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NHL Free Agents

NHL Free Agency: List of Pending Unrestricted Free Agent Defensemen

Mark Easson 05/04/2025
8 Min Read
NHL free agency: Teams may prioritize trades or re-signings over major unrestricted free agent commitments for blue-line upgrades.
Feb 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) skates with the puck against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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The 2025 NHL free agent defenseman class is highlighted by Aaron Ekblad (Panthers), a top-pairing right-shot defenseman with offensive upside and physicality. His injury history and recent discipline (20-game suspension) may raise minor concerns for some. Ivan Provorov (Blue Jackets) offers durability and transitional play, averaging 23+ minutes nightly, but his possession metrics remain inconsistent.

Dante Fabbro has revitalized his value after joining the Blue Jackets, posting a career-high 26 points. He’s emerging as a reliable two-way option. Ryan Lindgren and Cody Ceci would add depth. Lindgren provides physicality and Ceci offers steady defensive play. Matt Grzelcyk put up a career-high 40 points, including 39 assists. Vladislav Gavrikov provides a steady presence on the Kings blue line.

The class lacks top-pairing options for contending teams, beyond maybe Ekblad. Most of the above options (Provorov, Fabbro, Gavrikov) serve as middle-pairing or complementary pieces. The remaining group are in the 5-7 range. Teams may prioritize trades or re-signings over major UFA commitments for blue-line upgrades.

 Player Pos Age Team AAV GP G A Pts TOI 5v4 TOI 4v5 TOI
Grzelcyk, Matt LD 31 PIT $2.75M 82 1 39 40 20:37 2:02 0:35
Ekblad, Aaron RD 29 FLA $7.50M 56 3 30 33 23:31 2:33 2:17
Provorov, Ivan LD 28 CBJ $6.75M 82 7 26 33 23:21 0:56 2:25
Gavrikov, Vladislav LD 29 LAK $5.88M 82 5 25 30 23:05 0:04 3:04
Burns, Brent RD 40 CAR $8.00M 82 6 23 29 20:57 1:34 2:14
Orlov, Dmitry LD 33 CAR $7.75M 76 6 22 28 20:00 0:01 1:56
Fabbro, Dante RD 27 CBJ $2.50M 68 9 17 26 20:54 0:04 1:28
Ceci, Cody RD 31 DAL $3.25M 85 4 20 24 21:13 0:06 2:19
Lindgren, Ryan LD 27 COL $4.50M 72 4 18 22 19:42 0:00 2:21
Dumoulin, Brian LD 33 NJD $3.15M 80 3 19 22 19:33 0:01 2:03
Perbix, Nick RD 27 TBL $1.12M 74 6 13 19 14:41 0:01 0:15
Schmidt, Nate LD/RD 33 FLA $800K 80 5 14 19 16:32 1:12 0:41
DeAngelo, Tony RD 29 NYI $775K 35 4 15 19 23:21 2:50 0:23
Savard, David RD 34 MTL $3.50M 75 1 14 15 16:35 0:01 2:57
Suter, Ryan LD 40 STL $3.00M 82 2 13 15 19:28 0:04 1:54
Martinez, Alec LD/RD 37 CHI $4.00M 44 5 7 12 18:44 0:36 1:22
Forbort, Derek LD 33 VAN $1.50M 54 2 9 11 17:06 0:03 2:02
Jokiharju, Henri RD 26 BOS $3.10M 60 3 7 10 17:50 0:19 0:49
Cholowski, Dennis LD 27 NJD $775K 39 3 7 10 13:04 1:10 0:01
Rutta, Jan LD/RD 34 SJS $2.75M 54 3 6 9 17:15 0:00 1:44
Hanley, Joel LD/RD 34 CGY $788K 53 2 7 9 18:35 0:05 1:17
Mahura, Joshua LD/RD 27 SEA $775K 64 0 9 9 13:45 0:02 0:34
Petry, Jeff RD 37 DET $6.25M 44 1 7 8 18:54 0:11 1:06
de Haan, Calvin LD/RD 34 NYR $800K 47 0 8 8 14:58 0:00 0:53
Hamonic, Travis RD 34 OTT $1.10M 59 1 6 7 17:04 0:02 1:30

Free agents chart and numbers taken from The Stanley Cap

 Player Pos Age Team AAV GP G A Pts TOI 5v4 TOI 4v5 TOI
Wotherspoon, Parker LD 27 BOS $800K 55 1 6 7 18:02 0:07 1:16
Fleury, Haydn LD/RD 28 WPG $775K 39 0 7 7 15:56 0:05 1:19
Merrill, Jon LD 33 MIN $1.20M 70 2 4 6 14:06 0:01 0:47
Smith, Brendan LD/RD 36 DAL $1.00M 32 1 5 6 13:13 0:02 0:54
Gilbert, Dennis LD 28 OTT $825K 29 0 6 6 10:29 0:00 0:26
Johnson, Jack LD 38 CBJ $775K 41 0 6 6 12:52 0:00 1:30
DeSimone, Nick RD 30 UTA $775K 20 1 5 6 15:35 0:00 0:22
Kylington, Oliver LD/RD 28 ANA $1.05M 19 1 4 5 12:18 0:01 0:17
Johnson, Erik RD 37 COL $1.00M 36 2 3 5 14:35 0:00 1:35
Klingberg, John RD 32 EDM $1.76M 11 1 3 4 17:15 0:13 0:10
Barrie, Tyson RD 33 CGY $1.25M 13 1 2 3 15:48 1:41 0:01
Reilly, Mike LD 31 NYI $1.25M 18 0 2 2 15:10 1:34 0:04
Bortuzzo, Robert RD 36 UTA $775K 17 0 2 2 10:57 0:00 1:22
Hutton, Grant RD 29 NYI $775K 13 0 2 2 13:28 0:07 0:50
Ruhwedel, Chad RD 35 NYR $775K 5 0 1 1 14:06 0:00 2:19
Mermis, Dakota LD/RD 31 TOR $775K 4 0 1 1 15:12 0:00 0:04
Lagesson, William LD/RD 29 DET $775K 7 0 1 1 14:34 0:01 0:23
Kiersted, Matt LD 27 FLA $775K 2 0 1 1 12:41 0:00 0:50
Hakanpää, Jani RD 33 TOR $1.47M 2 0 0 0 14:05 0:00 1:03
Schuldt, Jimmy LD 30 SJS $800K 8 0 0 0 13:47 0:02 0:54
Petrovic, Alexander RD 33 DAL $775K 5 0 0 0 14:06 0:02 0:05
Megna, Jaycob LD 32 FLA $775K 8 0 0 0 16:06 0:00 1:24
Hagg, Robert LD 30 VGK $775K 2 0 0 0 11:09 0:00 0:00
Santini, Steven RD 30 TBL $775K 1 0 0 0 11:37 0:00 0:00
Friedman, Mark LD/RD 29 NSH $775K 5 0 0 0 14:04 0:00 0:21
Dermott, Travis LD/RD 28 EDM $775K 19 0 0 0 12:16 0:04 0:22
Jones, Caleb LD/RD 28 LAK $775K 6 0 0 0 12:34 0:22 0:21
Juulsen, Noah RD 28 VAN $775K 35 0 0 0 16:17 0:01 2:18
Brisebois, Guillaume LD 27 VAN $775K 3 0 0 0 15:48 0:00 0:09
Stillman, Riley LD 27 CAR $775K 5 0 0 0 7:11 0:00 0:11
Clurman, Nathan RD 27 PIT $775K 1 0 0 0 11:05 0:00 0:00
Coghlan, Dylan RD 27 WPG $775K 6 0 0 0 15:21 0:09 0:33
Ahcan, Jack LD 28 COL $775K 2 0 0 0 15:48 0:36 0:31

List of player contracts signed to date

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TAGGED:Aaron EkbladBrent BurnsBrian DumoulinCody CeciDante FabbroDmitry OrlovIvan ProvorovMatt GrzelcykRyan LindgrenVladislav Gavrikov

Offer Sheet Compensation

<$1.54M no comp
$1.54M – $2.34M: 3rd
$2.34M – $4.68M: 2nd
$4.68M – $7.02M: 1st, 3rd
$7.02M – $9.36M: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
$9.36M – $11.7M: 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd
$11.7M+: 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st,

2024-25 Critical Dates

June 1-7: NHL Scouting Combine (Buffalo, NY)
June 23rd: Last possible day for the Stanley Cup Final
June 27th-28th: 2025 NHL Draft
July 1st: Start of free agency

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