The first day of NHL free agency is always a hectic one and 2023 did not disappoint.
While the NHL free agency class of 2023 is notably weaker than previous years, that didn’t stop general managers from wheeling and dealing as soon as 12 p.m. ET hit. Already, tons of money and term have been tossed around as teams look to improve their stock for the upcoming 2023-24 season and beyond.
MORE NHL FREE AGENCY: Catch up on all the major signings with our 2023 live tracker.
Saturday saw a bunch of players in our top 20 sign new contracts — such as Ryan O’Reilly and Dmitry Orlov — but hockey fans are still waiting to hear news on other big names like Tyler Bertuzzi, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Patrick Kane. Still, free agency is a long process and Saturday was only the beginning for teams ahead of a lengthy summer.
That being said, first impressions still matter, as the busiest time in the free agency period has come to an end. Here are the biggest winners and losers of the first day of the 2023 NHL free agency period.
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Winner: Nashville Predators
Barry Trotz has already put a stamp on the Predators in a big way. Nashville’s newest general manager made a handful of sizable moves, signing Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, and Luke Schenn to contracts in the opening hours of free agency. All that after buying out Matt Duchene’s contract the day before. Given the Predators are building around Juuse Saros’ timeline in net, Nashville is retooling quickly and so far, so good.
Winner: Boston Bruins
The Bruins didn’t make any major blockbuster additions on Day 1, but instead added a handful of small depth contracts. Boston signed James van Riemsdyk, Morgan Geekie, Milan Lucic, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Patrick Brown to contracts two years or fewer. In total, the Bruins spent $8.6 million acquiring low-risk depth pieces that should fit well into Jim Montgomery’s system. And if they don’t? The contracts are very easy to get rid of.
Winner: Short-term contracts
The writing was kind of on the wall here when the NHL announced that the salary cap was only going to rise by $1 million for the 2023-24 season. Many of the deals that were signed in the first few hours of free agency were short-term contracts. Why? Because it seems many of these former free agents are looking to bet on themselves when the salary cap rises in a year from now so they can cash in on bigger paydays instead of locking into longer-term deals now.
Loser: Toronto Maple Leafs
Saturday was a rough one for the Maple Leafs. Seeing O’Reilly, Bunting, and Schenn leave in free agency already stung and after a disappointing draft, Brad Treliving had his work cut out for him. And what did the Maple Leafs do? They signed Ryan Reaves, John Klingberg and William Lagesson. Klingberg can be a serviceable offensive defenseman, but $4.5 million for just one season is too rich for the role he provides. Not the moves that inspire confidence from a new front office, that’s for sure.
Loser: Pittsburgh Penguins
Kyle Dubas, meanwhile, had a bizarre start to his tenure in Pittsburgh. The Penguins were extremely busy on Day 1 of free agency, signing Matt Nieto, Noel Acciari, Lars Eller, Alex Nedeljkovic, and Ryan Graves. Not only that, the Penguins gave notoriously polarizing goaltender Tristan Jarry a five-year contract extension. The Jarry extension is the biggest head-scratcher, considering the goaltender has been average at best and is now making above average money with term. The Graves deal is also completely absurd, coming in at six years with a no-trade clause built into every season.
These moves could certainly work out for the Penguins in the long-term, but these are high-risk moves from Dubas that I’m not sure I like.
Loser: Anaheim Ducks
Alex Killorn is without a doubt the biggest overpay of the day. The Anaheim Ducks signed Killorn to a four-year, $25 million deal that comes to a $6.25 million AAV, a very hefty price for a forward who will be 34 by the time the next season begins. Killorn was a very productive player last season — 27 goals and 64 points — who deserved a raise, but it’s hard to see where he’ll fit in with the rebuilding Ducks who are far less talented than his former team in Tampa Bay.
Loser: Twitter
If you had trouble navigating Twitter on Saturday amidst the free agent frenzy, you weren’t alone! Twitter owner Elon Musk applied a temporary reading limit on tweets, which caused many users to be unable to refresh their timelines due to a “rate limit exceeded” error message. Of course Twitter’s demise would come during the hectic start to the NHL’s free agency period.
