Hawks near the head of the class
Landing Campbell puts them among offseason winners
In one of the most momentous half- hours in NHL offseason history last week, the league was shaken by three massive moves: the Canadiens trading P. K. Subban to the Predators for Shea Weber, the Oilers dealing Taylor Hall to the Devils for Adam Larsson and Steven Stamkos giving the Lightning a significant hometown discount to stay in Tampa, Florida.
But those early moves hardly made July 1 — the NHL’s annual free- agent feeding frenzy — a dud. Here are some of the winners and losers from the preamble and immediate aftermath of free agency.
Winners
Lightning: The Maple Leafs desperately wanted Stamkos to come home. The Sabres desperately wanted Stamkos to legitimize them instantly. The Red Wings desperately wanted Stamkos to put them back among the NHL elite. Any of those teams likely would have paid $ 11 million to $ 12 million a year for the former 60- goal scorer, but the Lightning got him to stay for a relative pittance at $ 8.5 million a year.
Not only that, but the Lightning locked up Victor Hedman for eight years at $ 7.875 million a year — again, well below market value. General manager Steve Yzerman then signed Ben Bishop’s eventual replacement in goal, Andrei Vasilevskiy, to a friendly three- year deal.
Every Stanley Cup- winning team in recent years has had at least one world- class forward, defenseman and goalie. By adding nobody but keeping everybody, the Lightning are the big winner.
Predators: Canadiens fans will be lamenting the day GM Marc Bergevin let Subban go for years to come. The charismatic, philanthropic, usually brilliant, occasionally maddening defenseman will become the face of the Predators’ franchise. And in coach Peter Laviolette’s go- for- broke attack, Subban will become an even bigger star. It’s the perfect marriage of star, style and city.
Blackhawks: The Hawks still have serious concerns up front, but getting Brian Campbell — still very much an elite defenseman at 37 — for a mere $ 2.25 million ( the Panthers reportedly offered him $ 4.75 million to stay) is a massive coup that addresses their biggest problem area.
Losers
Canadiens: They got grittier, but did they get better? Weber is still terrific, but he’s on the wrong side of 30 and is signed through 2025- 26. Meanwhile, Kontinental Hockey League star Alexander Radulov’s first NHL stint was a debacle. He has the skill, but does he have the maturity? Bergevin bet $ 5.75 million he does.
Blues: They lost not only their captain but their heart, soul and identity with David Backes leaving for the Bruins. The Blues were justified in not wanting to commit to two aging, physical players ( Backes and Troy Brouwer) for the long term. But between losing them and trading away goalie Brian Elliott, the Blues — who only signed David Perron and backup goalie Carter Hutton — are worse off than they were.
Islanders: They lost a high- scoring winger in Kyle Okposo, a standout two- way center in Frans Nielsen and an energetic fourth- liner in Matt Martin. They replaced them with two solid players in Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera, but they overcommitted to the 30- year- old Ladd ( seven years), and it’s asking a lot for the 37- year- old Chimera to repeat the 20- goal effort he had with the Capitals last season, just the second 20- goal season of his long career.