The Top Takeaways from 2016 NHL Free Agency

The dust has settled from the furor of free-agent signings on July 1. Now, NHL teams are getting their restricted free agents under contract and dealing with upcoming arbitration hearings.

General managers are also tiptoeing around the bargain bin to see if any of the unrestricted free agents left on the market could provide value for their respective teams this fall.

Here's a look at what we've learned through the 2016 edition of NHL free agency thus far. What else to you think will come to pass before the teams convene for training camp in late September?

There's No Place Like Home

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He kept the Tampa Bay Lightning waiting until two days before free agency opened on July 1, but in the end, Steven Stamkos re-upped with the team that drafted him first overall in 2008.

Stamkos' new contract is worth an average annual value of $8.5 million for the next eight seasons, according to General Fanager—a relatively modest increase (in hockey-player terms) of $1 million a year from his previous deal. But he gets a chance to stay in Tampa Bay, with the only team that has reached the final four in both of the last two seasons. Next step for Stamkos and the Lightning: a Stanley Cup.

Stamkos' loyalty has also been reflected by other high-end players, who would have been eligible to become unrestricted free agents in July 2017. His teammate Victor Hedman signed a big contract to stay with the Lightning, as did Jamie Benn with the Dallas Stars. Next year's free-agent class is already a little less intriguing.

The Early Bird Gets the Defenseman

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Without many high-end options available on defense this year, the Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers opted to get ahead of the pack by trading a draft pick for the opportunity to start wooing their intended target a few days before any other teams could get in on the action.

According to ESPN, the opportunity to negotiate with Keith Yandle starting on June 20 only cost the Florida Panthers a sixth-round draft pick. They got their man, inking Yandle to a seven-year deal with a cap hit of $6.35 million per season on June 24, before the free-agency interview period began for the rest of the league.

Because Yandle was successfully signed, the Panthers now also surrender a fourth-round pick in 2017 to New York—pretty good value for an exclusive window that they were able to use to their advantage.

Down in the desert, another rookie general manager took a similar gamble when he acquired the negotiating rights to Alex Goligoski on June 16. John Chayka gave up just one draft pick—a fifth-rounder in 2016—and reeled in his man on June 21 with a very reasonable five-year deal with a cap hit of $5.475 per season.

Once Yandle and Goligoski were gone, the best defenseman available on July 1 became Brian Campbell, who signed a below-market contract with his old team—the Chicago Blackhawks. The next-best, Dan Hamhuis inked a two-year deal with the Dallas Stars.

Top Talents Earn Top Dollar

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Steven Stamkos' decision to re-up in Tampa Bay left roster spots and cap space available on other teams—and those spaces were quickly filled.

With a cap ceiling that has risen to $73 million for the 2016-17 season, that left enough room for the Detroit Red Wings to sign the second-best center available, Frans Nielsen, to a six-year deal with a cap hit of $5.25 million per season.

The longest, most lucrative deals of the day went to wingers—$42 million over seven years for Milan Lucic to ride shotgun with Connor McDavid as part of the Edmonton Oilers and for Kyle Okposo with the Buffalo Sabres. In Brooklyn, Andrew Ladd got $38.5 million over seven years to help replace Okposo and tangentially, Nielsen, with the New York Islanders.

Ka-ching!

Humility May Be Required

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Ten years ago, 21-year-old Eric Staal scored a cool 45 goals and 100 points in the regular season and then led the Carolina Hurricanes with 28 points in 25 games on the way to the franchise's first Stanley Cup.

A big center with three talented brothers following in his hockey footsteps, Staal looked like the leader of a fraternal dynasty that might prove even more talented than the original Sutter brothers. But the Hurricanes have only made the playoffs one time since their 2006 Cup win, and Staal only broke the 80-point threshold one other time—2007-08.

Paid like a superstar with an $8.25 million cap hit over the past seven seasons, Staal didn't deliver value for the dollar in Carolina or during his brief, disastrous stint with the New York Rangers after the 2016 trade deadline.

Staal starts fresh now, with the Minnesota Wild, on a three-year deal with a drastically decreased cap hit of $3.5 million per season. At 31, the deal gives him a chance to prove his NHL legacy should amount to more than one spectacular season as a 21-year-old.

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

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At February's trade deadline, shot-blocking specialist Kris Russell was a hot commodity, ultimately commanding two players and a second-round draft pick from the Dallas Stars in exchange for his end-of-season services, according to HockeyDB.com.

Russell was believed to be highly coveted again on July 1, but rumours of offers as high as $25 million over five years were shot down, per Vancouver's News 1130, and the 29-year-old remains without a deal as we get into the late stages of July.

Last season, Cody Franson was expected to command a huge contract but had to settle for two years with a $3.325 million cap hit from the Buffalo Sabres on September 10, according to Chris Johnston at Sportsnet.

Russell's cap hit last season was $2.6 million. With the bargaining power now shifting, how close will he get to having a team meet his asking price?

Age Is More Than Just a Number

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If you're an NHL player over 30 and you're still unsigned, you've got plenty of company.

Looking at General Fanager's list of remaining unrestricted free agents, 20 of the top 25 unsigned free agents—ranked by the cap hit of their previous contract—are 30 or older. A player like Matthias Ohlund, 39, has been on long-term injured reserve for years and is almost certainly retiring, but his counterpart Patrik Elias, who turned 40 in April, is open to the idea of keeping his NHL career alive.

"He desperately wants to play one more year," Elias’ agent, Allan Walsh, told Luke Fox of Sportsnet in early June. "We’re not talking to other teams. If Patrik is able to play at the level he expects himself to play, if he can contribute to a team, I think New Jersey would very much love to have him back."

Elias played just 16 games in 2015-16 while dealing with a knee issue—13 games in November and December and then three more at the end of the season, after he underwent arthroscopic surgery.

After another surgical procedure in May, the door for a return remains open for a possible Teemu Selanne-style swan song for the Devils' two-time Stanley Cup winner and all-time leading scorer, based on comments from Ray Shero to NJ.com (via NHL.com). 

Plenty of other older players are also hoping they have the right stuff to get noticed and signed before the new season begins.

Stats and player data from NHL.com. Salary information from General Fanager.