Carolina’s shrewd acquisition of Teuvo Teravainen bolstered an improving young roster
New Jersey Devils
GM Ray Shero pulled off the coup of the offseason when he landed Taylor Hall from the Oilers in exchange for Adam Larsson. Hall gives New Jersey the top offensive talent to build around its been lacking for years – and with Kyle Palmieri and Adam Henrique’s continued emergence, plus 2015 first-rounder Pavel Zacha and 2016 top pick Michael McLeod on the way, there are finally some pieces up front. The Devils are set in goal with Cory Schneider firmly entrenched among the league’s best netminders, but New Jersey’s defense was weakened with the departure of Larsson. The Devils signed Ben Lovejoy – who should play major minutes – but they are still waiting for some of their other blueline prospects to emerge. New Jersey won’t be easy to play against, but the Devils are still likely a couple years away from being serious contenders in the division.
Philadelphia Flyers
With the head-scratching Radko Gudas re-signing aside, the Flyers’ whole modus operandi has changed over the last couple of years under GM Ron Hextall. Once again, Philadelphia demonstrated tremendous patience and restraint this summer, with the Flyers’ one big move being to ink UFA winger Dale Weise. Otherwise, Philadelphia will once again hope to continue to grow from within. Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier both feel like they’ve been around forever, but they are 24 and 23 years old, respectively. Even Jakub Voracek is only 26. Philadelphia is eagerly awaiting the arrival of top forward prospect Travis Konecny, as well as a bevy of blueline phenoms including Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim and Sam Morin that could join Shayne Gostisbehere in quickly evolving that unit. The Flyers were a surprise playoff team last year and may take a step back, but they are stubbornly sticking to the plan and it may soon pay dividends.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets were not in position to make major alterations to the roster this offseason, as they are in a difficult spot with the salary cap and expansion draft coming next spring. Columbus did cut ties with Fedor Tyutin and prospect Kerby Rychel, but the Jackets’ biggest UFA add was Sam Gagner this week. The Jackets’ front office has a ton riding on the decision to draft Pierre-Luc Dubois fourth overall, but he joins a solid group of prospects that just need some incumbents removed to start seeing NHL ice time. 2015 first-round Zach Werenski is the headliner and looks like a near-lock to make the roster out of training camp. Overall, Columbus has a lot of work to do, but this is a team that has underachieved over the last two seasons partially due to injuries, so the Jackets might surprise in the coming campaign.
New York Islanders
New York lost some roster mainstays when Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin departed as free agents in July. The decision to overpay Casey Cizikas in lieu of one of the lost FAs was especially puzzling, but in their place the Islanders inked playoff proven veterans Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera, as well as bringing back P.A. Parenteau for a second tour. New York has a couple major prospects on the way including Matthew Barzal and Michael Dal Colle that could emerge as chief sidekicks to John Tavares in the near future. It may seem like the Isles have taken a step back, but the shakeup could also create more opportunities for key youngsters Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals lost only Chimera from a stacked roster and added a strong third-line center behind Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov in Lars Eller. Washington also may have a sleeper on its hands in Brett Connolly, who has yet to carve a niche in the NHL but still boasts an elite shot. Washington will once again have a potent roster and a top netminder in Braden Holtby, so there’s no reason the Capitals shouldn’t go toe to toe with Pittsburgh for the division crown.
Carolina Hurricanes
Of all the Metro clubs, Carolina probably had the most interesting offseason. The Hurricanes utilized their extra cap space to poach promising youngster Teuvo Teravainen from Chicago in the Bryan Bickell trade, while also bringing in Lee Stempniak as a free agent to bolster the forward corps. The Hurricanes still need to figure out a long-term solution in goal and some additional talent on offense, but Carolina is loaded with an embarrassing number of young blueliners that will serve as terrific trade chips if they don’t fit into the puzzle with the Hurricanes. This team was surprisingly competitive last year and while it may be too much to expect a jump into playoff contention this season, Carolina’s stock is definitely on the way up.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The defending Stanley Cup champions didn’t have the cap space to make major changes this offseason – but then again, they didn’t need to. The Penguins lost Lovejoy to free agency, but otherwise will return essentially the same roster that roared through the postseason. The big question facing Pittsburgh is how to juggle the situation in goal, where Marc-Andre Fleury remains under contract for three more seasons and Matt Murray is clearly ready for more responsibility. The Penguins could see improvement from young defensemen Derrick Pouliot, Olli Maatta and Brian Dumoulin, and 2015 second-round pick Daniel Sprong could also be ready for a full-time job after playing 18 games with the big club as a rookie. Barring a Cup hangover, the rest of the league will spend a lot of time chasing Pittsburgh yet again in 2016-2017.
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