The first day of the NHL free agency signing period is over, and the dominant theme was a salary cap that went up by only $1 million.
The $83.5 million cap had an impact on the lead-up to free agency and on players getting short-term and low-dollar contracts on opening day.
In the lead-up, there were eight buyouts, including to Matt Duchene and Blake Wheeler. Teams also swelled the free agent ranks by not qualifying restricted free agents, including Seattle 21-goal scorer Daniel Sprong. On Saturday, plenty of veterans took major pay cuts.
Some unrestricted free agents didn’t sign on opening day, such as Tyler Bertuzzi and Vladimir Tarasenko, which could change this list. But here are the early winners and losers of free agency:
DAY 1 RECAP: Analysis on Saturday’s moves
TOP 25: Who are the top free agents and where did they go?
WINNERS
Carolina Hurricanes
Dmitry Orlov was the top defenseman available and he joined the Hurricanes for $15.5 million over two years. He joins Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei on what was already an impressive defense. The Hurricanes also brought back goalies Frederik Andersen (two years, $6.8 million) and Antti Raanta (one year, $1.5 million) on bargain deals, giving Pyotr Kochetkov more time to develop. They also added Michael Bunting, a 23-goal scorer and feisty player.
Detroit Red Wings
General manager Steve Yzerman was active for the second consecutive year. Shayne Gostisbehere is a puck-moving defenseman and Justin Holl is a needed right shot on the blue line. J.T. Compher, coming off a career season, reunites with former University of Michigan teammates Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp. Sprong is a 20-goal scorer. Is it all enough to get back to the playoffs? It wasn’t last season and Yzerman was a trade deadline seller. But his aggressiveness gives the Red Wings hope.
Nashville Predators
New GM Barry Trotz has changed the look of the team. Gone are Ryan Johansen and Duchene. The Predators added former playoff MVP and Selke Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly and physical defenseman Luke Schenn. Gustav Nyquist will add secondary scoring.
Anaheim Ducks
The last-place Ducks are far from contending, but they’re going about their rebuild the right away. The future is the young core of Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry and Mason McTavish, plus No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson. Anaheim added forward Alex Killorn (four years, $27 million) and defenseman Radko Gudas (three years, $12 million) to help them along. Killorn is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and went to the Final two other times. Gudas’ physical play and solid defense helped the Panthers reach the 2023 Final.
Also: Islanders Vezina Trophy finalist goalie Ilya Sorokin got a lucrative, eight-year extension and he and the team won’t have to deal with distractions this season. … Defenseman Ryan Graves will help the Penguins’ top four.
LOSERS
Players who took big pay cuts
Contending teams didn’t have a lot of cap space, so some players took big cuts in exchange for a chance at a Stanley Cup. Defenseman John Klingberg went from $7 million to $4.15 million with the Maple Leafs and there were a lot of veterans in the $1 million range, such as Wheeler, Jonathan Quick, James van Riemsdyk and Milan Lucic.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins’ additions of Lucic, van Riemsdyk, Patrick Brown, Morgan Geekie and Kevin Shattenkirk are fine moves for a team that set NHL records of 65 wins and 135 points. But you have to factor in who they lost. Taylor Hall was dealt before the draft. Trade deadline acquisitions Bertuzzi, Orlov and Garnet Hathaway aren’t back and neither is defenseman Connor Clifton. The Bruins are still awaiting a decision on whether Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci return. GM Don Sweeney said after Boston’s shocking first-round upset that the team would look different. He’s right.
Washington Capitals
Max Pacioretty was a good addition and his contract is structured with bonuses, but he will miss the beginning of the season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Another Capitals issue is (almost) all the players they dealt last season ended up back in the Metropolitan Division: Orlov (Hurricanes), Hathaway (Flyers), Lars Eller (Penguins) and Erik Gustafsson (Rangers).
Minnesota Wild
They were quiet. Why? There’s plenty of dead cap hits from their buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. They also have to negotiate with restricted free agent goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who excelled last season with 22 wins, a 2.10 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.
Also: A seven-year deal seems long for Islanders forward Pierre Engvall. … So does five years for Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, who has had his share of injuries. … Twitter’s issues during the day made it difficult to follow what was happening.
