Luke Kunin Garnering Free Agent Interest

Teams looking for depth at forward could have a new option on the open market. Luke Kunin has been medically cleared to return from a torn achilles tendon sustained in July per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. That clearance has ramped up interest around the soon-to-be 29 year old. LeBrun mentions that he expects Kunin – who spent last season on a league-minimum contract in Florida – to sign with an NHL club soon.

Kunin was the 15th-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. He debuted in the NHL two seasons later – but never quite lived up to his first-round pedigree. Kunin’s career season stands as the 2019-20 season, when he recorded 31 points and 55 penalty minutes in 63 games with the Minnesota Wild. He was traded to the Nashville Predators in return for Nick Bonino and the draft picks used on Marat Khusnutdinov and Eemil Viro in the following summer.

Kunin followed that with 19 points in 38 games during the shortened 2020-21 season – nearly on-par with the scoring in his final season with the Wild. That earned the centerman a two-year, $4.6MM contract with Nashville partway through the 2021-22 season, as Kunin worked his way to 22 points and a career-high 99 penalty minutes through the end of the year.

Nashville moved Kunin to the San Jose Sharks in the summer of 2022, receiving John Leonard and a third-round pick in return. Kunin spent three seasons racking up penalty minutes – but not many points – with the Sharks before the club dealt him to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fourth-round pick at the 2025 Trade Deadline. Kunin finished the year with no scoring in 12 games with the Blue Jackets, leading the team to leave him on the open market in the 2025 off-season. The Florida Panthers stepped up to take a chance on Kunin – signing him to a one-year deal that he marked with 10 points and 47 penalty minutes in 62 games.

Through nine seasons in the NHL, Kunin has shown the impact that he brings. He is an outright bruiser, notching one season with more than 200 hits and three more at least 100. He is also a capable penalty-killer, carving out a second-unit role in every season of his career. That will be the value that interested teams will hope to add. Kunin hasn’t recorded a 20-point season since 2021-22 and seems set on filling a bottom-line, or extra forward, role on any deal he signs. That will still be shrewd value to find on the open market as teams grapple with injuries and poor performances.