Revisiting the NHL’s Last 3 Free-Agent Classes

From 2021-2023, which big free agents were hits, and which ones were misses? What lessons can we learn?

Free agency season is upon us, and it’s an exciting time of year. Typically on July 1, we get to see where all of the key veterans go in the offseason. What we rarely do is look back at those classes as a whole and see which big spenders won and lost, though.

Johnny Gaudreau and Dougie Hamilton (The Hockey Writers)

Here, we will look at the top free agents from the last three classes (2021-2023). The only rules are that the players listed must have received a minimum of a $15 million contract in overall value, and they must not be a re-signing. In addition, only unrestricted free agents (UFAs) will make the list.

We’ll first start off by listing the contracts from 2021-2023 that qualify, talk about them a bit, and then give them one final grade each. Shown in order by average annual value (AAV), which deals look the best and worst? Are there any themes that we can draw to help us predict how the 2024 class will shake out when all is said and done? That’s what we attempt to answer.