DETROIT — This NHL offseason promised to be wild and woolly and, so far, hasn't disappointed.
Another flat salary cap has forced teams — and players — to adjust accordingly, with a flurry of movement. Some teams have taken advantage much more than others.
In many cases, teams had to let go of younger restricted free agents just to keep some older veterans they deemed more important. That deepened the free-agent class and some teams shrewdly took advantage.
All the while, there are still some intriguing players available, like Nazem Kadri, John Klingberg, Nino Niederreiter, Phil Kessel and Paul Stastny. Someone could be getting a nice bargain.
There have been interesting trades and the NHL entry draft, though tilted more toward the future, added spice, as usual, to this offseason.
So, which teams have done the best thus far this summer? And who hasn't fared as well on paper?
Here's a quick look at how this offseason has shaped up for the 32 NHL teams, with each category in alphabetical order:
Winners
— Anaheim: General manager Pat Verbeek has a promising, young roster on his hands and he deftly added to it with forwards Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano. The Ducks keep taking gradual, positive steps.
— Carolina: It sure has seemed like the Hurricanes have needed a certain veteran presence in their locker room, and forward Max Pacioretty and defenseman Brent Burns could be the answer. Losing Vincent Trocheck in free agency hurt, but Carolina's depth might be able to overcome it.
— Columbus: All you've heard in recent years is how players flee from Columbus, they don't want to play there. Well, the Blue Jackets signed the best free agent in this class, forward Johnny Gaudreau, and he might be able to push this team into a wild-card spot. Many scouting services loved the Jackets' draft, too.
— Detroit: GM Steve Yzerman addressed every need the Wings had, and the lineup is significantly deeper than it was a few weeks ago. Trading for goaltender Ville Husso also looks like a shrewd move right now.
— Edmonton: Getting forward Evander Kane was an important piece of business for GM Ken Holland and signing free-agent goalie Jack Campbell, though Campbell is largely unproven, might solidify the Oilers' troublesome goaltending.
— Minnesota: GM Bill Guerin continues to navigate a sticky salary cap situation quite well. Re-signing goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury settles that position and the Wild were able to get a decent prospect for salary cap casualty forward Kevin Fiala.
— Montreal: The Canadiens secured the No. 1 pick overall, forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who could be a star. They had a fine draft overall, acquired forward Kirby Dach and defenseman Mike Matheson in trades, and may not be done yet. The Canadiens have gotten younger and filled some holes. If goaltender Carey Price is healthy enough to play next season, the Canadiens could take a good-sized jump forward.
— Nashville: Acquiring defenseman Ryan McDonagh from cap-strapped Tampa was a shrewd add for GM David Poile, and re-signing Filip Forsberg keeps the Predators in playoff position.
— New Jersey: The Devils have been viewed as underachievers by many analysts, but signing a character player like Ondrej Palat might be a huge benefit on and off the ice. Adding defensemen John Marino and Brendan Smith will bolster that position. Getting key players back healthy will also be a huge factor.
— Ottawa: If you're a Senators fan, how can you not like what GM Pierre Dorion has done? Acquiring goal-scorer Alex DeBrincat for practically nothing, signing forward Claude Giroux, and trading for goaltender Cam Talbot have strengthened Ottawa. The defense needs tweaking, but this team could sneak into the playoffs.
— Pittsburgh: Being able to re-sign Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang was important on the ice and, frankly, for public relations as Penguins fans didn't want to see the longtime core torn apart. Defenseman Jeff Petry could turn out to be an important acquisition. This continues to be a dangerous playoff contender.
— Seattle: The Kraken had forward Shane Wright drop to them at fourth overall in the NHL Entry Draft, which could turn out to be a glorious night in franchise history. A motivated, driven Wright could lead this young franchise to bigger and better days in the future.
— Vancouver: Signing forward Ilya Mikheyev, maybe one of the more underrated players in this free-agent class, was good work by GM Patrik Allvin, who also may have gotten an unheralded piece in signing forward Dakota Joshua. Many analysts liked the Canucks' draft, too.
— Washington: Forward Dylan Strome was a player many teams liked when Chicago didn't give him a qualifying offer. Strome should plug the hole Nicklas Backstrom (hip) leaves, for maybe much of the season. The Capitals also got better in net with Stanley Cup-winning goalie Darcy Kuemper. The Capitals have to overcome some lingering offseason surgeries, but they should be fine in the long term.
Stayed the same
— Arizona: The Coyotes are moving to a junior hockey-sized rink on Arizona State's campus, which should be fine because this team hasn't gotten appreciably better. Maybe even worse, if that's possible.
— Boston: Acquiring forward Pavel Zacha for forward Erik Haula doesn't move the needle much. They key for Boston is making sure forwards Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are signed. The veterans have hinted they'll be in Boston for training camp, but they haven't officially signed contracts.
— Buffalo: The Sabres had a bountiful draft night (three first-round picks) but the fruits of that won't be known for a few more years. Signing defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin was a nice move, but overall this is a roster that simply needs to keep maturing. This wasn't a bad team late last season.
— Colorado: The Stanley Cup champs lost goaltender Kuemper but filled that void by acquiring Alexandar Georgiev. The Avalanche have re-signed enough of their own free agents that they shouldn't miss a beat next season.
— Dallas: At the very least, the Stars remain a playoff team. They're still in the mix to re-sign Klingberg and signing forward Mason Marchment could turn out to be a shrew move by GM Jim Nill.
— Los Angeles: The Kings took care of their own business, re-signing some key free agents, and acquired Fiala (though the term and money are concerning). This is another roster that simply needs to mature and keep getting better.
— N.Y. Islanders: It sure seemed like GM Lou Lamoriello needed to do more of a housecleaning than he's done to this point. Gaudreau would have added spark and energy to a roster that's getting old and stale.
— N.Y. Rangers: The Eastern Conference finalists lost Georgiev and Strome, but filled Strome's spot nicely with Trocheck. The Rangers are young and very good, and you keep hearing about adding Patrick Kane from Chicago before next season's trade deadline.
— Toronto: The Maple Leafs continue to have one of this era's most talented collection of forwards, a good-enough defense, and yet the goaltending remains a large riddle. Newcomers Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov get their chance to push the Leafs to the next level.
— Winnipeg: Similar to the Islanders, you waited for the Jets to make a move that shook things up and maybe added a bit of youth, but it just hasn't happened.
Losers
— Calgary: Losing a player of Gaudreau's magnitude and the way it happened, what a gut punch. It weakens the Flames, for sure. But if Calgary manages to sign Kadri, well, maybe the punch doesn't hurt quite as much.
— Chicago: It's dumbfounding what this organization is doing. The Blackhawks will challenge Arizona for the worst roster in the NHL. The next questions are what are they going to do with forward Jonathan Toews and Kane before the trade deadline?
— Florida: The Panthers lost a significant amount of depth via free agency and, on paper, didn't adequately replace it. There are some big re-signings coming up, too. This is still a quality team, but they aren't winning the Presidents' Trophy again this season.
— Philadelphia: What a letdown. The Flyers were expected to be the chase for hometown favorite Gaudreau and never really came close to signing him. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo helps, but the forward group remains in need of bolstering.
— San Jose: New GM Mike Grier has so much work to do and began the process with at least giving most of Burns' contract to Carolina. But the return seemed a bit low, and the roster remains past its prime for the most part.
— St. Louis: GM Doug Armstrong re-signed former Red Wing defenseman Nick Leddy and signed former Detroit goaltender Thomas Greiss, while trading Husso to the Wings and watching forward David Perron sign in Detroit. It'll be fascinating to see who comes out better. On paper, at least for now, it's not St. Louis.
— Tampa Bay: Locking up defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak and forward Anthony Cirelli for long-term contracts was good work. But because of cap restrictions, losing defenseman McDonagh and Palat and replacing them with Ian Cole (Ann Arbor) and former Wing Vladislav Namestnikov is a small net loss.
— Vegas: The mismanagement of the salary cap is startling and alarming. Just giving away Fleury last summer and Pacioretty this summer for nothing in return is embarrassing. This roster missed the playoffs last season and returning to the postseason next year isn't assured.
