Something doesn’t seem quite right when the day before free agency is more exciting than the actual opening of free agency.
That’s because NHL general managers did their best to remove some of the bigger names in the market on June 30. Mitch Marner, Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, Patrick Kane and Ivan Provorov were all gone on Monday.
There still was some action on Tuesday. Brock Boeser, who had seemed all but gone, re-signed with the Vancouver Canucks. Mikael Granlund joined the Anaheim Ducks. Vladislav Gavrikov went to the New York Rangers, and the Rangers traded K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Here are the winners and losers from the last two days of NHL free agency:
WINNERS
Florida Panthers
It seemed unlikely that Panthers general manager Bill Zito would be able to bring back his big three free agents of Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand but he got it done.
‘This is 100 percent those guys wanting to be part of something they created,’ Zito said.
He then got Tomas Nosek re-signed, meaning all 12 forwards who skated in the Panthers’ Stanley Cup-clinching win are under contract. The only main player who left is defenseman Nate Schmidt, but Zito signed Jeff Petry as a replacement.
Vegas Golden Knights
They’re adding prolific scorer Mitch Marner to a roster that already has lots of offense in Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev. The question is whether Marner can produce in the postseason, but that’s pretty far away.
New York Rangers
The Rangers have been sloppy defensively, so it was good to add Gavrikov, the top defensive defenseman in the free agent class. They had to part with Miller to make the money work, but they received a prospect and two draft picks in the deal. General manager Chris Drury also got restricted free agent forward Will Cuylle re-signed for two years. He had been considered a potential target for an offer sheet.
LOSERS
Los Angeles Kings
Losing Gavrikov was tough. They also traded young defenseman Jordan Spence. Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin don’t seem like adequate replacements.
Teams seeking goaltending help
Jake Allen was the top free agent goalie and he signed a five-year, $9 million contract to return to the New Jersey Devils. Goaltenders Vitek Vanecek (Utah), Dan Vladar (Philadelphia), David Rittich (Islanders), Anton Forsberg (Los Angeles), Matt Murray (Seattle) and Alex Nedeljkovic (San Jose) did move. Ilya Samsonov, James Reimer and Alexandar Georgiev are among the goalies still available.
Dallas Stars
Mikael Granlund was a good fit for the Stars after he arrived before the 2025 trade deadline, but they didn’t have the cap space to re-sign him. They did sign Radek Faksa, a former Star, but he’s more of a depth player.
