Who were the most successful and least successful teams on the first day of 2020 NHL free agency?
The weirdest and most chaotic NHL free agency period of all-time is officially underway. Though the first day of free agency didn’t see the ridiculous spending of previous years, there were still moves that surprised everyone.
Thanks to the flat salary cap, there were only 83 signings, with $152,350,000 total being spent (as of 6:00 p.m. EST). Compare that to last summer, when there were 197 signings and $600,085,000 total being spent on the first day of free agency.
Let’s take a look at the five biggest winners and losers from the first day of free agency.
Winner: Anaheim Ducks
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The Anaheim Ducks went bargain shopping on day one and came out on top. Their best (and only) signing was Kevin Shattenkirk. Getting him for three years at a $3.9 million cap hit is highway robbery. Shattenkirk’s a legitimate top-four defenseman and should be great for the Ducks.
They’ve expressed interest in him for years and nearly signed him last offseason. The Ducks needed to address the right side of the blueline and they did it by signing the recent Stanley Cup Champion.
Loser: Alex Pietrangelo
It was a very rough day for Alex Pietrangelo. He saw one of his top suitors (the Toronto Maple Leafs) sign T.J. Brodie to a four-year deal worth $20 million. This likely takes them out of the running for Pietrangelo.
Later, he saw the St. Louis Blues sign Torey Krug to a seven-year deal worth $6.5 million a year. So now they’re likely out on him. Pietrangelo’s suitors are quickly disappearing and currently, the Vegas Golden Knights have under $2 million of cap space.
I thought someone unexpected might have to take a one-year deal in these crazy times. Could that someone be Pietrangelo?
Winner: Nashville Predators
Much like the Ducks, the Nashville Predators went to free agency Walmart to do some bargain shopping and left with very nice value. They basically remade their third defensive pairing by signing both Mark Borowiecki and Matt Benning to a combined $3 million a year (two years each).
On paper, that doesn’t sound like much. But I can’t stress how big of an improvement those two gentlemen are over what the Predators were trotting out last year. As an added bonus, the city of Nashville find themselves a new crime fighter – Borocop! Nick Cousins is a pretty good player too.
Loser: New York Rangers
Last year, the New York Rangers came out on top on day one of free agency by signing Artemi Panarin. This year, they’re arguably at the bottom because they decided to gainfully employ Jack Johnson, who is among the worst defensemen in the NHL. While Johnson’s deal is only for one year and worth $1 million, that’s still a really bad signing.
Rangers fans might think “Oh, there’s no way Johnson will play over [insert talented young defenseman], right?” Penguins fans and Blue Jackets fans can feel free to chuckle at anyone who thinks that.
Winner: Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets entered the first day of free agency needing to find a new top-six center, with Bryan Little very unlikely to play this year (or maybe ever again). Though the Jets didn’t sign anybody, they still managed to find a top-six center by trading for Paul Stastny of the Vegas Golden Knights. If everyone is healthy, they have one of the most gifted and talented top-six forward groups in the NHL.
Loser: Job Security
These troubling times had an effect on how teams signed players. Usually, teams are more than happy to hand out long-term deals (defined as three years or longer). But this offseason, only Christopher Tanev, Jacob Markstrom, and Torey Krug got long-term deals on the first day. Yes, there are still players like Taylor Hall and Alex Pietrangelo who will likely get long-term deals. But still.
Winner: Goalies
Goalies got some very nice contracts early in free agency. Henrik Lundqvist went to the Washington Capitals. Dobby was a free elf until Anton Khudobin re-signed with the Dallas Stars on a nice three-year deal that benefits both parties. Matt Murray signed a long-term deal with the Ottawa Senators. General managers were screaming “The goalie!” all day long.
Loser: Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames had an interesting day. It started off with signing Markstrom to a six-year deal worth $6 million. I’m a big fan of Markstrom and it’s terrific to see him get a long-term deal after everything he’s been through, but it’s not hard to see that deal blowing up in their face.
After this, the Flames saw T.J. Brodie get signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs. How did they respond? By signing Markstrom’s buddy Christopher Tanev to an asinine four-year, $18 million deal, of course. Two of the three long-term deals signed on the first day were signed by the Flames. Using it on two aging players was certainly a decision, albeit not a very good one.
Winner: Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs started off their day by bringing home home-town boy Wayne Simmonds. I’m not a fan of his $1.5 million price tag (would have preferred no more than $1.2 million), but I can’t wait to see Simmonds with the Leafs. Toronto’s gambling on him being healthy. If he is, he could easily be a bargain.
Though they gave Brodie a bit too many years, they really needed to add a defenseman for the right side and Brodie solves that need. All in all, a very nice day for the Maple Leafs.
Loser: The Fans
Yes, we’re always the losers. But especially today! All fans wanted were a few spicy moves. The spiciest thing we got was Krug to the Blues and that took until late in the evening. Corey Crawford to the New Jersey Devils was a bit spicy too, but it was “green pepper” spicy. Not “give your tongue third-degree burns” spicy, which is what fans were looking for.