Over $1 billion in contracts have been signed since NHL free agency opened last week. Long-time Lightning captain Steven Stamkos signed with the Nashville Predators, Jake Geuntzel filled the open spot in Tampa Bay, the Boston Bruins loaded up with Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, and the Vancouver Canucks, handed out a big contract to Jake DeBrusk.

The Edmonton Oilers had a very busy day on July 1. The reigning Western Conference Champions re-signed Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Connor Brown, Corey Perry, Troy Stecher, and Calvin Pickard, and they added Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and Josh Brown to offset the departures of Warren Foegele and Vincent Desharnais.

There are a handful of interesting players still on the free-agent market who will be looking for teams to join over the next couple of months. The Oilers are pressed right up against the salary cap ceiling and are focused on re-signing RFAs Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, but Edmonton is a spot that could attract players who sign inexpensive late-summer deals.

Daniel Sprong scored 21 goals and 46 points with the Seattle Kraken in 2022-23 and signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings on the first day of free agency. The native of Amsterdam, Netherlands scored 18 goals and 43 points for the Red Wings but hasn’t inked a new deal to stay in Detroit.

After back-to-back one-year contracts, Sprong is likely looking for some security this summer. He’s 27 years old and has scored 39 goals over the past couple of seasons but might have to settle on another one-year contract if he wants to play for a contending team.

The five-year, $35 million contract that James van Riemsdyk signed with the Philadelphia Flyers in free agency back in July of 2018 came to an end last summer and he signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Boston Bruins. JVR scored 11 goals and 38 points over 71 games for the Bruins and added five more points in 11 playoff games.

The second-overall pick from the 2007 NHL Draft has 311 goals and 629 points over 1,011 NHL games but his only trip to the Stanley Cup Final came as a rookie in 2009-10. Now 35 years old, JVR showed in Boston that he can still produce in a depth role. He’s primed to sign another one-year deal this summer, though it seems most likely the New Jersey native will remain out east.

Tyson Barrie’s time with the Nashville Predators has come to an end and the veteran offensive defenceman is now looking for a much-needed change of scenery. He was traded to the Predators in the deal that brought Mattias Ekholm to Edmonton during the 2022-23 season and quickly fell down the depth chart in Nashville.

After a season that saw him score 13 goals and 55 points between the Oilers and Preds, Barrie put up only 15 points in 41 games in 2023-24. The 32-year-old was made a healthy scratch multiple times during the season and requested a mid-season trade, which “disappointed” general manager Barry Trotz.

Evan Bouchard has thrived in Barrie’s former role as Edmonton’s power-play quarterback and the veteran will likely be looking for an opportunity where he can be on a top unit again.

Tyler Johnson is on the open market this summer for the first time since he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2011. Johnson signed a seven-year, $35 million extension with the Lightning in 2017 and was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks as a salary cap dump following Tampa’s back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021.

After being limited to just 26 games in his first year in Chicago because of a neck injury and a concussion, Johnson put up 29 goals and 63 points over 123 games between 2022-23 and 2023-24. He’ll be 34 years old next season, but Johnson has shown he can still produce. He’s a prime candidate to sign a cheap one-year deal to get himself back on a playoff team.

Max Pacioretty is a free agent again after scoring four goals and 23 points over 47 games on a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals. The veteran sniper didn’t make his Capitals debut until January because he was coming back from his second Achilles injury in a matter of six months.

The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Pacioretty from the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of the 2022-23 season but he suffered a torn Achilles during off-season workout. Pacioretty scored three goals in five games for the Canes when he returned but suffered another Achilles tear that ultimately ended his season and time in Carolina.

Now 35 years old, Pacioretty has 330 goals and 668 points over 902 NHL games but no Stanley Cup. He was one of the best goal-scorers in the league during his prime and could still be a quality depth contributor when healthy.

Like Tyson Barrie, former Oiler Justin Schultz is looking for a change of scenery after a difficult season. This situation for Schultz is nearly identical to his last go-around at free agency two years ago.

He was coming off of a two-year deal with the Washington Capitals in which his first season was good and his second was poor.  The veteran puck-moving defender signed a two-year contract with the Seattle Kraken a few weeks into free agency in July of 2022. He had a successful first campaign in Seattle but his minus-23 rating was the worst on the team in 2023-24.

Schultz is a very different player now than he was when he joined the Oilers out of college in the summer of 2012. He’s played 745 regular-season games and 81 playoff games in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Another first-round pick who’s back on the open market after not getting qualified is former Oiler Kailer Yamamoto. The Oilers traded Yamamoto to the Detroit Red Wings last summer as a salary cap dump and they bought out the final season of his two-year, $6.2 million contract.

As a free agent, Yamamoto signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Seattle Kraken. The Spokane native scored eight goals and 16 points over 59 games for the Kraken and found himself in and out of the lineup in the latter part of the season.

Yamamoto will be 26 years old in September and might have to find his next opportunity on a professional tryout contract. The 5-foot-8 forward scored 20 goals and 41 points with the Oilers in 2021-22 but hasn’t been the same since being knocked out of the Western Conference Final that spring following a high hit from Gabriel Landeskog.

Former eighth-overall pick Alex Nylander is an unrestricted free agent again this summer after the Columbus Blue Jackets somewhat surprisingly opted not to tender him a qualifying offer. Nylander was moved to Columbus from the Pittsburgh Penguins in February for Emil Bemstrom and scored 11 goals and 15 points in 23 games for the Blue Jackets.

That run with Columbus was Nylander’s most successful showing in the NHL since he scored 10 goals and 26 points in 65 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019-20. Nylander spent the next two seasons in the AHL and was later traded to the Penguins, where he’d appear in 14 NHL games over parts of three seasons.

Nylander’s success in Columbus is backed up by some strong production in the AHL, as he scored 56 goals and 112 points over 142 games with the Wilkes-Barrie/Scranton Penguins between 2021-22 and 2023-24. He’s a high-upside winger with skill and size who won’t cost much to bring in as a lottery ticket.