Most productive UFA signings of the cap era

[Byron Bitz]

Anyone know where to find a ranking of UFA signings by point totals after signing with a new team? Did a quick search and couldn’t find it.

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[wintersej]

Chara was possibly the best big UFA signing of all time, but not something number friendly since part of it was instilling a culture that has lived on even past his retirement.

 

[norrisnick]

I just did a quick and dirty look via NHL.com and taking point totals from the cap era on every team and jotting down notable numbers from whom I remembered as being FA acquisitions.

Anaheim - Selanne - 572GP - 506P - 90P year 1
Boston - Chara - 1023GP - 481P - 43P year 1
NYR - Panarin - 350GP - 461P - 95P year 1
Toronto - Tavares - 440GP - 419P - 88P year 1
Chicago - Hossa - 534GP - 415P - 51P year 1
Minnesota - Parise - 558GP - 400P - 38P year 1

Unless I missed someone, these are the only ones to break 400P with a team after signing as a UFA.

 

[Dfence033]

I just did a quick and dirty look via NHL.com and taking point totals from the cap era on every team and jotting down notable numbers from whom I remembered as being FA acquisitions.

Anaheim - Selanne - 572GP - 506P - 90P year 1
Boston - Chara - 1023GP - 481P - 43P year 1
NYR - Panarin - 350GP - 461P - 95P year 1
Toronto - Tavares - 440GP - 419P - 88P year 1
Chicago - Hossa - 534GP - 415P - 51P year 1
Minnesota - Parise - 558GP - 400P - 38P year 1

Unless I missed someone, these are the only ones to break 400P with a team after signing as a UFA.

Assuming you're correct (and I have no reason to believe you aren't), it's still crazy to think that Panarin needs only 46 points (in less than 222 games played) to be almost inarguably the best free agent signing of the cap era. I think he already is, but those numbers are staggering.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Assuming you're correct (and I have no reason to believe you aren't), it's still crazy to think that Panarin needs only 46 points (in less than 222 games played) to be almost inarguably the best free agent signing of the cap era. I think he already is, but those numbers are staggering.

'Best' is pretty subjective in this context. If they are to be compared I can't imagine why position, caphit and defensive play wouldn't be part of the equation.

 

[Jared Dunn]

Assuming you're correct (and I have no reason to believe you aren't), it's still crazy to think that Panarin needs only 46 points (in less than 222 games played) to be almost inarguably the best free agent signing of the cap era. I think he already is, but those numbers are staggering.

Best forward sure but still Chara for #1

 

[Dfence033]

Best forward sure but still Chara for #1

If Panarin plays 1,023 games with the Rangers at even 70% of the pace he's played the first 350, he'd finish with nearly 950 points as a Ranger. Chara was definitely impactful, but I'd have a very hard time suggesting ~1,000 points from a FA signing is somehow worse than a Chara.

 

[Patdud]

If Panarin plays 1,023 games with the Rangers at even 70% of the pace he's played the first 350, he'd finish with nearly 950 points as a Ranger. Chara was definitely impactful, but I'd have a very hard time suggesting ~1,000 points from a FA signing is somehow worse than a Chara.

if the rangers win a cup and he changes the culture for an entire organization going forward and winning individual awards, then sure.

 

[Byron Bitz]

I just did a quick and dirty look via NHL.com and taking point totals from the cap era on every team and jotting down notable numbers from whom I remembered as being FA acquisitions.

Anaheim - Selanne - 572GP - 506P - 90P year 1
Boston - Chara - 1023GP - 481P - 43P year 1
NYR - Panarin - 350GP - 461P - 95P year 1
Toronto - Tavares - 440GP - 419P - 88P year 1
Chicago - Hossa - 534GP - 415P - 51P year 1
Minnesota - Parise - 558GP - 400P - 38P year 1

Unless I missed someone, these are the only ones to break 400P with a team after signing as a UFA.

Thanks for finding this. Gaborik with Rangers must not be far behind these guys. Do your numbers include playoffs? If not I’m sure Hossa would move up this list if playoffs are added.

 

[Dfence033]

if the rangers win a cup and he changes the culture for an entire organization going forward and winning individual awards, then sure.

Awards like... 1 Norris? Ok. You'll have to excuse me for placing more of an emphasis on scoring (in this hypothetical) approaching or over 1,000 points with a team as a FA signing than a single Norris trophy. Chara was am excellent player, but if Panarin finishes 1000 games as a Ranger at near or over a PPG, he would easily take the top spot for me. Especially if as you say the Rangers win a Cup with him.

And "changing the entire culture of an organization" is both impossible to quantify and to attribute to a single player. I'd argue Bergeron turning into a near PPG Selke-worthy beast of a player in 2006 was at absolute worst equal to Chara's arrival that same year.

 

[wintersej]

Awards like... 1 Norris? Ok. You'll have to excuse me for placing more of an emphasis on scoring (in this hypothetical) approaching or over 1,000 points with a team as a FA signing than a single Norris trophy. Chara was am excellent player, but if Panarin finishes 1000 games as a Ranger at near or over a PPG, he would easily take the top spot for me. Especially if as you say the Rangers win a Cup with him.

And "changing the entire culture of an organization" is both impossible to quantify and to attribute to a single player. I'd argue Bergeron turning into a near PPG Selke-worthy beast of a player in 2006 was at absolute worst equal to Chara's arrival that same year.

I’ll leave someone else to take on if a scoring winger versus a guy who was top 3 in the Norris 5 times during his time in Boston has more on ice value…

But your read on the changing of the organizational culture is extremely wrong.

 

[Dfence033]

I’ll leave someone else to take on if a scoring winger versus a guy who was top 3 in the Norris 5 times during his time in Boston has more on ice value…

But your read on the changing of the organizational culture is extremely wrong.

About as valuable as finishing near the top of league scoring and MVP voting is how I weight that.

Neither of us was in the room, so suggesting any take on "culture change" is inherently a matter of opinion, and as such, should be fine to disagree.

 

[Jared Dunn]

If Panarin plays 1,023 games with the Rangers at even 70% of the pace he's played the first 350, he'd finish with nearly 950 points as a Ranger. Chara was definitely impactful, but I'd have a very hard time suggesting ~1,000 points from a FA signing is somehow worse than a Chara.

Chara was among the league's best D for the better part of a decade in Boston, won a Norris and led them to a cup and being one of the very best teams in the league through the 2010s. And Panarin is not going to play close to 700 more games in the NHL so don't see why that's worth mentioning. Great player, don't think he's touched Chara's impact yet

 

[FissionFire]

Any notable UFA goalies who could get into the mix?

If you count undrafted UFAs you could probably throw in Niklas Backstrom. He was pretty good for Minnesota.

 

[Dfence033]

Chara was among the league's best D for the better part of a decade in Boston, won a Norris and led them to a cup and being one of the very best teams in the league through the 2010s. And Panarin is not going to play close to 700 more games in the NHL so don't see why that's worth mentioning. Great player, don't think he's touched Chara's impact yet

Panarin is among the league's best forwards for the last half a decade (his Rangers career to date), being 4th in NHL scoring over that span. Given the comment was with the assumption Panarin wins a Cup with the Rangers, he won't win a Norris obviously, but to pretend that it's impossible or sacrilegious for Panarin to be considered in that same tier doesn't mesh with the arguments as to why.

He may not play 700 more games (although its possible, he's 32, and that'd take him to about 42), but it's entirely possible he plays 600 more, which would put him around 40 years old depending on time missed. If he plays 600 more at 70% average of his current Rangers pace, he'd finish at 1,014 points as a Ranger, with a Cup.

Personal opinion, but I'd weight 1,000 points as a FA signing and a Cup (which would also make him near certainly the highest scorer on that team for a decade straight or more), at least equivalently to Chara. Add that if this scenario happens, he'd also have multiple top-5 MVP finishes over this time, and I'd say it's a pretty compelling argument. You don't have to agree, but it's not a hard case to make.

 

[Jared Dunn]

Panarin is among the league's best forwards for the last half a decade (his Rangers career to date), being 4th in NHL scoring over that span. Given the comment was with the assumption Panarin wins a Cup with the Rangers, he won't win a Norris obviously, but to pretend that it's impossible or sacrilegious for Panarin to be considered in that same tier doesn't mesh with the arguments as to why.

He may not play 700 more games (although its possible, he's 32, and that'd take him to about 42), but it's entirely possible he plays 600 more, which would put him around 40 years old depending on time missed. If he plays 600 more at 70% average of his current Rangers pace, he'd finish at 1,014 points as a Ranger, with a Cup.

Personal opinion, but I'd weight 1,000 points as a FA signing and a Cup (which would also make him near certainly the highest scorer on that team for a decade straight or more), at least equivalently to Chara. Add that if this scenario happens, he'd also have multiple top-5 MVP finishes over this time, and I'd say it's a pretty compelling argument. You don't have to agree, but it's not a hard case to make.

We're just letting hypotheticals do a lot of heavy lifting here

 

[Dfence033]

We're just letting hypotheticals do a lot of heavy lifting here

I mean, yes? One guy finished his career 2 years ago at 45 years old. The other just had another top-4 scoring season and is 32. It's a near requirement to make inferences and hypotheticals do some work at this stage unless you think Panarin retires at the end of the season.

 

[Jared Dunn]

I mean, yes? One guy finished his career 2 years ago at 45 years old. The other just had another top-4 scoring season and is 32. It's a near requirement to make inferences and hypotheticals do some work at this stage unless you think Panarin retires at the end of the season.

Ok but your hypothetical also relies on Panarin being one of the most productive late 30s player of all time which is a big swing

 

[Dfence033]

Ok but your hypothetical also relies on Panarin being one of the most productive late 30s player of all time which is a big swing

Or assuming he can keep his last-5 pace for ~3 more years with a gradual decline to a 40-50 point season at 39, which would hardly be unheard of - hell Pavelski and Suter on the Stars this year alone have followed nearly that trajectory and both are now 39. It's really not farfetched, nor would it require him being one of the "most productive late 30s players of all time."

He could reasonably have 300 more points as a Ranger by the time he's 35. Which means in 4-5 season after that, he'd need about 240 points.

110
100
100
75
60
50
40

Puts him at 996 points as a Ranger at 39-40. It's really not a big stretch.

Edit: for the record, assuming StatMuse is accurate, that scoring pace wouldn't even have him in the top 30 for scoring after 35 in the NHL, and several more are closing in currently on the same area. By the time Panarin is 39, that pace may not even be top 50 all time.

 

[Maitz]

Hard to go against Chara, he won a cup as the captain and was the anchor of that defense for 10+ years. 2nd would be Panarin

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Awards like... 1 Norris? Ok. You'll have to excuse me for placing more of an emphasis on scoring (in this hypothetical) approaching or over 1,000 points with a team as a FA signing than a single Norris trophy. Chara was am excellent player, but if Panarin finishes 1000 games as a Ranger at near or over a PPG, he would easily take the top spot for me. Especially if as you say the Rangers win a Cup with him.

And "changing the entire culture of an organization" is both impossible to quantify and to attribute to a single player. I'd argue Bergeron turning into a near PPG Selke-worthy beast of a player in 2006 was at absolute worst equal to Chara's arrival that same year.

awards like:

1,2,3,3,3,5 Norris finishes
2x AS-1
3x AS-2
Cup (and 3 total Finals appearances)

 

[DaveG]

Ray Whitney has to be up there as far as the journeyman guys go.

334 points in 372 in Carolina
134 in 157 in Phoenix

part of 3 deep playoff runs as well (CAR SC win and CF appearance, PHX CF appearance)