Three NHL teams that could be hit hard in free agency

The list of unrestricted free agents in the NHL is a bit lengthy heading into the opening of the market on July 1.

Naturally, some rosters contain more players set to test the market than others. But it isn’t so much how many players could be on the move that can impact the team — it’s who those players are.

Here are a few teams that could be hit harder during free agency because of which players will test the market when it opens on Friday.

New York Islanders

The scrappy Isles could lose power up front, most notably Kyle Okposo. Salary cap worries could send the big-body winger headed to another team along with hit machine Matt Martin and center Frans Nielsen. It appears likely that Martin and Okposo are both headed elsewhere — with plenty of teams interested in each players — while Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reported that “the door is not closed” yet on Nielsen returning.

In the case of Okposo, Gulitti pointed out he “would help any team looking for scoring from the wing, particularly one with a playmaking center capable of setting him up. The concern would be whether he can produce close to the same level without (captain John) Tavares.”

Okposo, who registered 22 goals and 64 points last season, did in fact spend plenty of time playing on Tavares’ wing.

That being said, the 28-year-old reportedly has a long list of suitors, including the Jets, Kings, Wild, Red Wings and Blues. Speaking of the Blues...

St. Louis Blues

With the team reportedly focusing heavily on extending young restricted free agent Jaden Schwartz while flirting dangerously close to the salary cap, some key identity players on the St. Louis roster are expected to hit the market on Friday.

St. Louis has already signed potential unrestricted free agents Scottie Upshall and Kyle Brodziak to extensions, but the list is still hefty with captain David Backes ($4.5 million cap hit), forward Troy Brouwer ($3.66 million cap hit) and forward Steve Ott ($2.6 million cap hit) now in the spotlight.

Backes and Brouwer are considered two of the top free agents out there. According to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, there was “no progress to report” in an extension with Backes, and the Blues could “get creative” in an attempt to keep Brouwer.

Dallas Stars

Despite having a shorter list of unrestricted free agents than most teams, the list comprises multiple pieces of Dallas’ blue line. The current expectation is that defensemen Jason Demers and Kris Russell — two reliable members of Dallas' defensive corps — will both test the market and potentially move on.

This becomes a concern with the remaining defensemen on the roster not having much experience, and that younger defensive corps would log big minutes in front of the unpredictable goalie tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi.

Stars insider Mike Heika wrote for the Dallas Morning News:

“… the Stars seem almost too young on defense. After signing Jordie Benn to a three-year contract extension, Dallas now has six players under contract and a restricted free agent in Jamie Oleksiak. That means barring a big trade or a free agent signing, the Stars will go into next season with key players such as Johns, Esa Lindell, Patrik Nemeth and Oleksiak having limited experience.”

Heika also points out that trying to trade one of the goalies now would be difficult. There are more goalies on the market than there are desirable jobs open. Dallas shot off to a hot start last campaign because of its explosive offense but had trouble when scoring cooled off and the netminders couldn’t pick up the slack. What happens if that same formula has fewer defensemen thanks to free agency?