NHL Free Agency Articles - Page 19

After a very brief re-tool, the Los Angeles Kings have asserted themselves as a regular playoff team once again. With some exciting young players plus a few veterans like Anze Kopitar still performing at a high level, the Kings are an exciting team for both the present and future. In each of the past two […]

The Edmonton Oilers brought in forward Connor Brown on a one-year contract to the surprise of very few people. Brown and the Oilers were linked well ahead of the start of NHL Free Agency for one very specific reason: Brown’s relationship with superstar Connor McDavid. McDavid and Brown have known each other since they were […]

The Dallas Stars are coming off a pretty impressive season. Under new head coach Pete DeBoer, the Stars aimed for deeper playoff runs beginning in 2023. And they ended up achieving just that. Dallas defeated the Minnesota Wild in six games to advance to the second round. In the second round, they edged out the […]

The New Jersey Devils are coming off of the team’s best regular season finish in history. After four straight seasons without playoff hockey, the Devils broke through in 2022-23. They finished second in the Metropolitan Division and made it past the New York Rangers in the first round. However, things fell apart in the second […]

The Seattle Kraken had a tough time on the ice during their first season in existence. Many hoped the team would take a step in the 2022-23 season, and they did just that. Seattle made their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and even took out the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. That […]

The Florida Panthers were the cinderella story of the 2022-23 NHL season, barely advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs before making an incredible run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Although they were outclassed by the Vegas Golden Knights in the sport’s ultimate series, it was extremely encouraging that the core led by […]

Vladimir Tarasenko hit NHL Free Agency as one of the more interesting players on the open market. The former Stanley Cup champion has a track record as a reliable sniper in the top six. However, this past season wasn’t exactly his best season. And he isn’t exactly getting any younger. It seemed as if the […]

The Detroit Red Wings set out to overhaul their roster in NHL Free Agency, and they’ve done just that. Detroit looks a lot different heading into the 2023-24 season than it did at the end of this past campaign. However, questions about the Red Wings roster still remain. The Red Wings made a flurry of […]

The Florida Panthers have agreed to terms with forward Eetu Luostarinen on a three-year contract extension that will keep the Finn in South Beach through the 2026-27 season, general manager Bill Zito announced on Tuesday. “Eetu is a dynamic two-way center whose speed and strength allow him to excel on any line,” Zito said, per […]

The NHL’s free agent period is nearly a month in, and most of the top free agents have found a new home. Dmitry Orlov is a Carolina Hurricane, Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi are Toronto Maple Leafs, Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn are off to the Nashville Predators, and the list goes on. But despite […]

The Arizona Coyotes were arguably the busiest team in the entire National Hockey League when the free agency period opened on July 1. GM Bill Armstrong brought in a load of new players, completely transforming both the offense and D-core in one fell swoop. Jason Zucker, Nick Bjugstad, Alex Kerfoot, Troy Stecher, Travis Dermott and […]

The Anaheim Ducks had another tough season in 2022-23, but the future is bright for this franchise. The hope is that the young talent they’ve stockpiled led by Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry can help get this team back to Stanley Cup contention, reminiscent of the 2007 championship run in California. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek […]

The St. Louis Blues are one of those teams that are very hard to grade in NHL Free Agency, as they really didn’t make a lot of moves. After winning the franchise’s inaugural Stanley Cup in 2019, it’s been tough sledding in Missouri; they’ve won just a single round since, and failed to make the […]

The Calgary Flames could be in a world of trouble after this season with core players Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund and Noah Hanifin all reportedly not planning to re-sign in Alberta when their contracts expire. With a very tight salary cap to work with, the team was only able to make a few minor moves […]

The Minnesota Wild are in a very difficult position ahead of the 2023-24 season. With the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter looming large, and barely any cap space to work with, dark times could be clouding this team for the next few seasons. The Wild were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by […]

The Edmonton Oilers have seemingly been on the cusp of a Stanley Cup for the past few years but have been unable to get over the playoff hump. This past season was no different, as the Oilers lost to the eventual champion for the second straight year with a six-game, second-round defeat against the Vegas […]

The Florida Panthers came up just short in their quest for their first Stanley Cup championship this season. Given how close they came, the Panthers are almost certainly entering a Stanley Cup or bust season. And that winning ambition was a major draw for defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in NHL Free Agency. Ekman-Larsson joined the Panthers […]

The Ottawa Senators have had an interesting offseason so far. All of their NHL Free Agency activity was essentially held up by their ongoing sale process. A sale process that dragged on further than anyone anticipated. Once that was settled, things became a bit clearer. Of course, the sale created complications beyond just free agency. […]

The San Jose Sharks’ days of being a perennial playoff contender are far back in the rear-view mirror, and the last few seasons have been entirely forgettable. With the team still in the midst of a deep rebuild, it may be a while before the Sharks get back to where they were. San Jose’s offseason […]

It’s been rough sledding for the Montreal Canadiens since their surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. They’ve finished near the bottom of the league each of the last two seasons, and have had some absolutely brutal injury luck along the way. With the current state of the team, Montreal will likely be […]

With many key players rumored to want out, the Winnipeg Jets were in for an eventful offseason. The roster overhaul has already begun, with the Jets shipping off Pierre-Luc Dubois and buying out former captain Blake Wheeler. Before long, Mark Schiefele and Connor Hellebuyck could be on their way out of Winnipeg as well. With […]

For much of the last decade, the Vancouver Canucks have been in a state of turmoil. They’ve made the playoffs just twice in the last 10 seasons, with one of those appearances coming in the expanded 2020 postseason. Along the way, they’ve made some brutal trades and free agency signings, which has largely contributed to […]

No team has gone longer than the Buffalo Sabres without making the Stanley Cup Playoffs — the Western New York based franchise hasn’t qualified for the postseason since losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010-11. But with the Jack Eichel saga behind them and the squad loaded with young talent, it’s only a matter of […]

It’s been a very tough last few seasons for the Washington Capitals, exacerbated by a missed postseason last year for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign. The Capitals will be one year older when training camp gets underway, and the future does not look bright in the nation’s capital. GM Brian MacLellan is in […]

The Vegas Golden Knights entered the offseason without any real need for major upgrades after the team dominated in the postseason and won its first ever Stanley Cup in 2022-23. The Knights are in a great spot heading into next season, with most of the team still intact that helped bring a championship to Las […]

It’s been a relatively busy offseason for the Colorado Avalanche, both through free agency and the trade route in the summer of 2023. The Avs didn’t have a ton of cap space to work with, but GM Chris MacFarland managed to complete some tidy business nonetheless. The team acquired Ryan Johansen from the Nashville Predators […]

The Florida Panthers were the surprise of the 2022-23 NHL season, barely qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs before going on an epic run that ended in a five-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. Still, it was an excellent ending to the season for Matthew Tkachuk’s team, and GM […]

Things are beginning to calm down around NHL Free Agency as the summer rolls on. As such, we can begin to take a look back at what each team did in the open market. Today, we’re taking a look at the Nashville Predators, who are now led by new general manager Barry Trotz. The Predators […]

After missing the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the New York Islanders made their return to the dance in 2023. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t capture the magic of their previous deep runs and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. This offseason, New York was tasked with improving enough to become legitimate Stanley […]

By the Pittsburgh Penguins’ standards, the 2022-23 season was an extreme disappointment. The Penguins saw their 16-year playoff streak, the longest active streak in North American sports, come to an end after collapsing at the end of the season. After such a subpar year, the Penguins canned general manager Ron Hextall and other front office […]

The New York Islanders found their way back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past season after missing out on them entirely the year before, but ended up bowing out in the first round after losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders haven’t been all that busy when it comes to upgrading their roster this […]

The New Jersey Devils were one of the quietest teams in the National Hockey League when the free agency period opened on July 1 — because they had already made three crucial moves for their long-term future. GM Tom Fitzgerald locked both Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier up to eight-year deals, keeping them in Newark […]

Patrick Kane is not expected to sign a contract with a National Hockey League team ahead of the 2023-24 season, his agent Pat Brisson told NHL.com on Thursday. “This is an unusual situation, and I’m very, very comfortable with that situation because I know he’s an amazing player and I can’t wait to see him […]

The Philadelphia Flyers are in the midst of a big-time rebuild and although they made a handful of signings throughout the first two weeks of NHL free agency, none of them really move the needle for Philly’s expectations next season. The Flyers missed the playoffs for a third straight season last spring, finishing with one […]

The Tampa Bay Lightning had been the class of the NHL for a while, but it’s getting harder and harder to maintain that dominance. After three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances, the Lightning were a first-round exit at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs this time around. This offseason was always going to be […]

The Dallas Stars came within two wins of advancing to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2020 this past season, taking the eventual champion Vegas Golden Knights to six games in the Western Conference Final. But the future is bright in Texas, and GM Jim Nill made some excellent moves to keep this team competitive […]

The Carolina Hurricanes were one of the busier teams when NHL Free Agency opened on July 1. They quickly signed the best defenseman on the market in former Washington Capital and Boston Bruin Dmitry Orlov, and followed it up by inking sandpaper forward Michael Bunting. Brendan Lemieux was added on a one-year pact earlier this […]

Michael Bunting entered NHL Free Agency in an interesting predicament. The 27-year-old showed he could produce at a high level with the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, he also showed he could cause headaches for his team as well. In the end, he found a new home with the Carolina Hurricanes. Bunting signed a three-year contract […]

The Nashville Predators have added another player in free agency, this time signing Denis Gurianov. The Predators and Denis Gurianov agreed to a one-year contract worth $850,000. Gurianov hit 2023 NHL free agency after the Montreal Canadiens decided not to make him a qualifying offer. The forward joins the Predators after recording seven goals and […]