Bruins add winger Smith
Buffalo signs center Eakin; Ex-isles goalie Greiss goes to Detroit
Taylor Hall went unsigned during the first day of free agency. Same with Alex Pietrangelo and Mike Hoffman.
A handful of the top free agents are still available, bu teams aren’t waiting for those big fish to sign to make other moves. Boston paused its pursuit of Hall to sign big winger Craig Smith; Columbus shored up its center depth by inking veteran center Mikko Koivu and Carolina added speedy forward Jesper Fast.
The Bruins gave Smith $9.3 million over three years. He had 18 goals and 13 assists for the Predators last season.
Pietrangelo flew to Vegas on Saturday to visit the Golden Knights, who have been clearing salary cap space to try to accommodate the star defenseman.
Vegas needs to make another move or two to fit Pietrangelo, and it’s not alone in clearing the books for a big move. Nashville, which bought out Kyle Turris and let Smith leave in free agency, traded forward Austin Watson to Ottawa for a 2021 fourthround pick.
The Blue Jackets bought out Alexander Wennberg and made some other salary-saving decisions, but don’t expect them to go big name hunting. Koivu signed for $1.5 million for next season, and they need to re-up top center Pierre-luc Dubois and other restricted free agents.
Columbus will also bide its time waiting out the market.
“There are teams that are in a little bit of dire straits... right now with their cap space,” GM Jarmo Kekalainen said. “There could be some opportunities down the line here if we keep that flexibility. Teams have to move money, and in order to move money, they might have to move some really good players.”
Some good free agents found new homes Saturday. Fast signed a $6 million, three-year deal with the Hurricanes, the Detroit Red Wings added goaltender Thomas Greiss and defenseman Troy Stecher and the Dallas Stars got good value with defenseman Mark Pysyk on a $750,000, oneyear contract.
Stecher wasn’t the only defenseman to leave Vancouver, as Chris Tanev joined the Calgary Flames for four years and $18 million.
The Buffalo Sabres signed center Cody Eakin to a $4.5 million, two-year contract.
Edmonton signed defenseman Tyson Barrie for $3.75 million and brought back goalie Mike Smith for $2 million, Winnipeg added former Philadelphia center Nate Thompson, and Pittsburgh took a flier on 2013 firstround pick Frederik Gauthier.
Colorado gave forwards Andre Burakovsky and Valeri Nichushkin two-year deals, San Jose signed Kevin Labanc for four years and Minnesota signed Jordan Greenway for $4.2 million over two years.