Grading the Progress of 11 NHL Teams That Are Rebuilding
Rebuilding is nothing new in sports and definitely not new when it comes to the NHL.
Some teams are able to turn things around in a year or two while others wander in the frozen wasteland for a decade or more trying to figure things out. Whether it's mostly painless or entirely painful leading to suffering, rebuilding is a fact of life.
Fortunately for us during this summer without hockey, there are a lot of teams either coming out of, in the midst of, or just entering the rebuilding process and we're going to grade them out accordingly and as fairly as possible.
So, how is your team faring in trying to reclaim past glory? Let's find out.
Anaheim Ducks
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You all know about Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry and Jamie Drysdale, but the Ducks' minor league and draft stockpile is worth watching very closely over the coming few years.
They'll have 2023 No. 2 pick Leo Carlsson itching to make the roster immediately this fall and 2021 third-round pick Sasha Pastujov will enter his first pro season after a successful junior career. No. 22 pick Nathan Gaucher was a physical and defensive dynamo for Quebec on the way to winning the Memorial Cup.
On defense is where things are really looking up.
2022's No. 10 pick Pavel Mintyukov lit up the OHL last season with 88 points in 69 games. That kind of offense will grab everyone's attention and the Ducks should be very excited by his progress. Besides McTavish from the 2021 draft, they've got defensemen Olen Zellweger and Tyson Hinds coming off big years.
Zellweger had 80 points in 55 games between Everett and Kamloops and then put up 29 points in 14 playoff games with the Blazers. Hinds, a third-round pick, had 54 points in 56 games with Sherbrooke in the QMJHL, eighth-best among defensemen in the league.
In goal, they've got 23-year-old Lukas Dostal primed to be John Gibson's backup and perhaps even more primed to take the starting job if/when Gibson is traded. He had a great season in San Diego in the AHL before he was brought up to the NHL in the second half.
Grade: B
Arizona Coyotes
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I know everyone loves cracking jokes about the Coyotes, but with what they have going on in their system, they'll be the ones laughing in the end.
It's tough to count Clayton Keller as part of the rebuild here since he's 24 (soon to be 25), but he's the guy they're building around. Matias Maccelli had a strong first season while Jack McBain and Barrett Hayton showed improvement as strong depth players. Defenseman J.J. Moser has sneakily been a good puck carrier and setup player.
What Arizona has on the way is going to be worth the wait. 2021 first-round No. 9 pick, forward Dylan Guenther, got a taste of the NHL last season, but he'll likely be in the desert full-time this season after having a dynamite season with Seattle in the WHL.
Their 2022 first-round picks are shaping up strong. Logan Cooley (third overall) leading the way after being one of the top freshman scorers in the NCAA with Minnesota. Center Connor Geekie (11th overall) had 77 points in 66 games with an explosive Winnipeg team in the WHL and defenseman Maveric Lamoureux (29th overall) and 19 points in 35 games to go with 62 penalty minutes.
Although their 2023 draft looked a little odd at the moment, their first-round picks defenseman Dmitry Simashev (sixth overall) and 6'5" forward Danil But (12th overall) can be players. The only question there is if they panicked picking Simashev after Montréal snagged defenseman David Reinbacher just ahead of them. Time will bear that out, but in a vacuum, those are strong picks and guys who should be contributors when things are really rounding into form at the NHL level.
They're missing a strong goalie prospect, but with Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram in the NHL and not too old, they're OK.
Grade: B-minus
Buffalo Sabres
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You could say I'm being a homer since I cover the Sabres full-time, but can you disagree?
Buffalo missed the playoffs by two points last season with the youngest team in the NHL. The bulk of the prospects needed to take them to the playoffs and beyond are already with the Sabres.
Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, Mattias Samuelsson, Peyton Krebs, Casey Mittelstadt, J.J. Peterka, Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are all 25 years old or younger and major players in Buffalo.
Behind them in the minors and juniors are forwards Jiri Kulich (2022 No. 29 pick) had 24 goals in 62 AHL games as an 18-year-old. Isak Rosén (2021 No. 14 pick), Matthew Savoie (2022 No. 9 pick), Noah Östlund (2022 No. 16 pick), and Zach Benson (2023 No. 13 pick) give them even younger potential firepower in the waiting. 2023 second-rounder Anton Wahlberg provides them with a potential forward with size and skill down the road.
You could ding the Sabres for not having another defenseman in waiting, but their top three of Dahlin, Samuelsson and Power are 23, 23, and 20 years old respectively. They do have 2019 first-round pick (30th overall) Ryan Johnson signed and Nikita Novikov from Russia provides size, meanness and skill with 2023 second-rounder Max Strbak headed to college.
It's a boatload of talent in Buffalo and it might cause roster issues in the future, but it's finally an exciting time for Sabres fans after 12 years of putting a stick in their own spokes during their rebuild.
Grade: A
Chicago Blackhawks
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Connor Bedard going No. 1 to Chicago at the 2023 draft helped Chicago take a flying leap forward with a rebuild that began in earnest a year ago.
They've severed all ties from their dynastic years, and they've traded players out for draft picks to the tune of having 16 top-100 draft picks in the past two drafts.
Chicago is obscenely early in their rebuild. Their top prospect apart from Bedard is Lukas Reichel whom fans were screaming to have in the lineup for most of last season. With Bedard in tow and the 'Hawks still severely lacking in offensive talent, it would figure Reichel will get involved more this season.
The start Chicago got from last year's draft with defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Sam Rinzel in the first round along with forward Frank Nazar III was a pretty miraculous result given they entered that draft without a first-round pick. Trading away Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach and adding Petr Mrazek helped make that magic happen, laying the foundation for their rebuild.
Along with Bedard, Chicago added speedy skilled forward Oliver Moore in the first round this year and goalie Adam Gajan in the second along with forwards Roman Kantserov and Martin Misak. Bedard will be the next great one and Moore could wind up playing the role of Patrick Sharp to Bedard's Jonathan Toews/Patrick Kane mashup. The rest will take time to develop and they'll get it. All the while Chicago will gladly accept the high draft picks they'll get while they do.
A rebuild in its infancy can make for real hard times on the ice, but Chicago got the generational player to build up around in Bedard and most rebuilds that add a player of that caliber aren't rebuilding much longer afterward.
Grade: B+
Columbus Blue Jackets
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When the Blue Jackets signed Johnny Gaudreau last summer, that felt like the kind of acquisition a team makes when they think they're either ready to take a big step or just ready to be noticed.
It certainly worked for the latter, but Columbus' rebuild began in 2021. In the past three drafts, the Jackets made 12 top-100 picks, eight of which were in the first 50 picks.
Columbus has already seen Kent Johnson (No. 5) and Cole Sillinger (No. 12) from the 2021 draft become NHL players, defenseman David Jiricek, the No. 6 pick in 2022, appears poised to break in with the big club next season and 2022 second-round pick Luca Del Bel Belluz had 87 points in 66 OHL games. Add in the No. 3 pick this year, Adam Fantilli, and second-rounder Gavin Brindley, the future is looking brighter for once.
The Jackets already had Zach Werenski on the blue line, and they added Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson to give them a sturdier defense. Columbus is hanging their hope in goal on 29-year-old Elvis Merzlikins, but 24-year-old Daniil Tarasov is eager for a chance to take over. Beyond that, there isn't a very deep system.
There's not a ton to work with here, although Fantilli will make up for a lot of that on his own. But this is a shallow prospect pool and it's made to look thinner because their drafting and development had been poor for years. They have to hope they've got it figured out now.
Grade: C+
Detroit Red Wings
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The Red Wings have been rebuilding for years and even now they don't seem to be settled with what they're doing.
They've made great draft picks in recent years with Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Sebastian Cossa and Marco Kasper. They've also had some picks not pan out, most notably Filip Zadina (No. 6 in 2018) whom they recently parted ways with and signed with San Jose. Joe Veleno (No. 30 in 2018) hasn't lived up to his high-scoring days in the QMJHL and Michael Rasmussen (No. 9 in 2017) has been more of a heavy than a scorer with the Wings.
Since Steve Yzerman took over as GM, the drafting has been a bit smarter but the free-agent signings make us tilt our heads like curious puppies.
Adding Andrew Copp made sense for defensive help with scoring touch up front, but at five years and $28.5 million, the goals haven't been there consistently. Ben Chiarot had questionable analytics but played the prototypical defensive defenseman game which earned him four years and $19 million in Detroit. Ville Husso's three-year, $14.5 million contract shows he might be there to keep the crease warm until Cossa is ready to compete for the NHL gig.
Justin Holl and J.T. Compher's signings stick out from this year, but trading for Alex DeBrincat and signing him for four years at $31.5 million could be a superb addition.
The Red Wings believe they are right there and their offseason moves show their hand. There are some prospects coming, but Yzerman and his scouts are trying to play a little catch-up after Ken Holland struggled to keep up at the end of his Detroit tenure.
Grade: C
Montréal Canadiens
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If there's a team that has the ability to suddenly explode on the scene and score a ton of goals, it's the Montréal Canadiens.
They've been piecing together a rebuild since 2021 after they played in the Stanley Cup Final against Tampa Bay. Without Carey Price and Shea Weber, it was an apt time to start over. By that point, they'd already acquired Nick Suzuki (2018) and drafted Cole Caufield (2019), Kaiden Guhle and Luke Tuch (2020).
Over the next three drafts, they piled up 12 top-100 selections which include rising hopefuls Riley Kidney, Oliver Kapanen and Joshua Roy from the 2021 draft. Their top four picks from 2022 (No. 1 overall Juraj Slafkovský, Filip Mešár, Owen Beck, Lane Hutson) all built off their draft years, although Slafkovský, spent most of the season dealing with an injury. No. 5 overall this year, David Reinbacher, was arguably the best defenseman in the draft.
The draft has helped, but so have trades. They've added Kirby Dach and Justin Barron in the past year and acquired 22-year-old Alex Newhook from Colorado at the end of June. They were able to snag Samuel Montembeault on waivers to help Jake Allen as well as make a case for the starting job. If that's not enough goaltending, 2017 draft pick Cayden Primeau put up stellar numbers in the AHL last season.
There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the Habs and they'll be in a division that will be brutally competitive for the years to come.
Grade: B
Nashville Predators
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The Predators traded Ryan Johansen to Colorado for basically nothing (the soon-to-be-expired contract of Alex Galchenyuk) and bought out the final three years of Matt Duchene's contract. In free agency, they added Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Schenn, Gustav Nyquist and Denis Gurianov. Read into the culture thing all you want to, but that was the team's message and adding players like that tells us they're not exactly stripping things down for a full reset.
The Predators had as many top-100 picks in the 2023 draft as they had in the previous two combined and their farm system has been stretched to the limit with Philip Tomasino and Luke Evangelista among others sticking in the NHL last season. In short, their prospect pool is tapped out, which made stocking up on top picks as soon as possible a necessity.
What's curious is how things will play out in goal in the future. Juuse Saros is the No. 1 and owns the net for a very good reason. But now they have 2020 No. 11 pick Yaroslav Askarov in the AHL and he may end up being Saros's backup soon. Askarov had a very good season with Milwaukee and Saros could become a free agent in two years.
It's a start for a rebuild, even if it is one being done on the fly, but we know the Predators will stay competitive under Barry Trotz as GM and Andrew Brunette as coach. How they toe the line between aiming for the playoffs or aiming for a better pick could get confusing.
Grade: C-
Ottawa Senators
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So much of what the Ottawa Senators have done in their rebuild that GM Pierre Dorion said was over in 2021 (which he tried to walk back months later) has been so very conflicting.
It seemed like the right time to make such a declaration after they drafted Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson and acquired Josh Norris in the Erik Karlsson trade (a deal that also gave them the pick which they chose Stützle) and Erik Brännström in the Mark Stone trade. Those players along with Thomas Chabot and Drake Batherson gave the Senators what appeared to be a solid group to build around to get back to the playoffs.
Adding Claude Giroux in free agency a year ago was the kind of move that screamed, "We're going to the playoffs soon." But the trades, you guys.
While the aforementioned trades brought back great pieces, recent deals for Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun saw them sending out first-and-second-round picks and effectively cutting off a pipeline of development that has very little left to yield. Not to mention DeBrincat eventually forcing Ottawa to trade him (to Detroit no less!) because he wasn't going to sign a long-term extension there. Never mind trading prospect goalie Filip Gustavsson to Minnesota for veteran Cam Talbot last year. Talbot was in the final year of his contract and left for Los Angeles in free agency this summer.
Just brutal.
The thing is, Ottawa's system is this close to being tapped out. Ridly Greig (No. 28 in 2020) showed he was close to NHL level last year, but Tyler Boucher (No. 10 in 2021 draft) has had shoulder problems that are stunting his development. They're also lacking a bonafide goaltending prospect. Sheesh.
Grade: C-
Philadelphia Flyers
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The Flyers started their rebuild under the watchful eye of former GM Chuck Fletcher and things could've gone a bit better.
Fletcher gave Buffalo a first-round pick in 2021 (Isak Rosén) and second-round pick in 2023 (Anton Wahlberg) for Rasmus Ristolainen. He was able to get a 2024 first-round pick back from Florida in the Claude Giroux trade in 2022 (as well as Owen Tippett), but he won't be around to make it as he was fired in March and replaced by Danny Brière.
Brière realized the system was barren and made sure to acquire picks in the 2023 draft to help restock. They had five picks in the top 100 compared to the seven they had in the three previous drafts combined. It was a long overdue correction, but the Flyers are not built to be a playoff team right now, never mind Stanley Cup contenders.
Injuries to Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson and Ryan Ellis have hurt them in the veteran sense, while younger players like Travis Konecny, Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee and Noah Cates are doing their best in a bad situation, but it's not enough right now. Trading for Tippett has given them a promising power forward and their fortunate Carter Hart hasn't burned out dealing with the Flyers' defense in previous seasons (it was much better last season, FYI).
Prospects Cutter Gauthier (No. 5 in 2022), Matvei Michkov (No. 7 in 2023) and Oliver Bonk (No. 22 in 2023) give them a nice boost at the top of the pipeline, but the rest is severely lacking, and things could still get worse. It won't help that the rest of the East should be more competitive either. If nothing else, John Tortorella won't allow for a lack of effort.
Grade: D-
San Jose Sharks
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Trading Timo Meier for four players and three draft picks (including a 2023 first-round pick) was the kind of move that was way overdue in San Jose. When they sent Brent Burns to Carolina the return was less-than good (Steven Lorentz, a goalie prospect and a third-round pick). Turning Lorentz into Anthony Duclair is a solid move to give them a jolt in scoring, but at 27 he's more of a rebuild for right now guy. That's...not the position the Sharks are in.
San Jose will have William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau as fixtures in their lineup next season (or at least they should) and they have 2022 first-round pick Filip Bystedt lighting things up in international competition. 2023 firsts Will Smith and Quentin Musty should give their offense a jolt in the coming years, but 2020 first-round pick Ozzy Wiesblatt struggled in the AHL last year coming off of shoulder surgery.
Where they must do well to correct the situation is trading Erik Karlsson. Getting a stellar package in that kind of trade (even if they have to eat half the contract to do it) is an absolute must. Another poor return like the Burns trade and the Sharks may be bad for a lot longer than they intend. Until that happens, their grade is incomplete, but if that trade doesn't happen their grade would be a bold capital "F."
The Sharks have an older roster, even Tomas Hertl is nearly 30 years old, but the Sharks only getting into the rebuild in the past couple of years has gummed things up with the belief/need at the NHL level to be a playoff competitor. But playing it half-in and half-out with this retooling is hurting them a lot more.
Grade: Incomplete
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