2024 NHL Free Company: Day 1 Winners and Losers

The NHL free-agency signing interval opened Monday and the cash was flowing in methods we now have not likely seen in current offseasons.

Among the many greatest strikes have been Steven Stamkos altering groups, Sam Reinhart staying with the Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins and Seattle Kraken giving out some questionable long-term offers and the Washington Capitals attempting to keep up their standing as a playoff staff.

With a lot of the massive names already off the board, let’s take an early take a look at some winners and losers from Day 1 of the free-agent signing interval.

It is very important be aware that the winners and losers are solely taking a look at strikes made on Monday.

Prior strikes made as a part of draft-day trades (or predraft trades) will not be included, and it is very important be aware there are nonetheless a few months of the offseason remaining.

Regardless of the way you need to take a look at it Jake Guentzel is, on a person stage, one of many greatest winners of the offseason.

After being top-of-the-line values within the NHL for the previous six years, he was in a position to money on this offseason with a seven-year, $63 million contract that provides him the biggest salary-cap hit of the day, and he nonetheless will get to play for a Stanley Cup contender with world-class expertise in Tampa Bay.

The Lightning needed to make numerous strikes to place themselves for this (buying and selling Mikhail Sergachev and Tanner Jeannot), and in addition needed to minimize ties with a franchise icon in Steven Stamkos, however Guentzel is perhaps one of many massive free-agent signings that truly works out.

He is likely one of the finest pure goal-scoring wingers within the league, an underrated playmaker and a sensible participant who is aware of easy methods to play with nice expertise.

Nice match, nice signing and an important contract for Guentzel.

The 2 massive strikes for the Bruins have been signing middle Elias Lindholm to a seven-year, $54 million contract and defenseman Nikita Zadorov to a six-year, $30 million contract.

By way of total want, you possibly can make a compelling, cheap argument that the Bruins addressed the positions they wanted to handle.

They want extra assist at middle if they’ll be a respectable championship contender.

Pretty much as good as their total goals-against numbers have been in 2023-24, that quantity was largely pushed by their excellent goaltending that masked numerous defensive shortcomings and an absence of high quality depth on the place.

So, in that sense, they did deal with key wants.

However did they deal with them within the smartest method?

Regardless that Lindholm is an efficient participant, they’re nonetheless missing the kind of game-changing, bona fide top-line middle that each Stanley Cup-winning staff has to have. There may be little to distinguish him from returning facilities Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha, who’re additionally good gamers however not game-changers.

Even worse, they signed him for seven years and $54 million. He’s already 30 years outdated, has in all probability already performed his finest hockey, and that could be a vital cap funding in however not nice participant.

Zadorov is coming off an important playoff run for the Canucks, which is the kind of factor that made him a harmful free agent to signal. Recency bias, mixed along with his dimension and bodily play, was all the time going to make him an overpay candidate on the open market. It was only a matter of which staff was going to do it. The Bruins ended up being that staff.

They addressed their wants, however I’m not certain they’re higher than they have been.

Signing non-stars in free company to six- or seven-year contracts sometimes ends badly for the staff handing out these contracts.

After constructing a Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers common supervisor Invoice Zito managed to get one of the vital items of that staff—Sam Reinhart—to re-sign earlier than hitting the open market. He additionally bought him at what might be a below-market charge in opposition to the cap.

Reinhart and the Panthers agreed to an eight-year, $69 million contract that carries a salary-cap hit of slightly below $8.7 million per season.

Even when Reinhart by no means scores 57 targets once more—he in all probability will not—that ought to nonetheless be a good deal for the Panthers.

From the second Reinhart arrived in Florida he has been an excellent match and needs to be, at a minimal, a 30- to 35-goal scorer with Selke-level defensive play.

Retaining a participant that good and necessary to your staff, and doing so at lower than $9 million per yr, is a large win for Zito and the Panthers.

It is actually onerous to see the imaginative and prescient right here in Toronto.

From a defensive standpoint, Chris Tanev (6 years, $4.5 million AAV) needs to be a pleasant improve within the short-term, however his contract is one that might shortly develop into an albatross on their cap sooner or later.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson (4 years, $3.5 AAV) discovered a pleasant function for himself in Florida, however Toronto is perhaps inserting an excessive amount of worth on “performed a task on a Stanley Cup staff” and would possibly find yourself taking part in him greater than it ought to given his present talent set.

In different phrases, the Maple Leafs spent some huge cash on what is perhaps some marginal defensive upgrades, whereas nonetheless having the identical scoring depth issues which have plagued them for thus a few years within the playoffs.

Additionally they have but to make any modifications to their core.

Perhaps they will deal with the core and scoring depth in some unspecified time in the future later within the offseason, however on Day 1 they appear like early losers.

Even when the Nashville Predators have been at their finest over time, there was by no means actually something flashy about them or the best way they performed. They’ve had excellent gamers, however have by no means had a lot in the best way of star energy.

By way of the tip of the 2023-24 season, they’d simply three 40-goal seasons in the complete existence of the franchise.

In in the future on Monday they added two 40-goal scorers by signing Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.

Together with that, in addition they signed defenseman Brady Skjei to a seven-year, $49 million contract.

The Skjei contract is perhaps an overpay and a long-term threat, however they’re getting Stamkos and Marchessault for $8 million per yr and $5 million per yr, respectively.

The Stamkos contract is for 4 years and the Marchessault contract is for 5 years. For as a lot as an overpay because the Skjei deal is perhaps, these two needs to be excellent values and add two potential game-breakers to a robust lineup that was missing game-breakers. Getting these three for a mixed cap hit of $20 million needs to be fairly good worth over the following couple of years.

When Trotz took over because the Predators common supervisor, he made it very clear he wished to swing for the fences and usher in expertise. He did that right here.

That is a kind of conditions the place it is very important consider that is only a free-agency Day 1 analysis and never a whole offseason judgment, as a result of the Linus Ullmark commerce with Boston was a shrewd little bit of enterprise.

However their strikes on Monday go away a little bit one thing to be desired, particularly because it pertains to buying and selling Jakob Chychrun to Washington and solely getting again Nick Jensen and a third-round choose.

Chychrun may not have been a long-term match, however that could be a actually underwhelming return for a participant coming off a season nearly as good as Chychrun’s 2023-24 was and somebody who’s signed to such an inexpensive charge for the 2024-25 season.

The $4 million per-year cap hit on a multi-year deal for David Perron additionally looks as if a little bit a lot.

Michael Amadio was a robust depth signing, however the Chychrun commerce and Perron cap hit are questionable.

The Capitals have been energetic this offseason, already including Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane and Logan Thompson to their roster to overtake their ahead and goaltending depth.

On Monday, they labored on upgrading their defensive depth.

And so they did a improbable job with the addition of Jakob Chychrun in a commerce with Ottawa and the signing of Matt Roy in free company.

The Roy contract is a little bit dear at seven years and $5.5 million per season, however he’s an excellent defensive participant with some offensive upside and continues to be beneath the age of 30.

Chychrun would possibly solely be a short-term resolution, however his $4.5 million cap hit and offensive manufacturing makes him a steal, particularly when it solely prices them Nick Jensen and a third-round choose.

The Capitals have been a really flawed playoff staff a yr in the past, however they’ve had a very sturdy offseason to maintain them aggressive within the remaining years that Alex Ovechkin has left as he chases Wayne Gretzky’s purpose report.

The Seattle Kraken made two gigantic signings Monday, inking defenseman Brandon Montour to a seven-year, $50 million contract, after which including middle Chandler Stephenson on a seven-year, $43 million contract.

Plenty of this reeks of desperation.

The Kraken undoubtedly wanted so as to add offensive punch after taking an enormous tumble down the purpose rankings throughout the 2023-24 season, however these strikes don’t appear to be the reply.

Of the 2, Montour is the least objectionable of the 2. He may not ever be a 70-point scorer once more, however he’s nonetheless a top-four defender who needs to be a good improve, even when at a bloated wage.

The Stephenson contract is the one that’s really stunning.

He’s coming off a down yr in Vegas, goes to be 30 years outdated this season and is way from the difference-maker the Kraken are paying him to be.

Once you go into free company and hand out $14 million per yr in contracts, you in all probability count on to get one thing extra impactful than this.

What a wild journey it has been for Sean Monahan over the previous few years.

As just lately as two or three years in the past, his profession seemed prefer it was trending within the incorrect path and that his days as a productive participant have been completed. The Flames have been so accomplished with him they traded a first-round choose simply to get out of his contract.

However then he arrived in Montreal, had an enormous bounce-back yr, ended up getting traded for a first-round choose and managed to construct his worth again as much as the purpose the place he was in a position to give a five-year, $25 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. No one noticed that coming two or three years in the past.

Will it work out for the Blue Jackets? That is still to be seen.

However there isn’t any denying it’s a enormous win for Monahan.