NHL offseason grades: Central Division

Divisions: Metropolitan (Tuesday) | Pacific (Wednesday) | Atlantic (Thursday)

With the NHL offseason nearly wrapped up, we're handing out comprehensive grades for all 32 teams. The four-part series starts with an in-depth look at each Central Division club.

Some contract figures are reported. Most players on two-way deals have been omitted.

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Chicago Blackhawks

⭐ Re-signed D Alex Vlasic to 6-year deal with $4.6M AAV

The Blackhawks had a pretty straightforward goal this summer: Add top-six wingers and target veteran leadership.

Chicago addressed the former by inking Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen to multi-year contracts with comparable cap hits. Bertuzzi gives Connor Bedard a net-front finisher who brings some chippiness to the top unit. Teravainen, a Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks in 2015, returns to Chicago as a versatile, playmaking winger who brings much-needed two-way play to the top six.

Bedard's most common linemates last season were Philipp Kurashev and Nick Foligno. Regardless of whether Bedard plays with Bertuzzi, Teravainen, or both, it's a significant linemate upgrade for the sophomore star.

Chicago tried to surround Bedard with veteran help last summer, with mixed results. Taylor Hall missed most of the season due to injury, and Corey Perry had his contract terminated. On the flip side, Foligno established himself as a clear leader on the team.

The veterans brought in this offseason will look to support Foligno. Pat Maroon and Alec Martinez have won Stanley Cups, and Craig Smith and TJ Brodie have played multiple roles in the league.

The Blackhawks also added Laurent Brossoit, who will compete for the starting gig with Petr Mrazek. The 31-year-old has never played more than 24 NHL games in a season but will be a big upgrade over Arvid Soderblom, who went 5-22-2 in 2023-24.

Chicago enhanced the talent around Bedard while also plugging legitimate NHLers into the bottom of the lineup with this summer's transactions. It's not an offseason that presents a likely jump up the standings, but it could be an important one in developing the Blackhawks' young talent.

Grade: C+

Colorado Avalanche

⭐ Re-signed F Casey Mittelstadt to 3-year deal with $5.75M AAV
⭐ Re-signed F Jonathan Drouin to 1-year deal with $2.5M AAV

The Avalanche were in a bind this summer with the uncertain futures of Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog. The issue forced Colorado to make cheap bets in free agency and saw deadline adds Sean Walker, Yakov Trenin, and Brandon Duhaime all walk out the door for bigger paydays.

Erik Brannstrom and Oliver Kylington are stylistic fits for an Avalanche team that embraces offensive skill and speed from the back end. Kylington is a couple of years removed from a 31-point campaign, and Brannstrom posted favorable underlying metrics in Ottawa.

We know the Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar unit will dominate their minutes. But what will the Avs get when those stars aren't on the ice for the rest of the game? Logan O'Connor projects into Colorado's top six. If KHLer Nikolai Kovalenko can't hang on the third line, there aren't many other options to plug into the bottom six.

The lack of depth at forward is a real concern. Conversely, the group of defensemen is well-rounded with numerous options who can plug and play on the third pairing.

Nichushkin is eligible to return from suspension in November. Still, his status remains a massive question mark. Landeskog hopes to return this season, but who knows what you're getting after he's missed two full campaigns. And that's without considering the salary cap ramifications of one or both players coming back.

With two significant uncertainties clouding Colorado, GM Chris MacFarland had little wiggle room. The Avalanche did well to secure Casey Mittelstadt and Jonathan Drouin at solid numbers and add depth on the blue line. However, the lack of depth at forward is too great a concern to overlook.

Grade: C

Dallas Stars

⭐ Re-signed F Matt Duchene to 1-year deal with $3M AAV
⭐ RFA D Thomas Harley remains unsigned

The Stars didn't add much at forward this summer, but they didn't need to. Sure, Joe Pavelski's retirement is a hit, but Dallas has rookies Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque ready for full-time roles.

Stankoven already did so at the end of the previous campaign and impressed in the playoffs. Bourque didn't get as much play in the NHL but was superb in the AHL, winning league MVP with 77 points in 71 games.

The Stars' primary concern this summer was the back end. Jani Hakanpaa and deadline add Chris Tanev joined the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the coaching staff clearly didn't trust Nils Lundkvist last season despite re-signing him.

GM Jim Nill's decision to spend $7 million on Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin leaves much to be desired. Dumba was outscored 16-9 at five-on-five in 18 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning after the trade deadline and had just a 45.8% Corsi For rating. Lyubushkin was fine for the Maple Leafs in a specified role, but his $3.25-million price tag is quite rich considering the Russian's significant weaknesses moving the puck.

Given the roster's overall strength, the Stars will still be a Stanley Cup contender. Dallas had holes to fill around the edges this summer and didn't need to make huge moves. However, the players brought in to fill supplementary roles are pretty uninspiring.

Grade: C-

Minnesota Wild

⭐ Signed D Brock Faber to 8-year extension with $8.5M AAV
⭐ Signed D Jake Middleton to 4-year extension with $4.35M AAV
⭐ Re-signed G Marc-Andre Fleury to 1-year deal with $2.5M AAV

GM Bill Guerin remains in a tough cap situation as he deals with the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts. The Wild have $14.7 million of dead space for one more campaign before that total drops to $1.7 million in the 2025 offseason.

The money that opens up next summer allowed Minnesota to make two re-signings early in the process. The Wild locked up Brock Faber for the max term after his phenomenal freshman campaign and secured Jake Middleton's services for four seasons.

Minnesota's only addition who'll make over $800,000 is forward Yakov Trenin. The 27-year-old Russian is a big body and a forechecking menace, but the $3.5-million price tag is a premium for a player who has eclipsed 15 goals once in his NHL career and has never reached 25 points.

While the Wild didn't lose notable talent from the roster, they didn't make significant enough additions to particularly improve the team's outlook either. Minnesota will rely on internal growth to push back into the playoffs. The club would also welcome Filip Gustavsson returning to form.

Grade: C

Nashville Predators

⭐ Signed G Juuse Saros to 8-year extension with $7.74M AAV
⭐ Re-signed D Alexandre Carrier to 3-year deal with $3.75M AAV

No team was more aggressive in free agency than the Predators. GM Barry Trotz made a huge splash by landing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei.

It's the second year in a row Trotz has been aggressive on the opening day of free agency. Nashville signed Ryan O'Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, and Luke Schenn last summer, and the O'Reilly and Nyquist acquisitions played pivotal roles in Nashville's return to the postseason.

The star power Stamkos brings to Music City is significant. At 34 years old, he remains a lethal presence on the power play. Only Sam Reinhart and Leon Draisaitl scored more than Stamkos' 19 goals on the man advantage last season. While acknowledging that Stamkos' even-strength results have dropped, his pure offensive talent is still a massive boost for a Nashville franchise that has lacked game-breakers for much of its history.

And it's not like Stamkos is the only addition up front. Jonathan Marchessault's arrival has been overlooked due to Stamkos' blockbuster signing. The 2023 Conn Smythe winner netted a career-high 42 goals last season.

Only two players in Predators history have scored 40 goals: Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene in 2022 and Forsberg again last season. The arrival of two high-profile forwards with 40-goal upside is huge for a Nashville team that couldn't break through offensively in the first round.

Oh, and Trotz added Skjei, too. The 6-foot-3, two-way defender will take some of the onus off Roman Josi, and he rounds out the Preds' top four nicely.

As significant the additions are to making Nashville more of a competitor, it needs to be noted that there's risk in committing $20.5 million of cap space to players who'll be 38 (Stamkos), 37 (Marchessault), and 34 (Skjei) by the end of their contracts.

Losing Yaroslav Askarov stings, but trading the former first-round pick was inevitable once the team chose to lock up Juuse Saros. Given the situation, getting a quality prospect in David Edstrom and a first-round pick was solid business.

Trotz had another big summer. Though the transactions could be a hindrance come 2027, the body of work is hard to consider anything short of an impressive offseason.

Grade: A

St. Louis Blues

Suter can earn up to $3M based on performance bonuses.

⭐ Signed F Pavel Buchnevich to 6-year extension with $8M AAV

The headline of the summer in St. Louis was the successful Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway offer sheets. Both contracts are overpayments in the short term, but that's a requirement to acquire a player by way of an offer sheet. Broberg and Holloway will get significantly bigger opportunities to blossom into difference-makers in St. Louis, and both have shown flashes of the potential that made them first-round picks.

The Blues added legitimate NHL depth to the lineup by acquiring Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph for future considerations. Faksa has been elite at the faceoff dot for four seasons and relied upon heavily in defensive situations. Joseph recorded 35 points last season and will inject speed on the wings. His reuniting with brother Pierre-Olivier, who St. Louis signed in free agency, is also a nice story.

Alexandre Texier is a fun bet after he posted 12 goals and 30 points in his return to the NHL in 2023-24. On the other hand, signing Suter feels unnecessary, especially after the Broberg offer sheet. The Blues' defense already had too many older players, and the Cup-contending Stars bought out Suter for a reason.

Though not a departure, Torey Krug's season-ending surgery is a tough blow. Broberg will likely fill Krug's void in the top four.

One can appreciate GM Doug Armstrong's effort to shake up his mix using unconventional means, including offer sheets and adding a pair of players for future considerations. That said, St. Louis shifted a lot of deck chairs to still project into the murky middle of the NHL standings.

Grade: B

Utah Hockey Club

⭐ Re-signed D Sean Durzi to 4-year deal with $6M AAV
⭐ Re-signed F Barrett Hayton to 2-year deal with $2.65M AAV
⭐ Re-signed D Juuso Valimaki to 2-year deal with $2M AAV

Gone are the days of this franchise accepting mediocrity. GM Bill Armstrong made a statement on Day 2 of the draft by acquiring a new top pairing in Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.

Sergachev is one season removed from a superb 10-goal, 64-point campaign, a total no Coyotes defender ever reached while the franchise was in Arizona. He has the opportunity to become "the guy" after playing behind Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay and brings significant playoff experience to Utah at just 26 years old.

The club's acquisition of Sergachev stole the spotlight from Marino's arrival, but he's also a significant addition. The 27-year-old has shown an ability to be an elite defensive defenseman, and he posted positive underlying metrics defensively despite a down year with the New Jersey Devils in 2023-24.

Factor in Ian Cole, a reliable No. 5 option who brings veteran leadership to a group whose second-oldest defender is Marino, and Utah has completely revamped its back end this season. Not only will Sergachev, Marino, and Cole improve Utah's defense, but their arrivals benefit the holdovers from Arizona in Sean Durzi, Juuso Valimaki, and Michael Kesselring.

Kevin Stenlund is the lone addition up front to a young group that'll lean on internal growth to climb the standings.

The Coyotes were in the mix for a playoff spot until relocation rumors started in late January. The team then went on a 14-game losing skid to effectively end their season. On the heels of a strong offseason and with the Arizona drama behind them, Utah has a chance to make the playoffs in its debut campaign.

Grade: A

Winnipeg Jets

⭐ Re-signed D Dylan DeMelo to 4-year deal with $4.9M AAV
⭐ RFA F Cole Perfetti remains unsigned

Besides the Rutger McGroarty saga finally coming to a close, it was a fairly uneventful summer for the Jets.

McGroarty, a first-rounder who made it clear he wouldn't sign with Winnipeg, was flipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brayden Yager. The Saskatoon native was drafted in the same slot, 14th overall, one year after McGroarty.

As difficult as it is to lose a prospect like McGroarty, landing Yager is a win for the Jets considering the situation. The 19-year-old plays center and has showcased significant offensive skills in the WHL. Yager isn't a power player like McGroarty and won't play in the NHL as quickly, but to recoup a quality prospect while moving out someone who would never suit up for the team is tidy business.

The rest of the summer leaves much to be desired. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff made no additions of note to the NHL roster. Backup option Kaapo Kahkonen was the Jets' biggest splurge in free agency at a measly $1-million cap hit.

Midseason additions Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli walked, as did mainstay Brenden Dillon and backup Laurent Brossoit. Looking back, that makes the re-signing of Dylan DeMelo even more important.

The lack of activity leaves Vladislav Namestnikov as the projected second-line center. Dylan Samberg or Ville Heinola must step into a top-four role on the back end.

After an impressive regular season, the Jets flamed out in five games against the Avalanche in the first round. It's impossible to say Winnipeg improved when its best offseason move is ultimately a downgrade in the McGroarty-Yager swap.

Grade: D+

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