We’re in the Dog Days of Summer now that the 2022 NHL Draft and the Free Agent Frenzy have passed.
While there are still a handful of big names and quality players in the open market, many pieces of dominoes have fallen and we have a good idea of what the teams will be like next season.
Let’s review what everyone has done in the Pacific division this summer and determine who has improved and worsened.
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Record 2021-22: 50-21-11 (111 points), Goals for: 293 (6th out of 32), Goals against: 208 (3rd out of 32).
Additions: Kevin Rooney, Dennis Gilbert, Ben Jones.
Remains: Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson, Calle Jarnkrok, Kevin Gravel, Byron Froese, Glenn Gawdin, Justin Kirkland, Andy Welinski, Luke Philp.
It’s been a tough few months for the Calgary Flames.
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After falling in the first Battle of Alberta playoffs in the early 1990s in May, the Flames lost their best player by free agency. Johnny Gaudreau not only left, but it looks like he also left about $ 15 million on the table signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Now that Gaudreau is gone, all eyes are on Matthew Tkachuk, who is a restricted free agent with one more year of control of the team before he can go on the open market. If Tkachuk is unwilling to sign in the long run, the Flames could try to blow that thing up and start rebuilding. You can’t afford to see Tkachuk walking around for nothing next summer too.
As it stands now, the Flames are not as good a team as they were last season. They will not replace Gaudreau’s 40 goals and 115 points with an addition, but they have the financial flexibility to mitigate the loss by adding quality depth to their squad.
Record 2021-22: 49-27-6 (104 points), Goals for: 290 (7th out of 32), Goals against: 252 (16th out of 32).
Additions: Jack Campbell, Mattias Janmark, Calvin Pickard.
Remains: Mikko Koskinen, Josh Archibald, Cooper Marody.
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Ken Holland ended up with more salary margin than expected this summer as Duncan Keith retired and Mike Smith’s injury will take him to the long-term injury reserve. With the extra money, Holland kept the band together as mid-season additions Evander Kand and Brett Kulak signed several-year contracts.
Holland also stabilized the situation of goalkeepers by signing Jack Campbell with a five-year contract worth $ 5 million a year and added a solid depth forward to Mattias Janmark to a one-year contract. Holland will then have to settle bids for a restricted free agent trio as Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan McLeod need new contracts.
Even if someone ends up with a pay cut in late summer, a full season of Kane and Kulak along with the addition of Campbell to the net means the Oilers are better off than in the 2021-22 season.
Record 2021-22: 44-27-11 (99 points), Goals for: 239 (20th out of 32), Goals against: 236 (8th out of 32).
Additions: Kevin Fiala, Phoenix Copley.
Remains: Andreas Athanasiou, Olli Maatta, Troy Stetcher, Martin Frk, Austin Strand, Christian Wolanin.
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After spending the last few years going through a much needed rebuild, the Los Angeles Kings have once again become a competitive team. They finished third in the Pacific division with a young team and led the Oilers to seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
The Kings made a big impact on the commercial market this summer, acquiring Kevin Wild from the Minnesota Wild with a cap and signing him for a seven-year contract. Fiala scored 33 goals and 85 points with the Wild in 2021-22 and will give a significant boost to a below-average Kings offense.
However, the better the Kings are next year than the previous one will eventually come down to the internal progression of their young talent. Names like Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte and Tobias Bjornfoot taking a step forward next season could turn the Kings into a very good team.
Aside from chance, I think we haven’t seen how the Kings make their biggest spark yet. Anze Kopitar’s contract expires after the 2023-24 season and Auston Matthews will become an unrestricted free agent that summer.
Record 2021-22: 43-31-8 (94 points), Goals for: 266 (12th out of 32), Goals against: 248 (15th out of 32).
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Additions: Michael Hutchinson, Byron Froese, Sheldon Rempal.
Remains: Max Pacioretty, Dylan Coghlan, Evgenii Dadonov, Mattias Janmark.
The biggest surprise in the league last season was the implosion of the Las Vegas Golden Knights. They came in as one of the favorites to compete for the Stanley Cup and their hype grew when they reached a hugely successful deal to acquire Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabers.
The Golden Knights never got their pace, as a combination of injuries and challenges with the salary cap prevented them from creating their ideal roster. They finished ninth in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs for the first time in their franchise history.
Vegas had to pull players back for nothing this summer in order for things to work out financially. Last summer, Vezina Trophy winner and franchise icon Marc-Andre Fleury was dumped for nothing, this summer Max Pacioretty and Dylan Coghlan went to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations.
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If the Golden Knights are healthy, they will be better in 2022-23 than in 2021-22. But that’s a big yes. Also, being totally healthy means they may not be able to adapt to everyone below the salary cap. There could be another mess on the horizon in Las Vegas.
Additions: Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Mikheyev, Curtis Lazar, Dakota Joshua, Christian Wolanin, Collin Delia.
Remains: Jaroslav Halak, Brad Hunt, Nic Petan, Sheldon Rempal, Ashton Sautner, Matthew Highmore, Madison Bowey.
The Vancouver Canucks were a disaster last season. They started with an 8-15-2 and fired general manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green in December. After that, they went 32-15-10 with Bruce Boudreau as head coach. Which version of the Canucks will appear in 2022-23?
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The Canucks deepened their group of strikers this summer by signing KHL free agent Andrei Kuzmenko and fast winger Ilya Mikheyev. They also added Curtis Lazar, a striker of the six quality lows, to a multi-year deal.
The big question now is what will happen to JT Miller. He led the team with 99 points last season and his value is at an all-time high one year from unrestricted free agency. Changing it would be the right move for the future, but the Canucks have reached the playoffs once in the last seven years and keeping him close would have them in the mix next season.
We’ll have to leave this to “to determine” for now.
Additions: Nico Sturm, Oskar Lindblom, Matt Benning, Markus Nutivaara, Aaron Dell, Steven Lorentz, Eetu Makiniemi.
Remains: Brent Burns, Lane Pederson, Alex Stalock, Rudolfs Balcers, Anthony Bitetto.
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Mike Grier has inherited a very difficult situation in San Jose. The Sharks have lost the playoffs in three consecutive seasons and are old and expensive with a bunch of barren prospects to be a team that has been winning now for so many years.
The first big move Grier made was to rule out Brent Burns, one of the San Jose players on the wrong side of 30 with a massive contract. Burns was sent to Carolina with $ 2.72 million of his $ 8 million of his maximum retained success. The Sharks didn’t recover much for Burns, but that’s not surprising considering his age, his maximum success, and his modified no-change clause.
Leaving the Burns deal is a positive thing for the Sharks overall, but he is still a good player who recorded intense minutes and outscored his opponents in 2021-22. The addition of Nico Sturm, Oskar Lindblom, Matt Benning and Markus Nutivaara gives the Sharks some depth, but it’s hard to argue that they’re better now than they were last year.
Additions: Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Colin White, Chase De Leo, Glenn Gawdin, Austin Strand, Justin Kirkland.
Remains: Ryan Getzlaf, Jacob Larsson, Andrej Sustr, Vinni Lettieri, Brogan Rafferty.
The Anaheim Ducks got off to a good start last season as they sat down with a 17-9-5 mid-December. The wheels went off the tracks shortly after, as the Ducks finished 14-38-9 the rest of the way.
The Ducks made some notable additions this summer, inking Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano of the New York Rangers into free agency. But if Anaheim is going to take a step forward and compete for a playoff spot, it will be due to the internal progression of players like Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Jamie Drysdale, along with a rebounding season from John Gibson.
Anaheim will also start a season without Ryan Getzlaf for the first time since before the 2004-05 season, as their longtime captain announced his retirement shortly before the end of the 2021-22 season.
Additions: Andre Burakovsky, Justin Schultz, John Hayden, Martin Jones, Brogan Rafferty, Cameron Hughes.
Remains: Haydn Fleury, Antoine Bibeau.
The inaugural season of the Seattle Kraken bore no resemblance to what we saw of the Golden Knights a few years ago. Seattle entered the league and looked like an expansion team as they went 27-49-6 and finished just ahead of the Arizona Coyotes trying to actively lose in the Western Conference.
Seattle made a big impact on free agency by signing Andre Burakovsky, who is coming off a 22-goal, 61-point season with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22. They also added Justin Schultz, a defender who moves the puck who can add a bit of attack to his blue line.
They should be better …