NHL OFFSEASON WINNERS AND LOSERS SO FAR (BY TEAM)

BY MIKE RIFKIN

Here we are in the middle of August and because of the New CBA there will be Hockey played in just over a month (first preseason slate 9/19, regular season starts 9/29). There are still some really good free agents on the market, and we’re waiting to see if there will be more trades on the horizon, but for now here are some of my favorite and least favorite offseasons so far. 

FAVORITE

1. WASHINGTON CAPITALS : The Caps made a statement this offseason and have gone all in. The development of their young talent allowed them to make significant moves. Adding Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch gives them some more speed on the wings. Boone Jenner provides leadership and has no problem being physical. Oh and they brought back some guy named Ovechkin, who I hear is good at scoring goals, but with the depth the Caps have they don’t have to rely on him. 

   2)SAN JOSE SHARKS – People can complain all they want about the Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse contracts, but with the cap rising the Sharks did what they had to to get more physical. They also added forward Mason Marchment to give them some size up front. Now, while the Sharks added some beef, they also extended the face of their franchise Macklin Celebrini to a five year contract (starts next season) that will make him the highest paid player in the NHL.  The Sharks should compete for a top three spot in the Pacific Division. 

3) FLORIDA PANTHERS – I could’ve put the Panthers on here just for the fact that they should be healthy to start next season. But the additions of Brady Tkachuk and Radko Gudas adds even more physicality to the team. We’ll see what they get out of Jacob Markstrom in goal, but we do know Bill Zito wouldn’t be afraid to go after something if it’s available.  

4) NASHVILLE PREDATORS – A few summers ago the Preds made massive splashes with the additions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. Since then the Preds have missed the playoffs and were kind of directionless. Bringing Chris Mcfarland from the Avs has given them direction. Mcfarland went to his old stomping grounds and brought in Ross Colton and Jack Drury via trade and signed Alex Kerfoot. The Preds also took advantage of the Dallas Stars’ cap situation and were able to acquire Mavirik Bourque. The Preds got deeper this summer and maybe enough for them to get back to the playoffs.

5) UTAH MAMMOTH –  The Mammoth gave the Golden Knights a run for their money in the playoffs. There’s a young, exciting team in Utah and they had quite the summer adding Vincent Trocheck from the Rangers and Anders Lee from the Islanders. Both give a lot of playoff experience, and in the case of Trocheck some help on the Penalty Kill. They also added Goalie Sebastian Cossa, who at  23 could be their goalie of the future.

HM : NEW YORK RANGERS –  Yes, I still think there’s work for Chris Drury to do (finding another top six player would be nice) but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t had a good offseason. He added Pavel Dorofeyev from Vegas and signed him to a reasonable contract. At 25 years old Dorofeyev also fits the Rangers long term plans. The Rangers also acquired a second defensive pair with Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson, and they added depth scoring with Oliver Bjorkstrand. If Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox stay healthy the Rangers can compete for a Wild Card. 

LEAST FAVORITE

1. LA KINGS – I know why LeBron left LA, he confused Crypto.com Arena for a retirement home, because the LA Kings got older this summer. The Kings brought in Mats Zuccarello (38), Corey Perry (41), and Erik Haula (35). They also were able to retain Scott Laughton, I’m not sure what the Kings will look like this year, but this could backfire on Ken Holland. 

2. DETROIT RED WINGS – Remember above where I said we’re waiting on a few things, well the status of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is one of those things. So there’s good news and bad news with that Detroit, the good is he is right now a member of your team, the bad news is you play in the Atlantic Division, which saw a lot of teams in front of you get better. Viktor Arvidsson was the big addition, but if the Wings struggle near the trade deadline, whoever the GM is might have a lot of choices on a lot of players. 

3. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS : If you’re trading the fourth overall pick, you’d better be getting a stud. The Blackhawks traded the fourth pick to the Sabres for Bowen Byram. Byram is 25 and posted a career high 42 points last season. But he’s never been relied as a true number one defenseman. If Byram can become Chicago’s Cale Makar it changes things, but there’s still questions. Kyle Davidson also tried to take pressure off himself by bringing back future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane. Kane is still a very productive player, but this feels more like nostalgia than trying to win now. 

4. SEATTLE KRAKEN – This is more because of circumstance than anything, the Kraken were the fifth lowest scoring team in the NHL last season at 2.73 goals per game. And yes they tried to fix it with trades, they were in on Jordan Kyrou and Jason Robertson, and even Artemi Panarin at the trade deadline last year, but none of them are going to Seattle. There’s also been some rumors about the Kraken trading Shane Wright, the fourth overall pick from 2022. 

5. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS – This one is all based on circumstances. The rumors of trading Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski, hit the airwaves and now it feels inevitable that at some point they will. Adam Fantilli is a RFA, who they’re still trying to re-sign, Kirill Marchenko trade chatter is heating up. Oh and their captain Boone Jenner left in free agency to a divisional foe. How will they respond after their coach called them out late in the season?

HM : ANAHEIM DUCKS : Good news Leo Carlsson is back, bad news you should’ve taken care of it sooner because of the Flyers offer sheet, you now have to trade someone away to get Cutter Gauthier signed. I also don’t love the AJ Greer contract, even though they needed the toughness after losing Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba.