AND HERE WE GO

BY MIKE RIFKIN

Yes, NHL Free Agency starts on July first, but prior to Wednesday’s flurry we’ve seen a bunch of movement through trades. There have been some teams I absolutely love what they’re doing and others that have some questions as we get deeper into the summer.

TEAMS I LOVE 

1. NASHVILLE PREDATORS – Yeah, we said the same thing a few summers ago when they added Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei. But I like the approach new GM Chris MacFarland has gone with. Nashville was busy on Wednesday after poaching Alex Kerfoot from MacFarland’s former team the Colorado Avalanche. Kerfoot became the third Avs regular to join the Preds this summer joining Jack Drury and Ross Colton. The Preds also plucked from another division rival, this time the Dallas Stars, where they acquired the rights to restricted free agent Mavirik Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin. So, the Preds have impacted their future with Bourque, once he’s signed. Kerfoot, Drury, and Colton will help the bottom six and the penalty kill for Nashville.

2. SAN JOSE SHARKS – The Sharks are the future and the apple of everyone’s eye with what they showed last season. Macklin Celebrini is a star, Will Smith is more than the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, and there’s so much more. But the one thing the Sharks lacked was some beef on the Blue line, and boy they added to it, they added Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse to lead this group of young players. They also added Mason Marchment on a big contract, so the Sharks not only have skill, but now they added some physicality to their game. And everyone can thank Connor McDavid who called the Pacific a “pillow fight” last season. 

3. WASHINGTON CAPITALS – When you try and prove to one of the greatest of all time that you can win now, you have to do it. Chris Patrick is doing exactly that, the Caps have added Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch and Boone Jenner to their forward group. Now, I’m not going to say the Caps have closed the gap on the Hurricanes, but with what the Metro could look like right now the Caps are a top three team. 

TEAMS I LIKE

1. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS – Let me be honest it’s not about Sergei Bobrovsky or Darren Raddysh, it’s the minor pieces the Leafs added that put them here. Colton Sissons is a Swiss Army knife, he can play on any line, help the PK and maybe even some second power play time. Jack Roslovic is a major x factor, personally I would play him with William Nylander, to see if they can unlock the player. But the thing I like the most about what Toronto has done is most of these moves are short term, so if they don’t work, they can make changes quickly. 
2. VANCOUVER CANUCKS – The Canucks are trying to rebrand themselves after a tumultuous last couple of seasons. We’ll see if they move Brock Boeser or Elias Pettersson, but they’re trying to stabilize and set a culture with the acquisitions of Brendan Gallagher, Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn. 

3. NEW YORK RANGERS – Hand up, I didn’t think Chris Drury had this in him. But so far the offseason on Broadway has been solid, added some much needed scoring punch with Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand. But most importantly reshaping his Blue line, the additions of Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson help solidify that. Now they have a hole in the middle with Vincent Trocheck gone, but maybe they expect a young player to fill the void or does Drury have something else up his sleeve. 

I DON’T GET IT

1. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS – I’ll be honest the Blackhawks could bring back Patrick Kane tomorrow and they’d still be here. The Blackhawks traded the fourth overall pick in the draft Friday night for Bowen Byram and then gave him six years with an AAV of 12.5 million dollars. Byram was good in Buffalo last year, but man they needed someone to play with Bedard (who still needs a deal). They also added Cole Smith and Ian Cole, so they might be tougher to play against, but that Byram contract is something. 

2. EDMONTON OILERS – If you have one year to impress the best player in the world and your answer would be to sign Freddie Andersen, you have to do it right? As good as Andersen was in the Hurricanes run to the Stanley Cup, let’s not forget the Canes have a great Defense core, something the Oilers really don’t. Also with his injury history along with Tristan Jarry’s I can’t say I love this from the Oilers, although I like the Devon Levi add. 

1. LA KINGS – Erik Haula (35), Scott Laughton (32), Mats Zuccarello (38), and Corey Perry (41) these are the players that Ken Holland brought in to help the Kings. The LA Kings are an older hockey team, they could’ve changed their identity after Anze Kopitar retired, but they’re still trying to go for it. The problem is I don’t think this helps them in either the short or long term. This is just bad business.