6 Underrated Signings from 2024 NHL Free Agency

The free-agent market can sometimes be a fool's paradise when it comes to building an NHL roster. It always seems like a good idea to go after the top players, but it can be really easy to hand out a bad, overpriced contract to a player who has already played their best hockey for somebody else.

When you start getting into the five-, six- or seven-year contracts, there is a good chance those deals are going to end in a buyout or salary-retained trade as opposed to helping to produce a Stanley Cup.

That does not mean teams should avoid free agency or that all free-agent signings are bad.

There are always good players and good values to be had, and that is what we are going to focus on here.

Let's take a look at the six most underrated signings of the offseason so far.

To make things easy, we are all looking at players who have changed teams, so while players like Matt Duchene in Dallas (one year, $3 million) and Jonathan Drouin in Colorado (one year, $2.5 million) are likely to be great value signings and technically were free agents when they signed, they are still on the same teams they played for a year ago.

Despite reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers still had some real flaws that held them back and needed to be addressed in the offseason. Arguably the biggest of those flaws was a lack of scoring depth beyond their top forwards.

They not only needed to do more to balance out the lineup from a depth perspective, they also needed to make sure they had enough quality wingers so that both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl could have competent players alongside them.

They took some big strides toward accomplishing that with a couple of great low-price additions.

Arvidsson is one of them, signing on a two-year, $8 million contract.

Injuries limited Arvidsson to 18 games during the 2023-24 season with the Los Angeles Kings, but he still managed to score 15 total points (six goals, nine assists) in those outings. When healthy he is a 25-goal, 50-point player over 82 games with strong possession-driving abilities. He should be a fantastic addition to an Oilers team that needs to find more scoring balance, and at $4 million against the cap, the price has a potential to make him a steal.

After being selected with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Erik Brannstrom entered the NHL with some relatively high expectations. Those expectations followed him to Ottawa after he was one of the key players acquired by the Senators in the Mark Stone trade.

While the 24-year-old has shown some flashes at the NHL level, he has yet to find consistency—both in terms of a role and production—and was let go this offseason without getting a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent.

Colorado quickly snapped him up on the open market for $900,000.

It seems like a great fit for both team and player.

Brannstrom gets an opportunity to play on a great team that is loaded with talent in a system that should cater to his skill, while the Avalanche get a cheap flier on a talented player who still has some upside and might just need a fresh start.

Even though Branstrom has not become a star, he has posted some strong underlying numbers the past two years. His expected goal shares have been 56 percent and 52 percent over the past two seasons, while he has produced respectable five-on-five numbers offensively. His 0.86 points per 60 minutes of five-on-five play over the past two years ranked 120th out of 268 defensemen with a minimum of 500 minutes played.

Star numbers? Hardly. But given his age, potential, talent and price it is a very worthwhile signing.

As far as the long-term contracts in free agency are concerned, the Islanders' signing of Anthony Duclair has a chance to be one of the best.

It's a four-year term, but at only $3.5 million per season, it is an extraordinarily reasonable salary-cap hit for a middle-six winger who is going to give the Islanders the type of offensive presence their lineup has been lacking.

Duclair might not be a star, but he has consistently produced in recent years without ever really getting an opportunity to stick anywhere on a long-term basis.

Since the start of the 2018-19 season he has scored 109 goals in 305 regular-season games. That averages out to a 25-goal pace per 82 games. If Duclair gives them that, it is an outstanding signing.

Another great value addition for the Oilers was getting Jeff Skinner on a one-year, $3 million contract.

The Sabres opened their offseason by buying out the remainder of Skinner's contract, not necessarily because he can't play anymore, but because he was simply a poor value at over $9 million per year against the cap. Especially for the multiple years he had remaining on that deal.

Good player. Just not a $9 million player.

Now the Oilers are getting him for a third of that price (and for only one year) to team up with one of their top centers.

It should also be an opportunity for Skinner to play in the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Skinner might not offer much in the form of defensive play, but his 93 goals over the past three seasons are among the top 45 in the NHL. Do not be surprised if the 32-year-old tops the 35-goal mark given the talent he will get to play alongside in Edmonton.

After losing Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson off their Stanley Cup-winning defense, the Florida Panthers needed to bring in some help and depth for their blue line.

Nate Schmidt, on a one-year, $800,000 contract following his buyout from the Winnipeg Jets, is going to be part of that depth.

It is an intriguing signing because the Panthers have done a great job in recent years taking on reclamation projects on defense and helping them turn their careers around. It worked for Montour, Ekman-Larsson and Gustav Forsling. Maybe it can help for Schmidt.

His offensive production has dropped a bit in recent years now that he is getting into his 30s, but the Panthers are not going to be counting on him to be a key contributor. They can shelter him and put him into situations where he can play to his strengths, and for $800,000 it is a very worthy gamble. It could also be a great value against the salary cap.

Jack Roslovic seems like the perfect Hurricanes free-agent signing.

Under the radar. A good bargain ($2.8 million against the cap for one season). A good player who will not wow you but will be a quality depth piece and middle-six forward who can help in a lot of different ways.

Roslovic's production has been consistent the past three seasons, averaging 0.56, 0.57 and 0.53 points per game, respectively. That is a 45-point pace while posting an expected goal share of over 50 percent during the 2023-24 season.

The Hurricanes lost forward depth this offseason with Jake Guentzel and Teuvo Teravainen leaving in free agency, and while Roslovic may not be as flashy as that duo, he will be a very cap-friendly addition to their forward group.