Toronto Maple Leafs: Grading Each Atlantic Team’s Off-Season

Buffalo Sabres

Similar to Kyle Dubas, Jason Botterill, the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres has had quite a busy off-season.

The Sabres won the NHL Entry Draft Lottery early on and chose to draft the Swedish defensive phenom, Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick in the draft. The left handed defenseman had an outstanding season with Frolunda HC of the SHL and should be in the opening day lineup for Buffalo.

On July 1st, Botterill didn’t hit the snooze button. He was active. The Sabres signed a pair of net-minders. Carter Hutton and Scott Wedgewood inked deals with the Sabres and became the next goaltender duo in Buffalo.

In addition, the Sabres acquired Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick in a trade with Pittsburgh. Sheary is a solid left winger and could potentially be paired with Jack Eichel come opening day. On the other hand, Hunwick provides the Sabres with a solid depth defenseman.

Botterill wasn’t done making trades. He then decided to trade Ryan O’Reilly to the St. Louis Blues for Tage Thompson, Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick.

One of the biggest issues for the Sabres was offensive depth and Botterill acquired two NHL proven forwards and one intriguing offensive prospect. With Sheary, Berglund, Thompson and Sobotka joining Casey Mittelstadt, Eichel and Alex Nylander, the Sabres have significantly improved.

My grade for the Sabres is a B+.

Montreal Canadiens

Let’s jump to the Montreal Canadiens.

Unfortunately for Habs fans, it hasn’t been a great off-season. The Canadiens selected Finnish national, Jesperi Kotkaniemi with the third overall pick in the draft. My prediction is that Kotkaniemi will need some more time playing junior hockey, before he’s ready to make the jump to the NHL. In addition, the Habs shouldn’t be desperate to bring him over too quickly. The Habs aren’t going to make the playoffs next year and they aren’t going to wow you. Instead, the Habs can afford to have their top prospect develop in his native Finland.

Montreal’s Trades

Aside from Kotkaniemi, the Habs made a trade with the Arizona Coyotes. Marc Bergevin, the general manager of the Habs dealt Alex Galchenyuk to the Coyotes for Max Domi. It’s not as ridiculous as the highly debated Jonathan Drouin/Mikhali Sergachev trade, but I’m not sure why Bergevin made the trade. Galchenyuk is leagues better than Domi, but perhaps there were some issues in the locker room that we aren’t aware of. At the end of the day, Galchenyuk is a bit more consistent than Domi. In 82 games last year, Galchenyuk had 19 goals and 32 assists. The only negative for him is that his shooting percentage was awful last year. Perhaps, a change in scenery will be a good one for him.

The Habs also brought Joel Armia to town via a trade with with the Winnipeg Jets. Armia could be a solid mentor for his fellow countryman, Kotkaniemi when he joins the club.

At the end of the day, the Habs still have yet to move Max Pacioretty, but if I had to give them a grade for their efforts so far it’d be a C. Unfortunately for Habs fans, they still don’t have a number one centre and have failed to address their defensive concerns from last year.

Florida Panthers

Let’s move to Florida.

The Florida Panthers weren’t way too active this off-season. The only big move that Dale Tallon, the general manager of the Panthers did was trading for Mike Hoffman.

Earlier in the off-season, Pierre Dorion, the general manager of the Ottawa Senators was looking to trade Hoffman after the scandal involving his girlfriend. Dorion decided to trade Hoffman to the San Jose Sharks alongside Cody Donaghey and a fifth round pick in exchange for Mikkel Boedker, Julius Bergman and a sixth round pick. Immediately after the trade went down, the Panthers made a trade with the Sharks for Hoffman. The Panthers had to cough up three draft picks for Hoffman, but it’s worth it for Florida. Florida needed to add some offensive depth and the did just that.

Last season, the Kitchener, Ontario native, Hoffman tallied 22 goals, 34 assists, 21 PPP and a 8.6 S%. Perhaps, Hoffman is just the offensive spark that the Florida Panthers need to make it back to the playoffs.

My grade for the Panthers is a B-.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Even if the Panthers’ biggest rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning don’t trade for Erik Karlsson, they still will have had a great off-season.

Steve Yzerman, the general manager of the Lightning was able to re-sign J.T. Miller, Ryan McDonagh and Nikita Kucherov all to new contracts. With the three locked up, the Lightning have 8 players locked up till at least the end of the 2021-22 regular season.

While the Lightning didn’t splurge via free agency, they didn’t need to. They have excellent depth for both their offense and defense. Plus, they’ll have a bunch of contracts expiring after this season which will allow the Lightning to potentially re-sign Brayden Point, Adam Erne, Cedric Paquette and Jake Dotchin.

With a decent chunk of their team locked up for the next several years, they will be a cup contender year after year.

My grade for the Lightning is a A-. If they acquire Karlsson via trade, my grade could change to a A+. It will be dependent on what Yzerman would have to give up in order to land Karlsson.

Boston Bruins

Let’s jump to the Boston Bruins.

Yes, Cam Neely and Don Sweeney lost out on the John Tavares sweepstakes, but at the end of the day they are just fine. The Bruins have solid depth at both ends of the ice and should be a playoff team once again this season.

This off-season, the Bruins re-signed Sean Kuraly, signed John Moore and signed Jaroslav Halak.

Kuraly proved to be a solid fourth liner for the Bruins last season and Neely made sure that he wasn’t going anywhere.

In addition, Moore provides the Bruins with a solid left handed defenseman. Zdeno Chara will likely retire after next season as his contract is up and will create a big hole on the Bruins blue-line. While Moore isn’t Chara, he’s a solid mobile defenseman who will be under team control through 2022-23 and only carries a 2.750 million USD AAV. Not too shabby.

Plus, Halak provides the Boston Bruins with a former number one goaltender who could be a decent fill in for Tuukka Rask if he gets hit with the injury bug.

While the Bruins didn’t lure any marquis names to Boston, they did do a decent job of adding depth on their blue-line and in net.

My grade for the Bruins is a B-. Given the salary cap situation in Boston, it would have been difficult for the Bruins to make a huge splash this off-season. While they are rumored to make a run at Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes, they’d have to move a few players to create cap space. It’ll be interesting to see if the Bruins do land Skinner, if they do I’ll have to adjust my grade.

Detroit Red Wings

In Detroit Rock City, Ken Holland, general manager of the Detroit Red Wings was very busy.

At the NHL Draft, Holland selected a few highly touted prospects including Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno, Jonatan Berggren and Jared McIssac. While Zadina is likely the only name to make an immediate impact, the Red Wings front office stocked up their farm system and could be a team to watch in the next 4-5 years or so.

While Holland stocked up his farm system, he also made some questionable moves on July 1. He re-signed Mike Green, signed Thomas Vanek and signed Jonathan Bernier. With Green, Vanek and Bernier signed, he’s made it a challenge to sign RFA, Dylan Larkin. Even with Johan Franzen going on LITR, they only have around 6 million USD left. After an outstanding season for Larkin, he’s going to expect a big pay day. He’s the face of the Red Wings franchise and could technically command 7-8 million USD AAV.

If I were Holland, I would have held off on bringing Bernier to town. That would have given the Red Wings a bit of breathing room.

If the Red Wings are able to convince Larkin to not max out their cap space, they’ll be in decent shape.

Overall, my grade for the Detroit Red Wings is a C+. Unfortunately for Red Wings fans, Holland let them down with bad salary cap management.

Ottawa Senators

I saved the Ottawa Senators for last.

Unfortunately for Sens fans, this off-season has been nothing but a nightmare. A nightmare that seems to be re-occurring.

At the start of the off-season, Erik Karlsson and his wife, Melinda Karlsson came forward and shared that Mike Hoffman’s girlfriend, Monika Caryk had cyber-bullied the Karlsson family. This led to Mike Hoffman being dealt to San Jose in an attempt by the Senators to mend the ties with Karlsson by separating the two athletes.

It seems that while Karlsson and Hoffman are now on different teams that Karlsson still wants to leave Ottawa. With Karlsson wanting to leave Ottawa, this prompted Pierre Dorion to start working the phones. It’s been rumored that the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars have been speaking with Dorion.

Unfortunately for Sens fans, Karlsson has yet to be moved. Perhaps, Dorion’s asking price is too high. At the end of the day, Dorion has to move Karlsson. It has to be done, otherwise the Senators will lose him for nothing come July 1, 2019. After what happened with Garth Snow and the New York Islanders, you’d have to imagine that Dorion trades Karlsson. Otherwise, Dorion might be out of a job.

Hoffman Trade & Brady Tkachuk

Aside from Karlsson, the Senators have managed to add Mikkel Boedker and Julius Bergman. They were both acquired in Mike Hoffman trade. Boedker provides the Senators with a top 9 winger, who could potentially become a top 6 winger. Ever since his 2013-14 season, in which he had 19 goals and 32 assists, his offensive production has rapidly declined. Perhaps, a change in scenery is just what Boedker needs. On the other side, Bergman is a depth defenseman, who could most likely end up playing in the AHL for the Belleville Senators.

In the draft, Dorion chose to select Brady Tkachuk with his first round draft selection. Tkachuk is currently playing for Boston University in the Hockey East Conference. I doubt that he’ll de-commit and be a Seantor next season, but stranger things have happened.

To be honest, this draft selection will likely be criticized for many years to come. As part of the Matt Duchene trade, the Senators are required to give up a first round pick. They had the option to give up this year’s or next year’s. If I were Dorion, I would have given up this year’s. With next year’s pick gone to Colorado, the Colorado Avalanche now have a chance of drafting the next elite centre, Jack Hughes.

At the end of the day, this off-season hasn’t been a great one for Dorion. Based on their off-season to date, my grade is a D.

Recap

I’ll try to keep my recap short, as this has been a long post.

Next: Meet Every Player the Leafs Just Drafted

The winners in the Atlantic Division this off-season have been the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs. All three teams have made acquisitions/signings/draft selections that could potentially lead to success down the road. It will be very interesting to see how these moves pay off for the three clubs.

stats from NHL.com and hockey-reference.com