NHL Signing Season Essential Team Info: Eastern Conference

Steven Stamkos may be off the board but there are still a few free agent gems sure to cash in big-time on July 1st.

Scott Lewis June 30, 2016, 5:40 PM

The National Hockey League’s silly season is almost upon us.

Teams can begin to sign unrestricted free agents at noon ET Friday.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive look at every team’s unrestricted and restricted free agents as well as off-season needs.

Signing Season Essential Team Info: Western Conference.

Salary cap data courtesy of GeneralFanager.com.

Projected Cap Space: $21,648,333

UFAs: Loui Eriksson, Chris Kelly, Max Talbot, Brett Connolly, Lee Stempniak, Landon Ferraro, Tyler Randell, John-Michael Liles, Zach Trotman, Jonas Gustavsson, Jeremy Smith

RFAs: Joe Morrow, Colin Miller

Team Needs: With the Bruins and Eriksson reportedly far apart in talks, GM Don Sweeney could be seeking a top six forward. Depth forwards and a backup goaltender are other targets for the Bruins.

Projected Cap Space: $19,569,645

UFAs: David Legwand, Cole Schneider, Carlo Colaiacovo, Chad Johnson

RFAs: Marcus Foligno, Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Jason Kasdorf

Team Needs: The Sabres had eyes for Steven Stamkos, so don’t sleep on Tim Murray making an impact move or two when the clock strikes 12 on July 1. Extensions for Girgensons and Ristolainen will be priorities as well.

Projected Cap Space: $24,666,669

UFAs: Nathan Gerbe, Riley Nash, Chris Terry, Brad Malone, Michal Jordan

RFAs: Brendan Woods, Victor Rask, Ryan Murphy

Team Needs: The Hurricanes already added Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell to the fold and re-signed goaltender Cam Ward. New deals for RFAs should bring Carolina up the cap floor. An Eric Staal reunion is not in the cards.

Projected Cap Space: $3,334,525

UFAs: Rene Bourque, Justin Falk

RFAs: N/A

Team Needs: Columbus has little cap space available following Seth Jones’ extension, so they won’t be big players on July 1 unless it’s via the trade route.

Projected Cap Space: $18,032,125

UFAs: Brad Richards, Darren Helm, Kyle Quincey

RFAs: Teemu Pulkkinen, Danny Dekeyser, Alexey Marchenko, Petr Mrazek

Team Needs: Detroit were among the suitors for Stamkos, which is a good indication Ken Holland and Co. won’t be afraid to make a significant splash. Some offensive punch to offset the loss of Pavel Datsyuk could be in order.

Projected Cap Space: $18,766,668

UFAs: Teddy Purcell, Jiri Hudler, Quinton Howden, Garrett Wilson, Brian Campbell, Willie Mitchell, Al Montoya

RFAs: Vincent Trocheck

Team Needs: The Panthers locked up defenceman Keith Yandle to a deal ahead of the free agency period and there could be more blue liners on the way. Erik Gudbranson is gone, injuries have effectively ended Mitchell’s career, and Campbell is likely to leave.

Projected Cap Space: $9,805,359

UFAs: Mike Brown, Tom Gilbert

RFAs: Phillip Danault, Daneil Carr

Team Needs: Marc Bergevin made a little bit of noise this week by trading P.K. Subban for Shea Weber. A top six forward, left-shot defenceman, and some depth to round out the bottom six should top the Habs’ list.

Projected Cap Space: $27,582,859

UFAs: Patrik Elias, Tuomo Ruutu, Stephen Gionta, Jordin Tootoo, Beau Bennett, Devante Smith-Pelly, Jiri Tlusty, Tyler Kennedy, Bobby Farnham, Jon Merrill, David Schlemko, David Warsofsky

RFAs: Kyle Palmieri, Sergey Kalinin, Jacob Josefson, Reid Boucher

Team Needs: The Devils are over $8 million under the cap floor even with the addition of Taylor Hall and Marc Savard’s cap hit. New Jersey is desperately thin on the blue line and staring down a mass exodus of forwards. Ray Shero could be busy this summer.

Projected Cap Space: $15,421,025

UFAs: Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Matt Martin, Steve Bernier, Eric Boulton, Marek Zidlicky, Brian Strait

RFAs: Ryan Strome, Shane Prince, Scott Mayfield, Christopher Gibson, Jean-Francois Berube

Team Needs: Okposo will be a highly sought after scoring forward is as good as gone. The Islanders are in good shape on the blue line. Offsetting the losses of Okposo and Nielsen won’t be easy.

Projected Cap Space: $15,275,000

UFAs: Eric Staal, Dominic Moore, Viktor Stalberg, Dan Boyle

RFAs: Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller, Dylan McIlrath

Team Needs: The Rangers’ defence was decimated by the Penguins’ speed in the playoffs and they’ve already said goodbye to Yandle. New deals for RFAs should be a priority, along with fixing the defence corps.

Projected Cap Space: $17,475,835

UFAs: Philip Varone, Scott Gomez, Patrick Wiercioch, Michael Kostka

RFAs: Mike Hoffman, Matt Puempel, Ryan Dzingel, Cody Ceci, Fredrik Claesson

Team Needs: A new deal for sniper Hoffman and depth across the board.

Projected Cap Space: $11,928,334

UFAs: Sam Gagner, Ryan White, Evgeny Medvedev, Ray Emery

RFAs: Brayden Schenn, Nick Cousins, Jordan Weal, Brandon Manning

Team Needs: The Flyers were something of a surprise last season and could take another leap next season. The forward group is impressive and improving, so the focus should be improving the back end.

Projected Cap Space: -$1,474,999

UFAs: Matt Cullen, Tom Sestito, Kael Mouillierat, Justin Schultz, Ben Lovejoy, Jeff Zatkoff

RFAs: N/A

Team Needs: The Stanley Cup champions will bring back Cullen, but beyond that there’s little wiggle room under the cap… like negative wiggle room at this point.

Projected Cap Space: $9,312,500

UFAs: Mike Blunden, Jonathan Marchessault

RFAs: Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Kucherov, Nikita Nesterov

Team Needs: With Stamkos returning the focus for Steve Yzerman will be locking up Kucherov. The Lightning could be players on the trade market.

Projected Cap Space: $6,955,916

UFAs: Michael Grabner, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Brad Boyes, Sam Carrick, T.J. Brennan

RFAs: Peter Holland, Martin Marincin, Frank Corrado

Team Needs: The Maple Leafs missed out on bringing Stamkos home to Ontario, but these aren’t your older sibling’s Maple Leafs. They will be players for big names.