NHL Free Agency 2020: Tyson Barrie, Braden Holtby, More Predicted Landing Spots

The ongoing NHL hiatus could push the opening of 2020 free agency from July 1 to a later date.

The NHL projected its 2020-21 salary cap to be between $84 million and $88.2 million before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2019-20 season to be suspended in March. It remains to be seen how the hiatus might affect next season's figures.

Regardless of if or when the 2019-20 season returns and the offseason begins, there are several intriguing free agents set to hit the market.

Among them will be Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tyson Barrie, Florida Panthers right wing Evgenii Dadonov and Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby.

Read on below to see where these three coveted free agents might land.

Tyson Barrie, Defenseman, Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs were rumored to be shopping Tyson Barrie ahead of February's trade deadline but  held on to the 28-year-old.

TSN's Bob McKenzie relayed that the Leafs were seeking a first-round pick and a prospect in return for the defenseman:

Barrie was traded to Toronto by the Colorado Avalanche in July. At the time, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic explained that finances were part of the reason the 28-year-old was dealt:

"We wanted to get a second-line centerman and we didn't think financially it was going to work down the line by trying to sign Tyson to an extension. It's going to cost a lot of money, and we felt it was one of those trades for both teams; they're looking for a right-handed defenseman and we're looking for a second-line center. That's where the deal makes sense for both teams."

The Leafs aren't going to be inclined to give Barrie a lucrative extension given how underwhelming his first year with the team has been: five goals, 39 points and a 51 percent expected goal share, per The Athletic's Jonas Siegel, who provided a thoughtful analysis on whether the Leafs should re-sign him Tuesday.

The offensive dropoff has been stark for Barrie, who scored a career-high 14 goals in both 2017-18 and 2018-19, as well as recording a career-high 59 points last season.

"That's a question I don't have the answer to right now," Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas told Siegel of Barrie's upcoming free agency two weeks before the season was suspended on March 12. "As you know, with our cap situation it's never so simple."

Per Spotrac, the Leafs have the fourth-lowest projected cap space for 2020-21 with $10,866,467.

Siegel added that Barrie is the only Leafs player aside from 22-year-old star center Auston Matthews to start in all 70 of their games in 2019-20.

Barrie's $5.5 million cap hit for this season was split between the Avs and Leafs—the final year of his four-year, $22 million contract signed with Colorado in July 2016. Toronto wouldn't have any help carrying the load of a new contract.

Prediction: Toronto lets Barrie walk.

Evgenii Dadonov, Right Wing, Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers were burned last summer in free agency when they gave Sergei Bobrovsky a seven-year, $70 million contract.

The goaltender, who is earning the second-highest annual average value ($10 million) among players in his position, has not lived up to the deal. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner was benched earlier this season and dropped from last season's nine shutouts to just one in 2019-20.

Dadonov has had the opposite effect.

The Russian sharpshooter has been in Florida for the duration of his NHL career. The Panthers selected him in the third round of the 2007 entry draft, and he made his debut in the 2009-10 season. He struggled to find his footing at first, scoring only 10 goals in total before his first 28-goal outburst in 2017-18.

However, Dadonov has become one of the more interesting free agents based on his recent production. The 31-year-old right wing is the Panthers' second-leading scorer (25 goals) behind center Mike Hoffman (29 goals), who is also slated for unrestricted free agency.

Dadonov scored 28 goals in each of the past two seasons, including a career-high 70 points last season.

The Panthers were able to re-sign Dadonov on a team-friendly three-year, $12 million contract in July 2017 after he had excelled for SKA Saint Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League. He figures to be much more expensive this time around.

"He's one of the league's most underrated sharpshooters and his production over the past three years all but guarantees he won't be underpaid come free agency," TSN's Emily Sadler wrote of Dadonov late on in March while listing him as the class' seventh-best free agent, "though age may deter clubs from offering long-term pacts."

Florida will likely be more conservative about spending big, but if the Panthers can get Dadonov on a deal similar to his last pact, it would make a lot of sense. It will all be dependent on the market he demands, which is unclear, as well as how the Panthers value him compared to Hoffman.

Age won't give either player an advantage, as Dadonov turned 31 in March and Hoffman will turn 31 in November.

Prediction: Panthers keep Hoffman, let Dadonov go.

Braden Holtby, Goaltender, Washington Capitals

"From 2012 onward, when [Braden] Holtby made his first playoff start, only two others—Henrik Lundqvist and Jonathan Quick—have saved more goals above expected (35) in the postseason than Holtby," The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn wrote in mid-January.

Lundqvist and Quick are interesting comparisons to Holtby, as the 30-year-old Washington Capitals goaltender becomes an unrestricted free agent following this season.

The Swede signed a seven-year, $59.5 million extension with the New York Rangers at 31 years old in December 2013, while Quick penned a monster 10-year, $58 million extension with the Los Angeles Kings at 26 years old in June 2012.

Will Holtby land a similarly lucrative extension with the Caps?

Washington signed the All-Star to a five-year, $30.5 million extension in July 2015, and he was the first Capitals goalie signed to a contract longer than three years since Olaf Kolzig in 2001 (h/t NHL.com's Katie Brown).

TSN's Emily Sadler listed Holtby as the third-best impending free agent in late March while also citing comments Washington GM Brian MacLellan made about the 2015-16 Vezina Trophy winner during a January radio appearance:

"Holtby's our guy. I mean, he's got a Cup, he has a history, he's been a huge part of our organization. I think what we've been trying to do is develop [Ilya] Samsonov and he's handled everything we've thrown at him very well. He's continually gotten better, he works at his game, he's calm under pressure."

Holtby was drafted by Washington in the fourth round in 2008, while Samsonov was taken 22nd overall in 2015. The 23-year-old made his NHL debut on Oct. 4, 2019, and has quickly emerged as a more than capable heir apparent if the Caps don't want to give Holtby another long-term extension.

Samsonov is 16-6-2 with a .913 save percentage, while Holtby is 25-14-6 with a career-worst .897 save percentage this season.

Just as Bobrovsky's seven-year, $70 million contract last year might deter the Florida Panthers from spending big this summer (or whenever free agency begins with an altered schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic), it could affect the goaltender market and Holtby directly.

The Capitals have Samsonov under contract for the 2020-21 season with just a $925,000 cap hit before he becomes a restricted free agent, per Spotrac. That seems a much more appealing option than an expensive Holtby contract after he carried a $6.1 million cap hit this season.

Prediction: The Caps bid farewell to Holtby.