Winners and Losers Behind Historic Free Agency Frenzy
Written by Casey Ditzel
Monday, July 1 marked a record day for the NHL as 160 free agents signed new contracts amounting to a blistering $1.2 billion total. Tampa Bay and New Jersey made headlines on day two of the NHL Draft in Las Vegas, but Nashville stole the show on the first day of the free agency frenzy.
The Lightning’s long-time captain Steven Stamkos entered Monday without an extension. Stamkos and his team were allegedly offered a contract from Tampa Bay in the range of $3 million average annual value (AAV), which was wildly under the value he found on the open market and the value of a player who scored 40 goals last season and has eclipsed 80 points in three consecutive seasons. Almost immediately after the signing window opened, Nashville announced a four year, $8 million AAV contract confirming that the captain would not be returning to the Lightning. Tampa Bay quickly moved on from Stamkos, signing former Carolina Hurricane Jake Guentzel to a seven year, $9 million AAV deal.
Nashville Predators
Nashville continued their push to add veteran offensive threats by signing another former Stanley Cup Champion, and 2023 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault, who led the Vegas Golden Knights in scoring last season. Marchessault is following a career high season after scoring 42 goals and recording 69 points for the Golden Knights. The Predators then snagged one of the top available defensemen to pair with Roman Josi, adding Brady Skjei from Carolina. Skjei was one of the quarterbacks for the Hurricanes’ powerplay who also had a career high season with 13 goals, 34 assists, and 47 points. After reaching the postseason, but struggling to find offense in the first round against Vancouver, the Predators’ free agency additions seem to fill the holes that prevented them from being serious Stanley Cup contenders. They now look forward to the 2024–25 season with hopes of returning as one of the top threats in the central division.
Toronto Maple Leafs
After a disappointing finish to their season in a first round exit to the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs quickly improved their roster with new signings. Former Head Coach Seldon Keefe was forced to move on, but the “core-four” of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner remains intact amid rumors that Marner might be moved via trade. Toronto closed the draft by trading for the rights to defenseman Chris Tanev, then signed the 34 year old to a six year, $4.5 million AAV contract. The Maple Leafs added a pair of Stanley Cup champions off the Florida Panthers’ roster, signing defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Anthony Stolarz. With the extension of Joseph Woll, Stolarz will complete their goaltending tandem next season which was an ongoing struggle for the team during the 2023–24 campaign. Toronto also re-signed Max Domi and Timothy Liljegren. Similar to Nashville, the Maple Leafs addressed their previous weaknesses by adding depth on the blue line and in the crease to raise their hopes of being a top contender next season.
Edmonton Oilers
Just one week removed from their appearance in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers already have their sights set on improvement. Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark both resigned after playing major roles in the team’s postseason success, especially while shorthanded. Brown had a slow start to the season while returning from an ACL injury, but found his form during the postseason. Janmark scored twice shorthanded during the Conference and Cup Finals. Edmonton also resigned veteran Corey Perry who scored a key goal in their Game 5 win over Florida. The Oilers then signed forwards Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson to solve their forward depth. Skinner is one year removed from an 82 point season, but was bought out of his contract by Buffalo after only recording 46 points this year. His one year, $3 million AAV addition to the Oilers could be a steal to get Canada their first Stanley Cup in 31 years. Arvidsson played only 18 games this year, recording 15 points, but reached 49 and 59 points in the previous two seasons.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks could be trending out of their rebuild after signing a few top names to accompany Connor Bedard next season. Teuvo Teravainen won the Stanley Cup in Chicago as a rookie with the Blackhawks. He rejoins the organization on a three year, $5.4 million contract following eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes. Chicago also added Tyler Bertuzzi, who will be playing for his fourth Original Six team next season. Both Teravainen and Bertuzzi have multiple NHL seasons with over 50 points. Veteran Alec Martinez signed a one-year deal to likely feature as a top pair defensive defenseman.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals have made their moves this offseason via trade rather than the open market. Before Monday, the Capitals had already made four significant trades to add assets. The first blockbuster was on June 19, where Washington acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois from Los Angeles for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. At 25 years old, Dubois has recorded over 40 points in six of his seven years in the NHL, and has three 60 point seasons. The Capitals then filled the missing spot of the former Stanley Cup goaltender, Kuemper, by adding another Stanley Cup Champion, Logan Thompson from Vegas. Washington used a 2025 second round draft pick to acquire Andrew Mangiapane from Calgary, another talented young forward with high scoring capability. On Monday, Washington traded with Ottawa adding one of the Senators’ best defensemen, Jakob Chychrun. Washington seemed to be on pace for regression after barely making the playoffs last season, but these aggressive offseason moves have put them in a position to remain a contender next year.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes were on the losing end of July 1st. Carolina had 20 players on a long list of free agents, 10 restricted and 10 unrestricted. On Monday, they watched five of their notable players sign with other teams, two within the same division. Both defenseman Brett Pesce and forward Stefan Noesen signed with the Metropolitan rival New Jersey Devils, joining former Carolina teammate Dougie Hamilton. Skjei and Teravainen also left for previously mentioned contracts with the Predators and Blackhawks, and Guentzel, who was an acquisition at the March trade deadline, was traded to Tampa Bay after talks fell through on an eight year deal with the Canes. Carolina had a very slow start to the free agency frenzy, resigning Jalen Chatfield and extending Jaccob Slavin on very team-friendly deals, but missed on many of the premium names available. They were able to sign Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere later in the day, a pair of defenseman that will solidify their top six, but still have some major pieces missing from the offense.
The New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche were other teams that had nearly non existent starts to their free agency. New York’s only move was in a trade that acquired Reilly Smith, who will be a solid asset in their bottom six forward depth. New York still has nearly $10 million in remaining cap to work with for the remainder of the season, and fortunately they do not have any star players leaving. Colorado is in a nightmare cap situation with Gabe Landeskog potentially returning from LT-IR with five years remaining on a $7 million AAV contract and Valeri Nichushkin in the NHL Player Assistance Program for the second time in two years while occupying six more years of a $6.125 million AAV deal. Yesterday, Colorado had 11 forwards, five defensemen, and two goalies signed with only $300k available in cap space. The Avalanche re-signed Jonathan Drouin and added Calvin de Haan, but have a major uphill battle to get to opening day under their allotted salary.
