2023 NHL Free Agency – Opening Day Losers
The NHL‘s free agency window opened on Saturday, and teams quickly made their mark. Several teams understood the assignment, bringing in players to right the ship and turn things around. Conversely, some questionable deals were handed out, making us question what general managers were thinking.
We’re breaking down a few of the winners and losers after the first day of free agency.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Let’s get one thing straight. Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to get punched in the face by Ryan Reaves. But the 36-year-old tough guy’s one-dimensional play doesn’t benefit the Leafs. Moreover, promising Reaves three years at $1.35 million benefits no one other than the imposing forward.
Over the past three seasons, Reaves has posted cumulative 43.7% Corsi, 46.0% high-danger chance, and 43.7% expected goals-for ratings. That correlates with his on-ice output, with the former fifth-round pick posting an actual goals-for benchmark of 42.5%.
Brad Treliving appeared out of his element with the Calgary Flames, and his tenure as Maple Leafs General Manager is off to a worse start. Rather than trading out of the first round for their preferred prospect and acquiring extra capital, Treliving pulled the trigger on a surprise pick. Worse, he followed that up with the most disastrous signing on Day 1 of free agency.
The Leafs still have to re-tool their bottom six, and arguably, they’re in a worse position now than they were on June 30.
Nashville Predators
We can’t knock Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators for all the moves they made yesterday. But the confused approach does leave us questioning whether the Preds can compete in the Central Division next year.
Trotz went out and signed three veterans that don’t necessarily make the Predators better. Luke Schenn was brought in on the blue line and is being paid $2.75 million over the next three seasons. He joins a grizzled blue line that features four defenders over the age of 31. More concerningly, all but one of those rearguards is signed for at least three years, dooming Nashville to a prolonged decline.
There wasn’t any thought put into upgrading their forwards’ corps either. The team had no choice but to move on from Matt Duchene, who wasn’t living up to his salary expectations. Consequently, Duchene was bought out and signed with the Dallas Stars. Instead, Trotz allocated those funds to two older forwards, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist, with worse metrics and fewer goals.
Sadly, the game is passing Trotz by, and the Predators are paying the price.
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames accomplished nothing on July 1, and that could come back to haunt them. The Flames are being staffed out, as several prominent players have requested a trade from the floundering franchise. The franchise has tasked Craig Conroy with cleaning up the mess, and he could be leaving himself with fewer trade partners the longer he waits in free agency.
Doing nothing is not an answer to the Flames’ problems. Teams are busy fulfilling their needs early this offseason, a lesson Conroy would be wise to heed. While teams they are competing against for a playoff spot get better, the Flames are still calculating their next steps. It’s time for Conroy to get a move on; otherwise, his tenure as a General Manager could be short-lived.
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