NHL offseason grades: Rebuilding Red Wings get aggressive; Blackhawks decide to bottom out
The NHL offseason had its share of big moments with three 100-point scorers – Johnny Gaudreau, Jonathan Huberdeau and Matthew Tkachuk – changing teams, the last two in a trade for each other.
A flat salary cap forced the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche to make tough choices and plentiful cap space allowed the second-year Seattle Kraken to make some key acquisitions.
The coaching carousel was busy, too, with several surprise firings and a number of familiar faces filling the openings.
With training camps opening this month, USA TODAY Sports grades all 32 NHL teams on what they have done so far during the offseason.
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Anaheim Ducks: B
Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano will aid a team that lost Ryan Getzlaf to retirement. John Klingberg and Dmitry Kulikov will help a defense that saw Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson get dealt last season. Or, GM Pat Verbeek can trade the blue liners at the deadline.
Arizona Coyotes: D
They had a quiet offseason other than re-signing Lawson Crouse and trading for defenseman Patrik Nemeth. But they can't really do much because they're moving into a 5,000-seat arena.
Boston Bruins: B
The Bruins averted big problems when captain Patrice Bergeron returned and improved when David Krejci came back from a year in Europe. The Bruce Cassidy firing was puzzling, and new coach Jim Montgomery will have to deal with prolonged absences of Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy.
Buffalo Sabres: B
Their biggest move was signing Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50 million extension after his 38-goal season. His top season before that was eight goals. Eric Comrie will move into the goaltending rotation.
Calgary Flames: A
The Flames were facing disaster when Gaudreau left for nothing and Tkachuk had to be traded. But Calgary turned Tkachuk into Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, and Stanley Cup winner Nazem Kadri signed for seven years. Huberdeau signed an eight-year extension. The Pacific Division winners might be even better this season.
Carolina Hurricanes: B-
Their No. 4-6 scorers from last season are gone, and offseason acquisition Max Pacioretty will miss the first half of the season after Achilles tendon surgery. The Hurricanes reacted to the latter news by signing Paul Stastny, and newcomer Brent Burns had more points than traded defenseman Tony DeAngelo.
Chicago Blackhawks: D
The tank is on, with Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach and others shipped out. They brought back some serviceable players, but the goal appears to be trying to land the No. 1 overall pick and the right to draft Connor Bedard.
Colorado Avalanche: B
They couldn't afford to bring everyone back, and Kadri, Darcy Kuemper and Andre Burakovsky are gone. But the Avalanche dealt with numerous injuries last season and still managed to finish second overall and win the Stanley Cup. Re-signing trade deadline acquisitions Artturi Lehkonen, Andrew Cogliano and Manson helps. Evan Rodrigues (one year, $2 million) is a good value signing because he had 30 of his career-best 43 points while the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin was injured last season. Pavel Francouz, who played well when Kuemper was hurt, and trade acquisition Alexandar Georgiev are the new goalie tandem. Getting Nathan MacKinnon getting signed to an eight-year extension - averaging a league-best $12.6 million a year - before camp begins avoids a major distraction.
Columbus Blue Jackets: A
They landed the top free agent, Gaudreau, and got Patrik Laine re-signed for four years. Those two could be a dynamic pairing, though the team had to part with Oliver Bjorkstrand to make the money work.
Dallas Stars: B
Peter DeBoer is coach after being fired by the Golden Knights. He'll need to get production from more than one line. Signing Mason Marchment is a start. The Stars had to keep money set aside to re-sign goalie Jake Oettinger and 40-goal scorer Jason Robertson. Oettinger got a three-year, $12 million contract.
Detroit Red Wings: A-
They were aggressive, with forwards Andrew Copp and David Perron, plus goalie Ville Husso their best pickups. They appeared to overpay for defenseman Ben Chiarot (four years, $19 million) after a down season. New coach Derek Lalonde has experience winning as a Lightning assistant.
Edmonton Oilers: B-
The Oilers' weakness last season was in net, and Jack Campbell is an upgrade over Mike Smith, though he has limited playoff experience. Evander Kane was re-signed after a strong playoffs.
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Florida Panthers: B-
Trade acquisition Tkachuk is 24 and got an eight-year extension, but giving up Huberdeau, Weegar, a prospect and draft picks was a steep price. Their trade deadline acquisitions, plus promising Marchment, have moved on. Paul Maurice is coaching after stepping down from the Jets last season.
Los Angeles Kings: B
The trade for Kevin Fiala will boost a team that ended a three-year playoff drought. They signed the 26-year-old to a seven-year, $55 million contract.
Minnesota Wild: B-
Marc-Andre Fleury re-signed and Cam Talbot was traded for Filip Gustavsson to prevent the Wild from having any awkwardness about playing time in net. Losing Fiala's 85 points will be tough, though it will give younger players a chance for more playing time. Sam Steel ($825,000) could be a good depth signing.
Montreal Canadiens: C
The Canadiens hope that newcomers Evgenii Dadonov, Sean Monahan and Dach have bounce-back seasons under coach Martin St. Louis. But the news that goalie Carey Price likely won't play makes his job harder.
Nashville Predators: B
Re-signing Filip Forberg was big, and Nino Niederreiter and Ryan McDonagh were smart pickups.
New Jersey Devils: C
Versatile two-time Stanley Cup winner Ondrej Palat brings experience to a team looking to end a playoff drought. They were unable to land New Jersey native Gaudreau in free agency.
New York Islanders: C-
Maybe last year's missed playoff berth was a fluke because of COVID and a long opening road trip. But this team fired two-time coach of the year Barry Trotz, promoted assistant Lane Lambert and added defenseman Alexander Romanov. That's not going to help the scoring woes.
New York Rangers: B
Vincent Trocheck's versatility will help the Rangers' top six. Jaroslav Halak is a better fit as backup for workhorse goalie Igor Shesterkin than traded Georgiev was. GM Chris Drury did well to get a first-round pick for unhappy defenseman Nils Lundkvist
Ottawa Senators: A
An impressive offseason haul with Claude Giroux, DeBrincat and Talbot joining a rising young core. The Senators could challenge for a wild-card spot.
Philadelphia Flyers: D
New coach John Tortorella will help the team's structure and DeAngelo will aid the transition game, but there's continuing troubling injury news surrounding Ryan Ellis and Sean Couturier.
Pittsburgh Penguins: B
The Big Three is still together after center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang re-signed to stay with Sidney Crosby, plus coach Mike Sullivan got an extension. They also shipped out Mike Matheson and John Marino in separate trades to land Jeff Petry and Ty Smith. The Penguins' playoff streak should continue, but did they do enough to get out of the first round?
St. Louis Blues: C
With Husso traded, the Blues need goalie Jordan Binnington to be the playoff version (1.71 goals-against average), not the regular-season version (3.13). Considering Perron's success with the team, it's surprising that the Blues didn't bring him back. They did get rising stars Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas signed to eight-year extensions.
San Jose Sharks: B-
New general manager Mike Grier managed to get Brent Burns' big contract off the books, which provides flexibility. The return was modest, as were his signings. New coach David Quinn has experience with a rebuilding team.
Seattle Kraken: A-
They used their plentiful cap space to sign two-time Stanley Cup winner Burakovsky and acquire 28-goal scorer Bjorkstrand. Shane Wright fell to them at the No. 4 pick. He was considered the most complete player in the draft class.
Tampa Bay Lightning: B-
The Lightning got forward Anthony Cirelli and defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak signed long-term, but they weren't able to bring back Palat and had to trade McDonagh.
Toronto Maple Leafs: C
There's a new tandem in net. The Leafs traded for often-injured Matt Murray and signed Ilya Samsonov to a prove-it deal. They had to give up a first-round pick to trade goalie Petr Mrazek.
Vancouver Canucks: B
The Canucks avoided a major distraction by reaching a deal with 99-point scorer J.T. Miller on a seven-year, $56 million extension before training camp. The deal kicks in after this season and runs through 2029-30, when he'll be 37. The next-highest scorers on the Canucks last season had 68 points. Ilya Mikheyev was an underrated signing.
Vegas Golden Knights: C-
The salary cap woes continue to haunt them. They gave away Pacioretty and Dadonov for nothing. And last year's injury woes continued with goalie Robin Lehner (hip) out for the season. But they added durable Phil Kessel, who's about to break the NHL's iron man record.
Washington Capitals: B
Last year's goalie tandem, Vitek Vanecek and Samsonov, was inconsistent. Now they've added Stanley Cup winner Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren, who had a 1.22 goals-against average in a short call-up with the Blues. Nicklas Backstrom's offseason hip surgery is a concern, but Dylan Strome's signing will help.
Winnipeg Jets: C-
They couldn't persuade Trotz to coach them, and Rick Bowness will be behind the bench. Otherwise, this is pretty much the same team that finished sixth in the Central Division.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL offseason team grades: Judging all 32 teams' summer moves
