NHL Free Agency 2018 winners and losers: the Maple Leafs get scary, the Isles and the Canucks lose big

You will find an exhaustive list of the best free agents of this year and their destinations here . It is still very early in the offseason, and some of the moves made in the free agency may be just initial deals for a number of teams who will continue to look for ways to improve through the signatures and trades, but let's take a look at who made a strong impression – and that raised some eyebrows – in free will up here

Winners

Duh, right? The Leafs scored the 2018 free agent category award at John Tavares, and he took a hometown discount on top of that. (It's not that a $ 11 million hat trick is a hen's change.) As a result, the league's second-best offensive team last year added a playmaker. superstar and a player who scored 37 goals and 84 points last season. Now they have Tavares, Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri as their top three players in the middle, with a very solid talent around them. It's scary. Quite scary for they are the favorites of the Stanley Cup .

For Tavares, he happens to join a real competitor for the first time in his career, and he gets to do it in his hometown of Toronto. They have a very young very strong core and the Leafs will have a good shot at making a real Stanley Cup race right away, and if JT is helping them get their first title since 1967, then he's instantly becoming a legend in the city. . It's a very good opportunity for him, and it's not hard to see why it was hard to let him through.

Philadelphia is a rising team that has also managed to pick up an offensive offensive play on Day 1 of the free agency. This coin came to James van Riemsdyk who signed a $ 35 million, five-year contract to return to the Flyers on Sunday.

Of course, the price tag may seem a little heavy, but Philly is a bubble team that seeks to keep pace in the Eastern Conference and JVR is a dynamic player who should be doing a big difference on the front of their offense. Van Riemsdyk, who was drafted second by the Flyers in 2007, scored 36 career goals for the Maple Leafs last season, despite averaging less than 15 minutes per game.

The Flyers are banking on this type of production beyond its contractual year, and van Riemsdyk has gained the additional opportunity that he should see in Philadelphia

Paul Stastny

Not only the The 32-year-old center managed to sign a $ 19.5 million deal over three years, and moved from Winnipeg to Las Vegas!

This price tag is probably a bit steep for an aging Stastny, but Vegas has money to play with a versatile and experienced playmaker and Stastny gets to cash another big deal while staying with a winner. In fact, he pbades from the Winnipeg Jets to the team that eliminated him at the Western Conference finals this spring

Stastny squared in Winnipeg with a focus on serious talent between Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, and it's possible he's heading for a less-than-ideal hockey situation in Vegas. But the Jets could not match the dollars offered by Vegas, and it should still have ample opportunity to succeed with the Golden Knights. The lifestyle upgrade (and wifi) is an added bonus.

This is an interesting offseason for the Flames. They eliminated one of their best defenders in Dougie Hamilton earlier this summer in a package that brought back Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm, and they made a splash on Day 2 of the free agency when they got landed James Neal.

The Flames were on the market for more help in the front, especially in the scoring department (they were 26th in the league in attack last year), and Neal is the most One of the best attackers on the market. The 30-year-old winger will travel to Calgary for a $ 28.75 million five-year commitment ($ 5.75 AAV), which is a fair price for Neal's expected contributions.

He scored 25 goals for the Vegas Golden Knights during the regular season, adding six goals and five badists in 20 playoff games in the Stanley Cup final. Neal has been a very consistent force throughout his NHL career, scoring more than 20 goals in each of his 10 seasons – including 40 in 2011-12 and 21 in 40 games during the shortened lockout campaign in 2013.

a win for Neal, who gets the long-term deal and the security that he was looking for (this will be his third team in three years), and the Flames get a veteran with a lot of 's. playoff experience that will bring goals and consistency to their alignment at an acceptable price.

The Blues clearly wanted to strengthen in the middle of this offseason, and they certainly did. They signed Tyler Bozak for a three-year contract of $ 15 million, while the free agency has opened its doors, and it's not a case I'm completely in love with. However, Bozak is a solid player who can be a good piece of depth.

Bozak's signature sounded much better after the Blues blockbuster deal, which came later on July 1 via the trade. The Blues picked up Ryan O'Reilly for the Sabers for an important package . O 'Reilly is a strong and productive two-lane center and one of the best men in the NHL. He will be a valuable front-runner for the Blues, who will be heading to the next season with O 'Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Bozak as centers in the top six.

One of the most important things that a team in contention can do is to have some talent and depth in the middle, and the Blues have not been slow in coming in. Improve in this department. They are also losing some bad deals (Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund) in the O & # 39; Reilly case, which represents an added benefit.

Losers

The first day of the Vancouver Free Agency was honestly staggering. The Canucks are in dire need of great playmakers at the front of their training and defense. So what did they do? They have given four year contracts worth about $ 3 million a year to Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, who are at the bottom of the six roles.

I like Beagle, who was a depth player and who was penalizing during their championship season last year. But he is 32 and he is fourth in a full team.

Rousell, who will turn 29 next season, is a winger out of a year where he has scored just five goals in 73 games. He has never touched 15 goals or 30 points in just one of his six seasons in the NHL.

This is not the kind of player you give to this kind of transactions. Excessive commitment to aging deep players can often be a killer for teams, especially when it comes time to lock in the front line.

The Canucks are trying to build depth, character and courage through freedom of action, but their approach is alarming. Teams often have to give a little more time or money to attract free agents, but Vancouver spends far too much at both ends, and for players who are not major differentiators. Go make sure that you lock the talents on the front before you have to go overboard at the back.

This was a very good free agency for Lou Lamoriello and the New York Islanders. Not only did Lou have to see the Isles captain and franchise star at Tavares walk, but he had to watch him go to the Toronto Maple Leafs – the team that Lamoriello had just left.

Losing Tavares is a fist that goes It takes time to recover – especially if we consider that the supporters of the Islanders have only the failures of their own team to The origin of JT's departure – but it was not the only disturbing transaction on Long Island. The Isles has signed a $ 12 million contract with Leo Komarov for four years, and this deal is bad news.

Komarov is 31 years old and he scored 7 goals and 19 points in 74 Even though they played more than 15 minutes per game for the Maple Leafs – the second-best offensive team in the league. He is a decent penalty killer who can be under the skin of the opponents, and he has scored 30 points in his previous two seasons in Toronto, but he already seems to be on the decline, giving him a four-year contract is a gamble important. 19659002] They also inked Valtteri Filppula for some reason. Filppula arrives with a one-year contract of $ 2.75 million, which is not exactly a commitment that marks the end of the world, but it's also not the one that inspires trust in the islands, at least in the immediate future.

Filppula has been a productive offensive player in the past, but he is 34 years old and his production has declined in recent years and may be a defensive responsibility. The only real plus is that he makes a short-term contract and, if he plays well in the first half of the season, he could be returned for one or two future badets at the trading deadline. .

Chicago is having a frustrating season and the Blackhawks are looking to make big changes to their lineup to get back to their victories. Unfortunately, they do not have much flexibility in terms of capping, and so they have not been able to take a major plunge into the free agency.

That being said, the additions they made on Sunday were still somewhat debatable. They signed goaltender Cam Ward on a one year, $ 3 million deal to help Corey Crawford. Ward seems to be a goalkeeper's shell that he once was in Carolina, and $ 3 million is probably more than what you want to give to a dubious goalkeeper when the money is already tight, but the commitment of one year is what makes this.

The Blackhawks also gave a one – year, one – million dollar contract to Chris Kunitz. This is a relatively low risk considering the term and the money, and Kunitz often receives praise for his leadership qualities (he won four Stanley Cups), but he is 38 and does not seem to have a lot in the tank.

Finally, they added Brandon Manning to a two-year contract worth $ 2.25 a year. Manning is a veteran veteran, but that's about it.

Given the current state of the Hawks, it is really hard to feel good in their first day of free agency. Spending $ 6.25 million for Ward, Kunitz and Manning next year is not going to excite anyone, and the Blackhawks are not much better off than yesterday. it's done. They have to plan something big via the shop (s).

The worst sign of the free agency is unquestionably the Penguins, who signed a $ 16.25 million contract for five years with Jack Johnson. Pens needed help on the defensive to be looking for this help at Johnson, 31, who has not really been an impressive presence on the blue line (he was healthy during the playoffs Blue Jackets qualifiers) and is already lagging behind his career

Giving a five-year commitment to a player like Johnson is pointless and unusual for the Penguins, and it's an agreement that carries a decent potential for hurt them a lot more than that helps them.

Even worse, the Penguins had to hand Connor Sheary and Matt Hunwick to the Buffalo Sabers to make room for Johnson. Sheary is a strong contributor to the front, but abandoning the Hunwick problem deal seemed to be positive for Pittsburgh, until the Pens turn around and hand out an agreement that could even be worse.

Senators of Ottawa

signed some good, they will inevitably swap the biggest player in the history of the franchise and the organization is still a complete mess. Let's just prevent a preemptive loss here.