LOS ANGELES – It’s November 2020, instead of wondering which teams will be in the playoffs at American Thanksgiving we’re handing out off season grades.
I realize there are a few free agents like Mike Hoffman and Anthony Duclair are still available. Also, the Lightning, Islanders and Golden Knights are over the salary cap but what else am I doing between football weekends.
ATLANTIC-
Buffalo B
The Sabres are desperately trying to make Jack Eichel happy. The Sabres finally got their superstar center an All-Star winger Taylor Hall and a legitimate number two center Eric Staal. Will Hall and Staal be Sabres after the trade deadline? A bigger question is will Eichel?
Toronto C-
The Maple Leafs still have the Big Four (John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander) so they’re still top heavy. Joe Thornton and Wayne Simmonds would have been great pickups three years ago. Zach Bogosian would have been a great pickup last season. They did not get enough for Kasperi Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson. TJ Brodie is the next in a long line of defensemen scapegoats.
Boston D+
The Bruins lost Torey Krug to free agency. Craig Smith is a solid forward but nothing to get excited about. Zdeno Chara is still undecided if he will play.
Ottawa B+
The Senators obtained two-time Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray to be their netminder for years to come. Ottawa got tougher signing Erik Gudbranson and Austin Watson. Evgenii Dadonov gives the Senators a 25+ goal winger.
Detroit B+
The Red Wings will be respectable this season. GM Steve Yzerman is building slowly. Thomas Greiss will be an upgrade in net. Marc Staal and Troy Stecher solidify the back end. Vladislav Namestnikov and Bobby Ryan are pros that will give the Wings kids more time to grow on their own. Anthony Mantha signed a very reasonable deal.
Tampa Bay C
The Lightning won the Stanley Cup. Who cares if they’re over the salary c02ap. They haven’t made any tough decisions yet and no one has helped them out.
Florida B
The Panthers traded for Patric Hornqvist hoping his work ethic and championships rub off on the Panthers core. Radko Gudas gives the Big Cats back end some much needed snarl.
Montreal A
The Canadiens have the best goalie combo east of the Mississippi after acquiring Jake Allen. Josh Anderson gives the Habs a true power forward and Tyler Toffoli gives them a sniper. Brendan Gallagher is signed long term and Joel Edmundson turns the Habs defense from a Big 3 to a Big 4.
METRO-
Pittsburgh INCOMPLETE
The Penguins grade fluctuates between a B and D depending on how my morning coffee tastes and if I think the Penguins are still legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. Full evaluation of the Penguins offseason with a grade in my next column.
Philadelphia C-
The Flyers basically stayed pat this off season. They chose to watch their young team gel but not lose some veteran dead weight in the process. Matt Niskanen retired and will be replaced by Erik Gustafsson.
Islanders D
The Islanders are over the salary cap and they have already lost superb tandem goalie Thomas Greiss and promising defensemen Devon Toews. Matt Barzal still needs to be signed.
Rangers B+
The Rangers won the draft lottery and will have number 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere in their opening day lineup. The team’s young players Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux, Anthony DeAngelo signed reasonable contracts. The Rangers goalie drama ended when Henrik Lundqvist moved on.
New Jersey C+
The Devils hired Lindy Ruff to be their Head Coach and signed Corey Crawford to be their goaltender. Both of these acquisitions give the Devils much needed stability.
Columbus- C-
The Blue Jackets got two centers this summer, one who has yet to have a prime, Max Domi, and one who is past his prime, Mikko Koivu.
Washington- B-
The Capitals let their Stanley Cup winning goalie Braden Holtby go to Vancouver but brought in Henrik Lundqvist to tutor Ilya Samsonov in net. Justin Schultz needs to play better than he did last year for Pittsbugh. Brenden Dillon signed a long-term contract he needs to live up to it.
Carolina C-
The Hurricanes got Andrei Svechnikov to sign a ridiculously team friendly deal. The only thing holding them back from being a true contender is goaltending.
CENTRAL-
Dallas B +
The Stars took the interim tag off Head Coach Rick Bowness. The next wave of Stars, Radek Faksa, Denis Gurianov, Roope Hintz signed under market deals. Anton Khudobin resigned giving Dallas a very capable goalie not when but if Ben Bishop gets injured.
St Louis B-
The Blues lost their captain Alex Pietrangelo but Toey Krug is a nice consolation prize. Kyle Clifford will fit Craig Berube’s style of play. They did not get insurance in net if Jordan Binnington proves he is a one-year wonder.
Winnipeg C
The Jets reacquired Paul Stastny. He will fill the hole at second line center he made when he left. The Jets resigned Dylan DeMelo on defense but need much more help than that on the blueline.
Minnesota C-
The Wild GM Bill Guerin is turning over this roster. He cut ties with Mikko Koivu, Eric Staal, Devan Dubnyk and Ryan Donato. Cam Talbot is now the goaltender in Minnesota for the foreseeable future. As Bono sang, Running to Stand Still.
Nashville D
The Predators are not even a melancholy U2 song. They are a sad country song. They got tougher with Mark Borowiecki, Nick Cousins and Brad Richardson but they didn’t get better.
Colorado A-
The Avalanche stole defensemen Devon Toews from the Islanders. Brandon Saad was acquired from the Blackhawks for Nikita Zadorov. Zadorov is large and mean but Saad brings championship pedigree as well as clutch goals and penalty killing. The Avs decided not to go after a named goaltender and are pinning their Stanley Cup hopes with Philipp Grubhauer and Pavel Francouz.
Chicago- D+
The Blackhawks acquired monster Nikita Zadorov for Brandon Saad. Saad’s intangibles are not as meaningful on a team with no playoff aspirations. Chicago GM Stan Bowman announced the team is officially rebuilding. Nothing says we aren’t trying to win then going into the year with Malcolm Subban as your starting goalie.
PACIFIC-
Loa Angeles B
The Kings drafted second overall and picked franchise center Quinton Byfield. While Ollie Maata adds veteran leadership to the blueline.
Anaheim D
The Ducks signed Kevin Shattenkirk; completely underwhelming.
San Jose C
The Sharks acquired Devan Dubnyk to play goal, hoping he finds his game on the Pacific. Ryan Donato is a good middle six winger. The Sharks have quickly gone from an elite team to a lottery team and needed to do more this offseason.
Arizona- F
The Coyotes did not really have an offseason. Their old GM, John Chayka, made so many errors of judgement, the league took away most of the draft picks he didn’t trade away. Their new GM, Bill Armstrong, got to sever ties with troubled draft pick Mitch Miller.
Las Vegas B-
The Golden Knights acquired stud defensemen Alex Pietrangelo but had to trade Nate Schmidt to Vancouver. The Knights are still over the cap. They have some tough decisions ahead even if their goaltending crisis seems over.
Edmonton D+
The Oilers just did not address their deficiencies on defense or in net. They did get Dominik Kahun to come to Edmonton for under a million. Kahun gives either Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid a legitimate scoring winger.
Calgary A-
The Flames signed All Star goalie Jacob Markstrom and reliable Chris Tanev away from their rivals, the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames decided with these recent additions to make a run with their underachieving core.
Vancouver B
The Canucks brought in former Stanley Cup winning goaltender Braden Holtby to mentor Thatcher Demko, and Nate Schmidt to replace steady defenseman Chris Tanev. Jacob Markstrom’s and Tanev’s intangibles will be hard to replace.
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