Early risers set the tone
No guarantees but handful of teams take big steps with deals
Judging success and failure in NHL free agency just hours after the market opened can be tricky, looking into the future to predict which moves will pan out — or not.
Looking back at the slew of signings on Wednesday, it seems relatively easy to identify at least one winner and a loser.
The Blue Jackets made the biggest splash, stunning the league by landing Johnny Gaudreau with a seven-year contract for $68.25 million.
“To get a player of his caliber is going to make us instantly better and make players better around him,” GM Jarmo Kekalainen said Thursday. “Exciting day for the Blue Jackets organization.”
Gaudreau, a first-team, all-NHL player last season, rendered the Flames a loser when he informed them on the eve of free agency that he wasn’t signing their eightyear offer to stay.
The Blue Jackets added a 28-year-old, six-time All-Star in his prime. The diminutive and dynamic wing had career highs last season with 40 goals and 115 points, giving him 210 goals and 609 points in 602 games for the Flames.
The deal instantly boosted the Blue Jackets’ shot of making the playoffs, after missing them the last two years, and improved their chances of advancing.
The Flames, meanwhile, will have to make some significant signings or trades to make up for the loss of Gaudreau. If they swing and miss this summer, they might be reminded of how bad it was before Gaudreau arrived, when they missed five straight postseasons.
Here’s a look at some teams that seemed to win, and lose, on the opening day of NHL free agency:
WINNERS Hurricanes
The Hurricanes made a pair of power moves that should help the two-time defending division champions keep pace with Eastern Conference powers.
They acquired 2017 Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns in a trade with the Sharks and winger Max Pacioretty in another trade, taking advantage of the Golden Knights scrambling to manage their salary cap.
Red Wings
Steve Yzerman apparently ran out of patience. The Hall of Famer ditched his plan to focus on drafting and developing players with a series of moves that may make the franchise relevant again.
The Red Wings signed center Andrew Copp to a five-year, $28.1 million contract, defenseman Ben Chiarot to a four-year, $19 million agreement and a pair of wings to two-year deals: David Perron for $9.5 million and Dominik Kubalik for $5 million.
Capitals
Shooting to keep Alex Ovechkin’s championship window open as he nears his 37th birthday, the Capitals signed Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Darcy Kuemper to a five-year contract worth $26.25 million.
Kuemper had a career-best 37 wins in the regular season and won 10 playoff games for the Avalanche. He will be backed up by 28-year-old Charlie Lindgren, who signed a three-year, $3.3 million deal.
LOSERS Golden Knights
After failing to make the playoffs for the first time in their five seasons, the Knights had to unload a player they couldn’t afford.
Pacioretty had 97 goals and 97 assists over four seasons with the Knights, who will have a hard time replacing his production with a tight budget.
Maple Leafs
After a sixth straight first-round exit in the playoffs, the Maple Leafs lost their No. 1 goaltender, Jack Campbell, in free agency when he signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the Oilers.
The Leafs aren’t as sound in net. They gave Ilya Samsonov a one-year deal to join Matt Murray, acquired from the Senators days earlier, and are counting on players who gave up three-plus goals a game last seaspm.
Flyers
Sitting out of the postseason for two straight years, for the first time since a fouryear drought in the early 1990s, didn’t seem to inspire much change from the Flyers.
With a chance to add much-needed talent, the most significant signing they made when free agency opened was giving forward Nicolas Deslauriers a four-year deal for $1.75 million per season. In 81 games last season with the Ducks and Wild, he had eight goals and five assists. The 31-year-old Deslauriers has never scored more than 10 goals.
They also missed out on nabbing Gaudreau, who’s from New Jersey and grew up rooting for the Flyers.