Pro Hockey Rumors

The Role Players

A.J. Greer, Florida Panthers

Sometimes, players have a career season at the perfect time – right as they are about to hit unrestricted free agency. Greer is, without question, a player who has done that. The 29-year-old has been a longtime bottom-six forward, bouncing between several teams over the last half-decade.

While he hasn’t been able to find a huge amount of stability in terms of team, that could change in his upcoming free agency. Greer has scored 11 goals and 22 points in 66 games this season, setting new career-highs for offensive production. While he’s not a penalty killer, he is a Stanley Cup champion, an agitator whose ability to get under the skin of opponents, and someone with the size to deliver real physical punishment.

It’s that collection of coveted traits, combined with his uptick in scoring, that places Greer in such strong position heading into free agency. For a player that profiles as a pure bottom-six winger, he has the exact set of assets that will allow him to maximize his earning potential. While he wasn’t dealt before the trade deadline, and is therefore unlikely to get the chance to showcase his talents on the stage that the playoffs provide, he remains one of this season’s biggest risers among pending UFAs.

James van Riemsdyk, Detroit Red Wings

Van Riemsdyk has been a somewhat curious player in terms of his contracts, as despite the fact that he’s kept up a solid level of production since the expiry of his $7MM AAV former contract, he’s been playing largely on smaller deals, none exceeding $2MM in value. He scored 16 goals and 36 points last season, but his base AAV on his current deal is just $1MM. He’s 36 years old, and age is certainly a factor, but one might nonetheless expect him to earn a little bit more given his numbers.

In any case, van Riemsdyk’s upcoming free agency is unlikely to be too different from his prior one. He’s eligible to receive a smaller base salary with significant performance bonuses, and one would have to imagine his next deal will mirror his current one: one-year term, $1MM or so AAV, with another notable amount in bonuses.

Victor Olofsson, Calgary Flames

For much of his NHL career, Olofsson has been something of a mercurial talent. The 30-year-old Swedish scorer is one of the league’s better pure shooters, and has 116 goals across 435 career NHL games. He’s reached the 20-goal plateau on three occasions. But goal scoring in the NHL is about so much more than just pure shooting talent, and while that single tool has carried Olofsson quite far, his lack of success or development in other areas of the game have kept him from reaching his full potential as an NHL scorer.

What Olofsson has achieved, though, is still impressive. While he has often left fans wanting more, the career he’s had remains well above the expectations of a player selected in the seventh round. Unfortunately for Olofsson, he’s unlikely to enter a crucial free agency on the strongest ground.

A mid-season trade shipped him from one of the league’s best teams, the Colorado Avalanche, to one of the weaker lineups: that of the Calgary Flames. He has yet to score a goal in Calgary, and has one point in five games. While Olofsson might have been able to author some big moments on a deep playoff run with the Avalanche, he’s now stuck playing out the final stretch of games on a team near the NHL’s basement.

While Olofsson is playing a slightly larger number of total minutes as a Flame, he’s receiving notably fewer minutes on the power play. That’s where Olofsson has been able to do the most damage in the past, so the fact that he’s not factoring in on the Flames’ man advantage further supports the conclusion that he might struggle in his (likely brief) time in Calgary.

It would be dangerous to put too much stock in how a player performs after a mid-season trade, and that’s especially true for a scorer. In that sense, Olofsson’s time in Calgary might not end up being too significant. But for a player who has already settled for one-year deals in each of the last two summers, the trade to Alberta almost certainly won’t help Olofsson improve his earning potential.

Jaden Schwartz, Seattle Kraken

For Schwartz, the key battle he’s fought in his platform season has been one of staying healthy. He missed a little over a month earlier in the season with a lower-body injury, and is now out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.

Those injuries have cost him the chance to build a full season of momentum heading into free agency, though that’s not to say he hasn’t kept up to his normal standard of quality play as a second or third-line winger. Schwartz is averaging 16:14 time on ice per game, playing a secondary role on both the power play and penalty kill. As a free agent, he offers interested teams nearly 900 games of NHL experience and over 100 games of playoff experience, including a Stanley Cup ring. He also hasn’t slowed down too much as a scorer, and managed 26 goals last season.

If he’s unable to return this season due to his injury, he’ll finish with 10 goals and 21 points in 42 games. While his age, injuries, and slight decline in production from last season mean he might have to settle for a pay cut from the $5.5MM AAV he made on his last deal, he’ll still enter free agency with one of the stronger resumes among his class of free agents.

David Perron, Detroit Red Wings

Perron, at 37, has managed to keep up making in the $4MM range even as he’s progressed into his late-thirties, which is a credit to how he was able to keep up his play as a productive second-line winger after joining the Red Wings in the summer of 2022. Now, after a difficult two-year stretch in Ottawa, it’s extremely unlikely Perron will be able to reach close to that level on his next deal. Perron has struggled to stay healthy in Ottawa, playing in just 43 games last season. This year, he scored 10 goals and 25 points in 49 games before he was traded to Detroit.

Now a Red Wing, there’s a chance Perron gets hot down the stretch for a potentially playoff-bound team and helps teams forget about his struggles as a Senator. But it’s more likely that Perron will enter free agency set to receive the kind of deal Van Riemsdyk (among others) has gotten: a short-term contract with an earning potential centered around bonuses.

Andrei Kuzmenko, Los Angeles Kings

Kuzmenko’s NHL career has been one of peaks and valleys, like some others on this list, though his have been very pronounced. His NHL career started off with a bang, as he scored 39 goals and 74 points in his rookie campaign, off the heels of a stellar season in the KHL. There were some concerns about Kuzmenko’s foot speed, but it was generally believed that the Canucks may have had a star on their hands in the Russian forward.

But from that point, Kuzmenko’s career began to follow a pretty consistent script. He struggled in his second year in Vancouver, scoring just 21 points in 43 games. The Canucks decided to trade him to the Calgary Flames, and he caught fire after the deal, scoring 14 goals and 25 points in 29 games.

There was optimism that Kuzmenko had rediscovered his rookie year form, but that was not to be – he only scored 15 points in 37 games in his second season with Calgary.

Just as the Canucks had done the year before, the Flames elected to deal Kuzmenko to the Flyers. And just as he had done the year prior, Kuzmenko found some success after the deal, scoring five points in seven games in Philadelphia.

A month later, he was on the move again, this time to Los Angeles. Kuzmenko kept up his form from Philadelphia, scoring 17 points in 22 games for the Kings and six points in six playoff games.

While it might have appeared that Kuzmenko had finally found a home in Los Angeles, and had cracked the code of offensive production in the NHL, those conclusions proved to be premature. Just as he had in Vancouver and Calgary, Kuzmenko has struggled to put together a strong follow-up season in Los Angeles. Through 52 games this season, he has 13 goals and 25 points. Kuzmenko underwent knee surgery earlier this month, and isn’t expected to return in 2025-26.

While this has hardly been an ideal platform season for Kuzmenko, he has still clearly shown himself to be an NHL-caliber player. The question teams will have to interrogate for his free agency is where his true talent level lies – whether it’s closer to his high points, or his low stretches. It’s also possible that the major swings in Kuzmenko’s form are in some ways inextricably linked to the way he plays the game, and that every year with him is going to be, in some ways, a roll of the dice.

In any case, he’s one of the more compelling players at his position set to be available on the open market.

Beck Malenstyn, Buffalo Sabres

From the moment the Sabres traded for Malenstyn, most understood the British Columbia native’s play would most often be judged against the price the team paid to acquire him. When Buffalo acquired Malenstyn, they traded a 2024 second-round pick to the Capitals, and that pick became Cole Hutson, who made his NHL debut tonight after a stellar college career.

But the fact that the Sabres surrendered the chance to draft one of the game’s best prospects is ultimately irrelevant to Malenstyn himself. It wasn’t his choice to be dealt for such a price, and the reality is he’s performed admirably for the Sabres within the specific role they acquired him to fill.

When the Sabres acquired Malenstyn, they did so because the team was looking to become harder to play against. Getting tougher and more capable in the physical side of the game was something Buffalo evidently viewed as key to ending their playoff drought, and while Malenstyn has only been a cog in a larger machine, the Sabres look overwhelmingly likely to end that drought later this season. In other words, as far as the Malenstyn trade is concerned, it’s mission accomplished for the Sabres.

Malenstyn is a player who occupies a specific role – he’s a penalty killer, a menace on the forecheck, and someone his coach can rely on to provide a little over 10 minutes of hard-working, physical hockey per night. Does that make him the most valuable free agent a team can sign on the open market? No, absolutely not, but that doesn’t mean he will be lacking in suitors.

A deep playoff run in Buffalo could really help Malenstyn’s market, but it’ll be important for him and his representatives to handle his trip to free agency the right way. Tyler Motte is a comparable player who found himself in a similar situation, a valued, hard-working fourth-line winger hitting the open market after a year on a playoff contender.

Motte lingered as a free agent for far longer than expected in back-to-back years, and had to settle for smaller offers than he was likely hoping for. He ended up changing agents in August of 2023, a development that is typically an indication of some level of dissatisfaction on the player’s end.

As a player in a similar position to where Motte was, Malenstyn has an opportunity to sign a solid free agent contract. It’ll be important for him to not set his sights too high, though, as for all of his positive qualities, he remains a player best fit for a fourth line.

Cole Smith, Vegas Golden Knights

Smith, 30, is a player who routinely beat the odds en route to the NHL. He was an undrafted player coming out of the University of North Dakota, and his production as a senior (18 points in 34 games) did not signal an overwhelmingly likely NHL future. But the 6’3″ winger committed to playing a pro-style game that quickly endeared him to coaches, and allowed him to play NHL games just one year removed from college.

The following year, he produced at a solid rate with AHL Milwaukee, and found himself in the NHL on a full-time basis by his third season in the pros.

Since he became a full-time NHLer, Smith hasn’t returned to the minors. He developed into a quality fourth-line winger in Nashville, earning a regular role on the penalty kill. While he’s not a reliable source of secondary offense, Smith’s qualities as a defensive winger and grinder were strong enough for the Golden Knights to surrender a third-round pick to acquire him.

He’s earning $1MM on his current contract, but has lined himself up to earn a solid raise on his next deal. He can further increase his odds to do so if he can go on a deep playoff run with the Golden Knights, as he’s thus far been relatively untested in the postseason.

Ryan Lomberg, Calgary Flames

Lomberg is an example of a player who has already cashed in as a free agent, signing a $2MM AAV deal with the Flames after winning the Stanley Cup with the Panthers. Standing just 5’9″ 184 pounds, Lomberg plays well above his stature, racking up hits and penalty minutes on a regular basis. He ranks third on the Flames this season in hits, and second in PIMs.

At this point, there doesn’t appear to be enough wind behind Lomberg to suggest he will be able to earn a similarly high AAV on his next deal. He hasn’t averaged time-on-ice per game above 10 minutes in either season as a Flame, and hasn’t killed penalties either. He also has just seven goals since arriving in Alberta, despite a career-high of 12 goals from 2022-23.

While there are things for teams to appreciate in what Lomberg brings to the table, it’s questionable as to whether there’s enough to earn him a deal similar to the one he received from the Flames in his last stint as a free agent.

Conor Sheary, New York Rangers

While the 2025-26 season has not been kind to the New York Rangers, it has been a crucial bounce-back campaign for Sheary. While Sheary’s numbers hardly jump off the page (12 points in 48 games), the fact that he’s stuck in head coach Mike Sullivan’s lineup for 48 contests is a significant win for Sheary.

He spent all but five games of 2024-25 in the AHL, and there looked to be real risk that Sheary was becoming more of an AHL scorer than full-time NHLer at this stage of his career.

Sheary has carved out a full-time NHL role this season, which should help him as a free agent. While he’s unlikely to receive much of a raise from his current league-minimum NHL salary, he’s a real contender to earn a one-way contract after settling for a two-way deal last summer.

Sullivan, who also coached Sheary during his days with the Penguins, clearly trusts the veteran winger. It wouldn’t be a major surprise to see him re-sign in New York, perhaps filling the role Jonny Brodzinski has occupied in recent years a versatile thirteenth forward.

Brandon Saad, Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights have struggled to find their footing in 2025-26, and that’s reflected in how several of their players have performed this season. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than with Saad, who currently finds himself a healthy scratch.

The 33-year-old is a veteran of nearly 1,000 games, but has had a nightmarish campaign. Just a few years ago, he scored 26 goals and 42 points for the Blues. Last season, he scored at a 40-point 82-game pace. But this year, he’s only managed eight points in 46 games, with just three goals. Saad’s slated to earn $2MM this season, and had a $1MM signing bonus included in that. His steep offensive decline has dealt a major blow to his odds of reaching those heights on his next deal. The key, in what remains in the season, will be for Saad to find a way back into head coach Bruce Cassidy’s lineup, and go from there.

Ross Johnston, Anaheim Ducks

Part of a dying breed of enforcer-type players in the NHL, Johnston’s campaigns cannot be evaluated along the same lines as other forwards. Johnston can go game after game without registering a point, but still fulfill the expectations laid out for him by head coach Joel Quenneville and Ducks brass. The 6’5″ winger leads Ducks forwards in hits and penalty minutes, and is one of the league’s more capable fighters.

Helping Johnston as he enters free agency is the fact that he’s now set a new career-high in offensive production. With three goals and 14 points, he’s not exactly a premium secondary scorer. But at 32 years old, the fact that he’s been able to find a little bit more production shows he’s a little bit more than just a hard-hitting body checker. That could bode well for him on the open market, and give him a chance to exceed the $1.1MM AAV he earned on his last deal.

Others Of Note

Jeff Viel, Anaheim Ducks

Viel, 29, is a player firmly on the league’s minor-league bubble. His career-high in NHL games for a single season is 34, and as recently as last season, he had 68 games played at the AHL level. Viel was dealt to Anaheim in January for a fourth-round pick, a relatively hefty price to pay for a player with just 64 NHL games to his name to that point in his career.

The Ducks clearly saw something in Viel, and their investment has paid dividends, as he’s been able to carve out a role in Quenneville’s lineup and even author some clutch moments. While it’s too early to tell whether Viel has established himself as a full-time NHL player, his stint in Anaheim has all but confirmed he’ll receive a one-way contract for next season. Viel’s current deal began with a two-way structure, so this season has been a clear win for the player.

Adam Erne, Dallas Stars

Erne is another player who has managed to take a meaningful step forward in his career in 2025-26. He got into just 10 games last season, all of them coming at the AHL level with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He’s signed PTOs in each of the last two years, including beginning this season on one with the Stars. He’s made the most of his tryout this season, first turning it into a full two-way contract with the Stars, and then a full-time NHL role. He hasn’t touched AHL ice since signing in Dallas, and has gotten into 33 games.

While he’s only managed six points in those 33 games, he has done his best to try to make an impact when he’s played. He’s leading Stars skaters in hits despite averaging under 10 minutes of ice time per game. It’s unclear whether Erne has done enough to earn a one-way contract for next season, but being on the Stars, he could end up getting into some playoff games. If he does so, his odds of earning a one-way deal should jump.

Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images, Bob Frid-Imagn Images, Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images, Brad Penner-Imagn Images