National Hockey League training camps are in full swing and in less than two weeks, the 2016-17 regular season will begin.
Teams who could not address their areas of need through trades and free agency over the summer are currently evaluating professional tryouts and prospects within their organizations, but it is possible that their inability to make significant additions may affect their chances of making the postseason.
Here is a brief evaluation of how teams in the Central Division did over the summer:
Chicago Blackhawks – The Hawks had a rather disappointing and abrupt end to their season, losing in the first round to the St. Louis Blues. As has been the case in recent seasons, GM Stan Bowman made moves necessitated by the salary cap, trading the final year of Bryan Bickell’s deal and young forward Teuvo Teravainen to Carolina, Andrew Shaw to Montreal and letting free agent Andrew Ladd go to the New York Islanders.
Former Hawk Brian Campbell returns to bolster the blueline, but coach Joel Quenneville is hoping that youngsters Tyler Motte, Nick Schmaltz or Ryan Hartman can step in and provide secondary scoring so that Jonathan Toews, Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane don’t have to score every night.
Grade: C-
St. Louis Blues – After years of playoff futility, the Blues got to the Western Conference Final before falling to the San Jose Sharks. Head coach Ken Hitchcock will not have the same weapons available to make another playoff run in possibly his final season behind the St. Louis bench.
GM Doug Armstrong let team captain David Backes and forward Troy Brouwer depart via free agency. Former Blue David Perron was signed to provide scoring depth, but forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz (out a month with an elbow injury) and sophomore Robby Fabbri will shoulder the burden of the team’s scoring.
St. Louis traded goalie Brian Elliott to Calgary and replaced him with former Predators netminder Carter Hutton. They struck out on enticing forward Vladimir Sobotka back from the KHL and did not pull the trigger on the much-anticipated trade of pending UFA Kevin Shattenkirk,
Grade: C+
Minnesota Wild – The Wild were severely limited in terms of being able to make significant moves this summer, but the buyout of the last year of Thomas Vanek’s contract enabled GM Chuck Fletcher to re-sign defenseman Matt Dumba and make a few tweaking moves.
Fletcher signed journeyman Chris Stewart to a two-year deal and is hoping that veteran center Eric Staal can bounce back from this worst offensive output in over a decade. New head coach Bruce Boudreau was hired to breathe life into the existing and aging core group of Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter.
Grade: B-
Colorado Avalanche – The Avs had an unexpected major shakeup late in the summer, as head coach Patrick Roy resigned due to philosophical differences and was replaced by Calder Cup winner Jared Bednar.
GM Joe Sakic was able to get 2013 first overall pick Nathan MacKinnon locked up for seven years at a very reasonable $6.3 Million AAV and re-signed defenseman Tyson Barrie for four years, but the only additions made were veteran defenseman Fedor Tyutin and free agent forward Joe Colborne to short-term deals.
Grade: B-
Nashville Predators – The Preds shook the hockey world with the unexpected trade of team captain Shea Weber to Montreal for PK Subban. The trade is an even swap for right now, but the four-year age difference will make the deal a winner for GM David Poile down the line.
Nashville locked up forward Filip Forsberg on a six-year, $36 Million contract extension, a good price for a 22-year-old who scored a career-high 33 goals last season and added veteran defenseman Matt Carle on a one-year deal.
Grade: A-
Winnipeg Jets – The Jets hit the jackpot in the NHL Draft lottery, getting the second pick and selecting Finnish forward Patrik Laine. They also were able to get franchise cornerstone Mark Scheifele locked up on a long-term deal, but the impasse with defenseman Jacob Trouba could make this summer a disaster for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.
Trouba revealed his request to be traded near the beginning of training camp, but the defenseman’s representatives and the club have not been talking since May.
It will be a difficult task for Cheveldayoff to get equal value for a player who everyone knows wants out and getting a good return for the 22-year-old is a necessity for the Jets .
Grade: C
Dallas Stars – A late season injury to Tyler Seguin and subpar playoff goaltending from Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen, prevented Lindy Ruff’s crew from advancing past the second round of the playoffs.
GM Jim Nill was able to lock up star winger Jamie Benn on an eight-year max contract, but could not afford to retain defensemen Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski. Demers signed multi-year free-agent deal with Florida and Goligoski was traded to Arizona where he signed a multi-year deal. The Stars also lost young forward Valeri Nichushkin to the KHL.
The Stars added veteran winger Jiri Hudler on a one-year deal. They signed Dan Hamhuis for two years to bolster the blueline, but are hoping that youngsters Esa Lindell and Julius Honka are ready to step into the NHL after careful development in the American Hockey League.
Grade: C-
Offseason Grades: Metropolitan Division | Atlantic Division | Pacific Division – coming soon
Michael (@MikeInBuffalo on Twitter) can also be found on HockeyBuzz.com
