Matching the Top Remaining Free Agents to Ideal NHL Teams

With July now in the rearview mirror, any unsigned NHL free agent has spent more than a month on the open market. Teams have spent most of their available money and filled most of their roster, so anyone still without a contract knows that he's competing with his fellows for what few openings remain.

For general managers, there's a similar dilemma.

Historically, there's a bit of trading immediately prior to the season as clubs make sure they're compliant with the salary cap and address any last-minute holes created in training camp. But as a general rule, it's difficult to fix any remaining problems by this point in the summer.

This slideshow is dedicated to finding fits for both sides and matching the top remaining free agents with teams still in need of help. 

Jhonas Enroth and the Toronto Maple Leafs

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2015-16 stat line: 16 GP, 7-5-1 record, 0.922 save percentage

Toronto needs a backup goaltender. Frederik Andersen was acquired from Anaheim and promptly signed through doomsday, so there’s no question as to who the starter is. At this point, Garret Sparks is the only realistic internal option to back him up, but he wasn’t great in 2015-16 and he’s only a year removed from being a full-time ECHL’er, so he’s probably a better fit in the No. 3 slot.

Andersen has never played a 60-game season at any level, and that makes this a good opportunity for Enroth. Enroth played 50 games in 2014-15 but was limited to just 16 last season as Jonathan Quick’s little-used backup.

The Maple Leafs represent a chance at a bigger role, and are one of the few remaining teams with a clear vacancy at the NHL level.

Jiri Hudler and the Anaheim Ducks

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2015-16 stat line: 72 GP, 16 goals, 30 assists, 46 points, +2.2 relative Corsi

One must wonder whether the Ducks are going to take the trade route to solve their gap at left wing. The club has seven NHL defencemen even before we count restricted free agent Hampus Lindholm and stellar prospect Shea Theodore. So there are assets if the team wants to make a move.

Some help is necessary for a team that currently boasts Andrew Cogliano as its best left wing.

Hudler is the one player in free agency that could slot in at the top of the depth chart. He scored 30 goals as recently as 2014-15, and competing with players like Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry would undoubtedly help him rebound offensively.

Brandon Pirri and the Vancouver Canucks

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2015-16 stat line: 61 GP, 14 goals, 15 assists, 29 points, -0.6 relative Corsi

The Canucks and Pirri already have one thing in common: Each is in an odd position.

Vancouver was top-heavy offensively last year; when Henrik and Daniel Sedin weren’t on the ice, generally, there wasn’t much scoring happening. They are also somewhere in between rebuilding, retooling and trying to win hockey games.

General manager Jim Benning has displayed a preference for young prospects and NHL’ers over collecting draft picks as he tries to make the club competitive.

Pirri, a 25-year-old who has hit double digits in goals in each of the last three seasons, is a good fit for that approach. Despite only playing 60-odd games, his 14 goals last season would have ranked fifth on the Canucks. He isn’t likely to be too expensive, either, given that he’s currently adrift in a sea of unsigned free agents.

Kris Russell and the Boston Bruins

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2015-16 stat line: 62 GP, four goals, 15 assists, 19 points, -4.7 relative Corsi

Boston’s defence is still looking a little thin, and bringing in one of free agency’s marquee defencemen would probably help.

Russell is frequently criticized by the analytics community. I described him as “incredibly overrated” for Sportsnet, Travis Yost of TSN pointed out that he isn’t a shutdown defenceman and Kent Wilson of Flames Nation argued that he’d been “mostly overwhelmed” in a top-four role.

However, Russell’s asking price has almost certainly dropped, and he has been effective in previous seasons in a lesser role. Joe Haggerty reported for CSN on July 3 that the Bruins had some interest, and at the right dollar figure, he might be a good complement to one of their big right-shooting defenders.

Antoine Vermette and the Montreal Canadiens

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2015-16 stat line: 76 GP, 17 goals, 21 assists, 38 points, +0.1 relative Corsi

Vermette was a somewhat surprising addition to the free agent field after being bought out of the final year of his contract by the Arizona Coyotes. He’s a reasonably productive offensive centre (mostly thanks to the power play, where he had 16 points last year), and he’s also a fixture on the penalty kill and highly effective in the faceoff circle.

He’d slot in as a special teams option in Montreal, while also playing depth minutes at even-strength. The Canadiens have a lot of youth in their bottom-six, so adding a likely cheap veteran at that position wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Radim Vrbata and the Carolina Hurricanes

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2015-16 stat line: 63 GP, 13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points, +0.2 relative Corsi

The Hurricanes are young and cheap up front, and could really use a talented scorer or two in their top-nine. Ideally, said scorer would join the team on the cheap and play right wing.

Vrbata fits all of those requirements. He’s a bit of a gamble, but he’s also only a single year removed from a 31-goal, 63-point campaign in Vancouver. Much like Lee Stempniak and Viktor Stalberg, Vrbata could add a veteran presence to a young group and could potentially outperform a modest contract.

Signing in Carolina would also give Vrbata a shot at winning a significant role and re-establishing himself as a scorer—something he would find more difficult on a deeper team.

James Wisniewski and the New Jersey Devils

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2015-16 stat line: 1 GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, no Corsi number

Wisniewski is a risk after missing nearly all of last season to injury, but the Devils showed last summer that they weren’t afraid of taking a chance on cheap veteran free agents with nowhere else to go. That willingness paid off bigtime in Lee Stempniak (and to a lesser extent with David Schlemko), and might again with Wisniewski.

New Jersey’s defence is shallow, and the team’s top offensive defenceman put up all of 21 points last year. Wisniewski had seven power-play goals in 2014-15, when he was last healthy, and 34 points overall in just 69 contests. Even that represented a step down from the 51 points he’d put up the year before.

Wisniewski's arrival would fully staff the Devils on the right side (where Damon Severson and Ben Lovejoy also play) and add a scoring threat from the blue line that the club simply didn’t have last season.

All statistics courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com.