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<\/a><\/p>\n\n Vladimir Tarasenko has slowed down over the last couple of years. (Aaron Doster \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n
Notable additions:\u00a0Vladimir Tarasenko (acquired in exchange for future considerations), Nico Sturm ($2 million x two years)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0Tarasenko has slowed down over the last couple of years and probably isn\u2019t worth the full freight of his $4.75 million cap hit. However, there isn\u2019t much to complain about with this move because there was zero acquisition cost, his contract expires at the end of this season, and the cap space that the Wild committed to him didn\u2019t restrict their ability to make bigger swings, as clearly evidenced by the Quinn Hughes trade.<\/p>\n
Tarasenko doesn\u2019t drive play anymore, but 20 points in 38 games isn\u2019t shabby, especially since he\u2019s barely played with Kirill Kaprizov or Matt Boldy at even strength. He remains a credible top-nine scorer, even though he\u2019s a bit one-dimensional.<\/p>\n
Sturm didn\u2019t make his season debut until late November, but has made an immediate impact as an underrated fourth-line center. He\u2019s given Minnesota\u2019s penalty kill an important lift, performed above-average in the faceoff dot and has registered eight points in 23 games.<\/p>\n
Nashville Predators<\/p>\n
Notable additions: Nicolas Hague (acquired alongside a 2027 third-round pick in exchange for Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon), Erik Haula (acquired in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick and Jeremy Hanzel), Nick Perbix ($2.75 million x two years)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0After the fireworks they set off during the 2024 offseason, the Predators took a much more subdued approach last summer.<\/p>\n
GM Barry Trotz\u2019s most consequential move was prying Hague out of Vegas. The acquisition cost itself was fine \u2014 Lauzon is a comparable stay-at-home defender and Sissons is a fourth-liner at this stage in his career \u2014 but the four-year, $22 million ($5.5 million AAV) contract they immediately signed him to is quite steep.<\/p>\n
Hague is a giant stay-at-home No. 4\/5 defender; he\u2019s averaged 19:31 per game and has held his own primarily playing on a pair with Nick Blankenburg. He\u2019s also gained brownie points by dropping the gloves in defense of his teammates (he fought John Beecher after the latter sucker-punched Michael McCarron), but his $5.5 million AAV still seems overpriced relative to his actual on-ice impact.<\/p>\n
The Haula trade is working out nicely. The 34-year-old veteran center has been a serviceable middle-six stopgap, scoring 23 points in 43 games. Most importantly, because of how dire the center market is, the Predators should be able to recoup a decent pick for him as a rental at the trade deadline. Haula\u2019s experience, speed and faceoff ability (he\u2019s a career 52.6 percent winner) will make him attractive to buyers looking for bottom-six help down the middle.<\/p>\n
San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n
Notable additions: Dmitry Orlov ($6.5 million x two years), John Klingberg ($4 million x one year), Jeff Skinner ($3 million x one year), Adam Gaudette ($2 million x two years), Philipp Kurashev ($1.2 million x one year), Alex Nedeljkovic (acquired in exchange for a 2028 third-round pick), Nick Leddy (claimed off waivers)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0Klingberg and Orlov are the exact stop-gaps the Sharks needed on their back end. They\u2019re established veterans with tons of top-four experience, but because they\u2019re near the end of their respective careers, San Jose could get away with handing them short-term contracts. The low-risk nature of these deals is important because some young, up-and-coming teams put themselves in trouble by handing out long-term contracts in free-agency that eventually become problems.<\/p>\n
Klingberg had a slow, concerning start to the season, but rebounded impressively over the last several weeks before his recent injury. He\u2019s still a smooth puck carrier, walks the line well and is an experienced first-unit power-play quarterback. It\u2019s important for San Jose\u2019s young forwards such as Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov to have an offensive defender that can complement them, especially after losing Jake Walman last year, and Klingberg fits the bill with nine goals and 16 points in 31 games.<\/p>\n
Orlov, meanwhile, is averaging nearly 22 minutes per game and has been the club\u2019s most steady two-way defender.<\/p>\n
Skinner has been a bust, contributing just five goals in 30 games.<\/p>\n
Gaudette has come as advertised as a hard-working bottom-six scorer, chipping in with nine goals and 15 points in 34 games.<\/p>\n
Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n
Notable additions: Ryan Lindgren ($4.5 million x four years), Mason Marchment (acquired in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick and 2025 fourth-round pick), Frederick Gaudreau (acquired in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0Many analysts and fans side-eyed the hefty four-year contract the Kraken gave to Lindgren, who had red flags surrounding his durability and underlying numbers. Half a season in, Lindgren has held his own, even if there are warning signs to be wary of.<\/p>\n
The hard-nosed 27-year-old defender has stayed healthy, is averaging 19:05 per game, has brought a robust physical game and fits in well with Seattle\u2019s scrappy defensive identity. I\u2019m curious to see whether this can last, though. Lindgren\u2019s 3.1 expected goals against per 60 rate at five-on-five is the worst mark among Seattle\u2019s defensemen. He has been caved in territorially, but those struggles have been papered over by strong goaltending, with Seattle\u2019s netminders combining for a .941 save percentage during Lindgren\u2019s five-on-five shifts.<\/p>\n
In other words, Lindgren has been a serviceable middle-of-the-lineup contributor so far, but his results could begin tailing off if he doesn\u2019t start pushing play in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Seattle\u2019s bet on Marchment didn\u2019t work out (just four goals and 13 points in 29 games), but the club salvaged the situation by recouping a 2027 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick for him in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n
Gaudreau has played a slightly bigger role than I expected (averaging 16:16 per game), so clearly the coaching staff trusts him as a smart, versatile two-way forward. His actual on-ice impact has been OK but unspectacular: 11 points in 29 games, along with mediocre play-driving numbers.<\/p>\n
St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n
Notable additions: Logan Mailloux (acquired in exchange for Zack Bolduc), Pius Suter ($4.125 million x two years), Nick Bjugstad ($1.75 million x two years)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0The Bolduc-Mailloux swap is off to a rocky start for the Blues.<\/p>\n
Mailloux has been a liability on most nights with costly turnovers, bad penalties and poor defensive play. St. Louis has been outscored by a whopping 27-8 margin during Mailloux\u2019s five-on-five shifts, which is especially alarming because his usage has been sheltered. Mailloux is 22 and it can take time for defensemen to develop, so this isn\u2019t to say that his long-term future is necessarily doomed, but he\u2019s underperformed expectations in his first taste of NHL action.<\/p>\n
Suter is currently sidelined with an injury, but the savvy, low-maintenance 29-year-old has come as advertised. He\u2019s a third-line caliber center who can score around 15 goals per year, drive high-end defensive results and play virtually anywhere in a team\u2019s lineup at either center or wing.<\/p>\n
Recent contract extensions for Alexander Wennberg ($6 million x three years) and Christian Dvorak ($5.15 million x five years) are signs that middle-six centers are becoming significantly more expensive with the rising cap. With that in mind, the Blues must be pleased they only had to dish out $8 million in total contract value to Suter last summer.<\/p>\n
Utah Mammoth<\/p>\n
Notable additions: JJ Peterka (acquired in exchange for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan), Nate Schmidt ($3.5 million x three years), Brandon Tanev ($2.5 million x three years), Vitek Vanecek ($1.5 million x one year)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0It\u2019s going to be really fascinating to track how the Peterka trade ages for both teams long-term. So far, the Sabres likely have the early edge: Doan\u2019s breakout as a top-six winger has made him just as valuable as Peterka this season (they\u2019re tied for points and Doan plays a heavier, more complete two-way game), and that doesn\u2019t even factor in Kesselring, who\u2019s been sidelined by injuries.<\/p>\n
With that said, Peterka has mostly held up his end of the bargain. The speedy, dynamic 23-year-old winger is on pace for nearly 30 goals and he\u2019s top-20 among all NHL forwards with 26 five-on-five points, which is tied with the likes of Mitch Marner, Matt Boldy, Cutter Gauthier and Connor Bedard. He\u2019s struggled to produce on the power play (just two points compared to 18 last season), but that\u2019s true for the entire team, as Utah\u2019s man advantage ranks 29th in the league.<\/p>\n
Peterka has also cleaned up some of his warts away from the puck, as the Mammoth have controlled 54 percent of expected goals and outscored opponents by 13 goals during his five-on-five shifts.<\/p>\n
Schmidt\u2019s signing has been a massive success. The 34-year-old two-way transitional defender has played a bigger role than expected \u2014 he\u2019s averaged 20:12 per game, which is the most in his career since 2019-20 \u2014 and he\u2019s crushed that assignment. Utah has won Schmidt\u2019s top-four minutes by a fairly dominant margin, controlling 58 percent of scoring chances and carrying a plus-16 goal differential. By the eye test, he\u2019s skating and driving play as well as I\u2019ve seen in years.<\/p>\n
Tanev, on the other hand, has been underwhelming. Yes, he adds value with his speed, pesky forechecking and physicality, but he\u2019s been a complete black hole offensively with zero goals and just two assists in 31 games. That\u2019s an issue because Utah has desperately lacked bottom-six scoring, not to mention that the team has been outscored 13-5 with Tanev on the ice at five-on-five.<\/p>\n
Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n
Notable additions: Evander Kane (acquired in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0Vancouver had a fairly uneventful offseason, but the work it did accomplish has been disappointing.<\/p>\n
Kane has scored just six goals and 20 points in 42 games despite playing in a full-time top-six role. He\u2019s been handed a top-line opportunity for long stretches and was even given a chance on the team\u2019s first unit power-play at the start of the season before quickly playing himself off, presumably because of his turnovers. Kane has also been guilty of some lackadaisical defensive moments, particularly on the back check.<\/p>\n
On July 1, the Canucks also circled back on Brock Boeser and signed him to a seven-year, $50.75 million contract. That isn\u2019t looking great either, as Boeser is on pace for only 18 goals.<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n
Notable additions: Mitch Marner ($12 million x eight years), Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon (acquired in exchange for Hague)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0Marner has been worth every penny for the Golden Knights. In a perfect world, would Vegas like to see him pick up a few more goals? Probably. However, Marner has dazzled with his playmaking and is still on pace for 86 points. He\u2019s shone playing the point for Vegas\u2019 top power-play unit, which features five forwards and no defenseman.<\/p>\n
Marner\u2019s defensive impact has also been elite, both by the eye test and by the analytics. He has driven a near 59 percent share of expected goals and 63 percent of actual goals at five-on-five, which are some of the best marks on the team.<\/p>\n
Vegas was also wise to avoid paying Hague a big-ticket contract and instead ship him to Nashville. Lauzon has effectively replaced his role as a bruising stay-at-home defenseman for $2 million, which is less than half of Hague\u2019s current $5.5 million cap hit.<\/p>\n
Sissons, meanwhile, has been a fine fourth-line center. He\u2019s slowed down offensively (just six points in 38 games) and his underlying numbers are declining too, but he\u2019s still been excellent in the faceoff dot and performed handily on Vegas\u2019 penalty kill, which ranks eighth-best in the NHL.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n
Notable additions: Jonathan Toews ($2 million x one year, plus performance bonuses), Gustav Nyquist ($3.25 million x one year), Tanner Pearson ($1 million x one year)<\/p>\n
Early return:\u00a0The Jets desperately miss Nikolaj Ehlers\u2019 speed and dynamic puck-carrying ability in the middle six. To make matters worse, the forwards Winnipeg targeted have each made a marginal impact.<\/p>\n
Toews\u2019 age and the 2\u00bd year break he took from the NHL are showing, as he\u2019s been crushed in middle-six deployment. The 37-year-old and likely future Hall of Famer looks slow, has only scored 13 points in 42 games and his two-way metrics are shaky across the board, with Winnipeg outscored by nine goals during Toews\u2019 five-on-five minutes. And with some of his performance bonuses, Toews will cost the Jets $4.75 million by the time he hits 60 games played.<\/p>\n
Nyquist has been a complete dud, with zero goals and just eight assists in 31 games. His lackluster impact has only made Winnipeg\u2019s middle-six scoring woes worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The offseason is when NHL\u00a0GMs usually make their biggest, boldest moves. It\u2019s a manager\u2019s chance to finally weaponize…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[1419,64,63,7525,7520,7522,7521,3275,7530,7526,7524,7523,575,7527,3066,85,3935,7528,2371,7529,6000],"class_list":["post-404412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-calgary-flames","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-dallas-stars","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-fantasy-hockey","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nashville-predators","tag-nhl","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-seattle-kraken","tag-sports","tag-st-louis-blues","tag-utah-mammoth","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-vegas-golden-knights","tag-winnipeg-jets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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