Many questions have surrounded this year’s offseason for the National Hockey League, as a global pandemic has forced teams to deal with a flat salary cap, a shortened and delayed free agency, and uncertainty surrounding team and league revenue. However, despite rumors about a potentially slow start to communications between teams, free agency began on Friday, October 9 at noon, and has since then facilitated many significant changes to the landscape of the league.
Goaltenders in particular were the hot topic on the first day of free agency. Henrik Lundqvist, the New York Rangers’ legendary netminder that had been bought out on September 30, signed a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals worth $1.5 million. The Capitals had just lost a long-time goaltender and franchise icon of their own, Braden Holtby, who was an unrestricted free agent this year after being with the team since they drafted him in 2008. Holtby is now with the Vancouver Canucks on a two-year, $8.6 million contract. In addition to the signings by Lundqvist and Holtby, the goalie-heavy free agency has also included thus far a deal between Cam Talbot and the Minnesota Wild, a whopping four-year extension for the Ottawa Senators and Matt Murray (who had recently been acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh), a contract between Corey Crawford and the New Jersey Devils, and one between Jacob Markstrom and the Calgary Flames. The only notable goaltenders who opted to stay with their current teams are Anton Khudobin, who signed a three-year extension with the Dallas Stars, and Mike Smith, who inked a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers.
Among NHL skaters, there were plenty of monumental moves. The first of which to shake the hockey world was defenseman Torey Krug leaving the Boston Bruins to sign with their old foe from the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, the Saint Louis Blues. Krug’s departure from Boston was expected, but not so much was his decision to sign with a rival team, particularly one that allegedly had intentions to sign an extension with their long-time captain and blueliner, Alex Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo himself is in the process of inking a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, who look to make a trade in order to clear up cap space for Pietrangelo. In other unexpected developments of free agency, recent Stanley Cup champion Kevin Shattenkirk signed with the Anaheim Ducks, and the Rangers made a puzzling move to sign maligned ex-Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson to a one-year deal amidst their promising rebuild. Right winger Tyler Toffoli also grabbed a four-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens worth $17 million, adding more scoring prowess to a young, fast team. Less surprising was Scarborough native Wayne Simmonds’ decision to return home to Toronto; his signing with the Maple Leafs not only brings them the leadership and heart that they need, but also offers hope for a fanbase that has long expected more out of their team.
The most anticipated event of this year’s free agency, however, was Taylor Hall’s contract, and while it did not disappoint, it certainly surprised many hockey fans - Hall signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres, a completely different course of action than what many fans expected. Some see this move as a contradiction to Hall’s statement prior to free agency, when he said that his priority was “pretty much all winning”; the Buffalo Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010-2011 season, and are dealing with internal issues regarding their star player, Jack Eichel. However, Hall and Eichel are a forward pairing straight from hockey fans’ dreams, and there is reasonable hope that Hall will be a good fit and finally bring a historically underperforming Buffalo team to the postseason.
More moves are likely to come in this unusual free agency, and it remains to be seen what the likes of Zdeno Chara, Evgenii Dadonov, or Mike Hoffman will do. Expect to see trades between teams in order to find space to make signings within limited cap space, and several teams like Toronto, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, and Washington continuing to make big changes to their roster to stay in playoff contention. In the meantime, the trades and signings we have seen so far give hockey fans much to speculate about for the NHL’s upcoming season.
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