Rechercher dans ce blog

Saturday, July 16, 2022

NHL free-agency grades for all 32 teams: Based on moves so far, who fared best? - The Athletic

NHL free agency opened Wednesday, and with a few notable exceptions, most of the top available players have already been snatched up.

Which teams fared best, which spun their wheels and which took a step back?

The Athletic asked the writers who know each team best. Here are the grades they assigned based on the work done so far.

Note: Re-signings and trades made since the season are factored into grades. We asked that writers only assign an “Incomplete” grade if they expect a move coming that will drastically change the mark.

Anaheim Ducks: B-

The Ducks have plenty of money to spend, but they also have plenty of holes to fill. Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano weren’t the biggest names on the market, but unless he’s out to make a play for Nazem Kadri, general manager Pat Verbeek wasn’t going into this summer looking to take the biggest swing. His club is still at least a couple of years from being in position to make a serious push toward the playoffs. The Ducks still need a defenseman or two, and it’s a paper-thin crop that’s left on the market after John Klingberg. But Verbeek’s goal is to have Anaheim in position to win rounds and compete for years when it’s ready to open a championship window. The deals for Strome and Vatrano shouldn’t hamstring them, especially if the cap eventually rises. — Eric Stephens

Arizona Coyotes: C

Arizona continues to be the NHL’s version of the Last Chance Texaco, a place where players go hoping to kick-start their careers. Predictably, the Coyotes were the landing place for a couple of contracts that teams wanted to ditch (notably Zack Kassian and Patrik Nemeth) and then signed unrestricted free agents Nick Bjugstad, Josh Brown and Troy Stetcher for a combined $3.3 million. They remain $1.55 million under the salary-cap floor, suggesting there’s room for more moves. And of course, everyone’s still waiting to see if/when a long-rumored Jakob Chychrun trade unfolds. — Eric Duhatschek

Boston Bruins: Incomplete

The Bruins have yet to sign Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. If they can do so, it would give them first- and second-line centers. It would complete their business in free agency. Bergeron could make his announcement anytime. A one-year contract with performance bonuses is the most likely outcome. The same structure would apply to Krejci. But for now, a Krejci deal is not as certain as one for Bergeron. — Fluto Shinzawa

Buffalo Sabres: B+

The Sabres didn’t make any splashy free-agent signings, but GM Kevyn Adams stuck to his plan and didn’t overpay for short-term fixes. That alone is a win. In net, the team brought back Craig Anderson and Malcolm Subban while taking a calculated flier on Winnipeg backup Eric Comrie. That position is in better shape than it was a year ago. Ilya Lyubushkin should add a physical mentality to Buffalo’s blue line. And bringing back Victor Oloffson and Vinnie Hinostroza on reasonable deals should be viewed as a positive for them in 2022-23. — Matthew Fairburn

Calgary Flames: C

I’m giving the Flames a C because they haven’t really done anything except for being spurned by Johnny Gaudreau at the 11th hour of free agency. Look, it’s his right to test the market as a UFA, but the timing was terrible for GM Brad Treliving, who put $84 million on the table. What else could he have done? He could have traded Gaudreau in the summer or at the deadline, sure. But the Flames thought they could get him to stay, and it seemed like it was going to happen until Tuesday night. Other than that, they’ve worked around the edges with some fourth-line/AHL signing and are taking a breath before diving into Plan B. There’s a lot of work left to do, so Calgary’s final grade will come once we get some more action. — Hailey Salvian

Carolina Hurricanes: A-

Did y’all hear that the Hurricanes got Max Pacioretty and Dylan Coghlan from Vegas for literally nothing? Oh, and they got Brent Burns at a reduced rate? Pacioretty and Burns are in their 30s, yes, but both have remained among the best players in the league at what they do. The Canes not only replaced Tony DeAngelo with a player who I’d say is a slight replacement (albeit older), but they also addressed their need for a scoring winger. If they manage to retain Nino Niederreiter, this becomes an A+. — Sara Civian

Chicago Blackhawks: C-

Like it or not, Kyle Davidson deserves credit for being bold, and for sticking to his plan to burn the Blackhawks to the ground so he can start fresh with a long-term rebuild. But the asset management hasn’t been great. Chicago didn’t get nearly enough to justify trading Alex DeBrincat (you couldn’t even get ONE of Ottawa’s many good prospects?) and giving up on Kirby Dach at 21 years old just to get the No. 13 pick in a weak draft is dicey, even though the Blackhawks LOVE draft picks Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar, the result of those two trades. And while the market dictates everything, it’s hard to fathom not even getting a mid-round pick for the restricted-free-agent rights to Dylan Strome or Dominik Kubalik. At least Andreas Athanasiou and Max Domi were smart signings — two once-productive players who’ll get major roles to boost their value and get flipped at the deadline for more picks. — Mark Lazerus

Take two: It’s difficult to give the Blackhawks too glowing of a grade knowing all their moves are to tank for next season and build for the future. If you’re judging them solely on that, sure, they had a fine free agency. They signed a few players with upside who could be possibly moved at the deadline for assets and others who are suitable NHLers but probably won’t elevate them in the standings. Davidson made sure to keep all of his signings on affordable, short-term deals. — Scott Powers

Colorado Avalanche: B

Colorado wasn’t going to be able to keep everyone from its Cup-winning team. That’s what happens when players earn paydays and you’re working with a tight salary cap. But the Avs got long-term deals worked out with Valeri Nichushkin, Josh Manson and Artturi Lehkonen and also retained key depth pieces like Andrew Cogliano and Darren Helm. They’re taking a risk in net with Alexandar Georgiev, who hasn’t been a full-time starter, but it could pay off if he performs well in front of a much better defense than he had in New York. — Peter Baugh

Columbus Blue Jackets: A+

The signing of five-time All-Star winger Gaudreau was a major “get” for GM Jarmo Kekalainen and a landmark day for a franchise. Of course, this helps them on the ice, where Gaudreau joins ranks with Patrik Laine, Jake Voracek and Oliver Bjorkstrand in what should be an explosive offense. But the psychological boost of Gaudreau opting to spend his prime years with the Blue Jackets is massive. He could have made more money by staying in Calgary. He could have played closer to home in New Jersey. But he picked Columbus, a city that has been maligned by the departure of star players in recent years. The Jackets also added physical defenseman Erik Gudbranson. — Aaron Portzline

Dallas Stars: B-

The bar was set pretty low because of their salary cap situation, but the Mason Marchment signing has the potential to look pretty good, if he even just continues at the level he played last season. The Stars are banking on him being even better. The blue-line situation is troubling, though. They get some points for adding at least an NHL-caliber right shot, but Colin Miller is not a top-four talent, so John Klingberg’s departure does leave a hole. — Saad Yousuf

Detroit Red Wings: A-

Steve Yzerman upgraded at every position over the past week, starting by trading for (and extending) Ville Husso at the draft, and then following it up by bringing in a haul of free agents this week. Andrew Copp is the long-needed answer at No. 2 center, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik should help the power play significantly, and Ben Chiarot and Olli Määttä will go a long way toward improving one of the league’s worst defenses. It was a real upgrade — and a long-awaited one, at that. The minus comes from the added risk in some of the term, mainly with 31-year-old Chiarot, but Detroit still has plenty of room to maneuver, now and in the near future. — Max Bultman

Edmonton Oilers: B+

Ken Holland moved out Zack Kassian without retaining salary or acquiring an unwarranted player. He secured a starting goalie in Jack Campbell after failing to do so the previous two offseasons. He locked up Evander Kane and Brett Kulak on deals with good AAVs. Campbell and Kane come with risk for very different reasons, but all three contracts could be big wins and fit the team’s contention window. Holland’s grade will bump up to an “A” depending on how he rounds out his lineup and if he retains Jesse Puljujarvi or wins a potential trade involving the winger. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman

Florida Panthers: D+

It’s a bad grade, but don’t blame GM Bill Zito; the Panthers had a bunch of players to lose because of the LTIR-enabled additions they made at the deadline, and every UFA of consequence walked: Claude Giroux, Ben Chiarot, Mason Marchment, et al. It was inevitable (and, given the money involved, not unwise), but the defending Presidents’ Trophy winner is weaker for it. Colin White is a low-risk reclamation process who should at least provide value as a defensive forward. Nick Cousins is a nice fourth-liner. Eric and Marc Staal playing together is a cute story. Their arrivals, though, aren’t enough to offset the departures. — Sean Gentille

Los Angeles Kings: B

The Kings made their major play ahead of free agency, trading for — and then signing to a long-term contract — Kevin Fiala, which nicely filled out their top six up front. Most of their business was done internally, re-signing a key RFA Adrian Kempe ($5.5 million AAV), along with a few useful supplementary pieces such as Alex Edler, Carl Grundstrom and Brendan Lemieux for reasonable dollar figures, given the salaries being lavished on players elsewhere around the league. — Eric Duhatschek

Minnesota Wild: F

They haven’t signed a single NHL player to a one-way contract yet. GM Bill Guerin didn’t want to jump at a forward they’re lukewarm about until maybe asking prices drop or he scours the trade market. — Michael Russo

Montreal Canadiens: B+

The Canadiens did essentially nothing in free agency, but trading the final four years of Shea Weber’s contract to the Vegas Golden Knights very early in the offseason rates as a massive win. Kent Hughes got a useful player back in Evgenii Dadonov with only one year left on his contract, but shedding Weber’s cap hit was a crucial move in jumpstarting the rebuild. Whatever Hughes is able to do over the rest of the summer will be gravy. He’s already accomplished something that seemed impossible. — Arpon Basu

Nashville Predators: C

The Predators got their most-pressing offseason item completed by re-signing Filip Forsberg and haven’t done much else. They signed some organizational depth pieces and Kevin Lankinen to serve as Juuse Saros’ new backup. The Lankinen signing is very “meh,” but it’s also not awful. He’s serviceable and will have better structure in front of him than he had in Chicago. Overall, Nashville is in about the same spot it was before free agency: the middle of the NHL. — Sean Shapiro

New Jersey Devils: B

The Devils were relatively quiet in free agency after missing out in the Gaudreau sweepstakes. They acquired a goaltender at the draft in Vitek Vanecek, which crossed one need off their offseason checklist. By signing Ondrej Palat, they accomplished their next-most-pressing need of an impact winger. But the contract was a bit too rich in term and length, and it just felt like a backup plan in action after not acquiring one of the top-caliber wingers who went elsewhere. — Shayna Goldman

New York Islanders: D

After missing out on Gaudreau the Islanders still haven’t done anything to improve their forward group and are, in fact, the only NHL team that hasn’t signed a single player. A draft-day trade for Alexander Romanov gave a boost to their defense, but it will be a failure of management if they don’t find another scoring winger between now and October, as that was a weakness last season. The only reason they don’t get an F is because, well, at least didn’t overpay for someone bad. — Kevin Kurz

New York Rangers: B

They identified their target for No. 2 center quickly and decisively, though perhaps they overcommitted in giving Vincent Trocheck seven years. The Rangers’ other huge need was a backup goalie, and they got one of the most experienced ones around in Jaroslav Halak. Those were holes that needed to be filled, and GM Chris Drury didn’t hesitate. Whether he made the right call in choosing Trocheck over Ryan Strome or Copp — well, we can’t grade that one yet. — Arthur Staple

Ottawa Senators: A+

I gave Pierre Dorion an A+ only because there wasn’t an option for a higher ranking. The Senators general manager has done a masterful job of not only overhauling his roster but also injecting confidence into a long-suffering fan base. The Senators are suddenly operating like a team that is flush with cash instead of one operating on a shoestring budget. They’ve acquired a $9 million player in DeBrincat, signed Giroux to a three-year, $19.5 million contract and locked up Josh Norris to an eight-year deal at just a hair under $8 million per season. They also stabilized their goaltending by adding Cam Talbot to the mix. Add in the fact that Dorion was able to shed 75 percent of Matt Murray’s contract and execute buyouts on Colin White and Michael Del Zotto and this has pretty much been a perfect offseason for the Senators. The second-round pick in return for Connor Brown was underwhelming, but if Dorion can land a top-four defenceman at some point this summer, it will make that move a lot more palatable. — Ian Mendes

Philadelphia Flyers: F

The Flyers didn’t merely miss out Gaudreau, the local superstar and top free agent on the market who long had been rumored to have Philadelphia as his top choice. They weren’t even realistically in the mix due to Chuck Fletcher’s inability to adequately prepare from a cap-space standpoint or clear out a contract or two. So what did Fletcher do? He brought back Justin Braun to be a cheap third-pair defenseman and signed a 31-year-old enforcer in Nicolas Deslauriers to a four-year contract. Braun isn’t an upgrade since he already was in Philadelphia for most of the 2021-22 season, and Deslauriers is an intangibles add to a team that already has Rasmus Ristolainen and Zack MacEwen for essentially the same purpose. The Flyers had the fourth-worst record in hockey last season, and unless their big swing on Tony DeAngelo bears fruit and doesn’t blow up in their face, it’s unclear if they’re actually any better than they were in 2021-22. Yikes. — Charlie O’Connor

Pittsburgh Penguins: A-

Keeping Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin was the priority, and the Penguins did that for a combined $12.2 million cap hit — compared to $16.725 million from previous seasons. Those cap savings helped facilitate raises for wingers Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell. The Penguins’ top six is enviable. But they have way, way too many defensemen, which is hindering their ability to improve the bottom six, which leaves their depth up front a concern. GM Ron Hextall might still fix that problem with a trade, but until he does, their grade is just below an A. — Rob Rossi

San Jose Sharks: B-

New general manager Mike Grier might deserve higher marks if we were grading on a curve, given the circumstances and constraints he is dealing with. He’s accomplished one big goal — adding NHL players like Luke Kunin and Oskar Lindblom who will help shape the style of play and general identity/vibe he’s looking for. Having more NHL-competent depth is a plus. Giving three years to Nico Sturm and four to Matt Benning is not, but that might have been a tax for luring them to a non-playoff team. Burns will be tough to replace, but that deal will be judged over several seasons, not just this summer. — Corey Masisak

Seattle Kraken: B

Signing Andre Burakovsky, Martin Jones and Justin Schultz allowed the Kraken to meet their needs in a few key areas. And they have a little more than $10 million in projected cap space remaining. But this comes with a caveat. Ron Francis said the Kraken could do more, but they also want the flexibility just to be safe. Still, they met their needs and have the potential to do more. — Ryan S. Clark

St. Louis Blues: C+

Free agency in St. Louis was about what the Blues didn’t do more than what they did do. They didn’t re-sign Perron, who has been one of their best players. He’s 34 years old, but it’s hard to fathom the Blues and Perron couldn’t come up with a deal that worked for both sides. They had a hole on left defense and re-signed UFA Nick Leddy, who got a four-year, $16 million contract, which is part of the reason they couldn’t bring back Perron. The team replaced Husso with Thomas Greiss, 36, who comes in as the new backup goalie in the twilight of his career. And looking to rebuild their fourth line, the Blues signed Noel Acciari and Josh Leivo, who were cheap options and may not provide much more than experience. The Blues didn’t have a lot of cap space, but their roster doesn’t look as good on paper as it did when the 2021-22 season ended. — Jeremy Rutherford

Tampa Bay Lightning: B

The Lightning didn’t have the cap space to make any splashy signings in free agency. And the additions of Ian Cole and Vladislav Namestnikov won’t draw as many headlines as if they had brought back Ondrej Palat. But they did fill some needs there. The reason Tampa Bay gets a “B” is because it was able to lock up its young core in Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak for eight years. That’s some tidy work in one day that’ll be important in extending the Lightning’s Cup window down the line. — Joe Smith

Toronto Maple Leafs: C+

The Leafs entered the offseason with limited cap space and some rather large holes created by the loss of Jack Campbell and Ilya Mikheyev. Dumping Petr Mrazek’s $3.8 million salary was a smart move, but immediately giving $4.68 million to Matt Murray comes with considerable risk and eats much of their cap flexibility. Ilya Samsonov is another wild card in goal, albeit at a much more reasonable cost. Adding Calle Jarnkrok on a four-year deal on Day 3 of free agency will ease the loss of Mikheyev, however, giving the Leafs another versatile option in the top nine. And with nine NHL defensemen under contract, another trade to create cap space feels very likely. If they can add another decent forward, this grade could be bumped up. — James Mirtle

Vancouver Canucks: B-

Landing Andrei Kuzmenko, the top European free agent, is a huge win. He offers legitimate middle-six potential at a sub $1 million cap hit. The Mikheyev signing isn’t bad in a vacuum — he adds valuable speed and two-way ability — but getting another middle-six forward at a steep price was a bit surprising as the club hasn’t been able to move other salary out yet. — Harman Dayal

Vegas Golden Knights: D

The Golden Knights entered the summer already over the salary cap, so it’s not as if they were positioned to have a great free agency period. Trading Pacioretty and Coghlan for no return was necessary to sign their remaining RFAs (Nicolas Hague, Nicolas Roy and Keegan Kolesar), but it was a crushing blow to the team’s overall scoring. The only thing that elevated this from an F grade was re-signing Reilly Smith to a three-year, $15 million extension. He’s an unsung hero in Vegas and will be a major key to a turnaround, especially in Bruce Cassidy’s defense-first system. — Jesse Granger

Washington Capitals: B

Stanley Cup-winning goalie Darcy Kuemper brings stability to a position that’s lacked it since the departure of Braden Holtby. Center Dylan Strome figures to slot in behind Evgeny Kuznetsov and fill the void left by Nicklas Backstrom (hip surgery). Right wing Connor Brown will bolster the top line in the absence of Tom Wilson (knee surgery). Meanwhile, defenseman Erik Gustafsson and center/wing Marcus Johansson add quality depth. If there’s one question mark, it’s backup goalie Charlie Lindgren, who has shined when given a chance but has just 29 games of NHL experience. Overall, though, it’s an impressive haul for GM Brian MacLellan, who is under pressure to keep Alex Ovechkin era Caps competitive after four straight first-round exits. — Tarik El-Bashir

Winnipeg Jets: C

Winnipeg’s most pressing concerns are all on the trade front. The Jets need to decide if they’re moving on from Blake Wheeler this summer, if they’re willing to trade Pierre-Luc Dubois to avoid losing him for nothing in two years’ time, and how they’re going to clear their enormous logjam on defense. Given that all they’ve accomplished so far is replacing Eric Comrie — a player they could have kept had they played him three more times — with David Rittich, then signing a bevy of minor-league players, it is impossible to give the Jets a good grade here. There is a risk that they return a virtually identical roster to the one that missed the playoffs last season. I still won’t fail them outright, because they’re in a decent cap position, haven’t wasted money on any signings, and their Wheeler/Dubois/defense issues didn’t come with a July 13 deadline. — Murat Ates

(Photo of Johnny Gaudreau: Jason Mowry / USA Today)

Adblock test (Why?)


NHL free-agency grades for all 32 teams: Based on moves so far, who fared best? - The Athletic
Read More
at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Blue Jays manager John Schneider saves woman choking at lunch, given free beer by restaurant - Fox News

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider sprung to action when he saw a woman choking on food while at a lunch with his wife near the team’...