Buy or Sell Every NHL Lottery Team Improving In 2024-25
Part of what makes the NHL offseason so fascinating is how teams that missed out on the Stanley Cup playoffs find ways to ensure that doesn't happen again in the upcoming season.
For the teams whose offseason started with lottery picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, we're here to evaluate how they put together their attack plan to strengthen their roster. While teams that made the playoffs are trying to get better to win the Stanley Cup, the 16 lottery teams would like to have a chance at doing that.
We're buying and selling the lottery teams' chances of improving this offseason. After all, not everyone can fulfill their wish list in the summer. But whether they've made minimal amounts of improvement or taken great leaps (forward or backward), we've got a bead on things.
Thanks to the divisional playoff format, we've got four teams from each division in the lottery, so we're breaking it down by division. Whether you agree with our buying and selling, we want to hear from you in our comments.
Metropolitan Division
1 of 4
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets' biggest move of the summer was hiring Dean Evason as their new head coach. They were relatively silent during free agency apart from adding Sean Monahan.
They're leaning hard on building with their prospect base of Adam Fantilli, David Jiricek and Kent Johnson. They have others in the system as well like Denton Mateychuk, Luca Del Bel Belluz and Gavin Brindley, but they need their top guys like Zach Werenski, Johnny Gaudreau and Boone Jenner to lead the way.
What happens with Patrik Laine next, be it keeping him or trading him, will be interesting to see play out. There's nowhere to go but up...eventually.
Verdict: Selling
New Jersey Devils
After a wildly disappointing season, the Devils were aggressive in trying to get right back into position as a Stanley Cup contender. They hired Sheldon Keefe as head coach after he was let go by Toronto, and his style of play should suit a roster loaded with talent like Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Luke Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier.
They reworked their defensive unit after departures and injuries ravaged it last season, adding Brett Pesce and Brendan Dillon. They brought back forwards Stefan Noesen and Tomas Tatar as well, and arguably the biggest addition of the summer was goalie Jacob Markström in a trade from Calgary.
All of the mistakes they made a year ago were not repeated. That's a very good thing.
Verdict: Buying
Philadelphia Flyers
It's been a solid enough summer for the Flyers. The biggest addition by far was getting 2023 first-round pick Matvei Michkov out of the KHL to join the team. He's supremely talented, and how his game translates here will be fascinating to watch. Locking up Travis Konecny with an eight-year, $70 million extension was smart business.
But for a team that was so close to getting to the playoffs last season, the fact they stayed out of free agency almost completely and didn't make any trades suggests they're leaning into the rebuild instead of going all-in on a playoff berth.
John Tortorella nearly got this group to the playoffs last year. They'll see if he can do it again with virtually the same roster. It's gutsy, but staying on point is the right idea.
Verdict: Buying
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins want to get Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson to the playoffs. But when you look at the moves they've made, it's difficult to see how they'll pull that off.
They replaced the retired Jeff Carter with Kevin Hayes in a trade with St. Louis and added Anthony Beauvillier up front for more offense on the wing after they traded Reilly Smith to the Rangers. Matt Grzelcyk and Sebastian Aho will help fill out their defense corps, but they won't be leaned on to play big minutes.
Yes, depth is important, but the Pens needed more help than this to punch through in the brutally competitive Eastern Conference. Their best players continue to get older, and the long rebuild that's coming is getting ever closer.
Ideally, it's a Stanley Cup-or-bust situation, but they need to make the playoffs before even considering the Cup. Good luck.
Verdict: Selling
Atlantic Division
2 of 4
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres like to be an enigma of sorts. If you could separate the moves they made with the fact they're trying to break the longest playoff drought in the four major sports, it would make things easier.
They hired back Lindy Ruff, who coached the team between 1997 and 2013 and was the last guy to lead them to the postseason in 2011. They bought out scorer Jeff Skinner and essentially replaced him with Jason Zucker. They traded 2023 ninth overall pick Matthew Savoie to Edmonton for speedy defensive forward Ryan McLeod, and they added heavy-hitting Beck Malenstyn and defensive forwards Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
In a vacuum, these moves make sense for a team looking to be harder to play against and fit the style of hockey Ruff wants to play. But it's not a vacuum; it's another shift in direction for a team that's done that a lot since their last time in the postseason.
They should do better than last season, but the question is how much better it will be.
Verdict: Buying but keeping the receipt
Detroit Red Wings
It's difficult to understand where Detroit GM Steve Yzerman is coming from. In their efforts to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the Red Wings have come up short the past two years, but the adjustment this summer is curious.
Re-signing Patrick Kane was a good idea, and signing Vladimir Tarasenko gives them the depth lost after David Perron signed in Ottawa. But trading Jake Walman to San Jose to free up money was a curious decision, right?
They signed Cam Talbot to help out in goal, which helps after James Reimer signed with Buffalo, and Erik Gustafsson will help replace Walman on defense. They still need to get long-term deals done with RFAs Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, but those are the no-brainer moves to be made.
Still, the goal is to get over the hump and back to the playoffs. It's tough to tell if this team is any better (or worse) than it was.
Verdict: Selling
Montréal Canadiens
The Canadiens have been in a rebuild mode for a few years, and this offseason helped prove that. All of the biggest moves Montréal made had to do with locking up the guys they were building around.
They signed 2022 No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovský to an eight-year, $60.8 million extension that begins in 2025 and also locked up defenseman Kaiden Guhle with a six-year, $33.3 million extension. Toss in two-year deals for defensemen Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron, and you've got a young core to help them push out of a rebuild and into a position to compete for the playoffs.
They're not quite there yet, but that time is coming soon. With Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield leading the way, 2023 first-round pick David Reinbacher on the way up and 2024 first-rounder Ivan Demidov to get excited about, they'll get there sooner than later.
Verdict: Buying on layaway
Ottawa Senators
Arguably the biggest issue the Senators had to address in the offseason was what they would do about goaltending. They got bold about it by acquiring 2023 Vezina winner Linus Ullmark from Boston.
They got out of their highly dubious signing of Joonas Korpisalo from last year by sending him to the Bruins in the deal, which is massive for Ottawa. Ullmark won't have to split starts with Anton Forsberg. He'll be the man there, and with it being a contract year, that bodes well for the Sens.
They also traded Jakob Chychrun to Washington for Nick Jensen. On paper, that's a downgrade, even though Jensen is a solid veteran. Depth signings like David Perron and Michael Amadio will make them annoying to play against, not to mention a bit tougher, too.
As good as the Ullmark addition is, he'll need to be Vezina-level again to help the Senators get back to the playoffs and then figure out if they can re-sign him long-term at all.
Verdict: Selling
Central Division
3 of 4
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks want to help Connor Bedard out, but they also seem to think there's a chance to speed up the process of returning to the playoffs. They've made sure to not mortgage other parts of the future to get that started.
Bringing back Teuvo Teravainen is fun, and Tyler Bertuzzi will add an edge to them. Ilya Mikheyev and Patrick Maroon will steady out their depth lines. Alec Martinez and TJ Brodie give them the defensive depth they didn't have last season, and Laurent Brossoit will give them an NHL-caliber backup to go with Petr Mrazek.
All of these vets are there to help them win more games and provide a safety net for the prospects who will work their way up the system and not throw them into the deep end right away. The Blackhawks will be better, but they're still not a playoff team.
Verdict: Buying
Minnesota Wild
The Wild's biggest move of the summer was locking up defenseman Brock Faber with an eight-year, $68 million extension. He showed last season how good he is, so there was no need to sit around and make him prove it more. They also got a bit more physical up front signing Yakov Trenin and acquiring Jakub Lauko from Boston.
The Wild's roster is essentially frozen in place this season, but it'll be curious to see if anything happens down the road with their goalie situation. Jesper Wallstedt is biding his time in the AHL, while Marc-Andrè Fleury and Filip Gustavsson battle for starts.
It's hard to imagine Fleury going anywhere unless things get out of hand for the Wild, and Gustavsson was brilliant two seasons ago as a rookie. But for now, the Wild couldn't do too much, as they're in the final year of cap punishment from the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts that put $14 million in dead cap on their budget.
Verdict: Selling
St. Louis Blues
The Blues' summer has been curious. They dealt Kevin Hayes to Pittsburgh and were able to essentially replace him with Radek Faksa in a trade with Dallas. They acquired Alexandre Texier from the Blue Jackets and, perhaps most importantly, signed forward Pavel Buchnevich to a six-year extension worth $48 million to finally quell the hopeful trade hopes from fans of teams across the league.
On the downside, defenseman Torey Krug was diagnosed with pre-arthritic changes to his ankle that could keep him off the ice and affect his playing future. They signed veteran Ryan Suter to a one-year deal to cover their behinds on the blue line with Krug's health being a major question.
They'll have some fun with the Joseph brothers, Mathieu and Pierre-Olivier teaming up after they added them in separate trades with Ottawa and Pittsburgh. The Blues came close to the playoffs last season, and they're set to be a little harder to play against now, but Krug's situation very much clouds their outlook.
Verdict: Selling hesitantly
Utah Hockey Club
It's amazing what happens when there's money to spend, huh? New ownership for the old Coyotes opened up the wallet and allowed GM Bill Armstrong to do as he wished to better prepare Utah by going all-in on making their defense better.
They added Mikhail Sergachev in a trade with Tampa Bay and gave up J.J. Moser and prospect Conor Geekie to do it. They traded for John Marino from New Jersey and signed Ian Cole as a free agent. The one move they made up front was signing Kevin Stenlund who is fresh off helping the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup.
The Utah Hockey Club are hoping their young prospects at forward (Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Matias Maccelli, Josh Doan) can all take big steps to score goals for them and give Clayton Keller some help. If they do that and the defense improves as it should, a run at a playoff spot is not out of the question.
Verdict: Buying
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Pacific Division
4 of 4
Anaheim Ducks
As a rebuilding team, the Ducks didn't get too wild in the summer. They made a pair of small trades and added veteran forward Robby Fabbri from Detroit and defenseman Brian Dumoulin from Seattle.
The Ducks made their moves a year ago to better surround their future stars with veterans, and now they're banking on more chemistry for Leo Carlsson with Troy Terry, Mason McTavish and Trevor Zegras. How Cutter Gauthier handles his first pro season will be fun to watch, and seeing defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellwegger continue to grow in the NHL is exciting.
Only thing to keep an eye on is whether or not all the trade speculation that's been around Zegras actually turns into something or if it was empty bluster. The Ducks will be fun to keep an eye on, even if they didn't do a whole lot this summer.
Verdict: Buying
Calgary Flames
Sure, you could think the Flames' time for a rebuild is nigh, but they're not exactly doing things that way. They pulled off the Band-Aid and traded Jacob Markström at long last to New Jersey for defenseman Kevin Bahl and a 2025 first-round pick. That means they're all-in on youngster Dustin Wolf getting his shot in the NHL in competition with Daniel Vladar.
They extended Yegor Sharangovich (five years, $28.75 million) and added forwards Anthony Mantha and Ryan Lomberg in free agency. Drafting defenseman Zayne Parekh was a great pick for them and young forward Connor Zary is poised to have a big breakout shortly. They also added Jake Bean on defense with a two-year contract.
So much of what the Flames have done smacks of being from a team that's still stinging from being forced to drastically change course the past few years. But with so much money tied into Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and Mackenzie Weegar, they're trying to fight the good fight, even if it's a tough choice.
Verdict: Selling
San Jose Sharks
It's always a mistake to say things can't get worse, because they can always get worse. But things are very much on the up-and-up for San Jose.
Drafting Macklin Celebrini with the No. 1 overall pick helps inject a ton of hope into the Bay Area, and with him and 2023 first-round pick Will Smith ready to jump right into the NHL this season, that's more excitement than the Sharks have had since they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016. Getting Sam Dickinson with their other first-round pick this year added another elite player to their prospect pipeline to join Quentin Musty and William Eklund, even if the latter is already in the NHL.
Veteran additions this summer like Barclay Goodrow from the Rangers and free agent Tyler Toffoli give San Jose some actual solid NHL depth. Toffoli alongside either Smith or Celebrini will punch up their offense nicely. The trade for defenseman Jake Walman from Detroit gives the Sharks a capable puck-mover once again and some help for Mario Ferraro as well.
Hope can be a dangerous thing, but after a miserable year, things are looking up for San Jose.
Verdict: Buying
Seattle Kraken
Seattle fired Dave Hakstol and replaced him with Dan Bylsma, who's done wonders for their AHL team. That one change could be enough to make it a good summer for the Kraken. But they did more than that because, after a downturn last season following a 100-point campaign and a run to the second round of the playoffs in 2023, they needed to reclaim momentum.
Adding defensemen Brandon Montour (seven years, $50 million) and Josh Mahura (one year, $775,000) from Florida in free agency were solid additions, although the years and money spent to add Chandler Stephenson (seven years, $43.75) could be regretful in the not-too-distant future. Now all that's left for them is to re-sign star forward Matty Beniers who is a restricted free agent.
Given the deal they signed Stephenson to, it might be wise to not play hardball with their top player. We love the Montour addition, and we do like Stephenson, but it doesn't quite feel comfortable for the Kraken.
Verdict: Selling hesitantly
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