Winners:
Tampa Bay Lightning
Sure once free agency started, the Lightning didn't really bring anybody new on board. But the reason the Bolts get the positive nod here is for who they locked up. He brought back Steven Stamkos with an eight year contract extension worth $68 million. So the Lightning bring back their captain and best offensive player. Wait there's more. They locked up their best defender in Victor Hedman for eight years and $63 million. He wasn't supposed to hit the market till next year, but that saved Tampa a big headache trying to bring him back. Same thing too with Andrei Vasilevskiy, who signed an extension for three years and $10.5 million. All three guys have bought in to what is being done by Steve Yzerman and upper management in Tampa. The Bolts are keeping their core group in tact and they will still be contenders for a long time
Losers:
Vancouver Canucks
This was a team that five years ago was one of the heavy hitters in the Western Conference. Now, not so much. Vancouver did sign Loui Eriksson to a six year deal worth $36 million. Yes, he in all likelyhood will be playing on the top line with the Sedin Twins. Sure Eriksson had 30 goals and 63 points last year in Boston and can produce that again and then some playing with Daniel and Henrik. But that's all Vancouver really has going for it right now. They haven't done another move yet to even make them appear to be relevant in the Western Conference. Sorry Canucks fans but Vancouver won't do much this year and haven't made any moves so far that will make that viewpoint and opinion change.
Winners:
Buffalo Sabres
A little surprising to see Buffalo at this point on the list but they have something to work with in Western New York. I know the goalie tandom of Robin Lehner and Andres Nilsson isn't going to scare anybody. But the defense has gotten better by adding a power play quarterback like Justin Faulk. He helps build further upon a solid defense in Buffalo. Now there's the scoring. They added a huge piece by signing Kyle Okposo away from the Islanders. He's a big guy who can hit, make plays and score goals. It now gives Buffalo a solid top six forwards with Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Evander Kane, Jack Eichel, Tyler Ennis and Sam Reinhart. I'm not saying that the Sabres are going to set the Eastern Conference on Fire, but they aren't going to be as much of a pushover anymore and can be more competitive.
Losers:
New York Islanders
This one pains me to say, but its kinda true. They lost Kyle Okposo to Buffalo, Frans Nielsen to Detroit and Matt Martin to Toronto. They also lost Brain Strait to the Jets but I'm not so upset about that he wasn't all that big a loss. The Islanders did sign players in a six year deal to Andrew Ladd, who is almost an exact fit to be able to replace Okposo, which I'm not too upset about. But in signing Jason Chimera, its a step down from Frans. Chimera is 37 and had a major down year last year. I'm hoping he doesn't turn into what happened with Marty Reasoner, a former 20 goal scorer who just doesn't have it anymore. Sure he's here to fill time and space till the guys in the system are ready to contribute bigtime to the team. The team also brought back Shane Prince and PA Parenteau. OK moves but not enough to help take this team to the next level. Oh and they missed the boat on Taylor Hall when they could have gotten him for Travis Hamonic but said no, and Hall went to the Devils.
Winners:
Florida Panthers
Florida already has a good team. They did just win the division for only the 2nd time in franchise history GM Tim Rowe locked up his bright future by signing Aaron Ekblad to a long term deal. Also he brought in James Reimer on a five year a deal, a move which I do like. Roberto Luongo, the number one down in Florida isn't getting any younger. They need something stable behind him for a while so that way he has an understudy ready to take over the team when Lungon decides its time for him to leave. Rowe also made three solid depth additions, bringing in analytics darling Jonathan Marchessault and center Colton Sceviour to bolster his bottom-six before adding defenseman Jason Demers last Saturday. This team is going to be good for quite some time.
Losers:
Edmonton Oilers
Things aren't quite looking so hot in Edmonton. Yes they are opening up a new arena this season. Yes they have Conor McDavid for a full year of hockey, and healthy too. Yes they did add Milan Lucic, on a seven year contract. But they did lose Taylor Hall, who oh by the way is one of the bright up and coming stars in the NHL. They haven't added much depth on defense outside of Adam Larsson (who they got from the Devils in exchange for Hall) and goaltending is still an issue. Sorry Oilers fans but its not enough to get it done out West.
Winners:
Dallas Stars
The Stars get Dan Hamhuis for two seasons at an incredibly reasonable $3.75 million per year. He is still an effective two-way defenseman that plays top-four minutes and will lessen Dallas' need to rely on young defensemen. On top of that, the two-year term doesn't saddle them to a player on the wrong side of 30 when they have a stable of young blueliners just waiting for their chance to break through. This is a good short-term fix to a trouble spot. Additionally, the Stars managed to hang onto valued two-way forward Patrick Eaves. Its a good retooling move for the Stars going forward, even more so if they want to capitalize off last season's success.
Losers:
Toronto Maple Leafs
As expected, the Leafs were relatively quiet so far in free agency, but the one deal they did sign was a puzzler. Matt Martin is sure to bring energy to a building that was a mausoleum most nights last season, but that doesn't justify rewarding the fourth-liner with a four-year deal worth $10 million.
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