Not a whole lot going on as far as Penguins related news so let’s take a look at the Metropolitan Division and look at each team’s best acquisition this offseason
Carolina James Wisniewski
Carolina still has plenty of work to do as far as their forward grouping goes but they are silently building up a very solid defense corp. Justin Faulk is signed long term and the team has used their last two first round picks on defensemen Hadyn Fleury and Noah Hanafin.
On the second day of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft Carolina sent goaltender Anton Khudobin to Anaheim in exchange for Wisniewski. I thought it was strange when Columbus traded away Wisniewski and I thought it was even weirder that Anaheim didn’t play him in the playoffs after acquiring him. Wisniewski can produce offense as his 0.91 points per 60 showed in 2014-15. That was higher than players like Duncan Keith and Oliver Ekman-Larssson.
Columbus Brandon Saad
Columbus shocked the hockey world when they dropped the bombshell that they had acquired Brandon Saad from the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. In most people’s estimation (myself included) Chicago was going to clear salary by moving players like Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya in order to keep Saad. This obviously didn’t happen. Brandon Saad will be leaving behind great linemates. In fact his four most common linemates in his first three NHL seasons were Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook. In Columbus he will get the opportunity to play with up and coming star center Ryan Johansen which is a pretty nice consolation prize. Columbus is paying a premium for Saad’s services as he is set to make 6.0 million in each of the next six seasons. The good news is that Columbus has invested in future performance and not past performance.
New Jersey Kyle Palmieri
New Jersey is in clear rebuild mode so they aren’t exactly looking to make big splashes at the present moment. New Jersey spent a second and a third round pick for Palmieri who has a 2.01 points per 60 in the last three years. That kind of production is considered top line level material.
New York Islanders Thomas Greiss
This is pretty much a default selection as Thomas Greiss is the only significant acquisition of note for the Islanders. Most of their offseason moves have consisted of keeping/signing players who were already on the team. This isn’t a terrible strategy considering New York was one of the best possession teams in all of hockey last year. Thomas Greiss will be an upgrade over Chad Johnson who imploded last season before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres.
New York Rangers Viktor Stalberg
The New York Rangers took advantage of the Nashville Predators buying out solid depth winger Viktor Stalberg. The Rangers are only on the hook for 1.1 million and they will get a player who has produced even-strength offense at a high end second line level while producing possession at a lower second line level. This signing can be filed under low risk medium/high reward.
Philadelphia Flyers Yevgeny Medvedev
The Flyers were busy this offseason but much like the Islanders most of their efforts were taking care of their own players like Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier. Their biggest acquisition was signing longtime KHL defender Yevgeny Medvedev to a one year 3.0 million dollar contract. It remains to be seen if medvedev’s game can translate to the NHL but he was able to put up decent offensive numbers in the KHL as a defenseman. In 332 career KHL games he registered 140 points for a 0.42 points per game. The KHL isn’t known for high points per game total so in that context his numbers are decent.
Pittsburgh Penguins Phil Kessel
Phil Kessel was the best player on the trade market this offseason and the Penguins were able to land him without sacrificing much from their current roster. Only depth forward Nick Spaling was subtracted from the current Penguins roster. Pittsburgh loses yet another first round pick but unlike the other times they have traded away their first round pick it didn’t result in seven years of Phil Kessel. Considering how harsh certain factions of the media were to Kessel on his way out of Toronto and the fact he will be playing with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin it is a good bet for Kessel to have one of his finest seasons to date in 2015-16. Washington Capitals TJ Oshie
To casual fans TJ Oshie is an Olympic hero after his amazing run of shootout goals in Sochi. To certain hardcore NHL fans Oshie always left the impression that he had more to give than what he did. The truth falls in the middle. Oshie doesn’t have eye popping offensive numbers on the surface but he impacts possession at a second line level while producing offense at a first line level at even-strength. The Capitals traded away Troy Brouwer and his grittier approach in order to upgrade in the skill department. A decision that I believe will pay dividends for the Capitals moving forward.
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