Rodgers, Wilson among several NFL stars with something to prove this season

July 19, 2024

Aaron Rodgers knows all eyes are on him. That’s nothing new for the four-time NFL MVP.

The 2024 free agent frenzy occurred over two weeks ago and it’s taken about that long to come down from the thrill ride.

After a couple years of pandemic-driven prudence, spending was back in a big way on July 1 thanks in large part to a rising salary cap that coaxed owners and GMs to loosen purse strings.

Well, guess what friends; the cap is slated to go up again in 2025 — from the $87 million it’s at now to roughly $92 million — and there are a number of fantastic potential free agents who could cash in should they opt to hit the open market about 50 weeks from now.

Of course, many players entering the final year of their contract will ink extensions between now and then. So for our exercise today — which is identifying 25 of the most intriguing potential UFAs in 2025 — we won’t list Sidney Crosby, Leon Draisaitl, Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand or Igor Shesterkin. All five are megastars on expiring contracts, but are also strong candidates to re-up with their current club in the coming weeks and months…or so we assume, anyway.

Even with that handful of guys off the board, there’s no shortage of drool-worthy talent ready to saturate the market. Heck, a certain blue-and-white club alone could see a first-overall pick and a 95-point winger currently in its midst test the market.

Throw in a recent Vezina Trophy winner and guy who just popped 40 goals this past season and you quickly understand why some general managers are already setting aside dough to throw at the 2025 UFA class.

Without further delay, let’s list the 25 players who could have a lot of heat around them as they enter walk years ahead of free agency, 2025.

Mitchell Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs

As the summer wears on and we get further removed from the white-hot anger over Toronto’s latest playoff stumble, the reality of the Marner situation continues to take hold and the idea he’ll be with the Leafs on Day 1 of training camp — perhaps for the last time — becomes more and more likely. And, at that point, why wouldn’t the right winger play out the year ahead of becoming a UFA?

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Run the numbers and it’s not hard to see how Marner could actually hit the open market next year. First off, he can veto any potential trade between now and then, so if he doesn’t want to leave the teammates he’s grown up with playing for his hometown team just yet, he doesn’t have to. Toronto could try to make this extremely uncomfortable for him, but that risks messing with team chemistry in general. Also, the Leafs have a new coach coming in in the form of Craig Berube, so there’s a fresh-start element to all of this, too. Finally, the team could try to extend him, but it’s really difficult to imagine them throwing a dollar figure at a dug-in player that incentivizes him to forgo free agency, where he knows for certain there will be any number of eager clubs ready to dole out big bucks.

Also, what could Marner possibly do in the regular season that would change the wider opinion about him? We know he’s a wonderful player; all the questions — fair or unfair — are linked to the team’s annual spring disappointments. So if he goes out and records 100 points, but the team falls flat in Round 2, what’s changed?

If you were laying a nickel today, you’d bet in on Marner becoming a free agent on July 1.

John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs

Keep the Buds coming.

This is an interesting situation because Tavares’ $11-million cap hit causes much consternation. But what if you could have him at, say, half that figure? The top pick in the 2009 draft is still a very effective player and clearly has no desire to leave the team he grew up rooting for and inked a huge UFA deal with in 2018.

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If Joe Pavelski — like Tavares, not exactly a burner out there — could be a very good player basically all the way up to his 40^th birthday, there’s every reason to believe JT, who turns 34 just before camp opens, has lots of great hockey ahead of him — quite possibly with the Leafs.

Linus Ullmark, Ottawa Senators

Getting Ullmark from the Boston Bruins was a coup for Ottawa this summer. The only caveat, of course, is that the 2023 Vezina winner did not immediately ink an extension with his new squad.

So much of Ottawa’s hope for a turnaround is rooted in getting better play from the crease. Assuming Ullmark provides that, you know the Sens will be anxious to get him signed to stay in Canada’s capital.

Maybe Ullmark is just waiting to see how things go in his new home before deciding to commit.

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Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights

Theodore has been dinged by injuries, playing 47 games this past season and just 55 the year before. He’s been a fringy Norris contender in the past and has valuable playoff experience from his time in Vegas.

Vegas is always up against it cap-wise and showed a willingness to let key players walk this year as both Chandler Stephenson and Jonathan Marchessault left via free agency.

The Knights inked Noah Hanifin to an eight-year deal with an annual average value of $7.4 million in April. Would those figures get it done with Theodore, who turns 29 in August?

Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks

Boeser had an awesome comeback year in Vancouver, potting 40 goals in the regular season and seven more in a dozen post-season contests before a devastating blood-clot issue forced him to the sidelines ahead of what turned out to be a Game 7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round.

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Boeser is entering his age-27 season. Maybe if things are going well again through the first couple months, the team and player hammer something out in-season.

Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers

Talk about a winger teams would be throwing themselves at. Konecny, 27, plays a robust game and has chipped in over 30 goals each of the past two seasons. Philly surprised us all with its competitive showing this past year, but what if things go sideways this coming year and the Flyers look more like the rebuilding squad we all thought they were?

Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg Jets

There’s a strong sense Ehlers could be moved this summer ahead of his walk year, but this team has surprised us before when it comes to pending-UFAs. It was just last fall that the Jets announced twin, monster extensions for centre Mark Scheifele and goalie Connor Hellebuyck on the eve of the campaign.

There’s been a lot of smoke around Ehlers at times, though, so let’s see how this one goes.

Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers

Cue the no-state-tax complaining!

Seriously though, we might as well group these three recent champs together to get a sense of the big picture in Florida. On one hand, it’s almost easiest to imagine the Panthers letting Ekblad go given he’ll be 29 next summer and has had such tough injury luck the past handful of seasons.

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That said, the Florida defence corps is not as strong as the forward crew and just absorbed the loss of right-shot blue-liner Brandon Montour in free agency this summer. Would they really let another righty slide out the door?

Even when you consider all three would, presumably, prefer to stay in South Florida and that only Verhaeghe is due a serious raise on his current cap hit of $4.2 million (Bennett is at $4.4 million, Ekblad is $7.5 million) it’s still hard to imagine all three guys being Panthers beyond this year.

Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights

On one hand, Hill has only played 136 career NHL games. On the other, he’s a Stanley Cup winner, potential national team goalie for Canada and has a very solid .912 save percentage in 62 career games with Vegas. The six-foot-six B.C. boy could be the top tender on the market if he goes out and has a strong season.

Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars

Like Tavares, it’s easy to see a situation where the player remains with the team he’s so invested in, just at a much lower cap figure. Dallas is the only NHL club Benn has known and he’s been the captain there for a decade. Today happens to be his 35^th birthday (HBD, Jamie!) and with Dallas firmly in a championship window, you have to believe he’d love to stick around Big D for a few more seasons and chase that title he doesn’t yet have.

Patrick Kane, Detroit Red Wings

2025 could be the third straight year Kane becomes a UFA after he inked a one-year deal to stay in Detroit this summer. Hip surgery delayed the start of his season last year, so if he comes out of the gate strong this fall, perhaps he and the Wings figure out a path forward on an extension during the year.

Claude Giroux, Ottawa Senators

Things have obviously not gone as Giroux hoped when the Northern Ontario boy inked a three-year deal to play with a Sens team he thought was on the rise in 2022. If the Senators can move forward this season, you have to think Giroux will find every excuse to stick around.

But what if Ottawa can’t get out of the mud?

Jakob Chychrun, Washington Capitals

From toiling in the desert with the Arizona Coyotes to landing in Ottawa during a time of upheaval, there’s been so much tumult in Chychrun’s career you wonder if he’s anxious to get his name down on an eight-year deal and plant roots.

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Will that be on this re-vamped Washington squad or somewhere else next summer? Chychrun turns 27 in March and would be one of the youngest guys on the open market.

Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars

The veteran Star turned 30 in May and has been playing huge minutes on the Stars’ back end for the best part of a decade. Given the blueline is the one area of concern in Dallas, you have to think the team will find a way to keep the big Finn around.

If not, teams will be calling fast.

Brock Nelson, New York Islanders

It’s tough to imagine the career Islander anywhere but Long Island. Nelson, who’s embarking on his age-33 season, really is a dependable goal-scorer, notching 34 this past season, 36 the year before that and 37 in 2021-22.

Gustav Nyquist, Nashville Predators

Nyquist went out last year and, at age 34, posted a 75-point season to establish a career-best by 15 points. You have to think he’ll be pushed down the depth chart a bit this year with the addition of Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault in free agency. Still, he sure looks like a guy who — even at 35 next summer — could give your top-nine forwards a boost.

Adam Larsson, Seattle Kraken

Larsson, 31, might see a little less time in Seattle now that fellow right-shot defender Brandon Montour is in the mix. He’s not flashy, but he’s big and can swallow up chunks of ice with his size and reach. When you play the right side of the blueline effectively, your phone rings on July 1.

Neal Pionk, Winnipeg Jets

See above — at least in terms of being a righty, that is.

Pionk, who turns 29 in a couple weeks, has been steady-as-she goes since arriving in Winnipeg via the 2019 trade that sent Jacob Trouba to the Rangers. It’s been a great fit between player and team, one that could well continue well beyond next season.

Frank Vatrano, Anaheim Ducks

Vatrano may have cooled after a hot goal-scoring start last fall, but he still wound up with a whopping 37 tallies this past season. If he comes anywhere close to that total again in his age-30 campaign, he’ll attract all kinds of UFA attention.

Dmitry Orlov, Carolina Hurricanes

Orlov inked a two-year UFA pact with Carolina last summer. The Canes blueline took a huge hit with the loss of Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei in free agency this year. Now Carolina has to confront the fact Orlov is on an expiring deal, as is fellow defenceman Brent Burns, who will be 40 next summer.

Vladislav Gavrikov, Los Angeles Kings

Like Orlov, Gavrikov inked a short-term deal in 2023, likely with an eye to hitting the open market again under more favourable financial circumstances in 2025. We’ll see if he makes it to market or if the Kings can lock him up before then.

Ivan Provorov, Columbus Blue Jackets

The Jackets got Provorov from Philly last summer hoping they would be a much more competitive club than they wound up being this past season. Provorov — the seventh-overall pick in the loaded 2015 draft — seems to have topped out as a 30-point guy, but has logged over 23 minutes per game in an eight-year career.

Taylor Hall, Chicago Blackhawks

The third and final first-overall pick on this list, joining John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad.

It feels like Hall should be in his late 30s by now, but he’s actually only 33 in November. After all the injury battles can he bounce back and have, say, a 65-point season in Chicago and make himself an appealing offensive option again?

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Rodgers, Wilson among several NFL stars with something to prove this season

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