NHL Teams Reeling After Start of the 2013 Free-Agency Period

The moves made around the NHL this month have left a few unfortunate general managers stepping back and reassessing their job security as the offseason progresses.

Caught up in the headlines and limelight surrounding many of the free-agent period's big winners are a few clubs on the opposite end of the spectrum. 

Whether due to an excessively large load of pending UFAs and RFAs, a bad negotiation strategy on the open market or just plain ol' bad luck, these teams are still reeling from free agency's opening days.

Which teams are off to the roughest starts to July? A breakdown of the struggles of four franchises in particular falls on the four upcoming slides.

Florida Panthers

It will be hard for the Florida Panthers not to improve in 2013-14 after this dismal 2013 campaign, but the lack of activity from GM Dale Tallon this summer certainly isn't making it any harder.

Longtime cornerstone forward Stephen Weiss, finally fed up with the lack of success in South Florida, moved on to the summer's big riser—the Detroit Red Wings. Weiss had spent his entire 654-game prior career with the Panthers, tallying 394 points.

Meanwhile, depth forward Jack Skille and bottom-pairing defenseman Tyson Strachan signed with Columbus and Washington, respectively. Significant 2013 contributors Peter Mueller and Filip Kuba both remain UFAs and seem unlikely to return to Florida.

It's unclear who the Eastern Conference's last-place team expects to fill all those holes moving forward; if Tallon's current focus isn't on re-signing top goalie prospect Jacob Markstrom (an RFA), however, he's making another big mistake.

St. Louis Blues

St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong got the short end of the stick in last Friday's free-agent frenzy.

He and the Blues management barely missed out in the races for highly sought-after free agents Stephen Weiss and Valtteri Filppula. Per Armstrong via Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"

We targeted two players, Stephen Weiss [from Florida] and Filppula from Detroit and we had good conversations with both of the players. We made what we thought were strong presentations as far as term and dollars. ...

Unfortunately today we didn't get the couple of players we talked to, but my expectations were, for today, that we would go in and try do something that was good for the franchise short and long-term and if it worked out, great, and if it didn’t...We’re going to come back with this group.

"

Yet, in the end, it appears the Blues won't even come back with their previous core group. Cornerstone two-way forward David Perron was dealt Wednesday to Edmonton for RFA Magnus Paajarvi and a second-round pick—yet another downgrade for St. Louis entering the autumn's new season.

UFA signings Derek Roy and Maxim Lapierre are far from the additions Weiss and Filppula would've been and should struggle mightily to make up for the departures of Perron and Kris Russell.

Washington Capitals

The acquisition of Mike Ribeiro by the Washington Capitals was one of the smartest decisions in all of the 2012 NHL offseason. Ribeiro went on to more than make up for the loss of Alexander Semin, tallying 13 goals and 35 assists (fifth best in the NHL) in 48 appearances.

But now, just as quickly as he came, Ribeiro is gone—the 33-year-old signed a four-year, $22 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes last week. 

Matt Hendricks, a versatile asset who had become one of the Caps' staples in the bottom six, also follows him to the Western Conference.

The losses of both important players leave the Capitals desperately shallow at the center position. Conversely, GM George McPhee has yet to make a single noteworthy signing to try to fill the hole.

As Washington prepares to transfer to its new division, the team has fallen incredibly far behind rivals like the Devils, Blue Jackets, Hurricanes and Islanders in the summer arms race.

Winnipeg Jets

Entering Wednesday, the Winnipeg Jets were already reeling from former eighth overall pick Alex Burmistrov's betrayal and sudden move to the KHL. 

Then they were hit with another freight train of "uh-oh's"—a whopping five of the 21 restricted free agents around the league to file for arbitration Wednesday are Jets.

Top-pairing defenseman Zach Bogosian, 2013 second-highest scorer Blake Wheeler and playmaking top-six center Bryan Little are included among the five along with depth blueliners Paul Postma and Eric Tangradi.

That's a rather robust list of elite players Winnipeg could end up paying big bucks to in the future.

Winnipeg's offseason situation could be one worth monitoring quite closely in the coming weeks.