2017 NHL free agency: Jaromir Jagr leads top players still available after Day 2

The NHL got busy on Saturday, the first day of free agency, with loads of signings across the league. Big names like Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, Martin Hanzal, and Joe Thornton agreed to new deals as teams’ coffers opened, and countless others like Patrick Marleau and Alex Radulov went in the days following.

But not everyone signed on Day 1, and that means there’s still more action to come before the hockey world eventually slides into its late summer slumber. There are still some crucial players out there deciding which team to choose. The market, while thinned, still has treasures to offer.

The list of top available names is highlighted by Jaromir Jagr, who is officially not re-signing with the Florida Panthers after a 46-point season.

There are others out there still deciding where to play the 2017-18 season and beyond, too. Here’s a look at the top players still available in NHL free agency following the frenzy on Saturday.

Jagr was almost definitely kidding when he tweeted about how nobody was calling him as a free agent, and there’s been word that teams have actually shown interest. So it seems likely that the 45-year-old will be coming back for at least one more NHL season.

It just won’t come with the Florida Panthers, who have aggressively remade their roster this summer following a front-office shakeup that saw Dale Tallon inserted back into the general manager role. The Panthers already said they won’t try to re-sign Jagr, so it’ll be one of the other 30 teams to pick him up.

The 38-year-old reportedly wants a two-year deal worth around $6 million annually, which is a tall order given his age. It’s not completely unwarranted if you look solely at his performance, however.

Markov remains a very good offensive defenseman who racked up 36 points in 62 games last season. He’s not quite the Norris contender that he was at his peak, but if a team is looking for a top-four blue liner who can move the puck and give its offense a jolt, Markov is the best option left on the market.

And given how many middling defensemen got multi-year deals on Saturday, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having Markov for two years. Age is a concern, but if he doesn’t fall off a cliff, he’ll be an immediate upgrade for someone.

There hasn’t been a ton of discussion surrounding Vanek, but he’s reportedly talking to a few teams. You would think there should be interest in a player who has recorded at least 40 points in every season of his career.

Part of what’s tricky with Vanek is that he’s basically an offensive specialist who needs to be used in that kind of role. He’s not really a two-way winger, so his appeal to teams is limited almost solely to his scoring ability.

The good news for Vanek is that he can still score, having recorded 17 goals and 31 assists in 68 games between the Red Wings and Panthers last season. Somebody will scoop him up hoping for 50 points or so.

Franson could end up being a steal for somebody. He’s a huge defenseman (6’5, 224 pounds) who moves surprisingly well for his size with a strong track record of driving possession for his teams.

That was no different last season with the Buffalo Sabres, whose even strength Corsi was 4.3 percent higher with him on the ice. Franson has made that kind of impact everywhere he’s been, regularly posting better possession numbers than his teammates when he’s on the bench.

Franson is not much of a scorer, and he won’t be a game-changer on special teams, but somebody is going to get a good 5-on-5 defenseman this offseason.

It sounds like Nashville or retirement for Fisher, who still hasn’t informed the Predators of his plans yet. There appears to be no rush, though.

“He and I are in a good place,” Predators general manager David Poile said to The Tennessean on Friday. “He needs more time before he decides exactly what he’s going to do. I’m very confident I will be able to work around his situation in terms of what we do or don’t do in free agency starting [Saturday].

“Hopefully in the next couple weeks, Mike will be able to make a firm decision so that we will have direction on where he’s going.”

The Predators have roughly $20 million in cap space, per CapFriendly, but much of that will go to restricted free agents Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson, Pontus Aberg, Frederick Gaudreau, Austin Watson, and Marek Mazanec. Presumably some money would be left over for Fisher, if he wants it.

Stafford is a big winger who could provide some secondary scoring depth to a team. He’s recorded at least 13 goals in nine of his 11 NHL seasons, including a 21-goal effort in 2015-16. He wasn’t as good last year with just eight goals in 58 games, but he also shot just 7.3 percent, which is down from a career rate near 11 percent.

The 2012 No. 1 overall pick didn’t pan out in Edmonton or St. Louis, but his pedigree will likely earn him at least one more chance elsewhere in the NHL. He’s shown flashes of the elite finishing ability that made him the top prospect in the draft five years ago. The problem, to some degree, is that he’s not built to play a bottom-six role, yet what team would be comfortable gambling on him as a featured scoring option at this point?

The Predators already confirmed Parenteau will not be re-signed, so he’s on his way to joining the ninth team of his NHL career. The journeyman just hasn’t settled in anywhere, even though he’s regularly proven to be a fine secondary scorer for a team in need of depth. Last season, he recorded 13 goals and 15 assists in 68 games between the Devils and Predators. He struggled in the playoffs, which led to being benched most of the time by Nashville, but he can still provide 10-15 goals for somebody.