What’s left in the UFA Bargain Bin?

Almost of all the big-name unrestricted free agents have been scooped up, but the bargain hunting season is just getting underway. Things kicked off with the Florida Panthers inking Peter Mueller to a one-year, $1.725 million deal while Wojtek Wolski signed a one-year, $600,000 deal with the Washington Capitals.

Players like that come with less than ideal pasts, but that’s what makes them so cheap in the first place. They might turn out to be the steals of the free agent period or wasted money — but it’s hard to call bargain bin signings true gambles given that the teams are only making short-term commitments at relatively low prices.

Here’s a list of some of the remaining unrestricted free agents that will likely be scooped up for similar contracts:

Andrei Kostitsyn — Obviously, the notion that the Nashville Predators could turn around Andrei Kostitsyn’s career like they did for his younger brother, Sergei Kostitsyn, didn’t work out.

Kostitsyn actually did have some on-ice success in Nashville, but that was drowned out by the curfew controversy.

Still, he has the potential to be a top-six forward next season.

Petr Sykora — Sykora was a pleasant surprise last season, earning a contract with the Devils out of training camp and scoring 21 goals and 44 points in 82 games.

He’ll turn 36 years old on Nov. 19, but he’s still a decent secondary scorer and capable of helping out with the man advantage. Plus, he’s played in 133 postseason contests and has been on two Stanley Cup winning teams, so he’s got the experience to help guide a younger team.

Carlo Colaiacovo — He’s only reached the 70-game milestone once and that was back in 2008-09. Colaiacovo can’t seem to get through a season without suffering a noteworthy injury and on top of that, he struggled last season with just 19 points in 64 contests.

Still, when he’s healthy he’s a top-four caliber defenseman and there are a lot of teams hungry for one of those. He’s still just 29 years old, so he’s got a lot of hockey left in him and it’s not hard to imagine him bouncing back. Maybe he’s holding out for a long-term contract, but if he can be had for a bargain bin price, then it would be hard to fault any team for grabbing him.