rewrite this title NHL Eastern Conference free-agency recap

Nearly 200 players have signed contracts since NHL free agency opened July 1. Here’s how free agency has impacted every team in the Eastern Conference. 

Contracts are listed in parentheses (h/t Spotrac) with years and average annual value (AAV).

Boston Bruins: The Bruins threw it all against the wall to see what stuck with equally weird signings of winger Tanner Jeannot (five years, $3.4M AAV) and analytics favorite Michael Eyssimont (two years, $1.45M AAV), also a winger. They still look like a capable team in goal, on defense and at the wings. But center ice looks questionable for an organization that appears interested in rebuilding and reloading simultaneously.

Buffalo Sabres: They don’t appear done for the summer because defenseman Bowen Byram’s future has not been decided. Adding backup goalie Alex Lyon (two years, $1.5M AAV) is notable because Buffalo goalie Devon Levi is a restricted free agent. The former top prospect is 23 and knocking on the door of a full-time NHL job after excelling in AHL Rochester. He could make for a crowded crease along with Lyon and starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. 

Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes leveraged their ample cap space to get significantly younger on the blue line. Carolina let defensemen Dmitry Orlov (San Jose) and Brent Burns (Colorado) walk and traded for defenseman K’Andre Miller (eight years, $7.5M AAV) in a sign-and-trade with their division rival, the New York Rangers. Adding winger Nikolaj Ehlers won’t necessarily solve Carolina’s playoff scoring issues, but he’s one of the better skaters and puck transporters in the league. 

Columbus Blue Jackets: It has been a quiet first week of July for the Jackets, who did most of their work before July 1 in acquiring center Charlie Coyle and then overpaying to retain defenseman Ivan Provorov (seven years, $8.5M AAV). PuckPedia still has Columbus with more than $20M in cap space and plenty of interesting potential trade chips, so the Jackets are still in position to make a summer swing.

Detroit Red Wings: Following a big trade at the NHL Draft for goalie John Gibson, the Wings mostly swung on depth pieces on the open market in veteran wingers Mason Appleton (two years, $2.9M AAV) and James van Riemsdyk (one year, $1M AAV). If a big contract player comes on the trade market, Detroit is positioned to do something with more than $12M in cap space (h/t PuckPedia) and all its current business finished.

Florida Panthers: The Stanley Cup champion Panthers terrorization of the rest of the league wrapped up before July 1, as they announced new contracts for center Sam Bennett (eight years, $8M AAV), defenseman Aaron Ekblad (eight years, $6.1M AAV) and winger Brad Marchand (six years, $5.25M AAV). They are $2.95M over the cap, per PuckPedia, which could mean potential trades lower in the lineup involving forwards Evan Rodrigues ($3 million AAV), Eetu Luostarinen ($3 million AAV) and defenseman Niko Mikkola ($2.5 million AAV). 

Montreal Canadiens: It has been a quiet July for the Canadiens after pulling off a blockbuster at the draft in trading for defenseman Noah Dobson. They still need to get defenseman Jayden Struble and goalie Jakub Dobes, both restricted free agents, under contract. 

New Jersey Devils: The biggest job for the Devils is not done with defenseman Luke Hughes an unsigned restricted free agent. Otherwise, the Devils have been trying to address their depth issues at forward, signing winger Evgenii Dadonov (one year, $1M AAV), re-signing center Cody Glass (two years, $2.5M AAV) and importing winger Connor Brown from Edmonton (four years, $3M AAV) to supplement a bottom six that collapsed in the playoffs.

New York Islanders: The high-wire act continues for a team that wants to compete without a full teardown. Winger Jonathan Drouin (two years, $4M AAV) will add playmaking and skill into the lineup, but it’s the explosive skill of undersized, 5-foot-8 Russian winger Maxim Shabanov (one year, $975,000 AAV) and how he translates to the NHL that will be a wild card.

New York Rangers: In signing rock-solid defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (seven years, $7M AAV) and trading K’Andre Miller, the Rangers continued their transformation from a middling 5-on-5 team that relied on elite special teams and goaltending to one that is committed to playing more structured at even strength. The question is whether the Rangers imported the Gavrikov who was the best defensive player taking the hardest matchups on the best regular-season defensive team in Los Angeles. Or did New York get the Gavrikov who was regularly outscored and outchanced with Columbus?

Ottawa Senators: The Senators mostly seemed content to roll it back from last season’s playoff breakthrough, though they added a solid depth center in Lars Eller (one year, $1.25M AAV) and took a swing on shoot-first winger Arthur Kaliyev (one year, $775,000 AAV).

Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers seem pretty far away from contending. They are betting on center Christian Dvorak (one year, $5.4M AAV) to help them down the lineup enough to better use some of the offense-first talent at the top of the lineup. The net is probably still going to be an adventure even after signing Dan Vladar (two years, $3.35M AAV), who holds a career .895 save percentage. 

Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins might be the only team in the NHL content with a strategic step back, and they still have a few trade chips to potentially play in winger Bryan Rust (three years, $5.125M AAV) and forward Rickard Rakell (three more years, $5M AAV). Depth signings at forward such as Justin Brazeau (two years, $1.5M AAV) and Anthony Mantha (one year, $2.5M) could pay off as trade-deadline asset builders. 

Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning added a depth forward in Pontus Holmberg (two years, $1.55M AAV). Otherwise, they’ve been uncharacteristically quiet as they navigate yet another razor-tight salary-cap situation. 

Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs mostly engaged in depth signings for the organization and kept their own house in order with new contracts for center John Tavares and winger Matthew Knies. The addition of center Nicolas Roy, added in the sign-and-trade of Mitch Marner with Vegas, will provide solid depth at forward for a team that doesn’t look like it has enough firepower down the lineup. 

Washington Capitals: It has been a fairly sleepy July for the Capitals, though they made news in re-signing forward Anthony Beauvillier (two years, $2.75M AAV) and defenseman Martin Fehervary (seven years, $6M AAV).