NHL Free Agency 2019: Biggest winners and losers from Day 1

Winner: Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators have been coveting Matt Duchene for quite some time. But he’s alluded them for a while. On July 1, 2019, the Predators finally caught their white whale, signing him to a seven-year deal worth $8 million annually.

That’s honestly a bargain considering what Kevin Hayes got from the Philadelphia Flyers. A good portion of that is allocated to signing bonuses too. But the Predators did what they needed to do to get the second-line center they’ve wanted for years. It saves them some face for the P.K. Subban trade, though signing Duchene doesn’t change how bad the return for him was.

They concluded their day by signing Daniel Carr, who has had a lot of success in the AHL, for one year and $700,000. The Predators need more offense. Signing one of the AHL’s most prolific scorers could help there.

Loser: Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning and the first day of free agency go together like Diet Coke and Mentos. He’s made bad decisions every year on July 1. This year, Benning continued that tradition.

Signing Jordie Benn is fine. I’m surprised he only got two years and $2 million per year. That’s actually a pretty darn good bargain. Heck, even Oscar Fantenberg (one year, $850,000) was a low-key nice signing.

The issue is Benning also signed Tyler Myers to a five-year deal worth $30 million. Signing an aging defenseman to that deal negates the good things the Canucks did to start free agency in 2019.

Yes, the deal is better than the reported $8 million a year he was looking for. But let’s be honest. Maybe the Canucks leaked that number so they could make themselves look better for overpaying Myers in the first place. Even if this wasn’t the case, Vancouver now has a contract that could be an albatross very soon.