A season after they let Zdeno Chara walk, the Bruins defense corps will look different once again. Veteran Kevan Miller announced his retirement on Wednesday morning following an injury-plagued career. Hours later, they announced a six-year extension for Brandon Carlo.
Charlie McAvoy, a likely future Norris candidate, is due for a new contract after next season. Matt Grzelcyk is signed for three more seasons. Those two — with Carlo — are still their core, at least for now, and ideally in the long term.
Likely, the Bruins will have to look to the free agent market to fill the rest of their defense.
Ryan Suter just became available after the Wild bought out his contract. Especially with Miller gone, the Bruins could use help on their left side, and he’d be an affordable option for a guy who still plays 20-plus minutes.
In Carlo’s presser after his extension, he expressed a desire to play with a puck mover. The Bruins could get Suter to play with McAvoy and put Grzelcyk alongside Carlo.
Suter, though, is 36 and the Bruins have been somewhat reluctant to add age to their blue line, such as not keeping Chara a year ago for a lesser deal than they gave Miller. After Zboril and Lauzon didn’t prove ready to larger roles, though, they could have a change in philosophy.
Free agent Jani Hakanpää could be an option to replace the physical element of Miller’s game. A solid defender on a second or third pairing role, Hakanpää was traded to the Hurricanes at last season’s deadline as a part of the Hayden Fleury deal with the Ducks.
Jamie Oleksiak and Jake McCabe are other potential fill-ins to the Bruins defensive depth, depending on how much they want to shake it up. Oleksiak plus Hakanpää could make for a difficult to penetrate bottom four of the defense; however, Oleksiak might price himself out of how much the Bruins are willing to do, especially if they sign another defenseman, too. They have the cap space to do it, if they want, especially if they sign David Krejci and Tuukka Rask to team-friendly deals.
Then, of course, there’s the possibility they keep Mike Reilly. Reilly, acquired from Ottawa at the trade deadline, looked like a solid fit in his regular season showings. He was an additional puck mover to Grzelcyk with an aggressive approach. The postseason, though, exposed him a bit.
Bringing Reilly back, especially on significant term, somewhat limits how much the Bruins can bulk up their defense.
The Bruins have a lot of options, and they won’t fully have an idea until the expansion draft passes next week. The flat cap won’t last forever so they have to be careful, especially with a McAvoy contract coming up, but they have the space to make something work for now.
The first full edition of the NHL vibe check is here just in time to get in your feelings about how the Seattle Kraken are going to steal all your favorite players.
The offseason has already had it all, from wild front office decisions to the Oilers making a weird trade. Who could ask for more? Let’s check the vibes of the offseason needs and transactions with expansion on the horizon.
The Ducks need to find a way to get offensive help to 22-year-old Max Comtois. He led them with, uh, 16 goals. Maybe Jack Eichel, future Duck? Maybe not. They need something though.
Arizona Coyotes
The vibe: The Arizona Coyotes, that’s it.
So you want to trade Conor Garland. Alright, I guess. Maybe they fleece some team for Oliver Ekman-Larsson. A lot of options and yet they’ll still be the Arizona Coyotes.
Boston Bruins
The vibe: Questions
The Bruins face their decade-long question again; how much longer will their window be open? It seems up to them. They have some cap space — with consideration for the contracts they’ll have to dish out in 2022 — and Tuukka Rask, David Krejci and Taylor Hall have all expressed a desire to stay.
Buffalo Sabres
The vibe: Eichel Watch
The Sabres were not the first team of the offseason to make a weird trade, so it’s off to a good start! The bad news is they have plenty of time to trade Jack Eichel for like a second round pick.
Calgary Flames
The vibe: How disappointing can it be Michael, it’s the Calgary Flames
They are going to lose part of their core. Maybe it’s Mark Giordano to the Kraken in the expansion draft. Maybe they actually trade Johnny Gaudreau this time. Either way, the Flames are still disappointing and probably will stay that way.
Carolina Hurricanes
The vibe: More like Hurricane Tortilla
The Hurricanes have some choices to make on defense. Dougie Hamilton is talking to other teams, and they very well could lose him. With that in mind, how much do they risk during expansion? Leaving Brady Skjei unprotected? Being okay with Jake Bean being taken? There’s some choices!
Well they traded Duncan Keith and didn’t retain any salary, so, uh there is that.
Colorado Avalanche
The vibe: So now what?
The Avalanche have been the cusp of being a Stanley Cup contender for years it feels like. They have Nathan MacKinnon. Their defense is so deep they’ll probably lose Devon Toews or Ryan Graves and just be like, fine. So what more can this team do? They’ve lost in the second round for three consecutive seasons.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The vibe: The right lane for Laine
The Blue Jackets have to figure out if they want Patrik Laine in their long-term plans. He didn’t vibe in his partial season there, like, at all. He’s a couple years away from being a UFA, so there’s another bridge deal possibility if the Jackets want to invest.
Dallas Stars
The vibe: Vibeless
The Stars went from a Stanley Cup finalist to just being pretty bad. They had their run at the end of the season but it wasn’t even close at the end of the day. So do they just dial it back? So much of last season was not really their fault with such a compressed schedule. But none of us know what vibe the Stars are going to have.
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Detroit Red Wings
The vibe: Pinocchio yelling “you have potential” on that commercial
If the Red Wings get Moritz Seider to play that would make them fun maybe. They also have $48 million in cap space. They can do some stuff but they’re not going to get good in one offseason.
Edmonton Oilers
The vibe: Hahahahahahahaha
What is there to even say? They did it again.
Florida Panthers
The vibe: Bill Zito bonanza
The Panthers have to figure out their goalie situation but perhaps more interesting is how does Zito build on this team? They legit competed with Tampa Bay in the first round. They have a defending Selke winner. Do they make a big boom? Again, they have their own business — like retaining RFA Sam Bennett — but one wonders if there’s a big move to be had there.
Los Angeles Kings
The vibe: Cap space central
The veterans did a solid job keeping the Kings kind of in contention for a little bit. Anze Kopitar was once again one of the more underrated scorers in the league. Dustin Brown (???) was still fine. Where the Kings have a bit of an advantage here along with their $19 million plus in cap space is they also don’t really have anyone desirable in expansion to lose. Alex Turcotte and Quinton Byfield are the future, though, so we get to watch a lot more of them!
Minnesota Wild
The vibe: Fishing in Serbia
The Wild are going to have to stave off the KHL if they want to keep Karill Kaprizov, which, might not be easy! Meanwhile, they have to figure out what’s going to happen with Zach Parise. If they can get him to waive his no movement clause it’ll make it a bit easier with the expansion draft.
Montreal Canadiens
The vibe: If you’re not first you’re last
If teams across the league copycat success, what is there to take away from the Canadiens? In a normal year they’re not a playoff team. Carey Price played out of his mind, but they got through objectively the easiest division. The Vegas series win counts for something, though, so we’re going to learn what the real takeaway is soon.
Nashville Predators
The vibe: Here We Go Again
It’s starting to sound like Pekka Rinne might not be done. And with no backup option to Juuse Saros imminently in front of them, maybe they might be smart to give the 38-year-old another run?
New Jersey Devils
The vibe: Rebuild city
There isn’t a better young duo in the league than Jack Hughes and Nico Hirschier, probably. That said, the Devils are a bit away. They have $36 million in cap space so they have a ton of flexibility.
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New York Islanders
The vibe: The Pam from the Office “it’s the same picture” screencap
The Islanders were very similar to the year prior. They fell to Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Semi Finals and everything. So, what do they have to do to get over the hump? They have a little less than $6 million in cap space to play with and a couple of RFAs, so keeping that identity together for a third time might be difficult.
New York Rangers
The vibe: Tarasenko sweepstakes is on
The Rangers would be a tremendous fit for the Blues forward who reportedly wants out of St. Louis. Paired with Artemi Panarin, that could be the next piece the Rangers really need to make a leap. It’s a $7.5 cap hit, but then there’s the Jack Eichel possibility too. They wouldn’t be able to get both.
Ottawa Senators
The vibe: Well, well, look who’s inside again
The Senators sure are being the Senators so far!
Philadelphia Flyers
The vibe: When you get crab fries and it’s mostly just regular fries with not much on them
They have to retain RFA Carter Hart but also figure out what’s going on there. Maybe they make a splash for Gaudreau, maybe they focus on a better deal for defender Travis Sanheim. They need to figure out what went wrong last year, though, because that’s about as drastically a disappointing season they could have had.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The vibe: Hey look I made you some content
The Penguins were hit hard by injury luck for the second year in a row. So what do we take from that? They also had a rough showing from goalie Tristan Jarry. Maybe the window is closing as their stars age, but Ron Hextall has some choices to make. They aren’t going to know what to do at forward until after expansion where they’ll probably lose Jared McCann or Zach Aston-Reese.
San Jose Sharks
The vibe: man, it’s brutal out here
The Sharks actually had some vibes late this season. It wasn’t even close to enough, but they might be a couple of smart moves away from being, I don’t know, not awful? A veteran goalie would help, along with nailing a solid draft class. If they could dump a bad veteran contract somehow, even better.
St. Louis Blues
The vibe: Not Gloria that’s for sure
The Blues have to find a way to move Vladamir Tarasenko and get something good in return. Vince Dunn is probably going to have to be moved if they don’t want to lose him in expansion. So maybe a reset in general is in order, it doesn’t seem like this group can recapture the same magic as the 2019 run.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The vibe: No. 1 Bul- you know
Nikita Kucherov was sitting at the parade with an “$18 million over the cap” shirt and it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s funny the same team won both Cups in the pandemic hockey era because it’s going to be the two easiest Cups to totally forget about, but it’s been a long time coming for this franchise. Their team building over the years earned this.
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Toronto Maple Leafs
The vibe: The Amazon Leafs behind the scene thing coming out soon
The thing about the Maple Leafs is they always give us content. That means a lot of wild theories but in all reality, they probably shouldn’t do anything too drastic. Their First Round series loss came with John Tavares out. The Canadiens, as it turned out, weren’t bad! There’s choices to be made there but blowing it up probably isn’t the answer either.
Vancouver Canucks
The vibe: At least it’s not last season anymore
The poor Canucks trudging through a wildly unfair schedule at the end of last year. It’s tough to evaluate what that season was because they likely should have stopped playing much sooner. Alas. They have a core with Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson but obviously faith in general manager Jim Benning has been shaken more than a bit.
Vegas Golden Knights
The vibe: The last Panic! at the Disco album
It’s easy to see where things went wrong for the Golden Knights. Their power play dried up, and they didn’t have any answers for the Canadiens defense and forecheck. Where do they go from here? Well, they have to figure out how to wiggle some cap space free before their monster free agent class next season.
Washington Capitals
The vibe: How many times do we need to teach you this lesson, old man?
The Capitals were outmatched in the First Round against the Bruins but they also had a ton of injuries, and even the guys playing were banged up. They’ll probably extend Alex Ovechkin and move on from Evgeny Kuznetsov. Who they lose in expansion will lay out the rest of the blueprint.
Winnipeg Jets
The vibe: Their fake airport
The Jets need defense, just like they have for a bit now. They had the 14th ranked defense of the 16 playoff clubs. Maybe Ville Heinola and Dylan Samburg will get some real time next season. They probably have to make at least one more move on defense, though, and there aren’t a ton of stop gap options out there.
It’s that time in the NWHL offseason where some teams have the blueprint for a full roster and others haven’t signed a single player.
There’s still a lot of time before the projected start of the season in late October, and surely some teams will make moves in the coming weeks. The International Draft, scheduled for July 25, is the next date on the offseason calendar.
Here’s a look at what each team has been up to this offseason to date.
Boston Pride
The Pride haven’t announced any signings yet, but there’s some things we know.
Lexie Laing, Tereza Vanisova, Carlee Turner, and Mary Parker aren’t expected to return. That’s a tough blow to forward depth, but the Pride are arguably the most desirable team to play for in women’s hockey. They’ll be able to sign some free agents.
They added forwards Abby Nearhis and Finley Frechette in the draft. Both are local, so assuming they sign, they’ll fill some gaps. It’s a far cry from the six rookies who dressed a season ago. Corinne Buie, who didn’t play for the Whitecaps last season, just moved to Boston. Perhaps she’s an option.
The core of the Pride — Jillian Dempsey, Kaleigh Fratkin, McKenna Brand, Mallory Souliotis, Sammy Davis — are all expected to return. The defending Isobel Cup champions will have depth. We just don’t know what they look like yet. With general manager Karilyn Pilch departing to be an NHL scout in Chicago, it’s unclear who takes over. New president Colleen Coyne will no doubt have some sort of role in building the Pride further.
The Beauts are already in solid shape — moreso than the bubble in Lake Placid. They’ve re-signed captain Taylor Accursi, who missed last season, and top defender Lisa Chesson. Goalie Carly Jackson, who became a fan favorite and held her own as a rookie, is also slated to return.
Then the Beauts had seven draft picks, more than any other team, and they made the most of them. The second overall pick, Emilie Harley, is projected to play right from the start for a defense that needs some help. Along with fellow draft pick Anjelica Diffendal, Harley is a six-foot tall player. The Beauts have by far the most size in the league.
Jordan Juron and Emma Ruggiero won’t be returning. The rest of the crew, though, is projected to be a part of Nate Oliver’s squad.
The offseason darlings are going to be a fun dark horse pick after surprising success in the bubble as it was. Now independently owned, the Whale are having more offseason hype than any offseason prior.
The additions of elite scorer Kennedy Marchment and defender Allie Munroe no doubt contribute to that. Goalie Abbie Ives re-signed after showing some potential in the bubble, too. They might be able to reel in Metro defender Rebecca Morse and improve that defensive depth further.
First overall pick Taylor Girard is a Quinnipiac alum and is going to have the chance to earn some serious minutes in a top-six role.
No Shannon Doyle on defense is a tough blow. A full season of Tori Howran, recently re-signed, should at least fill some of the gap. She’s projected to be the top defender on the Whale.
We know three things about the Riveters; Saroya Tinker and Sammy Kolowrat aren’t returning and Madison Packer is.
General manager Anya Packer made the first order of business signing her wife Madison, the Rivs captain. They’ll build from there.
They drafted four defenders after losing Tinker and probably Morse. They needed some defensive depth anyways. How many of them they will sign — Caroline Ross, Julia Scammell, Jordan Sanislo, and Morgan Schauer — remains to be seen. Even if they all do, that’s a young back line and a veteran presence could help. Kristen Barbara from Toronto could make the jump.
Ross -Sanislo Dosdall-Arena – Scammell Prentiss – Schauer
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Minnesota Whitecaps
So far all we know about the Whitecaps is their third round draft pick, forward Taylor Wente, won’t be signing.
Assuming their top two defenders drafted do — Tina Kampa and Mak Langei — the Whitecaps get some youth inserted into an otherwise aging blue line. The average age of Minnesota defenders a year ago was 30.
Assuming as well the Whitecaps keep their core forwards — Allie Thunstrom, Nina Rodgers, and Audra Richards — it’s a team that can compete to go back to the Isobel Cup.
The Six were the first team to sign two of their draft picks, forwards Maeghan Beres and Leah Marino. They’ve already retained many of their key players — league MVP Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Shiann Darkangelo, Taylor Woods, and Elaine Chuli — and have made the biggest free agent splash with defender Saroya Tinker.
They’re also expected to lose Natalie Marcuzzi, Taytum Clairmont, and Mackenzie MacNeil, along with Julie Allen, who retired.
Tatum Skaggs, their fourth overall pick, signed in Europe and won’t play. The Six might be deep enough to have wasted an early pick to take a chance on her. At least, that’s how it looks so far.
If the Vegas expansion draft was any indication, Seattle’s expansion draft is going to involve plenty of side deals.
The key to all of it might be the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators, given a projected protected list — they are due to the league in nine days — will have some room to protect a few defensemen. Here’s what their protected list may look like:
There’s some debatable there at forward; maybe Evgenii Dadonov instead of White. Maybe Logan Brown isn’t worth a protection spot. Perhaps they value the rights to KHL left winger Vitaly Abramov, who has two years left in his contract overseas.
Where the Sens have an impact on the rest of the league, though, is on the blue line. Mete and Chabot are givens. Zaitsev, not so much. He has three years left at $4.5 million on the cap and might be worth exposing if they could bring in another right-shot defensemen.
This is a defense-heavy expansion draft. Plenty of teams are projected to lose good defenders; Vince Dunn in St. Louis stands out, as does one of Devon Toews or Ryan Graves in Colorado. Erik Cernak could be risked by the Lightning. Maybe Jake Bean in Carolina is worth more than being exposed.
The Senators have plenty of assets at goalie, too, and they can only protect one. Likely that’s Gustavsson, which leaves Joey Daccord exposed.
For teams with good defensemen who can’t or won’t be protected, getting something is always better than the nothing they’d get in return from Seattle. Maybe a goalie prospect is in the cards.
There’s a lot of depth at the position in Ottawa. Marcus Hogberg will likely become a free agent, but that still leaves them with Gustavsson and Daccord, along with Matt Murray, who is safe from the Kraken due to his undesirable $6.25 million cap hit for the next three seasons, especially when they can take a more capable goalie anyways in the expansion draft. Anton Forsberg is also under contract for another year, though leaving him unprotected should be safe.
One of the advantages of being a struggling team over the years when it comes to expansion is the flexibility that comes with it. Ottawa has the ability to take on a roster player and not risk losing more value.
Perhaps St. Louis or Tampa Bay wants Daccord there’s a path to adding an extra defender. Cernak — who has two years left at $2.95 million — especially is a right-handed defenseman, which just adds to Ottawa’s needs. Maybe the Lightning find a way to protect Cernak after all; they have options.
There’s going to be plenty of side deals with the Kraken and before that, deals that shape what the expansion draft looks like. There’s a good chance the Senators have a hand in the options the Kraken actually have.
The Stanley Cup Final is over and expansion is on the horizon. In the condensed, delayed 2021 season, the next few weeks are going to be mayhem. The Seattle expansion draft is July 21, with the NHL entry draft and free agency to follow soon after.
Every team has a lot to address with expansion and the questions that emerge from that, but some squads have more decisions to make than others. Here’s five teams who have some existential choices looming.
Boston Bruins
The goaltending situation remains the big question. Tuukka Rask is an unrestricted free agent. He’s said numerous times he doesn’t want to play anywhere but Boston. The Bruins have the cap space to get it done.
Rask is going to miss the start of the season, though, likely until at least January. Jeremy Swayman had a good showing when he started, but it’s a risk to assume he can just slide in and be the long-term starter. Jaroslav Halak is also a free agent, and could be a solid backup option for Swayman while they wait for Rask to be ready.
Then there’s Dan Vladar, who has been waiting in the wings of Providence as well. Swayman’s emergence was earlier than anticipated, so perhaps they rely more heavily on Vladar.
Rask’s future is the big question mark. They have others; there’s what to do with David Krejci, who similarly expressed a desire to stay un Boston. Then there’s Taylor Hall, their acquisition at the trade deadline who had chemistry with Krejci.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers will re-enter an Atlantic Division housing the Stanley Cup champions and runner ups, the Bruins, Maple Leafs, and an improving Ottawa squad, too.
Florida looked good last season. They competed with Tampa Bay in the First Round. General manager Bill Zito went out and got Sam Bennett at the deadline. The question now is how aggressive are they back in the Atlantic, and with a questionable goalie situation.
They have a ton of goalie depth with Spencer Knight and then Devon Levi waiting in the wings. They also barely have anyone signed long term beyond 2023, including Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov. Zito and co. are going to have to make some decisions on rostered players and beyond, and soon.
Minnesota Wild
First and foremost they need to find a way to lock up restricted free agent and Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov. Then they need to work out Kevin Fiala‘s contract.
Then? Perhaps get Zach Parise to waive his no-movement clause.
His cap hit of $7.538 million is rough. As of now, the Wild are projected to lose a good player in expansion no matter what format they use, whether they prioritize keeping Matt Dumba or let him float out there. Getting Parise to waive his deal could help them retain someone like Jordan Greenway, though.
There’s the Jack Eichel rumors, too, as pipe dream-y as they might be. The Wild were fun in 2021. They competed hard with Vegas in the First Round, too. They have some choices to make, especially after losing someone in expansion.
Nashville Predators
They’ve already moved Viktor Arvisson in a deal with the Kings. Afterwards, GM David Poile said, “I think we have to have some growth in our team and go in a little bit different direction. I’m not saying a whole bunch of changes, but I think it’s time to make some changes.”
They have some decisions to make. Goalie Pekka Rinne likely won’t be back after an emotional regular season finale before the Preds fell in the First Round to the Hurricanes.
Mattias Ekholm was a trade candidate at the deadline and he has another year left on his deal. Ryan Ellis could be moved if there’s no good deal on Ekholm. Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansson will be exposed to Seattle, but it’s asking a lot to think they might get out from under those contracts.
Poile is right; they need a shift in direction. What that might be, though, is unclear.
St. Louis Blues
Vladimir Tarasenkowants out. He’s had three shoulder surgeries in two seasons. He has two years left on his eight-year mega contract, but his value is certainly lower than it was in the first half of the deal. He has seven goals in his 34 games over the past two years.
So he’s asked to be traded, has a ton of health risk and carries a $7.5 million cap hit. The upside is there, though, even if the Blues don’t have much leverage in a trade. He has a no-trade clause, too, so he controls his own destiny where he ends up.
Factor in the other choice the Blues need to make on defenseman Vince Dunn, likely to be exposed to Seattle. Perhaps they make a deal to get some value on him first. Consider the Blues losing Tarasenko means they have to replace some offense, too.
