August is the NHL’s only month of summer. Front offices are relaxing because their work is done until training camp. It’s time to hand out their grades. The grades are based if the roster improved compared to the one that ended the season.
ATLANTIC-
Boston- The Bruins lost their top two centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci along with effective scoring wingers Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi . They did bring back fan favorite Milan Lucic. D+
Detroit- GM Steve Yzerman finally got his superstar winger Alex DeBrincat. He acquired solid depth with JT Compher and Klim Kostin. He also paid steep price for mediocrity in defenseman Shane Gostisbehere and Justin Holl. B
Buffalo- The Sabres needed depth on the blue line and signed Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson. B
Ottawa– The Senators replenished Alex DeBrincat’s fire power by signing Vlad Tarsenko. They also turned their net over to Joonas Korpisalo. B-
Montreal- The Habs got rid of some pieces that didn’t fit only to acquired pieces that aren’t any good. D
Toronto– New GM Brad Treliving brought in two bonafide top scoring wingers in Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. He needed to help the defense and only signed John Klingberg. Ryan Reaves clown act was unnecessary. B-
Florida- The Panthers will be starting the season with key defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour on IR. They let Radko Gudas leave and will start the season with an excess of bottom pairing defensemen. Anthony Duclair will be missed. D
Tampa Bay- The Lightning let their whole 4th line move on and replaced them with much smaller forwards. C-
METROPOLITAN-
Washington– The Capitals locked up their heart and soul forward Tom Wilson. They also upgraded a few positions by bringing in Joel Edmundson and Max Pacioretty. B
Islanders- GM Lou Lamoriello locked up his two Russian goaltenders Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov for at least the next two years. He decided to run it back again with almost the same team he’s had since before the pandemic. C+
Rangers- The Rangers are hoping new coach Peter Laviolette gives them the patented first year Lavy bump because GM Chris Drury only signed old guys on the cheap to fill the roster. B-
New Jersey- The Devils had a productive summer. They brought in Tyler Toffoli. He’s a clutch scoring winger with Stanley Cups. They locked up Timo Meier for eight years on a fair deal. They resigned their important bottom six forwards and added a few more depth pieces. B+
Philadelphia- The Flyers newfront office seems content to be in the lottery next year because their only move was to bring in Garnet Hathaway. A dirtbag on the ice Hathaway was born to be a Flyer. C-
Columbus- The Blue Jackets have hired Mike Babcock to coach them. Babcock will be the next star to want out of Columbus. C+
Carolina- The Canes locked up their goaltender Freddie Andersen and Antti Raanta. Dmitry Orlov bolsters an already superb defense. Michael Bunting is not the scoring winger they were hoping for. B
Pittsburgh- The Penguins new GM Kyle Dubas was going to get an A before August 6th. He traded for Reilly Smith to replace Jason Zucker. Signed Ryan Graves as an upgrade over aging Brain Dumoulin on the blueline. Signed Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and others to fix an inept bottom six. On August 6th Dubas pulled off one of the greatest trades in franchise history. He rid the Penguins of almost all of previous GM Ron Hextall’s mistakes and acquired reigning Norris Trophy winner, 1st ballot Hall of Famer Erik Karlsson. A+ 
CENTRAL-
Chicago– The Blackhawks won the lottery and drafted generational talent Connor Bedard. They acquired Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou. Corey Perry and Nick Foligno to protect him. A+
Minnesota- GM Bill Guerin’s team is in salary cap hell. He was able to sign Pat Maroon. Everyone likes Pat Maroon, except Jack Edwards. B+
St Louis- GM Doug Armstrong chose to do almost nothing except take a small chance on center Kevin Hayes because the Flyers will pay half of his remaining contract. B-
Winnipeg- The Jets got a a few solid pieces for their rebuild by dumping malcontent Pierre Luc Dubois to the Kings. B
Nashville- New GM Barry Trotz is turning over the roster quickly. He shipped Ryan Johansen to Colorado and bought out Matt Duchene. Ryan O Reilly and Luke Schenn were signed for their leadership as well as their talent. B+
Colorado– GM Joe Sakic is hoping Ryan Johansen can settle into their number two center position. Ross Colton and Miles Wood add speed, toughness and scoring on the wing. Sakic got young defensemen Bowen Byram to take a team friendly bridge deal. B+
Dallas- The Stars hope Matt Duchene , who signed for cheap, regains his scoring tough. Everyone who signed in Dallas this summer did. The Stars got nobody major but didn’t sign any bad deals. B
Arizona- The Desert Dogs signed Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba to reasonable one year deals that will be perfect trade bait come spring. B
PACIFIC-
Anaheim- The Ducks GM Pat Verbeek brought in Alex Killorn and Radko Gudas to add veteran leadership and toughness to this young and kinda soft group. Troy Terry took a reasonable long term deal. A-
Calgary- The Flames big move was firing Head Coach Darrly Sutter. Now they have to find a new scapegoat. C-
Seattle- GM Ron Francis signed rising star defenseman Vince Dunn to a team friendly contract. Brian Dumoulin hopes to regain the step he lost in the Northwest. Francis continues his plan of steady growth by not landing a big fish in free agency. B
Vancouver- The Canucks signed two third pair defensemen Carson Soucy and Ian Cole. They also signed third line center Teddy Blueger. C+
Use CodePHN15 Seems Bartnick needs a chair to chill and write, right?
San Jose- The Sharks GM Mike Grier traded the reigning Norris Trophy winning defenseman Erik Karlsson for Pittsburgh’s refuse and Mike Hoffman from Montreal. The Sharks did also get Pittsburgh first round draft pick but it won’t be a lottery pick. D
Vegas- The Stanley Cup Champs locked up key contributor Ivan Barbashev for a long time at reasonable money. They also locked up Cup winning goalie Adin Hill for two years. A perfect term to prove last year wasn’t a flike if last year was a fluke. A
Edmonton- The Oilers did almost nothing to help Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl win a Cup. D
Los Angeles- The Kings gave a King’s ransom the troubled center Pierre Luc Dubois. They then signed him to a huge, ridiculous long term deal. Dubois did not make the NHL Network’s Top 20 centers. Even though the Kings treat him as elite ,Dubois has never scored over 30 goals. D
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