Every summer brings its share of changes in the NHL. As the off-season coincides with the holidays, we sometimes find ourselves surprised at the opening of the season to find heads in new colors. Let’s have fun doing a review exercise to be ready for training camps. Today, the Western Association.
Former team: Tampa Bay Lightning
New team: Anaheim Ducks
Life doesn’t stop at 33, especially not after a career-best 64-point, 27-goal season. The Ducks are still rebuilding, they had a lot of salary flexibility and wanted to have a good leader who could produce offensively to help the youngsters progress. His contribution will be twofold: on the ice and in the locker room. Still, 6.25 million per season for four years on the eve of his 34th birthday is a godsend for Killorn.
Former team: Minnesota Wild
New Team: Arizona Coyotes
Just five years ago, Dumba was considered one of the best young defensemen in the NHL. He was coming off a 50-point season at just 23 years old. Then he tore a pectoral muscle in a fight in 2018 and never regained his greatness. He got just 14 bridges last year and waited six weeks to find a buyer in the free agent market. The Arizona Coyotes still have needs at all positions and Dumba will solidify the defense along with another new acquisition, Sean Durzi. Dumba, 29, played more than 21 minutes per game at Minnesota last year. Coach André Tourigny will not spit on his arrival.
Former Team: Boston Bruins
New Team: Chicago Blackhawks
In 2018, that first overall pick eight years earlier won the Hart Trophy as Most Valuable Player after a 93-point season. Five years later, the Boston Bruins are getting rid of it to free up the payroll. Hall, 32 in November, had just 36 points in 61 games last year. Chicago got it with another overpaid aging player, Nick Foligno. Hall will make $6 million a year for the next two seasons, Foligno $4 million this winter, as will Hawks new hire Corey Perry. This 30-year-old trio will help Chicago reach the salary floor and serve as a mentor to Connor Bedard.
Former Team: Nashville Predators
New Team: Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche could never make up for the loss of their second center, Nazem Kadri. We didn’t want to wait for the young Alex Newhook, traded to the Canadian, and bet on the young 31-year-old veteran Ryan Johansen. At 8 million per season, Johansen was overpaid in Nashville, at 28 points in 55 games, 63 points the previous year. But as the rebuilding Predators agree to withhold half pay for the remainder of his 2025 contract, Johansen becomes an attractive fit for Colorado.
Former Team: Nashville Predators
New Team: Dallas Stars
The CEO of the Stars, Jim Nill, knows how to smell the windfall. Duchene, like Ryan Johansen, was part of the summer purge of new Predators general manager Barry Trotz. Nashville got rid of him by buying out the last three years of his contract, valued at 8 million per season. Nill gets it on a one-year, $3.9 million contract. Duchene, 32, had 56 points in 71 games last year, 65 full-year prorated points, and 86 points, including 43 goals, the previous year. Nice net from the Stars!
Former Team: Winnipeg Jets
New Team: Los Angeles Kings
The rumors of Pierre-Luc Dubois in Montreal are over. Not only were the Kings, eager for short-term success, willing to pay for his acquisition in players, but they also had the financial means to attract him. They gave up promising 24-year-old center Gabriel Vilardi, 41 points in 63 games last year, 29-year-old productive forward Alex Iaffalo, unproductive 23-year-old Rasmus Kupari and a second-round pick for Dubois, immediately contracted for eight years at an annual salary of 8.5 million. It’s expensive to pay for a player with 63 points in 73 games criticized by his coach after the playoffs, but Los Angeles will have a formidable center line with Anze Kopitar, Dubois and Philip Danault.
Former team: Toronto Maple Leafs
New Team: Nashville Predators
Barry Trotz prefers Ryan O’Reilly’s leadership for his youngsters to that of Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene. Despite having a tough season offensively last year, at 32, O’Reilly made $4.5 million a year for four years. This hero of the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Blues in 2019 found his touch after his arrival in Toronto. He will have cost the Leafs first- and third-round picks in 2023 for 24 games, but Toronto probably wouldn’t have made it past the first round without him.
Former team: Florida Panthers
New Team: San Jose Sharks
This Quebec forward relaunched his career with the Florida Panthers in recent years, but he missed most of last season due to injury, and to his surprise, Florida traded him to the Sharks to ease his payroll of 3 million. Duclair will still spend the light of his winter in the warm, this time in California, but within a mediocre club which brings together a large number of players rejected by other organizations: Mike Hoffman, Mikael Granlund, Filip Zadina, Jan Rutta…
Former Team: Philadelphia Flyers
New Team: St. Louis Blues
The new general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, Daniel Brière, has therefore managed to get rid of the whipping boy of John Tortorella. Hayes, 31, still amassed 54 points last year, but we guess his efforts were not to the liking of his coach, thus raising his ire. The Flyers still picked up a sixth-round pick for that garage sale, but they must withhold half of Hayes’ $7.1 million annual salary for the next three seasons. The Blues therefore find themselves with a third center at 3.5 million behind Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn.
Former Team: Edmonton Oilers
New Team: Seattle Kraken
The Oilers have long dreamed of seeing their 2017 first pick, 22nd overall, become Connor McDavid’s signature right winger. They stopped hoping. After a season of just 25 points, including 10 goals, in 58 games, Edmonton traded its 5-foot-7, 163-pound small forward to the Detroit Red Wings. They then bought out the last year of his contract at 3.1 million. The operation allowed Steve Yzerman to get his hands on another Oilers forward, giant Kim Klostin. Seattle took advantage of Yamamoto’s complete autonomy to offer him a one-year contract at 1.5 million, a perfectly reasonable bet.
Twenty years ago, the Maple Leafs named John Ferguson Jr. as general manager. This man unfortunately contributed to more than a decade of misery in Toronto. By masochism no doubt, a colleague recalled this sad anniversary on Twitter / X Tuesday morning. His worst decision was to trade a young goaltender, Tuukka Rask, to the Boston Bruins for a more experienced one, Andrew Raycroft. Rask has won 308 career games in Boston, Raycroft 39 in Toronto. His other major blunder was sacrificing first- and second-round picks in 2007 (13th and 44th overall) for goaltender Vesa Toskala and forward Mark Bell. Not to mention this host of overpaid veterans in the free agent market. Like what a man, only one, can sink an organization…
1- It is now done. Télé-Louisiane, “the media of the Louisiana people”, according to its own description on the Twitter/X site, becomes the “exclusive French-language media” of the Saints, and will cover the daily life of the club in French. The details with Richard Labbé.
2- They want to climb the five highest peaks of the seven continents and connect them by human strength, that is, by bicycle. Katherine Harvey-Pinard tells.
3- Tennis Canada has not only secured the services of a good head of tennis to replace Sylvain Bruneau as head of the women’s section. Noëlle Van Lottum is also a wife, a mother, a former professional player and an experienced coach. That’s enough, she believes, to prove she belongs. Nicholas Richard spoke to him.
