NHL Power Rankings: Who will have the most difficult offseason?

31. New Jersey Devils

Cap Space: $35.603 million
Draft Picks: 1st (1st overall), 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Pavel Zacha (RFA), Will Butcher (RFA)
Plan: Extend Taylor Hall, add talent everywhere else

The New Jersey Devils enter the summer as the team with the easiest go of it but have far from the least amount of work to do. The reasons why we rank them as having the easiest summer are simple.

They have buckets of cap space (only Ottawa and Colorado have more), the only expiring contracts they have to deal with won’t break the bank, and they have 10 draft picks (including six in the first three rounds) to play with. This is not even mentioning them winning the draft lottery and picking #1 overall.

That on the table, this is a crucial summer for New Jersey. Firstly, Taylor Hall has just one year left on his contract, and the Devils really want to lock him up for the foreseeable future. Secondly, the Devils have been in “rebuild” mode since Ray Shero and co. arrived, and have only made the playoffs once since 2011-12. So the pressure is on from the fans who are craving a playoff run much like what they got earlier in the millennium.

The first overall pick (likely Jack Hughes) will definitely help, and it comes effectively for free, but there is much to be done. Shero has tons of assets in his pocket to land another important player or two, be it with draft picks in a trade or cap space in free agency or trade. The Devils have needs almost everywhere, but the options are limitless due to the weapons they have available.

30. Detroit Red Wings

Cap Space: $13.679 million
Draft Picks: 1st (6th), 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Thomas Vanek (UFA), Niklas Kronwall (UFA)
Plan: Status quo, keep the rebuild going

For once, the Detroit Red Wings aren’t in severe cap trouble and they can breathe easily for the summer. They are still in rebuild mode, and still have some bad contracts to shed before really moving into the next gear. Some core pieces are in place, such as Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou, but they still also are stuck with Justin Abdelkader and Frans Nielsen for a little longer than they’d like.

This summer, they don’t have a ton on their docket that they absolutely have to do. No restricted free agents of any kind have expiring contracts this summer, and the only unrestricted free agents include Thomas Vanek and Niklas Kronwall, neither of whom are considered part of the answer going forward for the Wings, but can serve as short term stopgaps and leaders.

Detroit likely isn’t going to be a huge player in free agency if they’re wise, and have a bevy of draft picks including sixth overall (which should land them a nice piece for the future) and three second-round picks. This summer should be pretty simple for the Wings. Fill the prospect cupboard, shed more bad deals if possible, and for once, take it easy.

29. New York Rangers

Cap Space: $19.036 million
Draft Picks: 1st (2nd), 1st (20th), 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Pavel Buchnevich (RFA), Neal Pionk (RFA)
Plan: Buy, the window is opening again

The New York Rangers look like they’re in much better shape than they were at this point last year. Most of their big contracts are done away with (still looking at Marc Staal and Kevin Shattenkirk), their prospect pool is looking great, and they lucked into what looks like Kaapo Kakko, which is a big prize in the draft.

Beyond that, they have yet another first-round pick from the Jets, and two second-round picks to further bolster their prospect depth, as well as picking up Adam Fox from Carolina.

The Blueshirts still have to give new contracts to Pavel Buchnevich and Neal Pionk, both useful pieces, but neither of them should be terribly expensive or lengthy. With that said, they should have plenty of cap space to make a run at a big fish in the free agent market, possibly Artemi Panrin (who has been linked to both New York teams in rumors).

A couple of years ago, the Rangers needed a big-time tear down. They have done it by the book, and look great for the future for it. Adding a blue-chip prospect and then some to their already great pool is even better, and now they may even be in a position to buy. The Rangers are primed for a great summer.

28. Carolina Hurricanes

Cap Space: $28.761 million
Draft Picks: 1st (28th), 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Sebastian Aho (RFA), Justin Williams (UFA), Michael Ferland (UFA), Petr Mrazek (UFA), Curtis McElhinney (UFA)
Plan: Pay Aho, then get ready to run again.

How does one follow up a magical season? The Carolina Hurricanes did almost everything except win the Stanley Cup this year. Those bunch of jerks finally brought back the Whalers uniforms, they rallied together a struggling fan base, and successfully pissed Don Cherry.

How do you chase that? To start, the Hurricanes have a good stock of draft picks, including three in the second round, courtesy of the Rangers and Sabres. They also have a fantastic amount of cap space.

A good chunk of that cap space is probably going to go to franchise forward Sebastian Aho, deservedly so. Considering he’s the only restricted free agent anywhere near that category, though, getting him under contract shouldn’t be a big issue for the Canes. Their unrestricted free agents may prove a little more challenging, with Micheal Ferland likely testing free agency and both goalies on the market too.

The Hurricanes shouldn’t have trouble taking care of everything they need to though. Again, they have tons of cap space for now, even after what we imagine is a hefty pay raise for Aho. Heck, they could even go shopping for some free agent help to help push them over the edge and build on what they did this season. Should be a good idea.

27. Los Angeles Kings

Cap Space: $11.728 million
Draft Picks: 1st (5th), 1st (22nd), 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Alex Iafallo (RFA), Adrian Kempe (RFA)
Plan: Shop unruly contracts

It’s really amazing how the Los Kings have fallen so quickly. They were champions as recently as 2014 and even bought in for this past season last summer by bringing in Ilya Kovalchuk. However, now they are looking to tear down and start over. Two first-round picks, including fifth overall, is a very nice start, and their biggest restricted free agent to sign is probably Alex Iafallo. No big deal.

However, the thing that’s lightly squeezing the Kings right now is cap space. After signing Iafallo and Adrian Kempe, that could sap a healthy chunk of their remaining cash available. It’s nice to not have a ton on the checklist of priorities in the off-season, but it’s also nice to have the flexibility to continue rebuilding, and the Kings don’t have that right now.

What Los Angeles probably would look to do is start offloading some big contracts if they can. It’s not an emergency right now, as any prospect talent they may start to bring in would be on the cheap anyway. Though it’d likely be a good idea for GM Rob Blake to start trying to find buyers for those big contracts. Won’t be easy, but if they can pull it off, it’d be huge for the rebuild.

26. Buffalo Sabres

Cap Space: $29.415 million
Draft Picks: 1st (7th), 1st (30th)*, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 6th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Zemgus Girgensons (RFA), Linus Ullmark (RFA), Jake McCabe (RFA), Jeff Skinner (UFA)
Plan: Throw all the money at Skinner

When will it end for Buffalo? We all saw the light during their 10 game win streak in the early part of the season, but it’s getting ridiculous now. The Buffalo Sabres have been ready to emerge for ages now, and this summer looks like it could be the tipping point for GM Jason Botterill. They have a high draft pick at #7, as well as the Blues’ first rounder, to add to what they’re hoping is the foundation of the answer.

Their biggest restricted free agent is possibly Jake McCabe, who’s been good for the Sabres. However, their biggest fish overall has to be Jeff Skinner, who will come at a steep price. The Sabres know what he can do for them, so it may be time to break the bank.

Buffalo currently has just five players under contract past this season, being Jack Eichel, Kyle Okposo, Rasmus Ristolainen, Rasmus Dahlin, and Carter Hutton. Not a bad group of players to build around. This summer should be about firming up the foundation for what could be the next run of success for the Sabres. That includes re-signing Jeff Skinner at all costs, and maybe adding more. They have the cap space to do it, after all.

25. Ottawa Senators

Cap Space: $37.744 million
Draft Picks: 1st (19th), 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Anthony Duclair (RFA), Cody Ceci (RFA), Colin White (RFA), Oscar Lindberg (UFA)
Plan: Recover from nuclear winter, restock shelves with prospects

It would have been nice to have their own first round pick this year, but after the draft lottery results came in, the Ottawa Senators breathed a sigh of relief. Now that most of the earth has been scorched, the Senators can really begin their rebuild full steam ahead. No one has more cap space than Ottawa, but they likely won’t spend, based on owner Eugene Melnyk’s previous statements.

They won’t need to on their own free agents either, with their biggest free agent probably being Cody Ceci. Once they get those RFA contracts settled, they can continue to plan ahead for their future. They have four picks in the first three rounds this year, and a whopping seven for 2020 so far (including possibly three first rounders), with the ability to possibly add on in the future.

The present looks bleak for the Senators right now, especially considering they gave up what eventually became a top five pick in a buy move that came right before a complete cataclysm. But with some of their pieces of the future starting to fall into place, such as Brady Tkachuk or Thomas Chabot, it looks like there may be light at the end of the tunnel. After all, at this point, they can’t get much worse.

One thing to keep an eye on – the Senators are probably going to need some help reaching the salary cap floor. They could take on a bad contract or too.

24. Montreal Canadiens

Cap Space: $11.706 milllion
Draft Picks: 1st (15th), 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Artturi Lehkonen (RFA), Joel Armia (RFA), Jordie Benn (UFA)
Plan: Get more bubble wrap for Carey Price

At the beginning of this past season, it didn’t look like the Canadiens had anything going for them. However, one would have to think that despite missing the playoffs, their turnaround is a huge step in the right direction. They got healthy, and picked up important pieces for their next run. This summer should be all about reinforcing that, and it shouldn’t be hard to do. They don’t have a ton of cap space, so it’ll be mostly window dressing after resigning guys like Artturi Lehkonen, but they don’t have much to do.

They didn’t buy at the trade deadline, which was smart by GM Marc Bergevin, and have a full complement of draft picks, as well as a couple extras here and there. Their extra second round pick can be used in a trade, which has worked well for many teams before.

It’s possible that the Canadiens will have a relatively quiet summer, as they are committed to building a team the right way and not spending silly, and that method seems to be working for them. They will still have to deal with a loaded division with three elite teams, but who knows? We didn’t expect anything out of them this year, and they almost made it. What happens next year, now that we know they’re good?

23. Florida Panthers

Cap Space: $21.975 million
Draft Picks: 1st (13th), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Mackenzie Weegar (RFA), Riley Sheahan (UFA), Jamie McGinn (UFA)
Plan: Go shopping for the big fish

The Panthers nearly overcame a slow start in 2017-18 to make it within one point of a playoff berth, but this year they weren’t nearly as close to it. Now, with new coach Joel Quenneville in tow, the Panthers are ready to go for it. They have a very healthy amount of cap space and don’t have a ton of work to do to keep everyone around. Signing any of their restricted free agents shouldn’t be an issue, and they have their fair share of draft picks to keep moving in the right direction.

Most of their team foundation is in place and reasonably priced, namely Jonathan Huberdeau and Sasha Barkov, and are geared toward making a big run at the big free agents on the market. Rumor is that Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky both could sign in Florida. That would be a huge boost to their chances next year.

If Florida can land one or both of those two big players, things will look very sunny in Sunrise for the future. They’ll have a great team ready to contend in what already promises to be a division worthy of soccer’s “Group of Death” moniker. If the Panthers can’t land the big fish, there is still plenty there to pick from in terms of scoring help. There is pressure there for the Panthers, but the good kind.

22. Chicago Blackhawks

Cap Space: $20.394 million
Draft Picks: 1st (3rd), 2nd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Brendan Perlini (RFA), Marcus Kruger (UFA)
Plan: Spend cautiously, next year will be fun.

For the first time in a long time, the Chico Blackhawks aren’t dealing with severe cap issues over a summer. They only have a couple of restricted free agents to sign, and none of their unrestricted free agents are irreplaceable. So Chicago would have some money free to throw at a free agent this summer, possibly ex-Hawk Artemi Panarin. However, next year Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat will be restricted free agents, and both could demand a healthy pay raise.

But that’s a problem for next year. This year, not only can Chicago afford some wiggle room, they also jumped up a few spots in the lottery and are picking third overall. This is a huge swing of luck for Chicago, even if they didn’t get one of the top two spots and a golden prospect with it.

Chicago can spend this summer figuring out how to best spend their money as opposed to before, where they were trying to trim some of the fat away to keep their core around. Those big four deals, being Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook, will all be there for a while, and it’d be nice to win with them again. If they go big this year, Chicago could be back in the winning column a lot sooner than we thought.

21. Anaheim Ducks

Cap Space: $9.125 million
Draft Picks: 1st (9th), 1st (29th), 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th
Important Free Agents: Ryan Miller (UFA)
Plan: Reassess everything

Anaheim is slated for a relatively quiet summer at this point. After a year where the offense evaporated due to many causes, such as injury, age or lack of depth, the Anaheim Ducks would love to get some scoring punch back in their lineup, but don’t have too much in the way of cap space to really get something done. The only roster spot opening up via free agency is their backup goalie spot, with Ryan Miller’s contract expiring. Backup goalies don’t usually help scoring.

The Ducks can start building toward a brighter future with their two first round picks, one being in the top 10, and start poking around for teams who might want to pick up a past their prime big contract for a year or two. It’s worth asking if anyone might have a sudden itch for one slightly used Corey Perry, after all.

In all honesty, with the roster filled and cap space not aplenty, it looks like it won’t be easy to do anything for the immediate future. They will be able to send Ryan Kesler’s contract to long term injured reserve, which can open up some wiggle room, but ultimately it’s in the Ducks’ best interest to just start paving the way for the future. It might be a couple of years away.

20. Arizona Coyotes

Cap Space: $8.615 million
Draft Picks: 1st (14th), 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Nick Cousins (RFA), Lawson Crouse (RFA), Richard Panik (UFA)
Plan: Maybe dip into free agency for a change?

The Coyotes were oh so close to riding Darcy Kuemper’s coat tails into a playoff spot this past spring. The offense wasn’t scoring, but neither were the opponents, and the team nearly squeaked in. Looking forward to next year, the Coyotes don’t have a ton to do to keep everyone around, as it shouldn’t be a problem getting Nick Cousins, Lawson Crouse, and Josh Archibald under contract, or to keep Richard Panik in the desert.

Also, the Coyotes have a decently placed pick at 14th overall and could get some help for their prospect pipeline. With some of their younger pieces locked up long-term, such as Nick Schmaltz, Christian Dvorak, and Jakob Chychrun, it’d be helpful for Arizona to get help for those guys by the time these deals get a few years old.

Arizona wasn’t far off from making the playoffs last year, to the point where buying at the trade deadline wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. With another good summer, the Coyotes could start to make some noise in a Pacific division that’s outlook can change very quickly.

19. Philadelphia Flyers

Cap Space: $33.410 million
Draft Picks: 1st (11th), 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Ryan Hartman (RFA), Travis Konecny (RFA), Travis Sanheim (RFA), Ivan Provorov (RFA), Cam Talbot (UFA)
Plan: Re-sign all the RFA’s

The Philadelphia Flyers got a huge boost mid-year and it came in the form of a goaltender. Carter Hart may have finally given Flyer fans hope for reliability in net for the first time in years. Unfortunately, it didn’t come in time to help get Philadelphia in the playoffs.

Now, there’s a lot of work to do before the first full season of the Carter Hart era comes about. The Flyers have an abundance of cap space, and they have 10 draft picks including 11th overall, so there’s an ability to keep adding to a prospect pool bursting at the seams with good talent.

However, the Flyers also have a lot of good restricted free agents to sign, such as top pair defender Ivan Provorov, top-line forward Travis Konecny, or another young stud in Travis Sanheim. That’s just the main work set up for GM Chuck Fletcher to figure out, as there are other matters to take care of in the effort to get the Flyers back up to perennial contender.

It’s not impossible, there’s just a lot of work to do to get everything settled, and all that work will eat at a heavy chunk of the cap space Philadelphia currently has. Again, not hard, but the summer will be busy.

18. Colorado Avalanche

Cap Space: $37.025 million
Draft Picks: 1st (4th), 1st (16th), 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Alex Kerfoot (RFA), Mikko Rantanen (RFA), JT Compher (RFA), Nikita Zadorov (RFA), Colin Wilson (UFA), Derick Brassard (UFA), Patrik Nemeth (UFA), Semyon Varlamov (UFA)
Plan: Pay Rantanen, then pay everyone else, then buy for this season

The chips are all in place for the Colorado Avalanche to take the next steps and become a consistent playoff presence for years to come. Their roster is bursting with young talent everywhere, and there’s more to come with Cale Makar on the way, as well as the fourth overall pick among their eight draft picks.

The Avalanche also have a good chunk of cap space to get their contracts in order, as well as Semyon Varlamov’s contract coming off the books to open up even more.

Though, there will be a lot of that space getting directed toward the big restricted free agents the Avalanche have, most prominently being Mikko Rantanen, who may demand eight figures in AAV. Add that on to Alex Kerfoot, JT Compher, and Nikita Zadorov, the Avalanche are going to use a lot of money right there to keep these players around. On top of that, there’s a bunch of unrestricted free agents too.

There’s a clear reason the Avalanche have all that cap space, but now that their top young talents are coming off their rookie deals, it’s time to pay up. They shouldn’t have a problem getting all their RFA’s under wraps, but because of their UFA’s could easily walk, it could create a few holes to patch up. It shouldn’t matter that much big picture, because the Avalanche are set up to do damage very soon.

17. Minnesota Wild

Cap Space: $21.446 million
Draft Picks: 1st (12th), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Kevin Fiala (RFA), Joel Eriksson Ek (RFA), Ryan Donato (RFA)
Plan: Continue the re-tooling

Minnesota is in the midst of a minor tear-down of their roster, shipping out a few of their higher priced players who aren’t named Zach Parise or Ryan Suter last season. That opens up some space to move around this summer, something they haven’t had much of lately.

Along with getting cheaper, the team got younger too, bringing in Kevin Fiala and Ryan Donato in separate March trades. Both players need new contracts, but they shouldn’t burn a hole through anyone’s pockets.

There are mumblings about the Wild continuing their re-tool by trading Jason Zucker, but Zucker does have a 10-team no trade list, so he does have some say on if he goes or not. Other than that, there are possibly a couple of other veterans they can ship out for youth, but it’s not likely.

The Wild are stuck in that area between playoff contention and outright tanking. It’s not a good place to be in, without the ability to land that young stud talent from the draft without a little bit of luck, nor are you playing playoff hockey. Now that they have some cap space to play with, they can start getting creative and put together the next great Wild team.

16. Vegas Golden Knights

Cap Space: $0 (actually less than 0)
Draft Picks: 1st (17th), 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 5th
Important Free Agents: William Karlsson (RFA), Deryk Engelland (UFA), Brandon Pirri (UFA)
Plan: Salary dump to keep Wild Bill around

There is good news and bad news for the Vegas Golden Knights this coming summer. The good news is that they only have one significant signing they have to make, being William Karlsson (again). The bad news is that they’re up against the salary cap.

Technically, they’re actually over the cap, which means they’ll have to move a body or two out of town to get things done. That may prove a little challenging with the bevy of modified no-trade clauses their top talent has. Their top paid players without any sort of clause are Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch, who aren’t going anywhere.

Vegas does have a ton of draft picks, as they are still reaping the rewards from their grand larceny from the expansion draft. This gives them even more weaponry to be able to entice teams to take any bigger contracts off their hands. For example, they could send Cody Eakin and a pick to someone for a much cheaper player. Teams who need to meet the salary floor would do that sort of thing. There is a precedent.

The Golden Knights don’t have it too easy this off-season, but new GM Kelly McCrimmon has weapons at his employ, and can use them to leverage his team into making the ends meet. With George McPhee pulling the strings still, it’d hardly be a surprise to see Vegas pulling a rabbit out of their hat with their moves to keep the core around, worthy of Penn and Teller’s Vegas show.

15. Vancouver Canucks

Cap Space: $30.510 million
Draft Picks: 1st (10th), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Josh Leivo (RFA), Nikolay Goldobin (RFA), Markus Granlund (RFA), Brock Boeser (RFA), Ben Hutton (RFA), Alex Edler (UFA)
Plan: Lock up the youngsters

Thanks to the breakout performance of Elias Pettersson, the Vancouver Canucks may be tapped as the next sleeper pick for making a playoff appearance. With still more young talent coming in, such as Olli Juolevi and Thatcher Demko, the future is bright in Vancouver.

That being said, there is a lot of work to make this all possible next year. Jim Benning has quite a few players to sign, starting with star winger and owner of the best hair in the league in Brock Boeser.

After Boeser, the complementary pieces need to be put together as well. Nikolay Goldobin, Ben Hutton, and Marcus Granlund will all need raises, and Alex Edler needs a new contract. This will eat away at the cap space Vancouver has, but it should leave them a little bit to work with in adding a piece here or there to turn them into a playoff team.

Vancouver is finally about to turn the corner and become a competitive team for some time. It’ll definitely be interesting to see what happens when Seattle comes and creates an instant rivalry with the Canucks. But for now, Vancouver is on the up and up, and this summer is just another step in the right direction.

14. New York Islanders

Cap Space: $29.203 million
Draft Picks: 1st (23rd), 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Anthony Beauvillier (RFA), Anders Lee (UFA), Jordan Eberle (UFA), Valtteri Filppula (UFA), Robin Lehner (UFA)
Plan: Damage control with the UFA market

Perhaps one of the most surprising teams this year was the New York Islanders. After losing John Tavares last year to Toronto in free agency, the Islanders somehow improved by 23 points. This is also in large part due to better coaching from Barry Trotz and a goaltending tandem that stood on their heads all year.

However, one of those goalies is part of a major issue for the Islanders this summer – they have a ton of expiring contracts. Most of those players with expiring contracts will require a significant pay raise.

This includes some of their top scorers, such as Jordan Eberle and captain Anders Lee, and goalie Robin Lehner. Additionally, the Islanders need to re-sign Anthony Beauvillier this summer and Mat Barzal next summer (which won’t be cheap). The Isles have the cap space, even after a slight overpay for Brock Nelson, but there is much to be done.

The reality is that unless the Islanders act quickly, these players could hit the open market and very possibly kiss the Island goodbye. If one or all of those players should leave for greener pastures, the Islanders will need to react and keep what they have going for them afloat. This year was a good year for them, one that reinvigorated their fan base. They need to keep that momentum going.

13. Nashville Predators

Cap Space: $7.108 million
Draft Picks: 1st (24th), 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Colton Sissions (RFA), Wayne Simmonds (UFA), Brian Boyle (UFA)
Plan: Get scoring, fast

Nashville was a top contender two years ago, and was expected to be a player last year. They were, but injuries slowed them down and their offense suffered for it.

In order to keep this train going in the right direction, the Preds need to land scoring and do it this summer. Roman Josi will be a free agent next year and will cost a lot to keep him around, something the Nashville Predators must do at all costs.

The big issue for the Predators is cap space. They have a considerable amount of money locked in on the top of their roster and may need to make a trade or two to open up space for offense. The biggest trade chip people are talking about is P.K. Subban, who has three years left at $9M per season, all seasons that he can still be productive for that money.

Nashville will be an interesting team to watch this summer. A top target most people identify is Matt Duchene, which would cost the Predators more than what they have available, so if they are going to go out and spend the money, they’ll have to make some fancy moves, likely one involving their vaunted defense corps. Keep an eye on Nashville to be active early.

12. Edmonton Oilers

Cap Space: $10.758 million
Draft Picks: 1st (8th), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Tobias Rieder (RFA), Jesse Puljujarvi (RFA), Alex Chiasson (UFA)
Plan: Continue to clean house

For the last few years, the Edmonton Oilers have been smitten with poor management and it showed everywhere. The front office was a mess, the on-ice product was lacking despite having the best player in the league, and the media was constantly hounding the team for answers.

Ken Holland has now taken control of the team and has begun to clean out the famously nepotistic front office, and is now filling those vacancies with hockey people and not Oilers people.

Among those hired was new coach Dave Tippett, and part of Edmonton’s plan should be building the roster into something that would fit into Tippett’s system, as well as grabbing pieces to surround Connor McDavid with. They are picking eighth in the draft and would love to grab a scorer like Cole Caufield if he falls to them.

It might just be the shakeup the Oilers needed to get things back under control. Everyone is making statements about wasting Connor McDavid’s good years now, but if the new regime puts together a great summer or two, the Oilers will be in great shape to win some games here and there. It’ll just take some patience from the fans.

11. Dallas Stars

Cap Space: $16.440 million
Draft Picks: 1st (18th), 4th, 5th, 6th
Important Free Agents: Brett Ritchie (RFA), Mattias Janmark (RFA), Jason Spezza (UFA), Mats Zuccarello (UFA)
Plan: Get some scoring depth

The Dallas Stars defense and goaltending last year was one of the two best in the league (along with the Islanders). Those two factors of their game carried them to an upset of the Predators and taking the Western Conference champion Blues the distance in the second round.

However, their offense was painfully shallow past their top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alex Radulov. Picking up Mats Zuccarello at the trade deadline was shrewd. Now he’s a free agent and it will cost the Stars a first round pick next year to keep him.

The Stars are already lacking in top picks, so they may look elsewhere for that scoring boost, rather than give up their first round pick next year to the Rangers. Additionally, they only have four defensemen under contract this year, and one of them is Jamie Oleksiak. They’ll need to replenish that group as well.

The Stars have their work cut out for them, and don’t have a ton of cap space to make everything work. They may need to get creative with finding scoring and filling their blue line past Miro Heiskanen, John Klingberg, and the freshly signed Esa Lindell.

However they do it, they need to have their eyes on the next couple of years before Benn and Seguin get too expensive for their worth and Heiskanen demands a big raise.

10. Boston Bruins

Cap Space: $14.303 million
Draft Picks: 1st (31st)*, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Danton Heinen (RFA), Charlie McAvoy (RFA), Brandon Carlo (RFA), Marcus Johansson (UFA)
Plan: Sign the RFA’s and pray

Regardless of how their 2019 playoff run ends, the Boston Bruins will not have an easy summer keeping the crew together. Boston Bruins hockey has always started with a strong defensive unit, and two of the top guys in that group are up for new deals this year, and they won’t come cheap.

Brandon Carlo has proved himself valuable, and Charlie McAvoy even more so. Boston may exhaust most of their cap space on signing those two, so GM Don Sweeney may have some decisions to make.

The only big unrestricted free agent is Marcus Johansson, who was always going to be a rental player when he was brought in from New Jersey. Cutting bait with him is an easy decision. But with the top end of the roster locked in for two years, and Jake Debrusk and Charlie Coyle’s contracts expiring next year, the Bruins will need to make a move or two to open space for them.

The Bruins will have some decisions to make this offseason and hope that they can figure out their plans beyond signing McAvoy and Carlo soon without doing too much damage to a roster that’s clearly successful on the ice as is. Especially seeing as their window is now, they may have to sacrifice a little bit of future to do it. If they win, it’s worth it.

9. Tampa Bay Lightning

Cap Space: $8.576 million
Draft Picks: 1st (27th), 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Brayden Point (RFA), Adam Erne (RFA), Cedric Paquette (RFA), Anton Stralman (UFA), Dan Girardi (UFA)
Plan: Sign Point at all costs

Between here and the end of this list, you can make a case for any of these teams to be having the most difficult summer (well, one team takes the cake, so say spots #2-#9). So fair warning, in case you want to argue that one team belongs higher up than others.

Coming one of the best regular seasons of all time is great and all, but if you fail to win a single playoff game, no one seems to care. Now, the Tampa Bay Lightning have their work cut out for them. One of their top players, Brayden Point, needs a new contract. Trouble is, he alone could eat up the rest of the cap space available now, and the Lightning still have roster spots to fill beyond just Point. So moves will have to be made.

The most commonly heard names for the trade market are Ryan Callahan and Tyler Johnson, despite the fact that both have at least some kind of no-trade clause to work around. In fact, any of their players signed for at least $4.5M AAV have no-trade protection outside Nikita Kucherov, who’s effectively untouchable.

They may have to beg and plead for one or two of these no-trade clauses to be waived, and may need to entice teams with picks or prospects to take the big deals off their hands (which they have a fair amount of, each). It’s not impossible to get all this done, and considering this is their only major priority, it can be the focus of the summer once the draft comes and goes. It just won’t be easy.

8. Calgary Flames

Cap Space: $14.458 million
Draft Picks: 1st (26th), 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Matthew Tkachuk (RFA), Sam Bennett (RFA), David Rittich (RFA)
Plan: Maintain course if possible

The Calgary Flames may have finished with the top spot in a rough Pacific division this year, but their first-round exit at the hands of the Avalanche prove that they have much work to do this year to put them over the top.

That work starts with re-signing super-pest in the making Matthew Tkachuk to a long term deal. Once he’s under contract is where things start to look shaky.

Goalie David Rittich is due a new contract, as well as former first-round pick Sam Bennett. Other goalie Mike Smith’s deal expired as well, and the Flames may choose to keep him around, albeit at a much-discounted price than before. These moves along with Tkachuk will likely take up the remaining salary cap the Flames have left.

On top of that, the Flames will want to improve somehow, and that would have to come via trade. But without giving up a major piece, the Flames won’t be able to improve much on last year, at least on paper. If only they hadn’t spent big on James Neal…

7. Pittsburgh Penguins

Cap Space: $3.216 million
Draft Picks: 1st (21st), 4th, 5th, 7th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Zach Aston-Reese (RFA), Marcus Pettersson (RFA)
Plan: Find a taker for a big contract

There is good news and bad news for the Penguins this off-season. The good news is that they don’t have much in the way of free agents to sign. The only “big” free agents needing new deals would be Zach Aston-Reese and Marcus Pettersson, so not a big deal there.

They don’t have cap space to fill the rest of their roster, though, which is the really bad news. With Matt Murray becoming a restricted free agent next year, Pittsburgh has to move players around to make things work.

The rumors swirling around a Phil Kessel trade have been plentiful, and there is some fire to that smoke. Reportedly, Kessel already rejected a trade to the Wild for Jason Zucker, by way of his partial no-trade clause.

This leads us to believe that there is something in the works around a Kessel deal, and it’ll be interesting to see who takes on Kessel’s three remaining years at $6.8M. There are also rumors about Evgeni Malkin, but those should be taken with a mountain of salt.

Because all of the Penguins’ deals are tied down with no-trade clauses outside of Jake Guentzel, the Pens’ hands are tied. On top of that, they only pick once in the first three rounds of the draft, so there isn’t much to trade in terms of sweetening a trade for one of their more undesirable contracts. The Penguins may not be able to be active this year, which could be disastrous considering other teams in their division are pretty much guaranteed to get better.

6. Toronto Maple Leafs

Cap Space: $8.790 million
Draft Picks:  2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 7th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Andreas Johnsson (RFA), Kasperi Kapanen (RFA), Mitch Marner (RFA), Jake Gardiner (UFA)
Plan: Sign Marner, then cut salary

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a gluttony of young studs and already have two players making at least $11M against the cap per season. So what’s one more? Mitch Marner is due the mother of all raises, and the Leafs can’t afford it with the roster in its current state.

We all knew this was going to be the case, even with Auston Matthews taking a slight discount at $11.634M per year. We didn’t add in Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen also needing new deals.

The only way the Leafs will get Marner plus whomever they can under contracts is by trading some of their existing big deals. The easiest deal to pick at is William Nylander’s nearly $7M per year deal over the next five seasons, because he doesn’t have no-trade protection. Shipping him and one of Johnsson or Kapanen should solve the cap issue for the time being. Jake Gardiner is likely not coming back, so the Leafs don’t have to worry about his deal.

However, if the Leafs are going to trade Nylander, they’ll want a king’s ransom in return, in large part to Nylander being a gifted talent and just 23 years old. This very easily could scare off many of the teams in the league who either can’t afford the asking price, or can’t afford to bring on $7M per year for five years. However they decide to manage it, some magic will have to happen to make it work for Toronto this summer.

5. Washington Capitals

Cap Space: $10.08 million
Draft Picks: 1st (25th), 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Andre Burakovsky (RFA), Jakub Vrana (RFA), Christian Djoos (RFA), Brett Connolly (UFA), Carl Hagelin (UFA)
Plan: Shed a little weight around the edges

The Washington Capitals have been in this part of the league for what seems like ages. Few draft picks, precious little cap space, and players knocking on the door and asking for raises once their contracts expire. Adding to this recurring issue are the results from summers past. TJ Oshie, John Carlson, and Tom Wilson all have deals that are destined to age poorly, especially if the Caps’ Cup contention days are behind them.

This year the big contracts they need to dole out are restricted free agents Andre Burakovsky and Jakub Vrana, neither of whom would be on the cheap end. Additionally, Brett Connolly is hitting the open market, and at 27 years old, he’s in prime position to get a nice multi-year deal. Washington simply doesn’t have the cap space to retain those three players and fill the rest of the roster out on top of that.

If the Caps are going to keep the band together as long as they can, it may take some nifty moves to make it happen. They may need to cut bait with one just to keep things together. Additionally, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin’s contracts expire in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and those guys are Capitals for life, and should get paid well for their efforts. Teams with cap space should look to the Caps for some good gets.

4. St. Louis Blues

Cap Space: $18.733 million
Draft Picks: 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Ivan Barbashev (RFA), Oskar Sundqvist (RFA), Joel Edmundson (RFA), Jordan Binnington (RFA), Pat Maroon (UFA)
Plan: Hope Binnington can sign for cheap

If someone told you before this season that the biggest contract the St. Louis Blues will have to hand out this summer would be to Jordan Binnington, you’d scratch your head wondering who the heck is Jordan Binnington.

Now, after a stellar second half and playoff run, where he helped carry the team out from certain doom to winning the first Stanley Cup Final game in Blues history (which is a huge deal in St. Louis), he happens to be in line for a new contract.

He’s not alone. Joel Edmunson, Ivan Barbashev, and Oskar Sundqvist are also pending restricted free agents. Cult hero and local boy Pat Maroon is an unrestricted free agent, who may return home again for a pay cut, but should collect a raise for what he’s done with this team so far. On top of that, the Blues don’t have that many draft picks with which to help restock their prospect pool, so they have to work with what little they have for the future.

Considering the cap space they have and how much work they have to do for their starting goalie and a handful of role players, as well as filling out the rest of the roster, the Blues have a tough summer coming ahead after the adrenaline of the playoff run fizzles out. The ability of what they can do depends heavily on the deal Binnington gets, which can raise the more the Blues win.

3. Winnipeg Jets

Cap Space: $25.372 million
Draft Picks: 2nd, 4th, 5th
Important Free Agents: Patrik Laine (RFA), Kyle Connor (RFA), Jacob Trouba (RFA), Brandon Tanev (UFA), Kevin Hayes (UFA), Tyler Myers (UFA)
Plan: Pay the youngsters, get what you can out of a Trouba trade

Gone now are the days the Jets got top production off of rookie deals for two of their top players, Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor. Both are due for big contracts, as well as Jacob Trouba, who’s at his prime and just 25 years old. And we’re just getting started.

Kevin Hayes and Tyler Myers are both unrestricted free agents, and both will likely price the Jets out after they’re done signing their RFA’s. There are also several role players that aren’t expensive, but would add up after all is said and done.

Trouba is an interesting case, considering he’s had issues with negotiating with Winnipeg in previous summers, the point of holding out. It’d be interesting to see if the Jets simply cut ties and trade him to clear up space to sign one of their big UFA’s instead of Trouba, and get something in return for their efforts. Connor and Laine should eat up a healthy chunk of that cap space, so things can get tight.

The Jets still have a healthy showing of up and coming rookie talent in the pipes, so they’re still pretty well off even if they can’t re-up everyone. That doesn’t ease the loss of several good players, on top of only having a first round exit to show for it. The Jets have been buying for a couple of seasons now, and we know how that eventually comes back later on when it’s time to regroup. Kevin Cheveldayoff has his work cut out for him.

2. San Jose Sharks

Cap Space: $24.703 million
Draft Picks: 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th
Important Free Agents: Kevin Labanc (RFA), Timo Meier (RFA), Joonas Donskoi (UFA), Joe Pavelski (UFA), Joe Thornton (UFA), Gustav Nyquist (UFA), Erik Karlsson (UFA)
Plan: Figure out a backup plan for everyone leaving

The San Jose Sharks were this close. Many of us thought this was finally the year for them, but injuries caught up with them, and that was that. Now, a summer of dread in San Jose. Erik Karlsson leads a group of big unrestricted free agents coming from San Jose and may have already booked his ticket out of town based on a recent tweet.

Joe Pavelski still has high value and won’t come cheap. Gustav Nyquist looked great after picking him up from Detroit, and also would cost a good chunk of change. Joonas Donskoi is a fine piece but probably will get a deal elsewhere. Jumbo Joe Thornton may retire and may come back.

On top of that, Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc are restricted free agents, and are both deserving of a big raise each. Throw all that on top of trading away the first and second round picks this year, which means the Sharks will be quiet on the draft floor barring any trades.

This was going to happen regardless of the result from this year. We just didn’t know if the Sharks would win it all to make it worth the heavy cost, or if Erik Karlsson would stay in town past this year to lock it down for future runs.

For now, we know the Sharks are expensive, top heavy, and getting older. It remains to be seen what their ultimate strategy is for this off-season, but however you slice it, it’s not going to be pretty.

1. Columbus Blue Jackets

Cap Space: $32.743 million
Draft Picks: 3rd, 7th
Important Free Agents: Zach Werenski (RFA), Ryan Murray (RFA), Joonas Korpisalo (RFA), Ryan Dzingel (UFA), Matt Duchene (UFA), Artemi Panarin (UFA), Sergei Bobrovsky (UFA)
Plan: Who are we kidding?

Surprise! The Columbus Blue Jackets are here at the top. Considering all they have going on, this was expected. They traded away nearly their entire 2019 draft for this season, and while they may have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in playoff history, they did little else.

Now, the major pieces of their core are free to sign anywhere they want. Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky have had their bags packed for a while, so forget about them. Matt Duchene has potential to be retained but would cost precious money and 2020’s first round pick (and only pick in the first three rounds). Ryan Dzingel is a local boy and half as expensive, so he could come back.

Additionally, Zach Werenski, a 21-year-old blue line stud, is a restricted free agent and is due a shiny new contract. Ryan Murray’s contract also expires and he’s a restricted free agent as well and should get a fair amount of paper with his arbitration rights. Let’s throw on top of that their other two goalies, Joonas Korpisalo and Keith Kinkaid, are also free agents (Korpisalo is restricted, Kinkaid is not).

This looks like it could be an off-season from hell for Columbus if things play out poorly. With so many big pieces potentially leaving, the Jackets are going to have to fill that production somehow, something that’s nearly impossible to do as things stand. It won’t get that much better the next couple of summers either after Pierre-Luc Dubois’s rookie contract ends and Josh Anderson’s contract expires. But hey, they won that playoff round, right?