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. |