NHL Offseason Grades for All 32 Teams

The 2022-23 NHL season won’t begin for another two months, but the majority of offseason moves have already been made. Other than a few last-minute depth signings and the fate of Nazem Kadri, we now have a clear idea of what each roster will look like this season. An offseason is evaluated based on an organization’s execution of a strategy that helps the team improve on the ice in 2022-23 and in future seasons.

A+: Columbus Blue Jackets

General manager (GM) Jarmo Kekäläinen acknowledged the unforgiving nature of the NHL and refused to sit around through a long-term rebuild while traditional powerhouses dominate the Metropolitan Division. The landmark signing of Johnny Gaudreau announced Columbus as an NHL destination, and the former Calgary Flame will team up with Patrik Laine for a lethal complement on the top line next season. The cost of doing business was Oliver Bjorkstrand, but a team that needed major additions to compete with the league’s best had to be willing to withstand the casualty. 

A: Detroit Red Wings

Steve Yzerman is finally loading up in his fourth season back in Detroit. The “Yzerplan” included handing out contracts to Ben Chiarot, Andrew Copp, and David Perron, three players who have made headlines in recent Stanley Cup Playoffs, heading into the first year under head coach Derek Lalonde. The acquisition of Ville Husso will complement Alex Nedeljkovic in a goaltending tandem.

The organization was due to upgrade from departures Danny DeKeyser, Sam Gagner, and Marc Staal. Depth additions Dominik Kubalik, Olli Maatta, and Robert Hägg will slot into manageable roles. One year after the Eastern Conference playoff race was historically uncompetitive, the Red Wings have as good of a chance as any team to steal a playoff spot from the eight that qualified last year. Detroit has been irrelevant to the NHL landscape long enough.

A: Ottawa Senators

The acquisitions of Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux made the Senators one of the big winners of the offseason. The young talent assembled in recent seasons like Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk, and Thomas Chabot will now have a better chance to develop on an even playing field with their opponents. Veteran goaltender Cam Talbot provides an upgrade over Matt Murray, and the Senators have announced a new era and finally established themselves as formidable competition to be taken seriously against the traditional powers of the Atlantic Division.

A-: Los Angeles Kings

The Kings transitioned into a new era in 2021-22 with the help of newcomer Phillip Danault and a breakout season from Adrian Kempe. The addition of Kevin Fiala to the top line could help them take another step beyond just a team who snuck into the playoffs in a weak division. The move to bring in a point-per-game player from the Minnesota Wild cost them their first-round pick, but the forfeiture and the retirement of Dustin Brown are minimal setbacks in an otherwise hopeful situation in Los Angeles.  

A-: Seattle Kraken

The Kraken caused hockey fans everywhere to scratch their heads last summer. Their lack of aggressive moves in the expansion draft burned them in a rough first season, but GM Ron Francis will hope his patience pays off this year. He added André Burakovsky, who finished with 61 points in the regular season in 2021-22, to a team whose leading scorer Jared McCann only notched 50 points. The acquisition of Bjorkstrand, who totaled 57 points last season, for minimal draft compensation indicates a more active strategy in the second season in Seattle.

Matty Beniers showed promise with nine points in 10 NHL games last season, and the Kraken might ultimately have stumbled onto the biggest steal of the draft in 2022 when Shane Wright slipped to the fourth spot. If the two youngsters can contribute to a more balanced lineup, goaltender Philipp Grubauer might not be exposed as painfully as he was in 2021-22. While there’s still work to be done, Francis lands just below the top GMs this summer.

B+: Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes lost key pieces Vincent Trochek, Nino Niederreiter, and Tony DeAngelo from a team that finished first in the Metropolitan Division in 2021-22. However, the organization has proven its ability to survive major turnover. Just look at the loss of Nedeljkovic last offseason and the flawless transition to Frederik Andersen in between the pipes.

When the offseason shuffle looked like it wouldn’t favor Carolina, GM Don Waddell creatively maneuvered back into the conversation as a division favorite by acquiring Brent Burns for a minimal package and taking Max Pacioretty off the hands of the cap-strapped Vegas Golden Knights. The 37-year-old Burns could rejuvenate his career next to Jaccob Slavin to an even greater extent than DeAngelo did in 2021-22. The acquisition of a proven goal-scorer in Pacioretty helps offset the key losses up front. The impressive swindle also landed the Hurricanes with depth pieces Dylan Coghlan and Ondrej Kase for a team with a wide-open Stanley Cup window.

B+: Montreal Canadiens

First-overall pick Juraj Slafkovský will likely begin the 2022-23 season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), but the addition of 21-year-old Kirby Dach provides young talent ready to make the jump to the NHL. Mike Matheson and Evgenii Dadonov will also help stabilize the franchise after arguably its worst season in over a century of existence. Jeff Gorton’s attempt to resurrect the Habs had to include some casualties, and the losses of Jeff Petry and Alexander Romanov won’t devastate a franchise with eyes on contending after 2022-23.

B+: Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks retained Bruce Boudreau and held onto J.T Miller after long periods of speculation that both would be out the door. They decided to forego any splashy offseason signings in favor of the confidence that resetting after their disastrous start to 2021-22 could lead to a better future. After Boudreau stepped behind the bench on Dec. 5, Vancouver had the second-best point percentage of all Pacific teams (from The Athletic, “Bruce Boudreau to return as Canucks head coach for 2022-23 season,” 5/13/22). The additions of Ilya Mikheyev and Curtis Lazar will help them back into playoff contention. Jonathan Lekkerimäki was also an excellent first-round pick, while the Canucks oddly found another Elias Pettersson in the third round.

B+: Nashville Predators

David Poile addressed priority number one this offseason in Nashville by locking up Filip Forsberg to an eight-year contract after the 27-year-old’s career year in 2021-22. They added Niederreiter to an affordable contract and an aging Ryan McDonagh to an organization that utilizes defensemen better than anyone. The losses of Nick Cousins, Matt Benning, and Luke Kunin will be withstandable.

Nashville should be encouraged just over a year removed from conversations about Poile selling off all veterans to start a long-term rebuild. Their draft results didn’t necessarily suffer after putting a competitive product on the ice either, as 5-foot-9 Finnish winger Joakim Kemell fell into their laps at 17th overall after some draft analysts projected him as high as the top five. 

B+: Dallas Stars

The Stars hired retread Peter DeBoer and passed on splashy offseason moves with hopes that Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz can continue their development into core pieces and take the torch from Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. The loss of John Klingberg was the toughest part of their offseason. Although the gifted puck-moving defenseman won’t be replaced easily, Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet called Colin Miller an “interesting bet” as a low-cost replacement. The Stars also signed Mason Marchment at a $4.5 million average annual value (AAV) after an excellent season as a depth scorer for the Florida Panthers.

B: Calgary Flames

The Flames have made the headlines as much as any NHL team this offseason, for better or for worse. The situation in Calgary started to look like a nightmare when news broke that Matthew Tkachuk would be traded after Gaudreau had already signed with the Blue Jackets. To make matters worse, the organization had only made three picks at the draft.

There is some reason for optimism in Minnesota. They came together last year and sat towards the top of the Western Conference through portions of 2021-22. Peter Baracchini even said that they had the “best draft out of all the playoff teams” with the selection of Swedish winger Liam Öhgren with the 19th pick and Danila Yurov with the 24th pick. However, their offensive struggles in the postseason left them with nothing to show for the strong season facing an uphill battle in a Central Division dominated by the Avalanche with no tangible upgrades in the offseason.

C+: Washington Capitals

The interchangeable tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov didn’t benefit the Capitals in recent playoff runs. The acquisition of reigning Stanley Cup champion Darcy Kuemper gives them their most formidable goaltender since Braden Holtby circa 2018. The careers of Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin continue to align similarly, but Wahington will hope that injuries to Nicklas Bäckström and Tom Wilson don’t come back to bite them. The additions of Dylan Strome and Connor Brown could help keep them afloat while Bäckström and Wilson are sidelined to begin the season, but the Capitals simply don’t look as threatening as they did four years ago. 

C: Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs seemingly lost the goaltending shuffle of the 2022 offseason. GM Kyle Dubas moved out of the first round of the draft to shed the undesirable contract of Petr Mrázek. He recouped some of the draft capital by taking on Matt Murray, but is a tandem with Murray and Samsonov really going to offset the loss of Campbell? If the pressure turns up in Toronto, don’t count out wild card Erik Källgren getting his shot in the crease.

The real grade for the Maple Leafs is incomplete because offseason moves simply pale in comparison to what happens in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Adding Nicolas Aube-Kubel or Jordie Benn won’t take enough attention from the elephant in the room for a franchise with arguably the most scrutinized drought of playoff success in NHL history.

C: San Jose Sharks

New GM Mike Grier and new head coach David Quinn won’t get to work with Burns after 11 seasons as one of the best players in franchise history. They drafted high-upside prospects Filip Bystedt, Cameron Lund, and Mattias Hävelid and added inspirational story Oskar Lindblom to the NHL roster. However, the Sharks might be more likely to move out additional veterans behind Burns in March than to compete for a playoff spot in 2022-23.

C-: New York Islanders

Lou Lamoriello’s long track record of success an an NHL GM is the only reason for the benefit of the doubt for the decision to fire Barry Trotz after a tumultuous season for the Islanders. The future belongs to Lane Lambert, but the rookie head coach won’t have much new firepower on a roster that finished 22nd in scoring last season. The future of the blue line became a major priority for the Islanders this offseason. They selected Calle Odelius and Isaiah George in the draft and sent the 13th-overall pick to Montreal for Alexander Romanov. They will need to officially secure the future of 22-year-old puck-mover Noah Dobson as the big piece. 

C-: Boston Bruins

The decision to fire Bruce Cassidy leaves the Bruins with even more uncertainty than they already had with an aging core of franchise heroes who don’t sit in the best positions to play at their career peaks in 2022-23. Patrice Bergeron will return on a one-year deal, and a possible return of David Krejčí after a year overseas seems like a stretch for a team desperate to keep a remarkable 15-year period in franchise history alive. Injuries to Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Matt Grzelcyk won’t help new head coach Jim Montgomery hit the ground running. 

C-: Buffalo Sabres

The Senators and the Red Wings acknowledged the need to be aggressive if there is any hope of matching up against the four returning playoff teams from the Atlantic Division, and the Canadiens took smaller steps forward. The Sabres did not. The improvement of Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin and the promise of Owen Power in 2021-22 will not progress tangibly in 2022-23 with only minor additions like Ilya Lyubushkin and goaltender Eric Comrie.

D: Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas impulsively fired Peter DeBoer after missing the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Pacioretty, Mark Stone, William Karlsson, Jack Eichel, and Robin Lehner were among core contributors who missed significant time in 2021-22, but perhaps the hope is that new head coach Bruce Cassidy can help guide them into a new era after major roster turnover. The losses of Pacioretty, Coghlan, Dadonov, and Mattias Janmark point to serious salary cap concerns and the possibility of trouble finally finding its way to paradise after five seasons.

D-: Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers began the offseason by hiring firebrand John Tortorella to restore an attitude lost in recent seasons and selected Cutter Gauthier with the fifth-overall pick to inspire optimism about a prospect with tremendous upside. However, their roster decisions dramatically damaged expectations because of major inconsistencies. GM Chuck Fletcher has invested exorbitant resources trying to improve a blue line that still doesn’t look particularly threatening, and his questionable investments all around destroyed salary cap flexibility and made it unreasonably difficult to acquire Gaudreau or any other first-line caliber player who would’ve considered a move to Philadelphia.

F: Arizona Coyotes

The selection of Logan Cooley provides one reason for optimism in Arizona, but the third-overall pick will spend next season at the University of Minnesota in front of home crowds about twice the size of the home arena of the NHL’s most battered organization. The willingness to take another castoff contract like Zack Kassian won’t mean anything if the draft compensation that came with him is used by an organization that doesn’t make a serious effort to compete. If veteran Phil Kessel leaves in free agency, the idea of underdogs who aren’t being taken seriously will be about the only thing the Coyotes can rally around.

F: Chicago Blackhawks

The idea of a rebuild as big as the one Kyle Davidson is planning exists on the premise that an estimated period of five years without realistic hopes for contention might produce enough talent to reenter the discussion as contenders. The strategy hurts the NHL product and puts a bad look on an Original Six franchise that has fallen hard off the ice already.

Dach and Debrincat had the potential to be building blocks for the future. Davidson’s focus should’ve been finding a way to make things work with the organization’s most talented young players, but a commitment to earning a higher draft pick in 2023 just indicates his concern with all the wrong things. How can he expect rookie head coach Luke Richardson to succeed with the roster assembled?