NHL OFF SEASON GRADES

NHL Off Season Report Cards

 September means our summer of discontent is over, the puck drops soon enough. Here’s my off season grades.

EAST-

METRO-

Pittsburgh- A- The  Penguins made a big splash by taking Toronto’s disgruntled scoring star Phil Kessel. Turning Brandon Sutter into Nick Bonino and Eric Fehr may have saved GM Jim Rutherford’s job. Not replacing Paul Martin’s 25 + minutes of quality defense was a big mistake though.

NY Rangers- C- Rangers fans saw the Blue Shirts take other teams AHL garbage and not replace goalie King Henry superb back up Cam Talbot. Jared Stoll’s signing was a rare positive in what has been a disastrous off season and that’s only if Stoll overcomes his personal problems. Marty St Louis retired. Carl Hagelin was traded for Emerson Etem to give the Rangers some size though Hagelin’s timely goals will be missed.

 Philly- C- A team known for a making big changes made very small ones and is a long way from being a playoff team. Michal Neuvith  is an upgrade over Ray Emery for back up goalteander  and losing meat head Zac Rinaldo has to be a plus. On the bright side Captain Claude Giroux didn’t assault a cop or break his hand golfing.

 Columbus - A Columbus added Brandon Saad, a great young talented forward. They gave up three forwards productive forwards Artem  Anisimov, Marko Danno  and Corey Tropp but Columbus now has something they’ve never had a bona fide big time winner.  

NYI- C+ The Islanders added Thomas Greiss to play backup goaltender, not a huge move but a needed one because starter Jaroslav Halak is no iron man. The skaters can be tweaked in season when their needs are more glaring because this team is a deadline deal away from real Stanley Cup contention.

New Jersey - C-  The Devils new GM Ray Shero added Kyle Palmieri, a nice pick up but he needs about fifteen more to turn this franchise around. Lou Lamoriello is now in Toronto so New Jersey not only needs to find goals they need to find a heart and soul.

Carolina  –  C-  Eddie Lack will now be facing a hurricane of pucks in Carolina. GM Ron Francis is hanging on to the Staals like his favorite t shirts  and like old t shirts pretty soon they can only be used for rags.

Washington- A + The Capitals, who never win big games signed Mr. Game 7 Justin Williams.  Goal scorer T J Oshie should flourish in a new environment.  When Braden Holtby signed a very reasonable contract to play net at a Vezina level this summer was a hat trick for Caps fans.

ATLANTIC-

Detroit- B+ Budding star Gustav Nyquist has been secured for the future and Brad Richards bring his wealth of skill and leadership to a proud franchise in transition. New coach Jeff Blashill will bring a new energy to this group of very talented youngsters. Mike Green can be a plus on the blue line if he’s not asked to play too much defense.

Ottawa- C- The Senators only move was dump goalie Robin Lehner who was expendable. The Senators are drinking their own Kool Aid.

Toronto- B+ Toronto installed a Hall of Fame management team with Lou Lamoriello as GM and Mike Babcock as Head Coach.  Shawn Matthias  and PA Parenteau can help but the latter will not be around when the Leafs are finally good.

Boston- D+ Boston off season makes you wonder if they think Connor McDavid is in next year’s draft. Milan Lucic was the Big Bad Bruins and Gregory Campbell was always a good soldier in Boston. I didn’t understand why they let the serviceable Carl Soderberg go but Matt Beleskey was a nice addition.  The addition of Zac Rinaldo makes no sense.

Florida- B  This talented team only needs to gain experience. The Panthers kept the immortal Jaromir Jagr to help guide them on their journey to greatness.

Tampa Bay- B  The Eastern Conference champs held steady. Steve Yzerman knows what he’s doing.

Buffalo- B-   Ryan O Reilly came to town looked around and got a DUI. Robin Lehner gives the Sabres a competent goalie and they will need him to a great them under Disco Dan Bylsma’s porous system. Jack Eichel is a nice silver medal though.

Montreal - B  The Habs lost middle weight Brandon Prust but acquired heavyweight Zack Kassain. He will play well under Mike Therrien the question is will the mercurial Alex Semin.

WEST-

CENTRAL-

Chicago – B+  It’s hard giving a positive grade to a team that lost Brandon Saad but I like what they got in return. Anisimov is a big second line center (needed in the West), Danno can score and Tropp is a large individual.  Trading Patrick Sharp to a division rival was risky but Ryan Garbut is full of grit and Trevor Daley is a younger Johnny Oduya with more offense but maybe not as durable

Winnipeg – B When your franchise is on the rise don’t fix what isn’t broke.

Dallas- A   Antti Niemi will give the Stars a much needed number one goalie, sorry Kari Lehtonen.  Patrick Sharp gives the ultra talented young forwards a leader and Johnny Oduya gives the blue line someone who is defensively responsible.

St Louis- C The Blues secured their best player Vlad Tarasenko for years to come and dropped the underachieving T J Oshie but all of the overrated defensemen are still there as well as coach Captain Kangaroo Ken Hitchcock.

Minnesota- B-  The Wild locked up goalie Devan Dubnyk long term and made no mistakes. Unfortunately the Wild the Av and Stars both got much better.

Colorado-  A The Avs got exactly what they needed a big, steady top pair defenseman in Francois Beauchemin .Versatile  top nine forward Carl Soderberg from Boston for nothing was an added bonus. ****

Nashville- C The Predators needed more help up front and only marginally added to their already strong defense with Barrett Jackman

PACIFIC-

Los Angeles  –  B  You would think that acquiring Milan Lucic would give the Kings an automatic A but they lost reliable backup goalie Martin Jones and did not pick up a top four defenseman.

Anaheim -  B   The Ducks got tough and steady defenseman Kevin Bieksa  to replace Francois Beauchemin and Carl Hagelin to replace Matt Beleskey. Chris Stewart could turn his career around if he emulates the leaders on this Cup or bust team.  BBQ Bruce Boudreau is still their coach at least until Thanksgiving when coach in waiting Paul McClain in ready.

Vancouver – D  Vancouver lost defenseman Bieksa and forwards Bonino, Matthias and Kassian and went out and got the only Sutter sister. Sorry Brandon.

San Jose- A-  The Sharks acquired the underrated Paul Martin so their defense is improved. Martin Jones will play good to great in net. Joel Ward’s go to the net skill is an excellent addition. There are a lot of positives  but Thorton and Marleau are still on the team,

Calgary  - B-   Calgary’s big move was to give the overrated Dougie Hamilton too much money and crowd their already solid blue line core. I do like the addition of forward Michael Frolik though.

Edmonton- A+ Super job by Edmonton. They finally got a few capable defensemen.  Andrej Sekera is a top four and Eric Gryba who’s a big thumper and can protect those talented kiddie forwards. The Oilers also got Cam Talbot ,their first good goaltender in a generation. Oh. I almost forgot  Conor McDavid.

Arizona - F  John Scott is a sideshow, Zybnyk Michalek is a orange traffic cone and Steve Downey is due to implode.

**** Disclaimer, I did not address the Patrick Kane situation