The EP Rinkside 2024 European Free Agency Guide

European free agency doesn't yet generate the same attention as college or the CHL, but maybe it should.

Playing in a professional setting is a prerequisite for any amount of NHL attention, and as such, many of these players are much further along in their development than their peers in Canadian junior or American college. For the most part, these are plug-and-play propositions.

Most importantly, dipping into these leagues is the last way to bring a franchise-altering talent into the fold for only the cost of an entry-level contract.

Artemi Panarin, Mats Zuccarello, Andrey Kuzmenko, Sergei Bobrovski, Alexandar Georgiyev – these are the headliners on a list of the 41 players to play in the NHL this season as undrafted free agents from the KHL, SHL, Liiga, Czech Extraliga, and the Swiss NL.

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