10 Bargain-Bin NHL Free Agents Who Can Solve Roster Issues in 2025
As we're all looking ahead to NHL free agency beginning July 1, it's easy to get caught up in thinking about all of the high-end players who might be there.
Sure, it's exciting to think about who might sign Mitch Marner, Sam Bennett or Brock Boeser, but those are the easy players to pick out to help a team.
We're more interested in the names teams won't have to break the bank to sign who will make an impact on a roster. Everyone loves a bargain, especially NHL general managers and even more especially those dealing with a potential cap crunch.
We've identified a group of players we feel fit the description, although with the salary cap rising to $95.5 million next season, we're going to play a bit loose with what we believe is a bargain.
That means some of the players will be coming off contracts where their past cap hits may not look affordable, but times are changing and everyone is going to be getting raises of some kind thanks to the rising cap.
Buckle up, we're going thrifting.
Pius Suter
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There's a bit of a catch when it comes to Pius Suter in free agency.
For the past two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, his salary-cap hit came in at a more-than-affordable $1.6 million. In his first season with the club, he continued to have the same kind of steady season you'd want from a two-way center with 14 goals and 15 assists, but he set career highs in goals (25) and points (46) this year.
Getting that kind of offensive outburst in a contract year is a good way to get an even better deal than expected. Whether it's the Canucks re-signing him or another team in need of solid depth up the middle, it stands to reason that Suter's next contract will be a little juicier than the two-year, $3.2 million contract he's coming off of.
If we want to nitpick about whether that would make the 29-year-old a bargain-basement deal in free agency, sure, we can do that. But noting he was on a heater in a big way this year (he shot a career-high 18.1 percent) and keeping expectations reasonable, locking him in at a slightly higher rate would still be a good deal on a third-line center who can play up in a pinch.
Victor Olofsson
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There are no secrets about what Victor Olofsson can provide for a team. He's got an elite shot and the ability to help upgrade a power-play unit to make it that much more dangerous.
In Vegas this season, he had 15 goals and 14 assists with six of those goals on the power play. He can play up with top players (like Jack Eichel) or be part of the rotation lower in the forward lines. If anything, the 29-year-old is a luxury player for a top team that could really use a trigger man on the power play solely based on his shot.
Olofsson signed a one-year deal with Vegas worth $1.075 million and that's the kind of low-cost contract a contending team with a specific need can afford. Heck, it's the kind of contract that might see him just stay with Vegas, too.
Nate Schmidt
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If there's a player who demonstrated what it means to be an outstanding bargain-bin contributor this season, it's Nate Schmidt.
The defenseman signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers worth $800,000, just $25,000 more than the league's minimum salary, and he put up five goals and 14 assists in 80 games while averaging 16:32 time on-ice.
At 33 years old, he is experienced enough to understand what his role is meant to be and he's been able to play up and down the pairings while contributing at both ends of the ice. He doesn't get the attention Seth Jones or Aaron Ekblad gets, but he handles his business well and mostly stays out of trouble.
Any team in need of a quality depth defenseman like that would feel lucky to land a guy who plays the way he has this year, and it's a reason why teams will be looking at Schmidt in the offseason to try to fill a similar role, or at least they should be.
Brandon Tanev
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Finding quality third- or fourth-line players can be a tricky thing for any GM.
Those roles are as much about how well they fit into the style of play as they are about chemistry with the other guys they'll be on a line with. Whether it's speed, forechecking or physical play, though, a guy like Brandon Tanev fits any of the descriptions.
The 33-year-old is coming off a six-year, $21 million contract and after, perhaps, not living up to the offensive expectations the Pittsburgh Penguins may have had in mind. Looking past that, though, he fits the bill as a tenacious defensive forward.
Paying a player in that role $3.5 million against the cap is too much, but now that he's a little older and his role and abilities are more clearly established, the cost to add him will come down, which means he'll have the perception of being a bargain.
That cost for a guy who scored 10 goals with 12 assists is too high, but if you halved it, it looks a lot better especially with the defensive work.
Connor Brown
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If we told you that spending $1 million on a third or fourth line would net your favorite team 13 goals and 17 assists, that's something a lot of GMs would feel good about, right?
That's what Connor Brown did for the Edmonton Oilers during the regular season.
There aren't many secrets about Brown's game these days, but he's scored 20-or-more goals twice in his career so his offensive touch is known, but he's also been a capable forechecker and handles himself well enough defensively to not be an issue.
In short, the 31-yer-old is a perfectly average player who can contribute and not be a problem at either end of the ice. It's what made him attractive to the Oilers the past two seasons because he was inexpensive and handled his business. Surely, other cap-strapped teams have taken notice.
Brandon Saad
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How badly does your team need offense? We're asking because Brandon Saad could both be helpful to that end and also a bit of a bargain.
This season was an up-and-down one for the 32-year-old. He and the St. Louis Blues agreed to terminate his contract in January as he was in the fourth year of a five-year deal with the team that came with a $4.5 million cap hit. Vegas signed him weeks later to a pro-rated $1.5 million deal for the remainder of the season, and it's that amount that really speaks to us.
With the Blues this season, Saad had seven goals and nine assists in 43 games. With the Golden Knights, he had six goals and eight assists in 29 games. A 30-point season is solid for lower in the lineup, but his advanced stats have been brutal the past few seasons and his defensive weaknesses were apparent in St. Louis teaming up mostly with Robert Thomas, Jake Neighbours and Jordan Kyrou. It was a different story with Vegas, though, as he was mostly teamed with Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev.
Which version of Saad would a team get if they pursued him? It's a tricky question because he'll be 33 next season, but if a net crasher who can score is something you need lower in the lineup and you can weather the possible defensive issues, he's worth a flier.
Matt Grzelcyk
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If it seems Matt Grzelcyk winds up in our bargain talks or sneaky-good acquisition pieces, it's because he remains a helpful and productive defenseman even in tough situations all while not costing a fortune.
This season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 31-year-old had just one goal, but he had 39 assists and was the team's second leading scorer on defense behind Erik Karlsson. He was on the power play, and he helped push the Pens offense up the ice as smoothly as you could want on a team that had a bad season.
Grzelcyk had a $2.5 million contract with Pittsburgh and while we understand that's not exactly a real bargain price, but if you consider the roles he played there and the production he had, getting a 40-point defenseman at that price really is a bargain.
If Grzelcyk was a right-handed shooter he'd be locked up for the long term already, but as a lefty there's a lot more competition for a player with his ability and those skills.
Truth is a team that needs a puck mover who can help set up teammates could be really savvy and land him for a role deeper in the lineup and do well.
Alex Lyon
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The goaltending market in free agency isn't great. The choices are few and if there's hope of finding a No. 1 goalie out there, hope might never arrive.
There are some good backup options out there, but if there's a desire for a solid backup who has a track record of playing well in a pinch in a starting role, Alex Lyon is a good bet.
The 32-year-old is coming off a two-year, $1.8 million deal with the Red Wings and landing a goalie who can be versatile and ready to play at any time like that for a $900,000 cap hit sounds like a good deal.
Lyon helped spark the Panthers to the playoffs two seasons ago when he pinch-hit for Sergei Bobrovsky late in the year.
In Detroit, when Ville Husso and others struggled, it was Lyon who hopped in and helped calm things down and that's what you want most from a support goaltender, to play steady and stay cool.
The cost would be low to land Lyon and goaltending is always in need across the league, especially for depth. Teams could do a lot worse and with so few free-agent choices in net, it would be really easy to end up not having a good time.
Eric Robinson
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What a time to have a career year.
Eric Robinson had his best season since 2021 with the Columbus Blue Jackets as he had career highs in goals (14), assists (18) and points (32) with the Carolina Hurricanes. The one-year, $950,000 contract he signed over the summer to provide depth proved to be a steal.
His speed and forechecking ability made for a perfect fit in Carolina with Rod Brind'Amour's relentless style of play. That he cashed in so often this season came as a bit of a surprise, but he provided proof that the right skills in the right situation can create good things.
More teams are playing the kind of hockey that allowed Robinson to succeed this year, and his speed can make opponents really uncomfortable, especially if he's finishing his shots, which he did with a career-high 12.7 shooting percentage.
If that gives a curious GM pause thinking it'll drop off, that's fine, but also consider the cost to bring him in wouldn't be anything remotely backbreaking.
Nick Bjugstad
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Everyone wants to have a big centerman and Nick Bjugstad fits that description.
He is coming off a two-year, $4.2 million contract with Arizona/Utah and could be headed to free agency at 33 years old. When he's in the lineup, he's a strong faceoff guy and a big body around the net to wreak havoc on offense. Unfortunately, stressing the part about when he's on the ice is necessary to do.
Injuries held Bjugstad to 66 games this season and he put up eight goals and 11 assists. That 19-point season was his lowest in a few years and considering his age, it creates worry about whether he'll be able to return to his old 40-plus point ways.
That said, when it comes to veterans who know their role, it's hard to look past Bjugstad. His versatility is a key selling point in that he can either be more active in the offensive zone or he can get in the muck and slow down opponents, too.
You couldn't as for a better depth center to have and chances are good the cost to add him will be budget friendly as well.
