Top 5 unrestricted free agent forwards.

The National Hockey League's general managers are heading into what will undoubtedly be one of the most uniquely challenging offseasons of their careers, thanks in large part to the COVID-19 outbreak that forced the shutdown of the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season back in March. Teams have had their salary cap projections obliterated by the new reality facing the NHL and the difficulties created by the NHL's flat cap for the next 2 seasons will force those GMs to get creative. 

Normally that might mean a limited market for players entering the free agent market at the end of the season but with a relatively small number of quality forwards available this time around I suspect that the top free agent forwards will still find teams willing to pay them the big money in the hope that they will prove to be a difference maker. With that in mind here are, in my opinion, the top 5 unrestricted free agent forwards that will be up for grabs in the offseason.

#1 Taylor Hall.

There really isn't much to say here as Hall is head and shoulders above the rest of his peers on the open market this offseason. The former league MVP has gone on the record to state that his focus is on winning and not on money, but whether or not that proves to be true will remain to be seen. The Colorado Avalanche are a team that many have viewed as a favorite to land Hall both due to their competitive roster as well as the fact that they have the cap space available to make this type of move.

#2 Mike Hoffman.

Perhaps not as well known given that he has played in smaller markets over his career, Hoffman is coming off another strong season with the Florida Panthers and had a strong showing in the playoffs as well. In just 69 games with the Panthers this season Hoffman found the back of the net 29 times and added 30 helpers for a combined total of 59 points in the regular season. As I stated he also had a good showing in the playoffs with 3 goals and 2 assists over just 4 games played. His ability to score goals is invaluable and even at 30 years of age I doubt he will remain a free agent for very long.

#3 Tyler Toffoli

Toffoli makes it to number 3 on this list but I do think there is a pretty good chance the Vancouver Canucks might hang on to him. Toffoli won over the Canucks and their fans very quickly after being traded by the Los Angeles Kings during the regular season. The 28 year old had 6 goals and 4 assists for 10 points in his first 10 games with the Canucks prior to the regular season being shut down. He added 2 goals and 2 assists over 7 playoff games with the Canucks and this in spite of the fact that he was limited by injuries. If Toffoli does go to the open market I suspect that there will be no shortage of suitors given how well he performed for the Canucks.

#4 Mikael Granlund.

Like Toffoli Granlund is 28 years old and like Toffoli Granlund was traded mid season to a different team, albeit a season earlier in the case of Granlund. Unlike Toffoli however the Finnish forward struggled to find a fit with his new team the Nashville Predators, although in his defense he did improve considerably after Predators head coach Peter Laviolette was fired and John Hynes was brought in to replace him. Even with those improvements though he never captured the form that made him a fixture of the Minnesota Wild's offense during his time there, and I suspect that may have hurt his value heading into free agency. For this reason I have him ranked lower on this list.

#5 Evgeny Dadonov

That's right the Florida Panthers have two forwards making the list, which means they stand to lose a lot of offensive firepower in the offseason. The 31 year old is a bit older but since coming back from the Kontinental Hockey League there has been no disputing his effectiveness. Dadonov has been a significant part of the Panther's offense with him scoring at least 25 goals in each of his last 3 seasons. In fact Dadonov had over 65 points in each his first two seasons since returning from the KHL but had just 47 this year in what was admittedly shortened season. General managers looking for guys that can find the back of the net at a reasonable price will do well to look in Dadonov's direction.