Brent Burns, even at 37, brings a lot to the table and might find a perfect running mate in defensive whiz Jaccob Slavin. Vincent Trochek’s departure does raise some questions about the centre position behind Sebastian Aho, but if Max Pacioretty stays healthy he could snipe 35 to 40 goals playing on Carolina’s top line. Even if we assume he’s gone, though, Colorado did well to lock up three key members of the support staff - Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson - while taking a reasonable gamble on giving Alexandar Georgiev a shot to be the lead guy in the crease when it became clear retaining Darcy Kuemper wasn’t going to work cap-wise. With a lot of business already completed - but still a few more shoes to drop - here’s how the NHL’s 32 teams stack up for 2022-23.Įvery day Kadri does not sign with another team, the flicker of hope he’ll return to Denver blows a little stronger.
Yeah, I think we can safely say this banger of a deal will be one both fanbases are talking about for years.Īt the very least, the trade spiced up the summer power rankings. Will the swap that sent Matthew Tkachuk to Florida from Calgary in exchange for (among other pieces) Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar dramatically alter either team’s fortunes? Tkachuk is probably worthy of the "unicorn" label, Huberdeau finished tied for second in the scoring race (with Gaudreau, naturally) and Weegar has been one of the more productive right-shot defenders in the league the past couple of seasons. Any time two guys who both received Hart Trophy votes are involved in the same deal, it automatically becomes a true summer blockbuster. That is until the Presidents' Trophy-winning Florida Panthers and the Calgary Flames - owners of the Pacific Division's best record - got together for an absolute mind-blower of a transaction.
It’s wonderful the Jackets and Ottawa Senators are suddenly more interesting teams, but - with the possible exception of the Carolina Hurricanes - no true contenders stood up and took a mighty swing. Meanwhile, the teams that landed the shiniest new toys weren't top-tier clubs moving all in, but rather bottom-third squads who are simply trying to get in the playoff conversation. Sure, 'Johnny Hockey' shook up the sport by signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but two other spicy UFAs - Nazem Kadri and John Klingberg - kept their pens sheathed and still haven’t figured out their next move nearly two weeks into the market opening.
#Ryan stacks free#
While the opening of free agency brought about a collective Johnny Gaudreau-induced gasp, you could credibly make a case this NHL off-season actually started out as a bit of a clunker.