The National Hockey League season is less than a week old, which is not enough of a sample size for observers to determine whether the moves made during the offseason were sufficient or not.
Those who could not address their areas of need through trades and free agency over the summer are giving prospects within their organizations the first crack at earning spots in the NHL, but it is possible that those clubs will look to make moves after American Thanksgiving if those internal candidates fail to do the job.
Here we look at grading the offseason roster moves for teams in the Pacific division
San Jose Sharks
GM Doug Wilson did not tinker much with the team that reached the Stanley Cup Final. Playoff rentals James Reimer, Roman Polak and Nick Spaling were not re-signed.
The only significant addition to the Sharks was the signing of free agent forward Mikkel Boedker to a four-year, $16 Million contract. Goaltender Martin Jones is a workhorse, but San Jose has 27-year-old journeyman Aaron Dell backing him up, which means that Jones will get a lot of early season work.
Grade: B-
Los Angeles Kings
No team can adequately prepare for the loss of a key player. They can only hope that they have someone who can be an effective stop gap until that player can come back.
The Kings season was thrown for a loop with the news that goaltender Jonathan Quick suffered a groin injury that will keep the Conn Smythe winner out for 3-4 months.
GM Dean Lombardi had a backup capable of playing more games than usual in Jhonas Enroth last season, but opted to sign former Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff during the summer. Darryl Sutter will now have to see whether the club can make due with a combo of Zatkoff and Peter Budaj until the All-Star break.
Los Angeles did not re-sign winger Milan Lucic, defenseman Luke Schenn, winger Kris Versteeg and veteran Vincent Lecavalier retired. Their additions were veterans Teddy Purcell and Tom Gilbert to one-year deals and Devin Setoguchi late in training camp to replace the injured Marian Gaborik.
Grade: C
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks had a biggest burden this summer to get free agents signed and have only been able to take care of two of their three RFA dilemmas.
Randy Carlyle was brought back as head coach after Bruce Boudreau was fired following a disappointing early playoff exit. GM Bob Murray got Sami Vatanen and forward Rickard Rakell signed to extensions, but defenseman Hampus Lindholm is one of the league’s few remaining unsigned free agents.
Forwards David Perron, Jamie McGinn and Brandon Pirri were not re-signed and goaile Frederik Andersen was moved to make room for John Gibson to become the full time starter. Murray went to the buyout bargain basement, bringing in forwards Antoine Vermette, Jared Boll and Mason Raymond and acquired Jonathan Bernier from Toronto to backup Gibson.
Grade: B-
Calgary Flames
The team that made the postseason two years ago was undone by the league’s worst goaltending in 2016. Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo are both out of the NHL. GM Brad Treliving failed to get a legitimate #1 goalie, opting to trade draft picks to acquire Brian Elliott from St Louis and sign journeyman backup Chad Johnson.
Treliving was successful at getting franchise cornerstones Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau extended and adding veteran Troy Brouwer via free agency. New head coach Glen Gulutzan will be depending on them, Sam Bennett and possibly 2016 top pick Matthew Tkachuk to provide most of the scoring.
Grade: C+
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers are proof that making big splashy moves does not mean that they are good or beneficial. GM Peter Chiarelli’s agenda was to move on from a core group that had done nothing but lose for most of this decade, but did not get equal value for former top picks Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov.
Edmonton got defenseman Adam Larsson for Hall, who helps the depth of the Oilers blueline, but will be miscast if he is used in a top-pairing role. Chiarelli was only able to get a conditional pick from St. Louis for Yakupov.
Big winger Milan Lucic was signed to a seven-year, $42 Million deal to provide a scoring outlet and protection for superstar Connor McDavid and the club added defenseman Kris Russell just prior to the start of the season.
Grade: D
Vancouver Canucks
Many believed that finishing 28th in the NHL would bring about a rebuild in Vancouver, but GM Jim Benning doubled down and added veterans to try to make a playoff run while the Sedin twins and Ryan Miller still have something left.
Benning swapped forward Jared McCann to Florida for defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who replaces the departed Dan Hamhuis on the blueline. They signed Loui Eriksson to a six-year, $36 Million contract to play with the Sedins.
Grade: C+
Arizona Coyotes
The young talent that the Coyotes have been stockpiling and developing for years is finally beginning to bear fruit. Rookies Dylan Strome, Christian Dvorak, Lawson Crouse and 2016 first rounder Jakob Chychrun all made the club out of training camp and will join sophomores Max Domi and Anthony Duclair.
New GM John Chaika bought out veteran Antoine Vermette and was uncharacteristically active in free agency. He traded for the negotiating rights and signed defenseman Alex Goligoski, added wingers Jamie McGinn, Ryan White and Radim Vrbata via free agency and taking on the contracts of Pavel Datysuk and Dave Bolland for draft picks and a young prospect (Crouse).
Grade: B+
Grading NHL Offseason Roster Moves: Atlantic | Metropolitan | Central
Michael (@MikeInBuffalo on Twitter) can also be found on HockeyBuzz.com
