Re-Grading Biggest 2024 NHL Offseason Trades & Free-Agent Signings 1 Year Later
When trades and signings happen in the NHL, a lot of us here in the media are in the business of making snap judgments. Heck, we all do this even if we’re not busy writing for a major website.
We give out grades, call out the winners and losers and feel very proud of our decisions in the heat of the moment. But there’s a fairness that comes with time, too. With the benefit of hindsight and seeing how things played out we can look back on those moves and give them a more proper grade. That’s what we’re going to do today with the 2024 NHL offseason trades and signings.
We’re not going to walk back any of the instant calls we made, but we will give the moves that happened the respect they deserve to get the grades they deserve in the end.
Boston sends Linus Ullmark to Ottawa for Joonas Korpisalo, Prospect, 1st round pick
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One of the big concerns with this trade from Ottawa’s standpoint was whether Linus Ullmark would commit long-term to stay with the Senators or not. After all, he was due to be an unrestricted free agent after the season and had he gone to market he could’ve cashed in in a massive way.
The Senators didn’t doubt the player and counted on Ullmark to provide stability in net and he did in a big way and lead them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Before he helped pull that off, however, he signed a four-year, $33 million extension to commit to Ottawa.
Boston, despite trading Ullmark, toyed around with getting the goalie they kept, Jeremy Swayman, re-signed and didn’t get that done until days before the start of the regular season. That move arguably got the Bruins’ season started behind the 8-ball and things never got right after that and they plunged to last in the Atlantic Division and traded key members to division rivals for playoff runs and then some.
The hard truth was the Bruins had to keep one of Ullmark or Swayman and the call was always going to be for Swayman. It’s just foolish in retrospect that after dealing Ullmark they didn’t have Swayman’s new deal done immediately after that. Adding Kastelic was fine and the draft pick (Dean Letourneau) will have plenty of time at Boston College to show his abilities.
Original grades: Boston – B; Ottawa – B-plus
New grades: Boston – D; Ottawa - A
Tampa Bay sends Mikhail Sergachev to Utah for J.J. Moser, Conor Geekie and 2 picks
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We knew Utah GM Bill Armstrong was sending a big message by acquiring Mikhail Sergachev. One of those was that things in Utah were not going to be run the way they were in Arizona, but the other was that they were dead serious about getting better immediately. They gave up a solid defenseman in Moser and a very good prospect in Geekie to make it happen, a not insignificant price.
Sergachev was massive for Utah as their unquestioned No. 1 defenseman. He had a career-high 15 goals and his 53 points were the most by an Arizona/Utah defenseman since Oliver Ekman-Larsson had 55 in 2016-2017 and two more than Shayne Gostisbehere had in 2021-2022. Having a player of Sergachev’s caliber and ability on the blue line made Utah a vastly different team from the blue line and enhanced their attack in a big way.
Even though the Lightning gave up the best player in the trade, they didn’t suffer for it. Moser battled injuries and was held to 54 games. When Moser was in the lineup, however, he was paired almost exclusively with Victor Hedman and that kind of stability was massive for Hedman’s success. Geekie split time between the AHL and NHL and played in a depth role when he was with Tampa Bay. He wasn’t in the AHL long, however, and once he landed with the Lightning he was there to stay.
It's not to say Tampa Bay didn’t need Sergachev, but the cap space they freed up trading him to Utah who absolutely needed a player like him allowed the Lightning to have a great season in which they ultimately fell victim to the rival Panthers in the playoffs.
Original grades: Utah – B; Tampa Bay – B-plus
New grades: Utah – A; Tampa Bay – B-plus
Vegas sends Logan Thompson to Washington for two 3rd-round picks
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Apart from the awkwardness of Vegas trading Logan Thompson while he was in the middle of an autograph signing at Sphere in Las Vegas while the NHL draft was going on in the theater, sending him to Washington allowed them to clear the decks for No. 1 Adin Hill and allowed the Capitals to have a solid veteran to compete for starts with presumptive No. 1 Charlie Lindgren.
Fast forward a couple months into the season and lo and behold, the Capitals managed to steal a No. 1 goalie away from the Golden Knights. That’s not to say that Vegas was worse for the wear. Hill was outstanding again for them and signed an extension with the team midseason. And it’s not as if Vegas didn’t know Thompson was good! They did and were more than aware of that, it’s just he struggled with injuries and that opened the door for Hill to take the lead job.
It was a fortunate turn of events for the Capitals who moved on from Darcy Kuemper and were ready to move ahead with Lindgren so long as he had a veteran to split the net with. Thompson was that guy and even though Lindgren played fine, Thompson was on another level and had he made more starts and performed as he did in them, maybe Connor Hellebuyck’s hold on the Vezina would’ve been challenged.
Original grades: Vegas – B; Washington – B
New grades: Vegas – B; Washington – A-plus
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Nashville Predators sign Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei
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It was supposed to be the Summer of Nashville, and the big free agent splash they made was meant to help them take a big step forward after making the playoffs the previous year.
Signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei, on paper, were brilliant strokes that should’ve made them much more dangerous offensively and given them more of the veteran know-how needed to make a deep run in the playoffs.
None of that happened, of course. Stamkos and Marchessault, like their Predators teammates, struggled to score all season long as Nashville had the lowest shooting percentage in the NHL. That stat is made even more incredible by the fact they were 13th in the league in shots on goal in all situations.
Call it bad luck, call it getting older, call it whatever you want but call it incredible that two of the elite scorers in the league each got ice cold at the same time in the same situation.
Making matters worse, Skjei struggled on the blue line and was unable to capitalize on what worked so well for him in Carolina while working in a second pairing role behind Roman Josi.
Maybe it was one terribly off year for everyone. Maybe it was a terrible sign of things coming their way.
Original grades: Stamkos – A-minus; Marchessault – A-minus; Skjei – A
New grades: Stamkos – B; Marchessault – B; Skjei - C
Tampa Bay signs Jake Guentzel
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Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois made a gutsy call a year ago. He decided that re-signing team captain and franchise icon Steven Stamkos was not the way forward for his veteran group that still has designs on winning more Stanley Cups. Instead of bringing back a beloved favorite, he used the money not spent on Stamkos to both extend new captain Victor Hedman and sign last summer’s top free agent available Jake Guentzel to a seven-year, $63 million deal.
Guentzel was the biggest fish to land for anyone last summer and the Lightning made absolutely sure they got their guy, especially after very publicly parting ways with Stamkos. Any doubts as to whether or not they made the right decision were silenced immediately as he was a natural fit into the lineup alongside Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. That trio was dynamic and Guentzel’s ability to get to the net helped Kucherov take another step as a playmaker on the opposite wing.
It was the right move even if BriseBois took heat for making it, but there’s no doubt it worked out the way the Lightning intended.
Original grade: A-minus
New grade: A-plus
Boston signs Elias Lindholm
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The Bruins were in a few tough spots last summer and after Patrice Bergeron announced his retirement, finding a way to replace him was an impossible task. They needed a No. 1 capable center and someone who could also function well as a two-way forward.
Replacing Bergeron just doesn’t happen, but signing Elias Lindholm made a lot of sense. Lindholm was an outstanding two-way center in his career, but there were some cracks in his game that became apparent in his free agent season with Calgary and Vancouver, especially if you soaked in his advanced stats. But without Bergeron and no one coming up through the system, the Bruins had to make a bold move to try and keep up with everyone else in the East. A seven-year, $54.25 million contract later, they had their guy.
Lindholm struggled in his first season with the Bruins with 17 goals and 47 points. He filled all the roles they expected of him and he was featured heavily on the power play and shorthanded. The hope was he would return to his 60-70-point form, but it didn’t happen. Not having David Pastrnak on his wing most of the time had a lot to do with that, as did the Bruins’ overall lack of goal scorers.
Lindholm needs to be better for the Bruins to improve, but the rest of the group has to do the same as well to give Lindholm a lift. It’s a little awkward.
New grade: C
New Jersey signs Brett Pesce
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When the Devils traded John Marino to Utah it was done in part to help open up salary and room on the blue line for someone new. That someone turned out to be Brett Pesce who left Carolina to go to New Jersey on a six-year, $33 million deal.
Pesce was a stalwart defenseman with the Hurricanes and with New Jersey having grand designs on becoming a Stanley Cup contender with Jack and Luke Hughes along with new coach Sheldon Keefe, Pesce’s addition was a big one.
Pesce was virtually attached at the hip to Luke Hughes all season a gave the young blue liner a defensive specialist that allowed him to lean into his high-end offensive skill set. Hughes led Devils defensemen in scoring with 44 points which allowed them to soften the blow of losing Dougie Hamilton for 28 games.
It’s safe to assume those two will be a pair again next season and perhaps for seasons to come. Allowing Hughes the freedom to create while Pesce handles the defensive work and still makes great passes out of the D-zone will go a long way to helping the Devils solidify their hopes for a Stanley Cup run.
New grade: A
Seattle signs Brandon Montour
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When Brandon Montour helped the Florida Panthers win their first Stanley Cup in 2024, it was clear his high-powered offensive efforts were going to land him a new contract, it was just a question of where. When the Seattle Kraken came through with a seven-year, $50 million contract, the only surprise was the location.
The Kraken were looking to take a big step forward to help their attack from the blue line and Montour was viewed to be a big upgrade there. After all, Vince Dunn was their lone solid puck mover and offensive threat, but now with Montour they could double up.
Unfortunately, the team’s plan to have Dan Bylsma move them forward didn’t pan out and the team sputtered all season, but Montour showed he could be a spark. He had a career-high 18 goals and his 41 points made for the second-best total for a season in his career.
The team’s defensive play was poor, and it showed in the results and even though it’s easy enough to be critical of Montour’s advanced stats, almost none of their defense corps had standout numbers there apart from Dunn and he missed 20 games due to injury. New coach Lane Lambert should fix up the defensive shortcomings which should lead to Montour’s offense shining brighter.
Original grade: A-minus
New grade: B
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