Free Agency

Well here we are, more off season signings and trades. The NHL free agency started yesterday at noon (at the time this was written) and a lot has happened since then, but there are some signings that are more important than others. There’s been a lot of excitement and tension of who was going to sign where and when the fans would find out

First off, I knew Letang was going to resign with the Penguins but I’m shocked how he signed a 6 year deal at the age of 35, he’s going to play until he’s 41, only a few players have been able to play in their 40’s like the great legends of the game such as Jaromír Jagr, currently at the age of fifty, Martin Brodeur and Joe Thornton.

Let’s first mention the more important signings that have happened. The big one being Johnny Guadreau leaving the Calgary Flames and signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets over the other front runners for him that included the New Jersey Devils because he’s from New Jersey and the New York Islanders. He signed a 7 year deal with the Franchise. The long time New York Ranger Ryan Strome signed a 5 year deal with the Anaheim Ducks as well as Frank Vatrano signing a 3 year deal with the Ducks as well. Josh Norris signed a 8 year extension contract with the Ottawa Senators. One of my favorite off season signings was Ondrej Palat signing a 5 year deal with the New Jersey Devils. I’m honestly glad we got him instead of Guadreau though. Calle Jarnkrok signed a 4 year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Reilly Smith signed a 3 year extension with the Vegas Golden Knights. Andre Burakovsky signed a 5 year deal with the Seattle Kraken just after winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche as well as Darcy Kuemper leaving the Avalanche to sign a 5 year deal with the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile Artturi Lehkonen signed a 5 year extension with the Avalanche. Vincent Trocheck signed a 7 year deal with the New York Rangers. Ilya Mikheyev signed a 4 year deal with the Vancouver Canucks. Josh Norris signed an 8 year extension with the Senators. Mason Marchment signed a 4 year deal with the Dallas Stars. David Perron signed a 2 year deal with the Detroit Red Wings as well as Dominik Kubalik. Andrew Copp also signed with the Red Wings on a 5 year deal. Nick Leddy signed a 4 year extension with the St. Louis Blues. Oskar Lindblom signed a 2 year deal with the San Jose Sharks. Jack Campbell signed a 5 year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. And another major one being Claude Giroux signing a 3 year deal with the Ottawa Senators.

Now let’s look at the trades that have happened as well. The biggest move was by far Brent Burns, the long time member of the San Jose Sharks being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes with Lane Pederson for Steven Lorentz and Goalie Eetu Makiniemi and a third round pick going to the Sharks. More recently Max Pacioretty also being traded to the Hurricanes along with Dylan Coglan for Future Considerations. Pavel Zacha was traded by the Devils to the Bruins for Erik Haula in a one for one deal. The Devils also sending defenseman Ty Smith and a 2023 3rd round pick to the Pittsburg Penguins for defenseman John Marino. The Penguins also sending defenseman Jeff Petry and Forward Ryan Poehling to the Montreal Canadians for Defenseman Mike Matheson and a 2023 4th round pick. Lastly, goalie Cam Talbot was traded to the Senators from the Wild for Filip Gustavsson also in a one for one deal.

That about wraps up the 2022 NHL off season for now from this week, we’ll see if anything else happens later on including where the top remaining unrestricted free agents will land that includes Phil kessel, Paul Stastny, Keith Yandle, P.K Subban, Nazem Kauri, and John Klingberg.