To say the NHL offseason is in full flight would be an understatement. With the draft and the beginning of free agency happening in the span of four days, there has been a smorgasbord of headlines across the league, even with a lot of the top names on the UFA market being unsigned yet. Here is a rundown of some of the frenetic activity over the past seven days.
Goalie Shuffle: With so many goalies set to hit the open market, it looked as if there was going to be a big run of musical chairs, so to speak. Although a couple re-signed, that’s basically how it played out. Braden Holtby signed with Vancouver which ended Jacob Markstrom’s tenure with the Canucks and he moved on to Calgary. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks decided to let their three unproven options battle for their two spots which pushed Corey Crawford out after 13 seasons as he has joined New Jersey. After Henrik Lundqvist was bought out after 15 years with the Rangers, he will now play in Washington. This wasn’t all of the movement either but we also need to mention the notable non-UFA move that saw Ottawa acquire Matt Murray from Pittsburgh in exchange for a second-round selection in this week’s draft. They wasted little time locking him up as he quickly signed a four-year, $25MM deal to solidify himself as the new starter for the Senators moving forward.
Draft Results: Speaking of the draft activity, all seven rounds were completed with Alexis Lafreniere going to the Rangers with the top pick in a selection that came as no surprise to anyone. The first round featured minimal trade activity with Murray highlighting the players on the move on Wednesday but there were plenty of pick swaps as always as well. The full results of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft are here.
Krug To The Blues: While several of the top free agents waited a little bit to find a new home (or remain unsigned), Torey Krug wasn’t one of them. Instead, he landed a seven-year, $45.5MM contract with St. Louis, a deal that has for now pushed the Blues over the salary cap for next season. The 29-year-old has been one of the more productive defensemen in recent years, tallying at least 39 points in each of his seven full NHL seasons and is coming off a year that saw him pick up 49 points in just 61 games while adding six assists in 13 playoff contests. The deal also puts an end to Alex Pietrangelo’s time in St. Louis as there is no longer a spot for him on their roster, nor could they afford him on the cap. Still, with Krug, Colton Parayko, and Justin Faulk, the Blues still have a strong veteran core on their back end.
Domi For Anderson: A pair of oft-speculated trade candidates were traded for each other as Montreal dealt Max Domi and a 2020 third-round pick to Columbus in exchange for winger Josh Anderson. Domi is coming off of a down year but is only one season removed from a 72-point campaign and gives the Blue Jackets a capable second center. Meanwhile, Anderson had a disastrous 2019-20 season that saw him deal with lingering shoulder trouble as he managed to score just once in 26 games after potting 27 goals the year before. Both players wasted little time signing with their new teams. Domi inked what amounts to a second bridge contract, signing a two-year, $10.6MM pact that takes him to UFA eligibility in 2022. Anderson and the Canadiens went a different route as the two sides agreed on a seven-year, $38.5MM deal, tying him with Jonathan Drouin as Montreal’s highest-paid forward in terms of AAV.
Hall To Buffalo: A few teams had been speculated as possible landing spots for Taylor Hall, widely perceived as the best forward available on the free agent market but Buffalo wasn’t among them. However, that’s where he landed as he inked a one-year, $8MM contract with the Sabres. The move reunites him with head coach Ralph Krueger as the two previously worked together in Edmonton and gives him a top center to play with in Jack Eichel. If he has a strong season, Hall could put himself in a better position to land a long-term, big-money deal next summer where he’ll once again likely be among the top players available on the open market.
Cap Dumps: Too many things happened this past week to limit it to just five topics so here’s a bonus one. One of the underlying themes of this offseason is freeing up cap space and there were plenty of those moves. The Blue Jackets did it twice, moving Markus Nutivaara to Florida and Ryan Murray to New Jersey, freeing up over $7MM in space. Vegas sent Paul Stastny back to Winnipeg, opening up nearly $6MM in room. Toronto flipped Andreas Johnsson to New Jersey, taking $3.4MM off their books following several veteran free agent signings. Even Chicago’s swapping of Brandon Saad for Nikita Zadorov had cap savings as a key factor. Tampa Bay attempted to trade Tyler Johnson and when that failed, he was waived and made available for free. However, he cleared which will send them back to the drawing board. They certainly won’t be the only ones left looking to free up space in the days and weeks to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Edmonton needs a goaltender. Rangers have 2 young goaltenders. Rangers need a solid number 2 center or a 3 center that can play up. The Isles also have a young stud and a veteran goaltender who revealed he could be trusted as a 1. Is there a trade to be coming?