Ranking the Biggest Free-Agent Bargains in the NHL's Salary Cap Era

With the NHL's free-agency window opening on Friday, much is being made about the big names who will sign for the big dollars.

The signings that linger in our memory tend to be the spectacular busts. But for every Scott Gomez or Wade Redden, there are deals—big and small—that pan out. Sometimes players even exceed expectations.

Teams build their rosters by drafting and trading, signing undrafted free agents and, of course, retaining their own players—often at a lower price than they'd command on the open market.

This article will focus on unrestricted free agents signed by one team from another team's roster. Here's a look at nine of the best free-agent bargains since the start of the salary cap era in 2005.

All stats from nhl.com. Unless otherwise noted, all salary data from capgeek.com.

9. Ray Emery: 2012 Chicago Blackhawks

Free-Agent Contract: 1 year, $1.15 million

2012-13 Stats: 21 GP, 1.94 GAA, .922 save percentage

Ray Emery is the classic NHL redemption story. After early career success in Ottawa, Emery fell from favor and was eventually bought out of his contract.

Emery played in Russia for a year, then bounced back and forth between the AHL and the NHL for two seasons before finding a home in Chicago. A solid 2011-12 campaign parlayed into the best season of his career.

Emery was a key player in the Blackhawks' record-setting regular-season winning streak, sharing the William M. Jennings trophy with Corey Crawford and helping the 'Hawks to the 2012-13 Presidents' Trophy.

8. Ray Whitney: 2010 Phoenix Coyotes

Free-Agent Contract: 2 years, $6 million

2010-11 Stats: 75 GP, 17-40-57

2011-12 Stats: 82 GP, 24-53-77

Ray Whitney is fine wine. He keeps getting better with age.

Whitney was drafted 23rd overall in 1991—a draft class that included Eric Lindros, Scott Niedermayer, Markus Naslund and Alex Kovalev.

Unlike the stars listed above, Whitney didn't find his groove until he joined his third team, the Florida Panthers, in 1997-98. In the 15 years since then, he's been a reliable scorer who produces just under a point a game. 

When Whitney won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 at age 34, it was believed he was headed into his twilight years. By the time his next deal with the Hurricanes expired in 2010, his production had slipped to "only" 58 points.

Whitney took a pay cut when he signed with the Phoenix Coyotes that summer. He finished third in team scoring in 2010-11 with 57 points, then exploded to lead the team with 24 goals and 77 points in the second year of his deal.

Whitney was an important part of the Coyotes' 2012 playoff run. A free agent again at age 40, he earned himself a 50 percent raise when he signed his most recent two-year deal last summer with Dallas.

7. Matt Moulson: 2009 New York Islanders

Free-Agent Contract: 1 year, $575,000

2009-10 Stats: 82 GP, 30-18-48

Chosen 263rd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 entry draft, Moulson made it to the NHL after signing a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Kings in 2006 following his graduation from Cornell.

After three seasons spent mostly in the minors with the Kings organization, Moulson was a 25-year-old unrestricted free agent when he was scooped up by the New York Islanders in 2009. He scored 30 goals in his first season on Long Island and has blossomed into the team's first-line left winger.

He'll make $3.9 million in 2013-14 but was an absolute steal when the Islanders picked him up four years ago.

6. P.A. Parenteau: 2010 New York Islanders

Free-Agent Contract: 1 year, $600,000

2010-11 Stats: 81 GP, 20-33-53

In the summer of 2010, P.A. Parenteau was a 27-year-old journeyman right winger with just 27 NHL games under his belt.

The New York Islanders signed him as a free agent and gave him some quality ice time. They were rewarded with a 20-goal performance, followed up with 18 goals and 67 points the following year.

Two solid seasons were enough for the rest of the league to take notice. Parenteau cashed in with a four-year, $16 million contract with Colorado in the summer of 2012. He tied for the team scoring lead in his first season with the Avalanche.

5. Mike Smith: 2011 Phoenix Coyotes

Free-Agent Contract: 2 years, $4 million

2011-12 Stats (Regular Season): 67 GP, 2.21 GAA, .930 save percentage
(Playoffs): 16 GP, 1.99 GAA, .944 save percentage

In the summer of 2011, the Phoenix Coyotes lost their starting goaltender when Ilya Bryzgalov signed his $51 million free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Phoenix general manager Don Maloney responded by signing 29-year-old journeyman Mike Smith at a relatively humble $2 million a year.

Not only did Smith beat Bryzgalov's numbers in the season that followed, he also beat Bryzgalov's numbers from his time in Phoenix. His netminding was key to getting the Coyotes past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since they arrived in the desert in 1996.

Bryzgalov's now a very rich man after being bought out by the Flyers, but Smith is also sitting pretty—and he has a job. He just signed a six-year extension in Phoenix worth $34 million.

4. Scott Niedermayer: 2005 Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Free-Agent Contract: 4 years, $27 million

2005-06 Stats: 82 GP, 13-50-63

Big money. Big reward. That's good value in NHL circles.

Scott Niedermayer became an unrestricted free agent as the 2004-05 NHL lockout was ending. With three Stanley Cup rings from his years with the New Jersey Devils, the smooth-skating defenseman was highly coveted. He chose to tender his services to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in order to play alongside his brother Rob.

Niedermayer was the perfect addition to an already-stacked lineup. The Ducks went to the Western Conference Final in 2006, then won their only Stanley Cup to date in 2007. Niedermayer was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Ducks' most valuable playoff performer.

Niedermayer stayed with the team until his retirement in 2010 and remains part of the franchise as an assistant coach.

3. Brian Elliott: 2011 St. Louis Blues

Free-Agent Contract: 1 year, $600,000

2011-12 Stats (Regular Season): 38 GP, 1.56 GAA, .940 save percentage

The St. Louis Blues were simply looking for a steady backup for Jaroslav Halak when they signed Brian Elliott in the summer of 2011.

Instead, their $600,000 bought them the best goaltending performance of the year.

Elliott and Halak were both lights out, earning the William M. Jennings Trophy for lowest total goals against in 2011-12. Of the two, Elliott had the better stats. In fact, his 1.56 GAA and .940 save percentage were both tops in the league.

Elliott signed a two-year deal that tripled his salary to $1.8 million a year, hanging on to the No. 1 spot in a crowded crease in St. Louis.

2. Zdeno Chara: 2006 Boston Bruins

Free-Agent Contract: 5 years, $37.5 million

2006-07 Stats: 80 GP, 11-32-43

When the NHL resumed play after the 2004-05 lockout, the Ottawa Senators were a very good team with a surplus of young players who needed contract extensions. They couldn't all be re-signed under the cap.

On the blue line, general manager Bryan Murray elected to let Zdeno Chara become an unrestricted free agent, sticking with a core that included Wade Redden and Chris Phillips.

We all know how that worked out. True, $7.5 million a year doesn't seem like a bargain at first glance, but in his first five years with Boston, Chara led his team from 26th place in the NHL to a Stanley Cup. He got them to the finals again two years later.

Phillips remains with a Senators team that's rebuilding around a new young core, while Redden left two years after Chara. He signed a fat deal with the New York Rangers that proved disastrous after just two seasons and put him at the front of this year's compliance-buyout class.

1. Teemu Selanne: 2005 Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Free-Agent Contract: 1 year, $1 million (per imdb.com)

2005-06 Stats: 80 GP, 40-50-90

Dollar for dollar, Brian Burke's signing of unrestricted free agent Teemu Selanne in 2005 has to rank as the savviest deal of all time.

Selanne and Paul Kariya had enjoyed success playing together in Anaheim starting in the mid-90s. In 2003, they were both free agents and decided to sign with Colorado as a package deal.

The move was a disaster. Kariya was injured for a significant portion of the season and tallied just 36 points, while Selanne put up only 32 points. With a bad season followed by a year-long lockout, it looked like the 35-year-old Finnish Flash might be finished in the NHL.

After the lockout, Kariya moved on to the Nashville Predators while Selanne headed back to Southern California. He took a pay cut of $4.8 million to return to Anaheim—and scored 40 goals as soon as he arrived.

Selanne's first tenure with the Ducks was six seasons long; he's lasted eight more years after being brought back as an aging reclamation project. He hasn't declared his plans yet for next year, but don't count out another return at age 43. Gordie Howe, watch your back!

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