NHL

NHL Free Agency: 5 Takeaways From Day 1's Biggest Moves

NHL Free Agency: 5 Takeaways From Day 1's Biggest Moves

The annual festivities of Canada Day saw the biggest fish get caught in the NHL’s free agent frenzy as teams loaded up for the future with new depth.

Jul 2, 2018 by Jacob Messing
NHL Free Agency: 5 Takeaways From Day 1's Biggest Moves

The annual festivities of Canada Day saw the biggest fish get caught in the NHL’s free agent frenzy as teams loaded up for the future with new depth.

There’s still plenty of action to expect in the months leading up to the new season, with Erik Karlsson and others remaining on the trade market and some smaller names available to strengthen rosters around the league.

John Tavares To Toronto

Whichever of the six teams in play for Tavares’ services would have walked away as one of the biggest winners of the day after landing him. That team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tavares, 27, is the biggest name to hit the free agent market in a long time.

The premier No. 1 center immediately raises the Leafs’ Stanley Cup aspirations and now offers them one of the best one-two punches in the league with Auston Matthews. Tavares is coming off a career-best 84-point campaign (37 goals, 47 assists) after playing all 82 games and has a career stat line of 272 goals and 349 assists for 621 points in 669 games.

The Leafs may not have upgraded their blue line and will certainly face problems with contracts for their other young players next summer, but they’re all in for 2018-19.

Nashville Stands Pat

The Nashville Predators were a Stanley Cup favorite in 2017-18 and cemented their status with a President’s Trophy before a disappointing second-round exit to the Winnipeg Jets.

The Predators largely have their team in place, which consists of a deep core up front, an enviable top four on the back end, and a highly touted rookie in Eeli Tolvanen. They stood pat on July 1, as GM David Poile added a handful of AHL players that can be expected to wind up with the affiliate Milwaukee Admirals.

Sometimes the best move is no move and Central Division counterpoint Winnipeg is in the same boat. Both teams decided not to clog up their rosters with multi-year contracts and what often results in overpaid depth.

Kings Land Ilya Kovalchuk

The 35-year-old KHL and former NHL superstar Kovalchuk was highly sought after and ultimately chose the Los Angeles Kings. He brings elite skill and a goal scorer’s arsenal to a team that exploded in 2017-18 after new coach John Stevens took the reins off the offense.

Kovalchuk will likely be playing with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Kopitar is coming off a career-high 35-goal and 92-point campaign as the Selke Trophy winner and Hart Trophy nominee. Brown had a resurgent season as the hard-nosed forward scored 28 goals and 61 points.

Combining Kopitar’s playmaking, Brown’s tenacity, and Kovalchuk’s pure shot will offer a dangerous offensive trio for the Kings.

St. Louis Stocks Up

The Blues weren’t even offered a chance to sit down with Tavares and GM Doug Armstrong decided to hit the trade market to land a new top-two center. That center came in the form of Ryan O’Reilly, pulled out of Buffalo.

Armstrong cleared space and roster room, packaging Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson, and a pair of draft picks for the coveted two-way center. The deal came after the signing of Tyler Bozak as a third-line center and former Blue David Perron, who is coming off a 66-point campaign with Vegas.

The Blues have been close over the past few seasons as Armstrong continues to shape the roster with team-friendly contracts backed by players pulling their weight.

Calgary Adds Depth

After trading away high draft picks to land goaltender Mike Smith and defenseman Travis Hamonic last summer, the Flames failed to make the playoffs and had a largely disappointing season.

Last week, they traded Dougie Hamilton, Michael Ferland, and prospect Adam Fox to Carolina for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin. On July 1, they added James Neal, Derek Ryan, and Austin Czarnik.

After inconsistent scoring after Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, the Flames have bulked up and have two solid scoring lines and a solid lineup down the middle. Now it’s time for new coach Bill Peters to put it all together and bring the postseason back to Calgary.


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