Being young and free The NHL's new breed of UFAs

Under the collective bargaining agreement, a player aged 29, with eight seasons in the league, became a free agent for the 2006-07 season. In 2008-09, a player aged 27, or one with seven seasons in the league, becomes an unrestricted free agent.

— The Canadian Press

We've heard an awful lot about all of the youngsters being locked up to long-term deals, but what hasn't been well publicized so far is the fact that the UFA age is dropping another two years this season, and as a result, some youngsters will be up for grabs.

By my count, there are 93 pending UFAs who are under 29 at the moment, although that includes quite a few of what you'd call 'fringe' players.

Here's a look at the 10 youngest potential UFAs this year (age as of July 1):

	PLAYER	POS	TM	Age	2007-08	GP
1	SCHULTZ, NICK	D	MIN	25.85	1,850,000	57
2	HALE, DAVID	D	CGY	27.04	590,000	43
3	JANCEVSKI, DAN	D	DAL	27.05	500,000	2
4	CALDWELL, RYAN	D	PHX	27.05	475,000	2
5	VRBATA, RADIM	F	PHX	27.05	1,225,000	51
6	MACKENZIE, DEREK	F	CBJ	27.06	500,000	2
7	LEIGHTON, MICHAEL	G	CAR	27.12	550,000	3
8	BERKHOEL, ADAM	G	DET	27.13	500,000	0
9	KOCI, DAVID	F	CHI	27.14	525,000	18
10	FORREST, JUSTIN	D	CAR	27.21	475,000	0

There's a lot of 'who' in there.

The Wild are still really pushing to get Schultz on a contract, and the underrated free agent defenceman would probably command quite a bit more than one would expect as a free agent.

And given he's still only 25, at least until August, teams can still bid on someone with 'potential,' which seems to be where the money's going lately.

Here's a look at all of the pending UFAs under age 29 who have played 20 games this season:

	PLAYER	POS	TM	Age	2007-08	GP
1	SCHULTZ, NICK	D	MIN	25.85	1,850,000	57
2	HALE, DAVID	D	CGY	27.04	590,000	43
3	VRBATA, RADIM	F	PHX	27.05	1,225,000	51
4	HAINSEY, RON	D	CBJ	27.27	737,500	56
5	WELLER, CRAIG	D	PHX	27.29	475,000	39
6	JACKMAN, BARRET	D	STL	27.32	2,200,000	51
7	WINCHESTER, BRAD	F	DAL	27.34	475,000	28
8	TAFFE, JEFF	F	PIT	27.36	500,000	24
9	BEECH, KRIS	F	PIT	27.40	585,000	23
10	MCCARTHY, STEVE	D	ATL	27.41	725,000	35
11	SAUER, KURT	D	COL	27.46	719,250	29
12	AULD, ALEXANDER	G	BOS	27.48	600,000	22
13	MEYER, FRED	D	NYI	27.49	525,000	32
14	LILES, J-M	D	COL	27.60	1,325,000	56
15	RADIVOJEVIC, BRANKO	F	MIN	27.60	640,000	49
16	KELLY, CHRIS	F	OTT	27.64	1,262,500	58
17	MEZEI, BRANISLAV	D	FLA	27.73	825,000	46
18	ORPIK, BROOKS	D	PIT	27.76	1,037,500	53
19	VASICEK, JOSEF	F	NYI	27.80	750,000	57
20	COMRIE, MIKE	F	NYI	27.80	3,375,000	57
21	HALL, ADAM	F	PIT	27.88	525,000	44
22	WILLIAMS, JASON	F	CHI	27.89	1,600,000	20
23	HORDICHUK, DARCY	F	NSH	27.89	517,000	29
24	MOORE, DOMINIC	F	TOR	27.91	700,000	44
25	KALININ, DMITRI	D	BUF	27.94	2,000,000	34
26	HUNTER, TRENT	F	NYI	27.99	1,550,000	57
27	MIETTINEN, ANTTI	F	DAL	28.00	885,000	48
28	ELLIS, DAN	G	NSH	28.03	500,000	24
29	WOZNIEWSKI, ANDREW	D	TOR	28.10	500,000	48
30	RYAN, MICHAEL	F	BUF	28.13	475,000	42
31	AVERY, SEAN	F	NYR	28.23	1,900,000	34
32	WALKER, MATT	D	STL	28.23	600,000	20
33	RYDER, MICHAEL	F	MTL	28.25	2,950,000	49
34	JANIK, DOUG	D	T.B	28.27	475,000	42
35	BARCH, KRYSTOFER	F	DAL	28.27	475,000	34
36	GODARD, ERIC	F	CGY	28.32	475,000	49
37	VANDERMEER, JAMES	D	PHI	28.36	1,225,000	50
38	MONTADOR, STEVE	D	FLA	28.53	800,000	50
39	FINGER, JEFF	D	COL	28.54	475,000	53
40	HAGMAN, NIKLAS	F	DAL	28.57	675,000	60
41	MALONE, RYAN	F	PIT	28.58	1,375,000	52
42	COMMODORE, MIKE	D	CAR	28.65	1,250,000	43
43	STUART, BRAD	D	L.A	28.65	3,500,000	58
44	MARA, PAUL	D	NYR	28.82	3,000,000	51
45	RACHUNEK, KAREL	D	N.J	28.85	1,400,000	39

There are some really solid names on there, and especially on defence, and there's a ton more 'youth' up for grabs than prelockout, when only players aged 31 and over were up for grabs, both on July 1 and as rental players at the trade deadline.

This time around, rentals can be those in their prime.

In addition to Schultz, Hainsey, Jackman, Sauer, Liles and Commodore are going to do well for themselves in the off-season on the blueline. Up front, Vrbata's had a career year in Phoenix and is on pace for about 35 goals, and Jason Williams was playing great in Chicago before he was hurt.

Antti Miettinen and Niklas Hagman in Dallas are two more 'breakout' players, who should earn big paydays, while it's going to be interesting to see what someone like Sean Avery gets on the open market.

On the whole, however, there aren't a ton of marquee names among this group: Most of the youth has opted for security and signed on the dotted line already.

What makes this new, lower age tough to swallow for some teams, like the Stars, is that they've drafted and developed a lot of these players, watched them become more productive over time, only to have them signed away after one solid year.

It'll be interesting to see if teams overpay for these young UFAs.

"I think we have a free agency age that is a joke."

— Canucks GM Dave Nonis
October, 2006

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