As NHL general managers re-tool their teams through free agency, fantasy owners stand by and watch values rise and fall as players' addresses change and depth charts are shuffled.

These five skaters all see their value take a hit due to a questionable landing spot or their team signing a free agent who'll cut into their playing time. These players won't be able to match the fantasy contributions expected of them in recent years and owners in keeper leagues may want to consider trading them before the season starts.

Related: 5 players who gained fantasy value in free agency

James van Riemsdyk, Maple Leafs

After the Maple Leafs were led to the 2017 playoffs by an incredible group of rookies just one season after finishing 30th, their biggest additions this offseason include 36-year-old defenseman Ron Hainsey and 37-year-old forward Patrick Marleau, who is now the team's highest-paid player on a three-year, $18.75-million contract.

Marleau's signing currently has the Leafs $1.68 million over the $75-million ceiling for the 2017 salary cap. This total includes the contracts of Nathan Horton and Joffrey Lupul, but NHL teams need to be salary cap compliant before being able to place players on the long-term injured reserve. Of course, the Maple Leafs could always just send both players to the AHL via waivers.

A much less desirable strategy to meet the conditions of the salary cap could involve trading James van Riemsdyk, who is owed $4.25 million in the final year of his contract. The extremely team-friendly contract for the 29-goal scorer could fetch the Leafs some help on defense. A potential move would almost surely be a negative for van Riemsdyk as he would leave a team which ranked fifth in the league with 3.05 goals per game last season.

Should he remain, Marleau will cut into the 238 shots on goal van Riemsdyk tallied last season with the two together on the team's second line.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

John Gibson, Ducks

With former tandem partner Frederik Andersen traded to the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2016-17 season, Gibson appeared in a career-high 52 games and made 49 starts last year. He posted a career-best .924 save percentage, keeping him in net for the lion's share of starts over Jonathan Bernier who had a .915 SV%.

Soon-to-be 37-year-old Ryan Miller now heads to Anaheim to serve as Gibson's backup. Miller started a total of 105 games over the past two years with the Vancouver Canucks and joins the Ducks with a much higher pedigree than Bernier along with the ability to make many more starts. Should Gibson struggle at any point during the 2017-18 season, Miller could take over as the starter for a prolonged stretch.

Sam Gagner, Canucks

Gagner is coming off a career resurrection with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Playing for his fourth team in as many seasons, Gagner matched a career high with 18 goals and set a new career best with 50 points, his most since notching 49 in his rookie season. Eight goals and 18 of those points came on the man advantage, where he played with Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno, and Zach Werenski for 46.1 percent of all the Blue Jackets' power-play minutes.

Gagner goes from Columbus' 12th-ranked power play to Vancouver's 29th-ranked unit. The most common five-man configuration used by the Canucks consisted of Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi, and Troy Stecher.

The Canucks scored 10 fewer power-play goals than the Blue Jackets, despite receiving an additional 16 opportunities with the man advantage. Last season's ineffectiveness should hand Gagner the opportunity to lead the special teams system, but he'll have a grossly inferior supporting cast than the one he worked with in 2016-17.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Max Pacioretty, Canadiens

Pacioretty played 12.21 percent of the Montreal Canadiens' 5-on-5 minutes last season with Phillip Danault and the recently departed Alexander Radulov. Pacioretty scored 35 goals - his fourth consecutive season with at least 30 - and tied a career high with 67 points. His 268 shots on goal were a four-year low, but he benefited from a 13.1 shooting percentage, largely inflated as a result of the quality of passes he received from Radulov.

Radulov led the Canadians with 16 primary assists at full strength and ranked second with eight primary helpers on the power play. He recorded a total of 36 helpers in all situations.

Radulov's pass-first style will be missed by Pacioretty and his prospective fantasy owners. Danault was able to record a career high of 40 points in 15:35 of ice time per game. Anyone selected to play with Pacioretty will be informed of their role to set up the team's top goal-scorer, but they'll have a difficult time doing so with Radulov's efficiency.

Semyon Varlamov, Avalanche

The Avalanche's decision to protect Varlamov - who started just 23 games due to injury - in the expansion draft and the Vegas Golden Knights' subsequent selection of Colorado's backup goalie Calvin Pickard seemed to have Varlamov on track for an increased workload in 2017-18.

However, Bernier rebounded in a backup role last season, greatly improving on two poor seasons as the Maple Leafs' starting goaltender. The recently signed free agent will likely be given a shot at a true platoon role with Varlamov, even on just a one-year deal, cutting into the Russian's minutes.

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Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban may have missed out on his most recent chance to lift the Stanley Cup, but that isn't stopping him from enjoying his offseason.

Subban took to Instagram on Tuesday, posting a video of himself with world No. 4 tennis star Novak Djokovic.

The Nashville rearguard used the social media opportunity to throw his support behind Djokovic in his attempt to capture a fourth Wimbledon title, while also ensuring his Preds coaches and teammates that he's eating "clean and lean" this summer.

No word yet if Pimm's cocktails are included in Subban's offseason diet.

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Shayne Corson built a reputation as a gritty, fearless player over the course of 19 NHL seasons. But as the former member of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs recently admitted, his toughest battles arguably came off the ice.

An anxiety issue he largely kept secret first arose in summer 2000, when Corson said he thought he was having a heart attack.

"I was sweating," Corson told the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons. "I was shaking. I got down on my hands and knees beside the bed and I start saying goodbye to everybody in my mind. I'm thinking 'I'm dying right now. This is it.'

"That was the first time it ever happened. It didn't really hit me until I was trying to decide whether to stay in Montreal or play for the Leafs. I was a free agent. I was torn. I didn't say anything to anybody. How do you explain that?"

Though Corson said he feels much better today, he still has trouble sleeping and suffers from panic attacks. In hindsight, Corson, 50, regrets not leaning on others for support.

"I was afraid to tell anyone," he said. "I was afraid and embarrassed to show weakness. I probably should have opened up to someone like (Pat Quinn). He was the kind of guy who would have understood. I probably should have told people. I can see that now. I couldn't see it then. If you're trying to figure out what's wrong with you, how can you expect others to understand?"

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Lou Lamariello is a man of very few words.

So when the Maple Leafs general manager opens up and answers a few questions, people tend to listen.

Such was the case Tuesday, when Lameriello joined Sportsnet's Prime Time Sports to discuss Patrick Marleau's addition and what he brings to a young Leafs club already loaded with young offensive talent.

"It was a unanimous consensus on the player," Lamoriello said Tuesday. "He had a lot of teams that were interested in him for a lot of different reasons. First of all, the player he is and the way he plays and what his abilities are. And also the type of individual he is - and that played a role into the decision."

At three years and with an annual cap hit of $6.25 million, many experts and fans around the league began to question whether the Leafs overpaid for a soon-to-be 38-year-old player.

Lamoriello was quick to cast those doubts aside.

"Yes, there's always a risk in any decision you make," said Lamoriello. "But where the team is at, what he can bring to the players that we have and the education process, it was really a decision, as I said earlier and I feel comfortable saying, (that was) unanimous amongst our whole group."

"... Yes, it's a pricey contract," he said. "We feel this is probably the only time in the careers of the young players that we have that we could take this type of a chance."

As Lamoriello admitted, bringing in a guy at Marleau's age who has put up decreasing point totals in each of the last three seasons is obviously a risk.

But, considering the fact that Marleau hasn't missed a regular-season game since 2009 and has "taken care of himself throughout his whole career," it's one the Leafs are willing to take.

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In putting off his NHL return until next year - a decision confirmed Tuesday by his agent - Ilya Kovalchuk made it easier on himself to choose where he plays going forward.

To recap: Kovalchuk left the NHL in 2013, and in doing so walked away from a contract with the Devils that was not set to expire until 2025. That deal was eventually terminated, but the NHL subsequently ruled New Jersey would hold Kovalchuk's rights until he turns 35.

If he had decided to return this summer, he would have been forced to sign with New Jersey first, at which point the Devils could have traded him elsewhere.

Now, after presumably spending another season over in the KHL, Kovalchuk will become an unrestricted NHL free agent as of April 15, 2018, joining an impressive group of forwards set to hit the open market next summer.

Here's a look at the top options, from youngest to oldest.

Certainly John Tavares stands out from this group, but he could be signed to an extension by the Islanders at any time, similar to the one Carey Price recently agreed to in Montreal.

It can be argued all names on that list are better options than Kovalchuk at this point. But know this: Kovalchuk still has some game.

The Russian winger is coming off his best season in the KHL (32 goals, 46 assists in 60 games), including a league championship. He also hasn't been subject to the rigors of an 82-game schedule over the past few years, meaning he may return looking fresher than his age might suggest.

Without the hassle of trying to work out a trade with the Devils, count on more than a few suitors vying for his services next year.

- With h/t to Cap Friendly

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The Vegas Golden Knights signed restricted free agent Oscar Lindberg to a two-year contract worth $3.4 million Tuesday.

Lindberg was selected by Vegas in the expansion draft from the New York Rangers.

The $1.7-million cap hit is a bump from the $650,000 he carried over the past two seasons.

The 25-year-old forward, who was drafted 57th overall by the Rangers in 2010, registered 21 goals and 27 assists during 134 games in New York. He also contributed three goals and one assist in 12 playoff games this year.

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The Washington Capitals re-signed forward Andre Burakovsky to a two-year contract worth $6 million, the club announced Tuesday.

The contract comes with an annual average value of $3 million, leaving the Capitals with a projected $5.59 million in cap space for the 2017-18 season with 16 players under contract, according to CapFriendly.

Burakovsky is coming off his third NHL season, one in which he scored 12 goals and finished with 35 points in 64 games. His average ice time of 13:16 per game was his highest of the three years. His TOI increased to 14:20 per night over the Capitals' 13 postseason games, allowing Burakovsky to score three goals and add three assists with a plus-5 rating.

Burakovsky's 1.73 shots on goal per game in 2016-17 was his highest average of his three-year career, though his shooting percentage of 10.8 was his lowest.

The Capitals' losses of forwards Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson this summer have created two holes on the second line with Evgeny Kuznetsov. Burakovsky mostly spent last season in a third-line role, playing alongside Lars Eller and Brett Connolly. He'll now have the opportunity to move into a more offensive role.

He'll also be among the first to be given a chance to operate on the top power play, as forwards Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie are the only returning members of the five-man unit.

The Capitals have plenty of work left this season with very little cap room available. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is their one remaining restricted free agent. They have just 10 forwards, five defensemen, and one goaltender currently signed for 2017-18.

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The New York Rangers have signed veteran centerman David Desharnais to a one-year contract worth $1 million, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports.

Desharnais spent eight years with the Montreal Canadiens before being dealt to the Edmonton Oilers at last season's trade deadline. He finished the 2016-17 campaign with 14 points in 49 games, adding one goal and three assists in the playoffs.

The 30-year-old will be tasked with filling a chunk of the services down the middle of the ice left behind by Derek Stepan, who was shipped to the Arizona Coyotes in a trade before the entry draft.

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