Training camp is just over a month away and, while there is still time for tinkering, in most cases what you see on a team's roster now is what you'll see when camp opens.
With that in mind the hotstove will look at which team(s) have had the best off-season thus far.
Todd Cordell: Calgary I really like what the Pittsburgh Penguins have done but I'm going to go with the Calgary Flames to keep this hotstove interesting.
The Flames were a playoff team last season but because of their unsustainably high shooting percentages and poor possession numbers they were a sexy pick to regress next year.
While it is still possible the Flames take a step back GM Brad Treliving went out and did everything he could to address the team's needs and prevent that from happening.
The most notable acquisition this off-season was Dougie Hamilton. If he's not already a top-pairing defenseman he will be in the very near future and the Flames acquired him without giving up a single player off their roster.
Hamilton will take some of the heavy minutes of Mark Giordano as well as T.J. Brodie in the process he'll drive possession and pick up his fair share of points.
Treliving wasn't done there, though, as he went out and signed Michael Frolik to a team-friendly contract (by UFA standards, anyway) to help add some depth up front. Frolik has tallied 40+ points in consecutive seasons and, like Hamilton, is a possession driver who should help the team improve in that regard.
Beyond Hamilton and Frolik the Flames didn't do much - they re-signed Karri Ramo and a handful of RFAs - but with just two moves they added a top-6 forward and a young, top-pairing caliber defenseman to an already solid core featuring Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Bennett, Giordano and Brodie, among others.
It's been a good summer for Treliving and the Flames.
Ryan Wilson: Pittsburgh It would be tough to argue against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The first thing they did to kick start their offseason was trading for the #1 player on the trade block in Phil Kessel. Pittsburgh was able to acquire Kessel without giving up anything from the current roster with the exception of fourth liner Nick Spaling. They even got Toronto to eat some salary.
More importantly Pittsburgh looks to have finally turned a corner on how they view depth players. One of the worst teams in recent memory at filling out depth the Brandon Sutter trade highlights a change in direction on this front. Pittsburgh gets better at the 3C spot while shedding salary in the Sutter trade and that freed up money to sign the underrated Eric Fehr.
The biggest non-player acquisition of the offseason was Mike Babcock by the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Pittsburgh hiring War on Ice co-founder Sam Ventura as an analytics consultant was a terrific move.
Forward depth was a huge weakness and is now a strength. Pittsburgh is a Rob Scuderi trade short of a perfect offseason.
Honorable Mention goes to the Buffalo Sabres. Adding Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, and Evander Kane will crank up the entertainment value of the product. Sam Reinhart could also make his debut as an NHL regular. Buffalo has gone from a joke to a team that should be fighting for one of the final playoff spots.
Tim Chiasson: Pittsburgh Adding Kessel for much less than was rumored, signing Fehr and Plotkinov, as well as getting rid of Brandon Sutter is one hell of an off-season.
The Penguins didn't do anything stupid - no overpaid signings, no terrible pickups - they just made their hockey team better. The hiring of some extra personnel off the ice were also great off-season moves for the team.
There's no reason that the Penguins - should they remain healthy - shouldn't be a favorite to come out of the East. They have even more fire power in the top six and better depth in the bottom six. I thought it was a fantastic off-season for the Penguins.
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