NHL

Day 1 of the NHL's 2022 free agency period wrapped up with a bang, when Johnny Gaudreau defied expectations by inking a big-money seven-year contract with ...

Another Lightning defenseman, 31-year-old Jan Rutta, joined the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday on a three-year pact with a cap hit of $2.75 million per year. The big defender signed a four-year deal with a cap hit of $4 million per season earlier on Wednesday In 2019, most notably, Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky signed as free agents with the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers, respectively, just months after the Blue Jackets shocked the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning with a first-round playoff sweep. On Wednesday, new general manager Chris McFarland also inked 2022 trade-deadline acquisitions Artturi Lekhonen and Josh Manson to new multi-year deals that each carry cap hits of $4.5 million a year. The cap hit for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, 24, is $8.5 million per season. And after playing his entire career with the Calgary Flames, there were whispers that he was looking for a change of scenery. That left two neighbours, the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, as the top contenders for Gaudreau’s services. A South Jersey native, it was widely believed that the shifty winger wanted to join a team closer to home. Valeri Nichushkin, 27, was the big winner, with a new eight-year deal with a cap hit of $6.125 million. As holders of his rights, they were the only club that could offer him a maximum eight-year term — but only until the free-agency period began. Fellow blueliner Erik Cernak, 25, gets $5.2 million and forward Anthony Cirelli, 24, gets $6.25 million. Gaudreau is joining a team on the rise — with a blue-line star in Zach Werenski and high-end recent first-round picks Yegor Chinakhov, Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson already with NHL games under their belts.

The Red Wings and Hurricanes are among the teams which did well, while the Flyers and others did ... not so well. We digest the opening round of deals here.

It could be that the lack of a landing spot for the top three UFAs remaining has had a ripple effect on other players waiting to be signed. Vatrano had a strong postseason with the Rangers (13 points in 20 games) and if he continues to channel that, then Anaheim just got a versatile player for its middle six for less than $4 million per season. The Golden Knights traded left wing Max Pacioretty to the Hurricanes for what amounts to a bag of air. Toews and Kane are in the last years of their contracts. "If we have Cam Talbot or Marc-Andre Fleury in the net, we have a pretty good chance." When the Flyers traded for defenseman Tony DeAngelo and signed him to a two-year deal, it looked like a harbinger of that plan. The hard part of this business is that we have to move on." From a roster perspective, there wasn't a Plan B. The Flyers tried to improve a lackluster defense by running back Justin Braun, who was a part of it last season. Huh, if only there were a forward that fit that description on the open market who probably had black and orange pajamas... He's a physical, grinding player, he can kill penalties and he's a right-handed shot who will bolster that position for the Blue Jackets. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen said adding "size and toughness" to the blue line was a priority, which Gudbranson does. Philadelphia needed to create cap space to have any hope of landing Johnny Gaudreau. Sometimes the NHL really is a business. Vegas' cap issues forced it into moving Pacioretty's $7 million hit, and the Hurricanes jumped at a chance to bring in a regular 20-plus goal scorer who will have an immediate impact on their team up front.

Jagr offered up an honest assessment of his strengths and weaknesses as a player ... and added a recruiting pitch for his Czech league team.

As befits a team owner, he also offered a particularly honest assessment of his strengths and weaknesses as a hockey player. 😉Also as the owner of hockey club In czech liga -I am looking to sign a Defenseman No jokes— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) July 13, 2022 Suffice it to say, the man is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Plus, they acquired goaltender Ville Husso's negotiating rights at the 2022 NHL Draft and signed him to a three-year extension, giving the Red Wings a solid 1-2 ...

There are still some decent names on the market, so we're not going to call this a failure of a summer just yet but it'll be interesting to see what additions are ultimately made to this roster by the time September rolls around. The Jets had to pivot by hiring veteran Rick Bowness to be their next bench boss, which isn't a terrible consolation, but they obviously put all their eggs in the Trotz basket and went into scramble mode after that because every other higher profile coach got snatched up. Just a massive void in the lineup, and the question immediately becomes: What does this mean for the future of Matthew Tkachuk, who's a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights and one year away from unrestricted free agency? Now, they were believed to be in the hunt for Gaudreau, so it's not like GM Lou Lamiorello just sat on his hands, but you do wonder what their Plan B is. They added a top-six versatile forward in Andrew Copp, a 30-goal scorer in Dominik Kubalik, a six-time 50-point power forward in David Perron, a shutdown defenseman in Ben Chiarot and a two-time Stanley Cup champion depth defenseman in Olli Maatta. Plus, they acquired goaltender Ville Husso's negotiating rights at the 2022 NHL Draft and signed him to a three-year extension, giving the Red Wings a solid 1-2 punch between the pipes with him and Alex Nedeljkovic. The Red Wings may not be a playoff contender yet, but they'll probably be knocking on the door. The Senators also have nearly $20 million in cap space, which means they may not be done yet.

"It kind of came out of the blue," GM Jarmo Kekalainen said of the blockbuster free-agent signing.

Look at how we can drive the play up the ice, and now we have a guy again who can drive the play like a center, but do it from the wing.” The Blue Jackets had too many forwards and a glut of wingers before this signing. He was third in assists and led the entire NHL with a plus-64 rating. Many expected Gaudreau to sign with a club close to his family home in New Jersey. Philadelphia, the New York Islanders and New Jersey were seen as favorites. Gaudreau said he was blissfully unaware of the hockey world’s response to his signing. “I think we can finally get rid of the bullshit that this is somehow a bad destination, a bad city, whatever,” Kekalainen said. “Everybody’s talking about him being one of the biggest fish on the market. But in a move that stunned hockey fans everywhere — especially those in central Ohio — Gaudreau, 28, chose the Blue Jackets to spend the prime of his career, signing a seven-year, $68.25 million contract with Columbus on Wednesday. The deal will pay Gaudreau $9.75 million each season, which is also the cap hit. Just as important, perhaps, is what this means to the franchise off the ice. (Yes, GM Jarmo Kekalainen plans to sign and keep restricted free agent Patrik Laine, although $5 million worth of moves will be necessary to get under the NHL’s salary cap.) Now I want to hear it all the time. And some former guys, like Cam Atkinson and Dalton Prout … those guys were just like, ‘You’re going to absolutely love the place.'”

The Hurricanes took advantage of the Golden Knights' cap woes, Johnny Gaudreau moved East, and two Atlantic teams got a lot better.

Now on free agency day, the Blackhawks signed a few forwards — Colin Blackwell, Andreas Athanasiou and Max Domi — to relatively inexpensive short-term deals that can be flipped at the deadline. Carolina again came out the winners of a deal with the Golden Knights, when they leveraged their cap space to bring in Max Pacioretty (plus depth defender Dylan Coghlan) for nothing. Management has committed to this core, which means maximizing these next few years as best as possible to give them a legitimate chance to stack up in the Eastern Conference before their foundational pieces start declining. But their day was somewhat underwhelming as a result of their cap situation, and it’s not going to get any easier from here with Jonathan Huberdeau up for a raise in a year on top of it. The biggest winners of free agency day may be the Hurricanes. Their first offseason splash came a few days ago when Tony DeAngelo’s rights were flipped to the Flyers for three draft picks. But the Devils are shooting for more than just marginally better, so it’s hard to see how they come away with a win after today unless something legitimately changes up front soon. The Dominik Kublaik signing adds some offensive support lower in the lineup after the Blackhawks decided not to qualify him. Besides Gaudreau going to Columbus, the other shock of the day (and really week) is how active the Senators have been. The Andrew Copp signing adds a very versatile all-situation forward to the top nine who could help add some defensive support to a team that sorely needed it, especially in the second half of 2021-22. Ottawa’s not the only Atlantic Division team to trend in the right direction. Olli Maatta signed an inexpensive deal that could easily be flipped at the deadline if the team is looking to recoup some assets, too. Columbus, a team no one saw coming in the Johnny Gaudreau sweepstakes, took their shot at the game breaker and came away with one of the best left wingers in the league.