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Canucks’ Blueger 6th-ranked centre on Daily Faceoff’s Top 50 UFA list
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Photo credit: © Danny Wild-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
May 29, 2026, 16:02 EDT
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Much has been made about the National Hockey League’s free agent crop of 2026. And with one month until the window opens and players are able to sign with new teams, Daily Faceoff has laid bare just how thin this year’s class is with its list of the Top 50 pending unrestricted free agents. And it’s important to remember the ranks will get whittled down considerably as players re-sign with their current clubs before July 1st.
At this moment, Canucks forward Teddy Blueger slots in at 33rd on the DFO rankings. That’s probably right around where the 31-year-old should be rated. Of far more significance, however, is the fact that once you parse the list and filter out wingers, defencemen and goalies, Blueger is the sixth-ranked centre currently headed to unrestricted free agency.
Only Boone Jenner (CBJ) at seventh, Jason Dickinson (EDM) at 16th, 35-year-old Erik Haula (NSH) in 22nd, Scott Laughton (LAK) at 23rd and Jack Roslovic (EDM) in 25th are ahead of Blueger. 
Of that group, Laughton is likely to remain in Los Angeles, and there is a solid chance that Jenner returns to Columbus – the only franchise he’s known in his 13-year NHL career. If things shake down that way, that leaves Blueger in a pool with Dickinson, Haula and Roslovic as teams look to find help by casting their lines in the free agent waters. It’s more than a little surprising to see behemoth Michael McCarron, who is the same age as Blueger, rated six slots lower in the rankings. It’s equally startling to see McCarron as the only other centre amongst the DFO’s Top 50. In other words, there just isn’t much inventory at the centre ice position poised to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.
Blueger matched his career-high with nine goals in just 35 games this season. He also represented Latvia at the Milano-Cortina Olympics. He is a solid bottom-six contributor who has shown a penchant for strong work on the penalty kill and led the Canucks with three short-handed goals last season.
Late in the season, he expressed an interest in remaining in Vancouver. However, with a regime change at the top and just 32 days remaining until free agency begins, there has been no indication that the two sides are close to an extension. The Canucks are in the infancy of their rebuild and may choose to give younger players opportunities. They may also have their eye on changing the composition of their roster by bringing in other players via trade or free agency. So there is no guarantee that Blueger will be back for a fourth season in Vancouver. Without question, he’d have interest from other suitors on the open market. 
AFP Analytics, a contract projection website, pegs Blueger to land a three-year deal worth an average of $2.7M. That’s a healthy raise from the $1.8M he made in each of the past two seasons. But in a rising cap world, Blueger is bound to get a pay raise whether he re-signs with the Canucks or shops himself around the league.
While he isn’t likely to find any team willing to break the bank for his services, Teddy Blueger has set himself up nicely in a thin free agency class. It won’t be long now before the hockey world knows when and where he’s going to get a financial bump.
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