The 2023-24 NHL offseason strikes quick. Contemplate the next: The Florida Panthers had not but even hoisted the Stanley Cup when the wheels of participant motion have been set in movement final month. Solely lately has the leaguewide flurry of signings and trades began to decelerate.
By now, although, only a few productive veterans — names equivalent to Daniel Sprong, James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk — stay unsigned. So with most of this summer season’s greatest dominoes having fallen, let’s do some offseason accounting. Utilizing final season’s targets above alternative (GAR) totals, we’ll be wanting on the groups that picked up essentially the most internet worth (from additions minus subtractions) by way of trades, free agent signings, retirements and different strikes because the finish of the 2023-24 common season.
This would possibly not take into consideration rookies — so No. 1 draft choose Macklin Celebrini will not have any earlier GAR to contribute to the San Jose Sharks — nevertheless it ought to in any other case give a very good sense for which groups boosted their expertise base, and who should change manufacturing from a 12 months in the past.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are an awesome case examine in each areas, for instance: They picked up Jake Guentzel from the Carolina Hurricanes in a commerce, however in addition they stated goodbye to captain and franchise icon Steven Stamkos. Between these and different strikes, the Bolts got here out just about precisely even on internet GAR — rating sixteenth out of 32 groups.
How do the opposite 31 groups grade out? Let’s unpack among the groups at every finish of the spectrum, after which reveal the complete rankings:
Bounce to:Groups that added worth | Groups that misplaced valueFull rankings for all 32 groups
Six groups that gained most worth since final season
2023-24 GAR: 12.0 (thirty first) | Offense: minus-13.2 (thirty second)Protection: 18.6 (twenty ninth) | Goalies: 6.6 (twenty third)
High additions (GAR): F Teuvo Teravainen (12.3), G Laurent Brossoit (10.4), LW Tyler Bertuzzi (7.2), D TJ Brodie (5.4), F Ilya Mikheyev (3.6), C Craig Smith (3.3), D Alec Martinez (3.2)High losses (GAR): C Sam Lafferty* (3.6), Colin Blackwell (0.5)
Regardless of the play of Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard, no crew wanted extra assistance on offense final season than Chicago, which completed final in scoring at a sub-replacement stage 2.17 targets per sport. So the Blackhawks picked up Teravainen and Bertuzzi, each of whom have been 20-plus purpose scorers final season — they usually additionally merely gained by subtraction, with a lot of their most unproductive forwards from a 12 months in the past (Taylor Raddysh, MacKenzie Entwistle, Reese Johnson) going elsewhere.
A porous protection that allowed the league’s fifth-most pictures per sport also needs to profit from the addition of the veteran Brodie, and Brossoit will make for a stable tandem in internet with Petr Mrazek. The Blackhawks ought to be among the many most improved groups within the NHL subsequent season.
Web Off. GAR: plus-30.6 (1st) | Web Def. GAR: plus-15.5 (1st) | Web Goalie GAR: plus-10.4 (4th)
(*Chicago acquired the negotiating rights to Lafferty however was unable to re-sign him.)
