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UFA Grades - Part I

Ryan Dadoun examines the Metropolitan and Pacific Divisions

This is one year where the term "Free Agent Frenzy" ultimately didn't really apply. There were some big signings, but for the most part teams were disciplined when it came to negotiating with UFAs. There was certainly the potential for some really bad deals too as the thin market could have led to teams grossly overvaluing what was out there.

In fact, most teams' biggest crime was being relatively inactive, although whether or not that was a bad thing largely depended on the circumstances as we will discuss below while grading the Metropolitan and Pacific division teams.

Just keep in mind that this article doesn't take into account the trades made at and around the draft. The reason for that is simple: We've already done that. If you want to read about those trades (as well as our evaluation of the draft as a whole) please click on the links for Part I and Part II. Also check back on Tuesday for Part II of this article.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Major Addition(s): None
Major Subtraction(s): Martin St. Louis

Grade: C+

The Rangers were active on the trade market around the draft, but they had a fairly quiet free agent period. Martin St. Louis announced his retirement while the team added some forward depth by signing Viktor Stalberg, Luke Adam, and Jayson Megna.

That's neither surprising or disappointing though. The Rangers needed to set aside its cap space for its restricted free agents. Given how lackluster this year's UFA market, it certainly wasn't a bad summer to be already up against the cap.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Major Addition(s): T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams
Major Subtraction(s): Mike Green, Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward

Grade: A-

Not to dismiss the Capitals' losses as Brouwer, Ward, and particularly Green were valuable contributors, but Oshie and Williams were big additions for Washington.

Washington has squandered the first half of Alex Ovechkin's career as they haven't been able to get past the second round with him, but Williams is a player capable of sparking them in the playoffs as his postseason resume is about as impressive as any active player's. Williams is no longer a substantial threat in the regular season though and that's where Oshie should shine. Oshie has been good for at least 50 points per season for a while, but he could do substantially better than that in 2015-16 if he plays alongside Ovechkin.

If Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky are able to take another step forward as well then the Capitals will be in for an exciting campaign.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Major Addition(s): None

Major Subtraction(s): Lubomir Visnovsky

Grade: C+

This has been a pretty uneventful summer for the Islanders so far. Arguably the biggest addition they've made was Thomas Greiss, who signed a two-year, $3 million contract to serve as Jaroslav Halak's understudy.

It's not as if the Islanders had no cap space, but they likely wanted to maintain some breathing room as Kyle Okposo is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer and will likely demand a big raise. Consequently, if the Islanders are going to take another step forward in 2015-16, it will likely have to be on the strength of their younger players' growth.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Major Addition(s): Phil Kessel

Major Subtraction(s): Paul Martin, Christian Ehrhoff

Grade: C

Let me start off by saying that I don't think that the Penguins gave up too much for Kessel. On top of that, I think Kessel is one of the best goal scorers in the league today and he should have a phenomenal season alongside either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

But he's a troubling fit for the Penguins given the team's cap situation. They already had depth problems because of how top-heavy they were structured from a salary perspective and adding Kessel at $6.8 million annually (as Toronto retained a small portion of his cap hit) only compounds that problem. Sure, they needed to add a top-six forward, but it didn't have to be someone as expensive as Kessel. Crosby and Malkin can shine with far less.

More importantly, this complicates the team's ability to put together effective third and fourth lines, which can be the difference in the playoffs and should be a consideration for a squad that has fallen short in its postseason runs since Malkin and Crosby started making what they're worth (keep in mind Malkin was in the final season of his entry-level deal when Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup).

I'm not going to call the trade a disaster, because again, Kessel is an elite player, but man the Penguins better hope that they draft really well so they can at least partially start filling out their roster with cheap players. Of course, the fact that they only had four picks in 2015 and just traded away another first rounder doesn't help in that regard...

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Major Addition(s): Brandon Saad

Major Subtraction(s): Marko Dano, Artem Anisimov

Grade: B+

Columbus didn't really do much worthy of note when it comes to the UFA market, but its trade with Chicago was certainly a big deal. Columbus acquired Saad along with Alex Broadhurst and Michael Paliotta in exchange for Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp, and a 2016 fourth rounder.

There's been a few trades this summer that fall under the category of deals that only happened because the cap necessitated action and this is a clear example of that. While Saad didn't lead Chicago to its two most recent Stanley Cup championships, he did play an important role in them as a member of the Blackhawks' top notch supporting cast. Saad is still just 22 years old (23 on Oct. 27) and under ideal circumstances, the Blackhawks would have loved to keep him.

That wasn't realistic though so GM Stan Bowman did what he seems to do better than any other general manager in the league: Make the most out of a difficult situation. Chicago got a lot of good value out of the Saad trade and while Columbus certainly got the best player in the deal, the fact that he'll have a $6 million annual cap hit starting with the 2015-16 campaign starting next season mitigates his value to an extent as that's a lot of money to hand to a forward that's never recorded more than 52 points in a single season.

That said, it's a contract that Saad should be able to grow into and hopefully his experience with Chicago will rub off on the upswing Blue Jackets. Columbus has committed a lot in personnel and money to get him, but he may prove to be worth it all.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Major Addition(s): None

Major Subtraction(s): None

Grade: C

The Flyers used to be a team of bold moves that led to varying degrees of success, but this summer has really be more about retooling. There's a lot of teams that you can say the same about, in part because the salary cap's mild raise left teams like Philadelphia with little manoeuvring room, but also because there just wasn't a whole lot on the market worth making room for.

It is an unfortunate situation for the Flyers though because while they're a cap team, they're not a particularly good one at the moment. They have some pretty inefficient contracts, like those to R.J. Umberger and Vincent Lecavalier and for the amount of money they've thrown at their blueline, the Flyers haven't gotten desirable results. That's held them back, but there's no quick fix to it either. So it looks like Philadelphia will have to endure another mediocre season or two before its in a position to make another serious Cup run.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Major Addition(s): None

Major Subtraction(s): None

Grade: D

The New Jersey Devils weren't the only inactive team during the UFA period, but I'm judging them a bit more harshly for a couple of reasons. One is that they really needed reinforcements after their miserable 2014-15 campaign. The other is that they are sitting on a ton of cap space, so if they're serious about contending in the short-term, they certainly had room to make a move or two.

If the Devils were clearly in a rebuilding mode, I would give them a pass, but while they do have a really young defense, they're also loaded with veteran forwards and more importantly, have a top-tier 29-year-old goaltender in Cory Schneider. If the Devils don't see themselves competing in the near term then they should trade him rather than having him waste his prime (and trade value) on a rebuilding squad. But again, if the Devils are serious about competing near, then they need to provide evidence of that. Right now they seem to be in limbo.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Major Addition(s): None

Major Subtraction(s): None

Grade: C+

The Hurricanes added a strong goaltender in Eddie Lack and a good offensive defenseman in James Wisniewski in separate trades during the draft. Those can't be included in the period I'm evaluating because I already addressed them in my Draft Grades article, but I certainly don't fault Carolina for taking care of business early.

I can't say that I'm optimistic about the 2015-16 Hurricanes, but I will at least make the concession that they look meaningfully better now than they did a few weeks ago.

ANAHEIM DUCKS

Major Addition(s): Kevin Bieksa

Major Subtraction(s): Francois Beauchemin

Grade: B-

The Ducks are another team that got some of their work done during the draft period, but more recently they watched Beauchemin sign with the Avalanche while they instead acquired Bieksa from Vancouver.

Bieksa cost them a 2016 second round pick and then they signed him to a two-year, $8 million extension that will kick in with the 2016-17 campaign. Bieksa isn't the offensive threat he once was, but he's still a solid enough defenseman that should help fill the void left by Beauchemin. Speaking of, I can't really fault the Ducks for letting him walk given that he's 35 years old and secured a three-year, $13.5 million deal on the open market. That's a very risky signing given his age.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Major Addition(s): None

Major Subtraction(s): Kevin Bieksa

Grade: C+

It's worth noting that Vancouver did acquire Brandon Prust from Montreal and signed Matt Bartkowski to a one-year, $1.75 million deal. So while the Canucks didn't make any major additions, they did bolster their depth.

The Canucks are a bit of an odd team in my mind because they're more-or-less just okay, but they feature a pair of aging elite players in the Sedin twins. Vancouver has come close to winning the Cup during their era, but as they begin to enter the twilight of their careers, the Canucks don't seem to be acting with any sense of urgency to put forth at least one more serious run at the Stanley Cup before their careers are done.

Perhaps the reality is that they were simply not in a great position to make significant positive changes this summer, but given that the Canucks haven't really given me much else to talk about, I feel like their largely inert state is in itself, a topic of discussion.

CALGARY FLAMES

Major Addition(s): Michael Frolik

Major Subtraction(s): None

Grade: B-

Obviously, the Flames major change was the acquisition of defenseman Dougie Hamilton, but that was addressed in our previous article.

Inking Frolik to a five-year, $21.5 million deal is a significant move in its own right though. He's a solid secondary scorer, which is what the Flames needed as they had to lean heavily on their top line of Jiri Hudler, Johnny Gaudreau, and Sean Monahan during the 2014-15 campaign. Speaking of that trio, they will all be free agents next summer (although only Hudler will be a UFA) in addition to top defenseman Mark Giordano. So while the Flames are still projected to start the 2015-16 season significantly below the ceiling, that's a wise decision for them.

LOS ANGELES KINGS

Major Addition(s): None

Major Subtraction(s): Andrej Sekera, Justin Williams

Grade: N/A

As the Kings acquired Milan Lucic from Boston during the draft, the only addition they made within the scope of this article is that they signed Jhonas Enroth to a one-year, $1.25 million deal to serve as Jonathan Quick's understudy.

I'm giving the Kings an N/A grade because of their bizarre situation. Rather than buyout Mike Richards, they are attempting to terminate his contract for a "material breach" that is reportedly due to a Canadian-American border incident involving the prescription drug oxycodone. Then there's defenseman Slava Voynov that took a plea deal in his domestic abuse case that will lead to him spending 90 days in jail. He's still suspended by the league and the Kings, so will that remain after he serves his time? Will the Kings terminate his contract as they are attempting to do with Richards'? Can they?

Those two represent nearly $10 million annually in cap costs, so it's fair to say that how those situations are resolved will dramatically impact the team going forward.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Major Addition(s): Joel Ward, Martin Jones

Major Subtraction(s): None

Grade: B-

In an attempt to remain consistent when listing each team's major additions/subtractions, I excluded Antti Niemi as his rights were traded away during the draft. I also made the conscious decision to list Jones as a major addition for the Sharks, but not a major subtraction for the Kings because his role in San Jose may ultimately be far bigger than the one he left in Los Angeles.

In Jones, the Sharks are getting a goaltender that's a decent bet to beat Alex Stalock in the battle for the starting gig this season. Jones has only played in 34 NHL games, but the 25-year-old has been great when called into service in Los Angeles with a 1.99 GAA and .923 save percentage in 34 contests.

Inking him to a three-year, $9 million deal was still a bit of a risk given that Jones has a lot to prove, but it's at least a calculated risk and one that might pay off handsomely.

EDMONTON OILERS

Major Addition(s): Andrej Sekera

Major Subtraction(s): None

Grade: B+

Edmonton also dealt Boyd Gordon to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Lauri Korpikoski. Gordon's a solid defensive center, but Edmonton had a logjam up the middle, so adding a winger like Korpikoski just made more sense under the circumstances.

They also landed one of the biggest free agents on the market in Andrej Sekera. He agreed to a six-year, $33 million contract, which is fairly substantial and perhaps even a bit of an overpayment. Still, the fact that Edmonton was able to lure him over is a statement of how much the perception of the franchise has changed over the last few months. With Peter Chiarelli as their new general manager, Todd McLellan coaching the team, and Connor McDavid now officially a part of the organization, this franchise might finally be out of the mud.

Plus, if Edmonton was going to overspend on anything, it should be for a top-four defenseman. The Oilers are set from a skilled forward perspective, but the big question is if their defense will be serviceable enough to keep them competitive. Adding Sekera, in addition to Griffin Reinhart over the draft period, does a lot to address that area of concern.

ARIZONA COYOTES

Major Addition(s): Antoine Vermette

Major Subtraction(s): None

Grade: B-

Arizona signed Anders Lindback, Zbynek Michalek, Steve Downie, and Brad Richardson on July 1, so clearly the franchise was busy, but it was mostly adding to its supporting cast rather than making major changes.

That's unfortunate for the fans as the Coyotes are likely to have a repeat of their rough 2014-15 campaign, but I can't be too hard on the franchise because they do have a strong pool of prospects, so it's not the worst thing in the world that they're keeping doors open for them.

It's also worth noting that the City of Glendale's attempts to get out of the existing area lease deal has once again throw the future of the franchise in question, so that likely made it very hard for Coyotes GM Don Maloney to lure players over.

All that being said, getting Vermette back was a nice surprise after they traded him to Chicago during the 2014-15 campaign. Vermette signed a very reasonable two-year, $7.5 million contract to boot.