The first day of NHL free agency didn’t exactly explode out of the gate, but it did find its footing by the afternoon. Once July 1 arrived, teams could finally start signing unrestricted free agents, and while Wednesday brought a wave of movement, most of the real chaos came through trades from clubs like the San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers. The free-agent market itself was thinner than usual, but there were still enough signings to sort out which teams helped themselves and which ones left a little something on the table.
The Montreal Canadiens belong firmly in the former group. Re-signing Ivan Demidov to an eight-year, $73 million deal is a clean piece of business.
The price tag is hefty in the moment, but it looks extremely reasonable when measured against what he projects to become. Montreal keeps adding young talent on terms that should age well, and that’s how a team quietly builds something real.
Columbus also came out of the day looking better than it might have just a few days ago. Zach Werenski had been the subject of plenty of trade chatter this summer, but the latest reporting suggests he is “comfortable” returning to the Blue Jackets after talks with the front office.
That shift matters. What had started to feel like a likely departure now looks much less certain, and for Columbus, that cooling of the market around its defenseman could end up being a win.
The New York Rangers were busy, too, and in a way that changed the look of their roster. Chris Drury and company moved Vincent Trocheck for a sizable return, were reportedly bringing Marcus Pettersson in from Vancouver, added goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in a trade, and signed Oliver Bjorkstrand to a midrange one-year deal. That’s a lot of activity in one day, but it also gives the Rangers a different mix of veteran departures and fresh talent coming in.
Toronto’s day had some useful pieces, but not enough to escape the downside. Shipping Nicholas Robertson to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round draft pick is solid asset management, and Teddy Blueger is a good pickup on a two-year deal.
Still, the broader picture took a hit when the Werenski buzz started fading. Reports that he is comfortable staying in Columbus poured cold water on the idea that Toronto might land one of its preferred targets.
A deal could still happen, but the confidence around it clearly dipped. Then there was the three-year contract for 37-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky, which came in as an overpay and left the day feeling less clean than it might have otherwise.
Chicago also has reason to be uneasy after what happened with Bowen Byram. A little over a week ago, the Blackhawks seemed like slight winners in that deal.
Now the picture looks different after they signed him to a six-year, $75 million contract that carries a $12.5 million annual cap hit. The rising salary cap helps, but that number is still the kind of money reserved for a No. 1 defenseman, and Byram has not yet shown he’s top-pair material.
It’s a bold swing, and one that will be judged for a long time.
San Jose made noise, but not the good kind. The Sharks reportedly overpaid for Jacob Trouba, Mason Marchment and Darnell Nurse on Wednesday.
Nurse arrived via trade, but the money tied up in Trouba and Nurse now sits at $17.5 million, which is a lot to carry even with the cap climbing. After the high of a strong draft, this was a rougher follow-up.
And then there are the fans, who spent the day waiting for a bigger punch than the one they got. The free-agent class was thin, yes, but the real disappointment was the way the biggest rumors never turned into the kind of blockbuster movement that had been floating around.
Talk of possible major deals involving Werenski and Jason Robertson never paid off in the way many expected. July 1 delivered movement, just not the kind of fireworks that usually define the day.
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