Former Panther Trocheck joins Rangers, reunited with Gallant
On a hectic opening day of free agency, Claude Giroux left Florida and looked ahead to a homecoming in Ottawa, the Washington Capitals landed Stanley Cup-winning goalie Darcy Kuemper and the New York Rangers spent big on another former Panther, center Vincent Trocheck.
The slight, $1 million rise of the NHL salary cap to $82.5 million, coupled with numerous teams dumping or buying out contracts to free up payroll space, led to a rush of action once teams were allowed to begin signing players.
“It was a little bit expected because teams have had time to recover from the COVID pandemic,” said defenseman Ben Chiarot, who also left the Panthers to sign a $19 million, four-year contract with Detroit. “Players thought it would be better than in past years because teams are operating at a normal clip.”
The Red Wings were among the busier teams in general manager Steve Yzerman’s bid to end a six-year playoff drought. Detroit also signed center Andrew Copp toa $28.125 million, five-year contract and left winger Dominik Kubalik for $5 million over two years.
Trocheck signed a $39.375 million, sevenyear contract with the
Rangers following Copp’s departure. The 29-yearold Trocheck has nine seasons of NHL experience, including two-plus years in Carolina, where he had 39 goals and 96 points in 135 games with the Hurricanes.
Trocheck is reunited with Rangers coach Gerard Gallant after the two were together with the Panthers.
“This was one of just a few teams that we really looked at and thought it was a good fit. So coming in, we knew that New
York was probably our number one choice,” he said.
Despite all the moves, much of the focus remained on where prized winger Johnny Gaudreau might land, on a day that also included a major trade involving defenseman Brent Burns. The 2017 Norris Trophy-winner is headed to the Carolina Hurricanes with forward Lane Pederson from the San Jose Sharks for two players and a 2023 third-round pick.
In addition to Gaudreau, who declined to re-sign with Calgary, Colorado’s Nazem Kadri, and the top defenseman available, John Klingberg, were still available by Wednesday evening.
The Capitals signed Kuemper to a $26.25 million, five-year contract. Kuemper, who had a career-best 37 wins last season, takes over after the Capitals moved on from llya Samsonov by not issuing him a qualifying offer and traded Vitek Vanecek to New Jersey.
Colorado also bid farewell to forward Andre Burakovsky, who signed a $27.5 million contract with the Seattle Kraken. The reigning champions did re-sign forward Artturi Lehkonen and defenseman Josh Manson to long-term contracts.
Besides Kuemper, the offseason-long goalie carousel saw Jack Campbell leave Toronto for a five-year, $25 million contract with Edmonton. Campbell cashed in after a season in which he had career highs in wins with a 31-9-6 record, five shutouts and 47 starts.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay put its focus on locking up key players on long-term deals. Defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak and center Anthony Cirelli were slated to become restricted free agents after next season, but the Lightning signed all three to eight-year extensions.
The Pittsburgh Penguins ensured their longtime core of Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby should remain intact through the duration of their careers. They signed Letang to a sixyear, $36 million contract earlier this month. Malkin ultimately agreed to a four-year, $24.4 million pact Tuesday night to stay with the team he’s helped lead to three Stanley Cups.