EACH TEAMS BIG OFFSEASON MOVES AND WHY THEY SUCK
Now that we are halfway through the season, I will be doing a 4-part series on each NHL team's biggest offseason moves and why they were all terrible moves. Moving from West to East we will start in the Pacific Division:
Vegas Golden Knights � Re-signing Alec Martinez for 3 years
This past summer the Vegas Golden Knights were up against the cap yet again and traded away former Vezina winning goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to free up some cap space. What they did with that cap space is sign 34-year-old Alec Martinez for another 3 years at $5.25 million AAV with a modified No-Trade Clause. That is more than fellow defenseman Morgan Rielly, Charlie McAvoy, and Mattias Ekholm to name a few. I see this as a huge cap liability.
Anaheim Ducks � Nothing
It's hard to judge the Anaheim Ducks and their offseason moves as they were all very small and calculated. Re-signing Ryan Getzlaf for one more year isn't a big deal. They stood pat hoping to have another high draft pick in 2022 which is the smart thing to do on a rebuilding team.
Los Angeles Kings � Signing Philip Danualt for 6 years
Philip Danualt on a bad team is a good 2nd line center and on a good team a really good 3rd line center. In the 2020-2021 shortened season, Danualt was on pace for 37 points if a full 82 game season would have been played. His production has steadily declined since his breakout season in 2018-2019 where he put up 53 points. This does not sound like a player who deserves $5.5 Million a season for 6 years with a No-Movement Clause for the first 3 years. The Los Angeles Kings are still in the rebuilding stage, but this is a contract that will hold them back sooner rather than later.
Calgary Flames � Signing Blake Coleman for 6 years
Blake Coleman played a pivotal role on the 4th line last year to help lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to another Stanley Cup. The 30-year-old became a highly sought-after free agent this summer and the Calgary Flames panicked, overpaying Coleman by giving him a 6-year deal with an AAV of $4.9 million and a full No-Trade Clause the first 3 years. Coleman had a productive season last year with an adjusted point total at 46 points, but this year is currently on pace for 30 points. These hardly seem like the numbers of an untouchable player.
San Jose Sharks � Signing Aidin Hill to be the starting goalie
With the San Jose Sharks always being close to the cap ceiling there is usually little they can do in the offseason to improve their team. With Martin Jones' contract finally expiring the Sharks brought in former Arizona Coyotes goaltender Aidin Hill. He has already been surpassed on the depth chart and Hill's contract isn't terrible but the Sharks also thinking he would help this team out of the bottom of the division was laughable.
Edmonton Oilers � Trading for Duncan Keith
Duncan Keith at 38 is nowhere near the player he was when he won the Norris Trophy last in 2014. That didn't stop the Oilers from bringing him in to provide «leadership» and «stability on defense» to a young team that can't keep the puck out of the net and was swept in the first round of the playoffs last year. Yes, Duncan Keith was a multi-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Chicago Blackhawks but their last one was 7 years ago. Keith also has 2 years left on his contract with an AAV of $5.5 million. The fact that Keith is playing on the Oilers' second pairing shows this team has way bigger problems.
Vancouver Canucks � Trading for Oliver Ekman-Larsson
The only positive out of this trade is that the Coyotes retained $990K of Ekman-Larsson's salary so the Canucks are only on the hook for $7.26 million AAV. He is currently the 9th highest paid defenseman in the NHL right now, but if you adjust it to Vancouver's cap hit, he would still be 19th. I don't think Ekman-Larsson is a top 20 defenseman anymore and he is signed until the 2026-27 season when he'll be 35. This is a team that is now right up against the cap and is in the bottom of the standings with 3 defensemen making $6 million and up.
Seattle Kraken � not leveraging their cap space during expansion draft
The one thing that Seattle could control coming into this season was how much money they spent towards the cap. When the Vegas Golden Knights were an expansion franchise, General Managers around the league panicked and gave Vegas whatever they wanted to take/not take certain players. We knew GMs would be a little smarter this go around, and that Seattle wouldn't be able to leverage teams the same way, but they did absolutely nothing. The rumors of what Seattle was asking for to take certain duds or high cap players was more than what teams were willing to give up and Seattle wouldn't budge, leaving them with nothing.
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