high. Duchene also had a notable playoff performance, where he helped the Blue Jackets eliminate the Presidents Trophy-winning Lightning in four games, which was the Blue Jackets first and so far only post-season series win.
Duchene initially struggled in Nashville before setting a new career high in 2021-2022 with 86 points in 78 games played. One season later, Duchene fell back down to the 50 point range and was bought out for the remainder of his contract. Duchene signed with the Dallas Stars in 2023 and has revamped his career once again, and recently signed a new extension with the Stars.
9 - 2021 Dougie Hamilton
On July 28, 2021, Dougie Hamilton signed a seven-year, $63 million contract ($9 million AAV) with the New Jersey Devils, departing from the Carolina Hurricanes. Hamilton was in the midst of his prime and had been on 60-70 point paces in his previous two shortened seasons, while also being a combined +50 in those two seasons. Hamilton was also reliable defensively, and was at the time one of the most sought after right-shooting defencemen.
While Hamilton has been productive in his four seasons so far with the Devils, he has unfortunately been dealing with injury issues, with the most significant injury being in 2023-2024 when he tore his pectoral muscle and missed 62 games. However, his absence seemed to have proved his worth, as the Devils would face defensive issues all season. Hamilton’s most productive season so far with the Devils was in 2022-2023, where he recorded 74 points in 82 games, leading the Devils to their first playoff appearance since 2018 with 112 points and a third place finish. They would eventually lose to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
While Hamilton’s play both offensively and defensively has come as advertised, the Devils will be hoping that Hamilton can stay healthy in order for his large contract to pay dividends.
8 - 2020 Alex Pietrangelo
On October 12, 2020, Alex Pietrangelo signed a seven-year, $61.6 million contract ($8.8 million AAV) with the Vegas Golden Knights, departing from the St. Louis Blues. Pietrangelo had been the captain of the Blues since the 2016-2017 season, and led the Blues to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history when they won in 2019, even scoring the cup-winning goal. Pietrangelo was not only a regular 50-point defenceman, but was also one of the best well rounded defencemen in the league at the time.
Due to cap constraints, it was well known that Pietrangelo was likely going to depart from the Blues, and as a result, the Vegas Golden Knights, who were gaining a reputation as a team that pursued the most sought after available players, signed Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo would become the Knight’s primary right-shooting defenceman, and played an integral part in the Knights first Stanley Cup win in franchise history when they won in 2023.
On June 29, 2025, news broke out that Pietrangelo will miss the entire 2025-2026 regular season with a serious injury. Pietrangelo has been battling injury issues for a few years now, however, his productivity during his few years with the Knights make this a contract that has looked well worth the price.
7 - 2024 Jake Guentzel
On July 1, 2024, Jake Guentzel signed a seven-year, $63 million contract ($9 million AAV) with the Tampa Bay Lightning, departing from the Carolina Hurricanes. It is important to note that Guentzel was first traded to Tampa Bay on June 30, 2024 in exchange for a third-round draft pick in order for the Lightning to have exclusive negotiation rights with Guentzel after it was clear he was not re-signing with Carolina.
In the prior season, Guentzel recorded 77 points in 67 games played, split among the Pittsburgh Penguins and later the Carolina Hurricanes. Guentzel was seen as a great fit for Tampa Bay given that they needed more support on the left wing, and also needed a player to replace long-time captain Steven Stamkos, who went to Nashville after Lightning management did not see a future with him based on his asking price. While Guentzel has been a productive forward in the regular season for his entire career, he is most known for his ability to elevate his game in the playoffs, where he played a key role in the Penguins’ 2017 Stanley Cup win in his first year, and then continued to put up impressive playoff numbers in 2018, 2022, and 2024.
Guentzel has only completed one season thus far with the Lightning, where he recorded 41 goals and 80 points in 80 regular season games, and recorded three goals and six points in five playoff games, furthering his playoff reputation.
6 - 2019 Sergei Bobrovsky
On July 1, 2019, Sergei Bobrovsky signed a seven-year, $70 million contract ($10 million AAV) with the Florida Panthers, departing from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky was the best goaltender in Columbus’ franchise history, winning two Vezina Trophies, one in 2013 and one in 2017, and putting up impressive numbers in every season. Bobrovsky also played a major role in the Blue Jacket’s infamous sweep of the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning, and was considered as one of the best goaltenders in the league after the 2019 post-season. With Carey Price becoming the first goaltender to sign a contract that was over $10 million when he signed his eight-year $84 million contract on July 2, 2017, Bobrovsky followed suite with a similar contract.
At the time, there were lengthy discussions about the risk of paying a goaltender a significant percentage of the salary cap. These discussions would continue given that Bobrovsky’s numbers in his first two seasons were a drop off when compared to his numbers in Columbus. In fact, the Panthers needed to use three different goaltenders in their 2021 first round playoff series against the Lightning. Discussions of Bobrosvky’s contract would last for four seasons, as he continued to put up numbers far lower than expectations and far lower than what we had seen from him on the Blue Jackets. However, the criticism has been silent ever since the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. First, Bobrovsky would play a significant role in taking the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Finals. Then in the following two seasons, Bobrovsky started in every one of their playoff games en route to back-to-back Stanley Cups, cementing him a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame, as well as concluding the worth of his once controversial contract.
5 - 2019 Artemi Panarin
On July 1, 2019, Artemi Panarin signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract ($11.6 million AAV) with the New York Rangers, departing from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Panarin was the third major player to depart from the Blue Jackets in 2019, along with previously mentioned Matt Duchene and Sergei Bobrovsky. Ever since Panarin entered the league in the 2015-2016 season, he had been a near point-per-game player, setting a new career high in 2018-2019 with 87 points in 79 games played. Panarin was a highly anticipated free agent due to his age of 27 and entering the prime of his career.
Panarin exploded immediately, recording 95 points in 69 games during the 2019-2020 season with the Rangers. Panarin has now played in six seasons with the Rangers, recording well over a point-per-game in all six, with his best season coming in 2023-2024 with 49 goals and 120 points in 82 games played. Panarin has more than lived up to his contract based on regular season production, although he has received criticism for his play in the post-season, especially in later rounds when the intensity and stakes increases.
4 - 2022 Matthew Tkachuk
On July 22, 2022, Matthew Tkachuk signed an eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 million AAV) with the Florida Panthers, departing from the Calgary Flames. It’s important to note that Matthew Tkachuk was a restricted free agent, meaning his rights were still held by the Flames and he did not have the direct ability to choose where he wanted to end up. However, Tkachuk told the Flames that he was not going to sign with them, and therefore put the Flames in a tough position. As a result, the Flames conducted a “sign-and-trade”, where they first gave Matthew Tkachuk a contract extension with the promise of trading him and that contract to a new team. This team was the Florida Panthers, who gave up star forward Jonathan Huberdeau coming off of a 115 point season, reliable defenceman Mackenzie Weegar, a conditional first-round pick, among other assets.
Although at the time there were mixed feelings about this trade, with many thinking that Huberdeau alone was the better player, Tkachuk did just come off of a career high season with 104 points, a significant jump in production from any prior season in his career. Tkachuk also had the age advantage, where he was just 24 at the time, whereas Huberdeau was 29. However, there was little doubt that the contract itself wasn’t going to age well, the focal point of the discussion was on if the trade was worth it for Florida.
Three years later, with hindsight on our side, we can now look back on what was one of the most successful trades/signings in NHL history. In Tkachuk’s first year with the Panthers, he outdid his 2021-2022 performance with 109 points in 79 games, and 24 points in 20 playoff games, where Tkachuk led the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Finals scoring multiple clutch goals, including three overtime goals. In the following two seasons, Tkachuk continued to put up over a point-per-game seasons, but more importantly, played significant roles in back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, including scoring the 2025 Stanley Cup winning goal.
Unfortunately for the Flames, Huberdeau immediately dropped off in terms of production. Although at first it was thought to be due to the different coaching systems, Huberdeau has been unable to play at a level close to what he proved he could in Florida.
3 - 2022 Johnny Gaudreau
On July 13, 2022, Johnny Gaudreau signed a seven-year, $68.25 million contract ($9.75 AAV) with the Columbus Blue Jackets, departing from the Calgary Flames. Gaudreau was coming off of one of the best regular seasons of the salary cap era, as he recorded 40 goals and 115 points in 82 games, and his 90 even strength points were the most since 1995-1996 until both Nathan Mackinnon and Nikita Kucherov eclipsed this total in the 2023-2024 season with 92 and 91 even strength points respectively. Aside from this career year, Gaudreau had consistently been a point-per-game player in prior years.
Johnny Gaudreau signing with the Blue Jackets was a big milestone for Columbus, as they had previously gained a reputation for being a hockey city that players were not keen on playing in. As mentioned in this list, in 2019, three high-profile free agents, Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Matt Duchene, left the Blue Jackets for other cities despite the fact that the Blue Jackets had their best three year stretch in franchise history. Gaudreau’s $9.75 million AAV was actually considered less than what was rumoured to be offered by other teams such as the New Jersey Devils. Ultimately, Gaudreau was willing to take a pay cut to be closer to his family.
Although Gaudreau was still a productive forward in Columbus, his production did drop off. After two seasons with the Blue Jackets, management had brought in his former teammate and friend Sean Monahan in an effort to spark Gaudreau’s game back to what was seen before. Tragically, in the 2024 off-season, Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were cycling when they were struck and killed by a reckless driver the night before their sister’s wedding. During the following season, the Blue Jackets, Flames, and NHL as a whole, conducted numerous memorial ceremonies in honour of Gaudreau’s exceptional accomplishments as a player and as a person.
2 - 2018 John Tavares
On July 1, 2018, John Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million contract ($11 million AAV) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, departing from the New York Islanders. Tavares’ departure was somewhat controversial, especially for Islanders fans, as he had expressed a desire to remain with the Islanders, a team that was not in the 2018 playoff race and could have dealt Tavares as a rental for significant assets if they knew he was planning on leaving, as opposed to losing him for nothing. Tavares was allegedly offered a contract from the Sharks that would have paid him $13 million per year, but he chose to play for his home town team, Toronto, for less money. Tavares was highly sought after due to consistently putting up impressive point-per-game seasons on an Islanders team that did not always have a strong supporting cast. Tavares even came close to winning the Art Ross Trophy in the 2014-2015 season.
Tavares continued to have success in Toronto, where he put up a career high in goals (47) and points (88) in his first season on the Maple Leafs. He would be named as team captain at the start of his second season, and would continue to put up point-per-game seasons, even in this past season, and the last season of this contract, where he recorded 74 points in 75 games played.
While Tavares’ regular season production has been on par with what was expected, whether he has been a success in Toronto is often debated based on his playoff performance. This is because Tavares has consistently put up numbers in the playoffs that are less productive than his regular season performance. In fact, he has never reached a point-per-game in any post-season while on the Maple Leafs. This isn’t necessarily unique to Tavares, as every major Maple Leafs player have been accused of poor playoff performances. However, Tavares was criticized due to his expectations and role as captain. Before the 2024-2025 season, Tavares was stripped of his captaincy, and Auston Matthews became the new captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After some uncertainty about whether he would stay after the 2024-2025 season, John Tavares re-signed with the Maple Leafs on June 27, 2025, where he earned a four-year, $17.52 million dollar contract. The same cannot be said for one of the other core Maple Leafs’ players, and the number one entry on this list, Mitch Marner.
1 - 2025 Mitch Marner
The number one biggest and most anticipated free agent in the last 10 years is Mitch Marner, who, as of June 29, 2025, is most likely to sign with the Vegas Golden Knights, with additional rumours mentioning a sign-and-trade so that Vegas can have exclusive negotiating rights with Marner before any other team.
Marner is coming off of a career high 102 point season, which is technically his first 100 point season in his career, however, in his previous four seasons before this past season, Marner was on pace for 100+ points in every season if he played in 82 games. Additionally, Marner is recognized as having an elite defensive game, where he finished in seventh place for the 2025 Selke Trophy. This combination of skill and defensive awareness makes Marner by far the most anticipated available free agent of the last 10 years at the time of each signing. However, similar to Tavares, Mitch Marner’s main flaw is his inability to keep his regular season pace in the post-season.
In 70 career playoff games, Marner has 13 goals and 63 points. While this pace is not bad considering playoff hockey is typically a tougher environment to put up points compared to the regular season, the main issue comes down to when these points are scored. Ever since the 2017 post-season in Marner’s rookie year, when only counting games one through four in each post-season series, Marner has 12 goals and 52 points in a combined 44 games. However, in games five through seven where the pressure increases, Marner has a combined one goal and 11 points in 26 games.
Mitch Marner’s significant difference in production based on the game in the series
Although Marner is not alone in this, and that teammates such as John Tavares and Auston Matthews have also received criticism for their drop in production when the games matter the most, Marner in particular has received the most attention regarding this issue. Many fans and reporters speculate that a different environment with less pressure than the Toronto media may be a good fit for Marner and allow him to thrive in the post-season, as he does so often in the regular season.
Ranking of the most significant free agent signings on new teams in the last 10 years