The Elite Prospects 2026 NCAA Free Agency Guide

This has been a banner year for NCAA free agents, past and present alike. 

In the NHL, Kiefer Sherwood and Sam Malinski both signed big contracts, while Collin Graf and Bobby McMann have both produced at impressive rates. In net, the rise of Brandon Bussi is one of the league’s best feel-good stories. And that’s scratching the surface, as 71 NCAA free agents have appeared in an NHL lineup this season. 

This year’s crop is one of the best in recent memory. It features the NCAA active career-leading point-getter, the season goal leader, the minutes-played leader, three of the top five in save percentage, and plenty of top scorers. 

We anticipate that this will be reflected by the number of signings, too. Since reaching a high of 33 in 2016-17, there’s been an average of 20 free agent signings per season. Last year saw 22 players sign, including an unusually high number of juniors. Expect that number to be higher this season. 

What follows are our top-40 NCAA free agents. We avoided ranking top underclassmen, like Colin Grable, Ivan Zadvernyuk, and Ty Hanson, unless we felt they made exceptional cases to turn pro this season. 

Though they appear in ranked order, it’s really a soft ranking overall. Due to the age of these prospects, the environment they sign into matters significantly more. Windows for success are usually very small. Some may not leave college at all. Still, we’ve identified a clear top-four to lead the group, and did our best to order the remainder by considering upside and pro floor, while assuming all will sign into a similar environment. 

For grades, 3.5 is what you’d expect to see from a pro-calibre player, 4 from an AHLer, 4.5 from a productive AHLer, and 5 is considered a clear NHL-calibre grade. We also have a new grading system for goalies to unveil, that follows the same logic as the one for skaters.

With that preamble out of the way, it’s time to talk free agents.