Here is our Top 25 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents list for 2010. It has been labelled a weak crop for this years NHL unrestricted free agents, especially if you’re looking for scoring help. There are a several defenseman that should draw plenty of interest. In putting together this list, we took into consideration age, position, and likelihood of signing with a new team (ie. Nicklas Lidstrom would only sign with Detroit, so we left him off the list). Check out a complete list of 2010 NHL free agents.
| Rk. | Player | 2009-10 Team | Pos. | Age | 09-10 Cap # | Notes |
| 1 | Ilya Kovalchuk | NJ | LW | 26 | $7,500,000 | Re-signed with New Jersey, 15 years, $100 million. |
| 2 | Patrick Marleau | SJ | C | 29 | $6,300,000 | Re-signed with the Sharks. 4 years, $27.6 million. |
| 3 | Anton Volchenkov | OTT | D | 27 | $3,200,000 | Signs with the Devils. 6 years, $25.5 million. |
| 4 | Paul Martin | NJ | D | 28 | $4,500,000 | Signs with the Penguins. 5 years, $25 million. |
| 5 | Evgeni Nabokov | PHI | G | 33 | $6,000,000 | Signs with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. 4 years, $6 million |
| 6 | Tomas Plekanec | MON | C | 26 | $2,750,000 | Re-signed with the Canadiens. 6 years, $30 million. |
| 7 | Dan Hamhuis | PIT | D | 26 | $2,500,000 | Signs with the Canucks. 6 years, $27 million. |
| 8 | Alexander Frolov | LA | LW | 27 | $4,000,000 | Signs with the Rangers. 1 year, $3 million. |
| 9 | Sergei Gonchar | PIT | D | 35 | $5,500,000 | Signs with the Ottawa Senators. 3 years, $16.5 million. |
| 10 | Marty Turco | DAL | G | 33 | $5,400,000 | Signed with the Blackhawks. 1 year, $1.3 million. |
| 11 | Zbynek Michalek | PHO | D | 26 | $1,500,000 | Signs with the Penguins. 5 years, $20 million. |
| 12 | Alexei Ponikarovsky | PIT | LW | 29 | $2,500,000 | Signs with the Kings. 1 year, $3 million ($3.2 mill. cap hit) |
| 13 | Matthew Lombardi | PHO | C | 27 | $2,350,000 | Signed with the Predators. 3 years, $10.5 million. |
| 14 | Dan Ellis | MON | G | 29 | $2,000,000 | Signs with the Lightning. 2 years, $3 million. |
| 15 | Dennis Seidenberg | BOS | D | 27 | $2,250,000 | Re-signed with the Bruins. 4 years, $13 million. |
| 16 | Pavel Kubina | ATL | D | 32 | $5,000,000 | Signed with the Lightning. 2 years, $7.7 million. |
| 17 | Chris Mason | STL | G | 33 | $3,000,000 | Signs with the Thrashers. 2 years, $3.7 million |
| 18 | Henrik Tallinder | BUF | D | 30 | $3,250,000 | Signed with the Devils. 4 years, $13.5 million. |
| 19 | Maxim Afinogenov | ATL | RW | 30 | $800,000 | Signed in the KHL. 5 years. |
| 20 | Toni Lydman | BUF | D | 31 | $3,150,000 | Signed with the Ducks. 3 years, $9 million. |
| 21 | Lee Stempniak | PHO | RW | 26 | $3,500,000 | Re-signed with the Coyotes. 2 years, $3.8 million. |
| 22 | Olli Jokinen | NYR | C | 30 | $5,500,000 | Signs with the Flames. 2 years, $6 million. |
| 23 | Alex Tanguay | TB | LW | 29 | $2,500,000 | Signed with the Flames. 1 year, $1.7 million. |
| 24 | Willie Mitchell | VAN | D | 32 | $3,500,000 | Signed with the Kings. 2 years, $7 million. |
| 25 | Michael Leighton | PHI | G | 28 | $600,000 | Re-signed with the Flyers. 2 years, $3.1 million. |
