We are nearing the end of the silly season. NHL GMs are heading to their cabins before the nine-month marathon to Lord Stanley.
I’m reviewing their work and giving grades like the assistant volleyball coach who needs to teach summer school to keep his healthcare.
METRO-
Penguins – For the first time in the Crosby/Malkin era the Penguins are not pretending they are contenders. Matt Grzelcyk, Blake Lizotte and Kevin Hayes make them a marginally better team they ended last season with. Fact is no one wanted Rickard Rackell or Tristen Jarry. C-
Rangers – Sam Carrick is a solid, gritty 4th liner. Reilly Smith needs to prove he wants to play somewhere besides Vegas. C
Islanders- The Fishermen added Anthony Duclair. Love the Duke but that was all they added. C
Flyers – The Flyers lost a pretty good Flyer Cam Atkinson but kept the quintessential Flyer Garnet Hathaway. C-
Blue Jackets- What’s in the water in Columbus that as soon a Don Waddell gets there, he makes a stupid move. Sean Monahan 5 years at 5.5. WTF. D
Capitals- The Capitals did an excellent job of rebuilding their roster with Brandon Duhaime, Jakob Chychrun, Andrew Mangiapane, Matt Roy, Taylor Raddysh and Logan Thompson. Then they traded for the malignant Pierre – Luc Dubois. B
Devils- The Devils assured themselves a spot in the playoffs next seaon by shoring up the defense with Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillion. They also got a top notch goaltender in Jacob Markstrom. A
Hurricanes- Carolina will remain a close but not quite championship team. They kept Jaccob Slavin at a good number but lost Brett Pesce. The didn’t come close to signing or replacing deadline acquisition Jake Guentzal. B-
ATLANTIC-
Bruins- The Bruins got big and bad again with another Big Z Nikita Zadorov. Elias Lindholm solves their need for a top six center. Swapping Joonas Korpisalo for Limus Ullmark was a mistake. A-
Leafs- Toronto fixed their blueline issue with Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jani Hakanpaa. They didn’t fix their goaltending. B
Canadien- The Habs locked up Juri Slafkovsky. That’s it. D
Senators- Ottawa signed David Perron who will be going somewhere else at the trade deadline. Ullmark is an upgrade over Korpisalo in net. C+
Red Wings- Steve Yzerman could have solidified his goaltending but instead signed Jack Campbell and Cam Talbot. At least the Wings will score a ton of goals with Patrick Kane resigning and Vlad Tarasenko joining the club. B
Sabres- The Swords biggest move was giving Jason Zucker five million bucks. D+
Panthers- Stanley Cup winners always lose important players. The Big Cats lost Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan Lomberg, Vlad Tarasenko, Kevin Stenlund and others. They did keep integral players Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell. B+
Lightning- The Bolts let their Captain, Hall of Famer and civic institution Steven Stamkos walk. They traded away Mikhail Sergachev. They traded for Ryan McDonagh. They brought in Jake Guentzel. B-
CENTRAL-
Predators- Predators GM Barry Trotz absolutely won the summer. He signed Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. He locked up his great netminder Juuse Saros. A+
BlackHawks- Chicago decided to put a professional team around Connor Bedard. Tuevo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi are top six wingers. Alec Martinez is the definition of reliable defenseman. Pat Maroon will keep everybody safe. A
Wild- GM Bill Guerin is still in cap hell but did sign Yakov Trenin. Trenin fits what the Wild are about. B+
Utah- Utah is no longer your broke ass Coyotes. Trading for Mikhail Sergachev, signing Ian Cole and keeping Sean Durzi solidifies the blue back end.Adding responsible forward Kevin Stenlund to the mix will help the talented kids flourish upfront. A
Stars- Resigning Matt Duchene was necessary. Signing Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin was smart. Signing Casay DeSmith was not. B-
Avalanche- The Avs don’t know really why they collapsed last season so they didn’t know what to address other than keep Jonathan Drouin. B-
Blues- GM Doug Armstrong gave Pavel Buchnevich too much money and too much term. Radek Faksa is a nice gritty center tho. B-
Jets- Is Kevin Cheveldayoff waiting to move back to Arizona ? D-
PACIFIC-
Kings- LA got bigger and tougher with the acquisitions of Joel Edmundson and Tanner Jeannot. They now have a legitimate number one goalie in Darcy Kuemper. Most importantly they rid themselves of Pierre – Luc Dubois. A
Ducks- The Ducks got Brian Dumoulin. I hope his family enjoys the OC. D
Golden Knights- Vegas is sitting on 16. C
Kraken- GM Ronnie Francis probably overpaid for Brandon Montour. He definitely overpaid for Chandler Stephenson. B-
Flames- Ryan Lomberg is a steal and 2×2 but he’ll never play in a meaningful game. C-
Sharks- San Jose aquired three legitimate NHL players Wennberg, Toffoli and Grundstrom. It’s a start. B
Canucks – GM JR pulled out his magic wand. Jake Debrusk signed a contract way under market value. Dakota Joshua resigned for pennies. He also acquired a lot of depth. A-
Edmonton- The Oilers reinforced their chances to get back to the Stanley Cup Final by keeping Adam Henrique, Corey Perry, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner bring them closer to winning the Final. A-
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