2020 NHL Free Agency: Discussion thread & verified insiders Twitter stream

To cap off a packed few weeks of hockey events, contracts that were artificially extended in response to the pandemic are now about to expire, and players set to become free agents. Another consequece of the coronavirus is a reduction in revenues for the league, and that means some teams are scrambling to make players fit into their budgets, while others have given up on signing some of theirs at all.

On Thursday we witnessed several moves as team’s made last-minute efforts to clear some space so they could be buyers when the gates open at 12:00 PM EDT. The Columbus Blue Jackets essentially gave defenceman Ryan Murray away to free up the space his contract occupied, and we’d already heard about prominent restricted free agents like Anthony Duclair go unqualified and become free to test the market.

There are lots of goaltenders and some major names in play today. We’ll find out how the flat cap affects the decisions being made on the first moves of the 2020-21 NHL season.

A selection of top unrestricted free agents available

Taylor Hall
Alex Pietrangelo
Henrik Lundqvist
Bobby Ryan
Mike Hoffman
Braden Holtby
Torey Krug