The NHL has seemingly entered its “rest period” of the offseason, in which all 31 general managers throw out their phones for a month and a half and sit on a lake somewhere. So while they kick back on a boat with a cold one, lets review how the general managers in the Central Division have fared so far this summer in relation to the hometown Minnesota Wild.
Trending Up
Dallas Stars
Who’s in: F Alex Radulov, F Martin Hanzal, D Marc Methot, G Ben Bishop, HC Ken Hitchcock
Who’s out: G Antti Niemi, F Ales Hemsky, D Johnny Oduya, HC Lindy Ruff
There might not be a team who has had a more prolific offseason than the Dallas Stars, who has made big move after big move to bolster their team after missing the postseason last year. First, Lindy Ruff was let go as head coach and replaced by former Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who had a nice previous history with the Stars as well. The Stars then kicked off the NHL offseason by trading for Ben Bishop and then signing him to a six-year contract to bring a bit more stability to their goal. General manager Jim Nill also brought in Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot by way of the Vegas Golden Knights, to help fill a much-needed void on defense. When free agency opened, the Stars struck big as Alex Radulov and Martin Hanzal were brought aboard to add to an already formidable group of forwards. With this offseason, the Stars sure have lined themselves up nicely to make a run at another Central Division title in 2017-18.
General manager Jim Nill also brought in Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot by way of the Vegas Golden Knights, to help fill a much-needed void on defense. When free agency opened, the Stars struck big as Alex Radulov and Martin Hanzal were brought aboard to add to an already formidable group of forwards. With this offseason, the Stars sure have lined themselves up nicely to make a run at another Central Division title in 2017-18.
Winnipeg Jets
Who’s In: G Steve Mason, D Dmitry Kulikov, F Michael Sgarbossa
Who’s Out: F Chris Thorburn, D Paul Postma, G Ondrej Pavelec
They might not jump off the page at you, but the Jets are a very much a team on the rise. They have one of the best group of top six forwards in the league, as once mentioned by Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau, lead by star sniper Patrik Laine. But as been the problem for a few years now, the Jets have struggled defensively and in goal. Winnipeg could never get out of the Ondrej Pavelec contract, and they even tried burying him in the minors last year so they could go with young netminders Michael Hutchinson and Connor Hellebuyck. That did not work out exactly as planned last year, and the Jets went into the offseason looking to add a veteran goaltender to the mix. Enter Steve Mason, who came off an uneven year with the Flyers, but has shown a bit more consistency than any of the previous Jets goaltenders. The Jets also signed defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to a questionable
Enter Steve Mason, who came off an uneven year with the Flyers, but has shown a bit more consistency than any of the previous Jets goaltenders. The Jets also signed defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to a questionable three-year contract to help the back end. If these moves pay off for Winnipeg, they will definitely be in the mix for a playoff spot next year.
Neutral
Minnesota Wild
Who’s In: F Tyler Ennis, F Marcus Foligno, D Kyle Quincey, G Niklas Svedberg
Who’s Out: F Jason Pominville, D Marco Scandella, F Jordan Schroeder, F Tyler Graovac, G Darcy Kuemper
Minnesota entered the offseason needing to make a big offseason move after they suffered an embarrassing first-round playoff exit to St. Louis — its second consecutive first-round exit. General manager Chuck Fletcher finally made that move as he got out from under the Jason Pominville contract and sent the winger and defenseman Marco Scandella to Buffalo in exchange for forwards Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno. While this was a change, it remains to be seen if this ends up being a good change for Minnesota as Ennis and Foligno don’t exactly have track records that inspire confidence for Wild fans. Minnesota also parted ways with backup goaltender Darcy Kuemper and signed Niklas Svedberg from Europe to battle it out with Alex Stalock for the backup job. The Wild are reportedly interested in signing a forward or two to round out the bottom line (see: Matt Cullen and Drew
While this was a change, it remains to be seen if this ends up being a good change for Minnesota as Ennis and Foligno don’t exactly have track records that inspire confidence for Wild fans. Minnesota also parted ways with backup goaltender Darcy Kuemper and signed Niklas Svedberg from Europe to battle it out with Alex Stalock for the backup job. The Wild are reportedly interested in signing a forward or two to round out the bottom line (see: Matt Cullen and Drew Stafford), but are waiting on new contracts with restricted free agents Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Foligno.
Nashville Predators
Who’s In: C Nick Bonino, D Alexi Emelin, F Scott Hartnell
Who’s Out: C Collin Wilson
Outside of the Nick Bonino signing, it has been a relatively quiet offseason for the defending Western Conference Champions. The Preds had a few restricted free agents (Pontus Aberg, Viktor Arvidsson, Austin Watson) who needed to be locked up, which has kept general manager David Poille busy since mid-June. The only player left without a contract for the new season is Ryan Johansen, who is reportedly asking for quite a large sum of money. With just about the same roster returning to “Smashville” this fall, expect the Preds to be a force in the Central Division once again. The only question on this team will be in goal, as Pekka Rinne continues to age and shows that a bit too much (see: Stanley Cup Final).
Trending Down
Chicago Blackhawks
Who’s In: D Connor Murphy, F Brandon Saad, F Patrick Sharp, F Tommy Wingels, F Lance Bouma
Who’s Out: G Scott Darling, D Niklas Hjalmarsson, F Artemi Panarin, F Marcus Kruger
It’s been a curious offseason for the Blackhawks. They first shipped out Niklas Hjalmarsson, one of the better defensive defensemen in hockey, to Arizona in exchange for Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin. The move couldn’t even be classified as a salary dump for the Blackhawks, as Chicago only saved a bit under $300,000 with this deal. Then later in the day, general manager Stan Bowman decided to roll the dice on a trade once again as he traded with the Columbus Blue Jackets with Artemi Panarin and Brandon Saad being the main pieces there.
The hope is that Saad will be able to get Jonathan Toews going again, as the center had a down season last year which was further blown up by the Blackhawks’ first round sweep at the hands of Nashville. It’s hard to see what Chicago did here as a step up. The Hjalmarsson trade has made a questionable defense even more questionable now, and who knows if Anton Forsberg (acquired in the Saad trade) will provide the same kind of backup value that Scott Darling (traded to Carolina) did to Corey Crawford. If you’re not a big fan of Chicago, then you are definitely a fan of this offseason.
It’s hard to see what Chicago did here as a step up. The Hjalmarsson trade has made a questionable defense even more questionable now, and who knows if Anton Forsberg (acquired in the Saad trade) will provide the same kind of backup value that Scott Darling (traded to Carolina) did to Corey Crawford. If you’re not a big fan of Chicago, then you are definitely a fan of this offseason.
St. Louis Blues
Who’s In: F Brayden Schenn, F Chris Thorburn, F Beau Bennett
Who’s Out: F Jori Lehtera, F Ryan Reeves
The St. Louis Blues would have the most underwhelming offseason award all wrapped up, except the next team down the list is a runaway winner with that. St. Louis made a draft day trade for Brayden Schenn, in which they questionably sent a conditional first round pick back to Philadelphia as part of the trade (maybe just for them to take Jori Lehtera off their hands?). But other than that trade, and the draft day trade that sent Ryan Reeves to Pittsburgh for a first round pick (!!!),
But other than that trade, and the draft day trade that sent Ryan Reeves to Pittsburgh for a first round pick (!!!), it’s been a very quiet offseason for St. Louis. They locked up Colton Parayko the other day, which was good, but otherwise, it’s been a sleeper down in the Gateway City. Oh, for whatever reason, they signed Chris Thorburn to a two-year deal. Maybe assistant coach Steve Ott needed someone to coach grit to.
Yuck
Colorado Avalanche
Who’s In: C Collin Wilson, G Jonathan Bernier, F Nail Yakupov, F Matt Nieto
Who’s Out: D Francois Beauchemin,
What are they doing? No seriously. Joe Sakic knows how to pick up a phone, right?
Matt Duchene and Gabe Landeskog were supposed to be traded this offseason. They have yet to get moved. Maybe if Sakic wasn’t telling teams about the faults of his players, he might have made a move by now but here we are. This is beyond a bad offseason for Colorado. You can pencil them in as having top two odds in the next draft lottery and probably the one after too. When your team was historically bad, you might want to make a few more changes than this.
Never Miss an Episode of Giles & The Goalie!
