2024 UFA All-Value Team: Which free agents offer the best bang for their buck?

Los Angeles Kings right winger Viktor Arvidsson

Credit: Mar 25, 2024; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Los Angeles Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson (33) handles the puck against the Vancouver Canucks in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

The NHL schedule squeeze is real. We’re only two games into the Stanley Cup Final, yet we’re just 15 days away from night one of the 2024 NHL Draft – and 18 days away from the start of free agency.

The 2024 offseason projects to be an epic one with a collection of big-ticket players available on the open market and the trade block and the salary cap spiking from $83.5 million to $88 million.

Despite the 5.4 percent increase in wiggle room, plenty of teams will remain financially squeezed. Six clubs have already committed north of $80 million for next season, while 10 exceed $75 million already. The need to find unrestricted free agent bargains will remain.

Who are some UFAs who could outperform their projected AAVs on their next deals? I present Daily Faceoff’s second annual All-Value Team.

2024 ALL-VALUE TEAM

Forward: Viktor Arvidsson (LA)

Arvidsson will never match his mini-peak from 2016-17 through 2018-19, in which he averaged 36 goals per 82 games with the Nashville Predators. But the feisty, diminutive right winger can still play. A back injury requiring (a second) surgery limited him to just 18 games this past season, but he had 15 points in those games. In 161 contests as an L.A. King across the past three seasons, he averages 26 goals and 63 points per 82 games. During that time, among 434 NHL forwards to play at least 1,000 minutes at 5-on-5, Arvidsson sits eighth in shots per 60 minutes and 14^th in individual scoring chances per 60. The injury history is a clear concern but will also significantly lower the cost. Arvidsson is 31, not 41, and can still help a team quite a bit on a short-term contract that mitigates risk.

Forward: Anthony Duclair (TB)

The Florida Panthers dumped Duclair’s $3 million cap hit to the San Jose Sharks last summer during a cap squeeze. It was an unceremonious farewell from the team with whom Duclair had played his best hockey. He scored 31 goals in 2021-22 and, after returning from a serious Achilles injury, was a key contributor during Florida’s run to the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Final. Duclair escaped the San Jose Sharks’ hellscape in a move to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Trade Deadline and gelled immediately with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, picking up eight goals and 15 points in 17 games, before settling in with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli in the playoffs. Duclair can still really fly, and he’s quietly just 28 years old. He’s one of the more efficient scorers in the league, too. Across the past three seasons combined, among the aforementioned 434 forwards to log at least 1,000 minutes, he sits in the 92^nd percentile in 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes. He’s been a hockey nomad, playing for eight teams in 10 years, and that journeyman rep could keep his cost down.

Forward: Daniel Sprong (DET)

Sprong will never be mistaken for a Selke Trophy candidate, but all he does is score in the limited minutes he plays. He’s buried 39 goals over the past two seasons with the Seattle Kraken and Detroit Red Wings while averaging 11:44 of ice time. He ranks top 10 in the NHL in goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 over that span, sandwiched between Carter Verhaeghe and Zach Hyman. Sprong is a sneaky buy to play in a team’s bottom six and enhance its depth scoring by winning sheltered matchups. Because of his deadly shot, Sprong can also play up in the lineup – or on the power play – in a pinch.

Defense: Jalen Chatfield (CAR)

Chatfield went from the seventh defenseman in Carolina to nudging Tony DeAngelo off the depth chart in short order. Simply put: no defenseman in the entire NHL had fewer 5-on-5 shots or shot attempts against his team when on the ice than Chatfield this season. On one hand: second place was his partner, Dmitry Orlov, and Chatfield did it playing third-pair minutes on an elite defensive club. On the other hand: Chatfield crushed those minutes. He played at a $762,500 cap hit this season and will obviously score a nice raise. But maybe that raise will simply be to the “NHL regular” level. He’s already 28, so the breakout was late, and he was insulated in a dominant lineup. All this means Chatfield could be a second-pair shutdown blueliner available at a third-pair price.

Defense: Matt Roy (LA)

Roy is a physical right-shot blueliner, and the Kings have a lot of right-shot D-men in their system, so there’s a decent chance he hits the open market. He will attract plenty of bids, so it may be a stretch to call him a “value,” but he’s worth highlighting in this space because he’s an extremely useful player whom no one seems to talk about, perhaps because he plays in a Southwestern U.S. market. His 5-on-5 expected goal share graded out top-15 in the NHL among defensemen this season, one spot above Roman Josi’s. The Kings had the NHL’s No. 2 penalty kill this season, and Roy led the team in shorthanded minutes played per game. In a middle-pair role, he can seriously impact a team’s defensive identity.

Goaltender: Laurent Brossoit (WPG)

Everyone knows Brossoit can stop the puck. But he belongs on the All-Value team specifically for this offseason because so many big-name goaltenders are potentially available at higher acquisition costs. Teams are prepared to give up assets in mega-trades for Linus Ullmark, Juuse Saros, Jacob Markstrom and so on. But should they? No matter what Brossoit gets as a UFA this summer, it won’t cost anything besides money.

And there’s reason to believe Brossoit can be as good as the star-level options. This past season, he ranked second in the NHL in goals saved above average per 60, one spot above tandem mate and shoo-in Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck.

The goaltending position is fickle as ever. Hellebuyck went from the best goalie in the regular season to a nightmare in the playoffs. Vancouver Canucks third-stringer Arturs Silovs outplayed the Nashville Predators’ Saros. Stuart Skinner was benched in Round 2 and is now starting in the Stanley Cup Final. Why pay up for a stud when you can give Brossoit a chance to play in a platoon?

All-Value UFA Second Team

F – Teddy Blueger
F – Max Pacioretty
F – Alex Wennberg
D – Alexandre Carrier
D – Erik Gustafsson
G – Anthony Stolarz

_____

Hey, hockey heads! Get ready for The Daily Faceoff Playoff Parlay Challenge! Each game day, answer four playoff prediction questions like who will win the first game, will points be over or under or what will be the highest-scoring period? Daily winners snag gift cards, while each round’s champs pocket cash! Play now at games.dailyfaceoff.com and prove your puck prowess! It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s all about hockey! Let’s go!