Puck Lists: Ranking every July 1st signing
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(As the NCAA hockey season is done, our own Ryan Lambert needed something on which to opine. Say hello to a special Tuesday series from yer boy RL, PUCK LISTS, in which he arbitrarily lists hockey things.)
Youâre not going to find too many sensible signings on the first day of free agency.
Thatâs just not the way it works.
But there are still relative deals to be found on July â Canada Day to some people! â and there were plenty of âem made throughout the day. Depth deals, big splashes, two-way contracts, doesnât matter. If it got reported before 5 p.m. ET, youâll find it below.
Letâs rank all 104 of âem! (Caution: There are lots of AHL signings in the middle of the list because they are of little to no consequence):
Four years? Canât wait to see the Smart Leafs fans try to talk themselves into not-hating this one. Never sign a fourth-line player for term. Period.
Why not just burn $800,000 instead? At least that wonât make your hockey team worse. Just because you have the money to spend doesnât mean you should.
Horrible contract. Donât like the term or the money. Speed is a great thing to have, but separate this guy from Datsyuk and heâs not even a 30-point player or a possession driver. This contract is almost as bad as Justin Abdelkaderâs.
Yikes this is not a good deal. Drag on possession, only scores a little bit. And now heâs past his prime. No idea why heâs worth $3.33 million for three years.
Not really an NHL player at this point, but he seems to be on a one-way deal. No thanks.
He was .896 in the AHL last year. Hard pass at any level.
Gotta add beef to protect the kids. He had 136 PIMs in the AHL last year!
Being a bad person doesnât matter in hockey.
Jason Chimera to Brooklyn
I donât know how you justify signing a 37-year-old for more than one year. And the price has to be inflated since heâs coming off a 20-20-40 season â a career high in both categories! â with Washington last year.
Jonas Gustavsson to Edmonton
Simply put, there are much better options out there. Donât understand the need for this contract. At least itâs short-term, right? But in the end, there have to be plenty of lakes within driving distance of Edmonton where you can just throw in $800,000 instead.
Dale Weise to Philadelphia
I donât see the need to sign a player like this for four years or $2.35 million per. Heâs not worth either one.
Vern Fiddler to New Jersey
Another guy you kinda just forgot was still in the NHL, but the stats say thereâs a good reason why: He wasnât very good for Dallas last year.
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond to Tampa
How is this guy still playing hockey?
Harry Zolnierczyk to Nashville
AHL signing, hopefully. If heâs on the NHL roster at any point, something has gone horribly wrong.
Boyd Gordon to Philadelphia
Wow, Boyd Gordon is still out there huh? He got caved in pretty much across the board this year in a purely defensive role, but I wouldnât expect much to change there. Teams are better with him Boyd Gordoff. Well, bye!
Just when you thought the Avs were making prudent decisions. Money isnât a problem but âplaying hockeyâ could be.
Alex Stalock to Minnesota
All indications are this kid just doesnât have it any more. Save percentages of .902 and .884 as an NHL backup the last two seasons. You get better than that with an AHL call-up. Fortunately, heâs on a two-way contract.
Quinton Howden to Winnipeg
For me, no thanks. Not even as a part-timer.
Colton Sceviour to Florida
Not really a fan. Donât really understand the contract.
Andrew Miller to Carolina
Looks like a decent enough AHL player, but at almost 28, thatâs probably it!
I pride myself on knowing enough about a handful of AHL guys for every team, but this guy, I dunno. More career ECHL games than AHL, so there ya go.
Greg Carey to Philadelphia
AHL signing with basically no chance to crack the NHL roster.
This is an AHL signing, plain and simple.
Looks like a solid enough AHLer but thatâs it.
Michael Bournival to Tampa
AHL deal. Potentially some upside but probably not.
Will OâNeill to PhiladelphiaÂ
Decent AHL defender but no chance to make the NHL.
David Warsofsky to Pittsburgh
And in doing so, the Penguins continue to stockpile former Hockey East players.
Michael Blunden to Ottawa
The Senators have now signed like 1 in every 3 AHL players.
âŠCares? (Okay, Bailey might be a decent-ish prospect, maybe.)
Victor Bartley to Minnesota
Occasional AHL call-up. Thatâs it.
Michael Chaput to Vancouver
Seems like one of those guys you can count on to put up 40 points in the AHL without fail. Thatâs probably his ceiling though.
Dustin Stevenson to Dallas
Christian Thomas to Washington
Occasional AHL callup and thatâs it.
Andrew Bodnarchuk to Dallas
Potential seventh defenseman. Seems like itâs not a deal either way.
Darren Dietz to Washington
This is a half-decent No. 8 defender for a team.
The Coyotes stick with a bottom-pairing NHLer who might not even be that these days. Honestly, itâs not a difference-maker one way or the other.
Devante Smith-Pelly to New Jersey
Gotta fill out the roster somehow. New Jersey seems to be making exclusively depth signings.
Ben Lovejoy to New Jersey
Decent enough bottom-pairing guy. Not a fan of the money.
Chad Ruhwedel to Pittsburgh
A good AHL defender, probably. Might be a little more upside there.
Left college in the middle of last season, was okay in the QMJHL. This is just due diligence.
Itâs the Justin Falk who couldnât get regular minutes on Columbusâs blue line last year, not the good one.
When this deal was first breaking it was allegedly short-term. Five years is not short-term. Heâs fine now, but Iâd be worried long-term. And he signed for the same money as Loui Eriksson, who is better than him. If the extra year was a sticking point for Boston, well, Backes is a year older. Yeah heâs a center and Eriksson isnât, but I wouldnât want my No. 3 center getting that kind of money.
Bob McKenzie says theyâre hoping he has a high ceiling. Put up a bunch of points in the AHL last season, and this is a two-year deal, so that could be a thing sooner than later.
No-brainer here. Still not a great idea of what this kid is, but the ceiling should still be there.
Meh defenseman. Maybe a bottom-pairing guy.
McCoshen probably isnât NHL-ready but he was too good to play another year at Boston College, for sure.
I like that itâs a two-way deal. Gives the team flexibility. Morin might be a decent bottom-sixer in a good situation.
Joe Cannatta to Washington
Clear No. 1 AHL goalie who might be able to fill in as needed at the NHL level. Sure.
Michael Paliotta to New York
There might be something here, but itâs a wait-and-see deal for me.
Andy Miele to Philadelphia
Great AHLer, but now on a one-way deal. Wonder what he looks like when heâs an NHL player.
Starting to look like a potential bottom-six NHL player.
He might be an okay depth defender but anyone using him any more than that should be worried.
John-Michael Liles to Boston
Well they need defensemen, right?
Chris Stewart to Minnesota
Raise your hand if you forgot Chris Stewart was in the league. Somewhat useful, reasonable money, but nothing to get excited over either way.
Jeff Zatkoff to Los Angeles
Adam Clendenning to New York
Two-way deal for short money. He could be useful as an occasional No. 6 defenseman, but not much more than that.
Trotman can play a little bit, and I bet things go better for him as a depth option on a team like LA than a team like Boston.
Viktor Stalberg to Carolina
Well, itâs a warm body.
Heâs okay but I wouldnât count on him to match his production from last year. The contract is fine.
Michael Latta to Los Angeles
I think heâs a pretty good bottom-six forward. Who knows what they expect out of him but he can play a bit.
Beau Bennett to New Jersey
Sure. He could be fine! But also, maybe not! Solid enough gamble at just $725,000 though.
Jon Merrill to New Jersey
They needed to keep all their other defensemen. Still room to grow here.
Mikhail Sergachev to Montreal
They must really like this kid. And they do need D help. Give âer a whirl for a nine-game tryout and see where youâre at.
Philip Larsen to Vancouver
Looks like theyâre going to try to use him as a middle-pairing replacement for Hamhuis. Might just work out, too!
Kevin Connauton to Arizona
Probably a guy that deserves a bigger role. I like the deal here, especially if they find more minutes for him.
The Bruins backup revolving door continues, but at least Khudobin is locked down at a reasonable price for the next two years.
Alexei Marchenko to Detroit
A D prospect who seems perfectly okay. Still no clarity on term as far as Iâve see, but heâs not bad and this should be a low-money contract. Not bad.
Brett Connolly to Washington
May he finally get a chance to succeed here with a smart coach on a good team.
Could be a good fourth-line option, and certainly heâs better than Tanner Glass.
Tom Gilbert to Los Angeles
The wheels have probably fallen off for Gilbert at this point, but this is worth a gamble.
Itâs not exactly showering a guy with praise to say he was a positive relative possession player on Colorado, but he was, and thatâs better than the alternative. I like this signing.
Shawn Matthias to Winnipeg
Seems like a useful third-line guy, honestly. Winnipeg doesnât have a lot of money to spend, though.
Carter Hutton to St. Louis
Mike Johnson of Sportsnet called Hutton one of the best backups in the league, and itâs tough to disagree. Decent stats, Great In The Room. Everyone in St. Louis will love him.
Yannick Weber to Nashville
Good enough depth defender. Think they can get him to take No. 6?
Could potentially get onto the NHL roster next fall, so itâs an economical deal.
This is a player I like, but heâs already slow as hell and now heâs signed for seven years at the same price point as Taylor Hall. Connor McDavid will likely prolong his usefulness at 5-on-5. Hereâs a fun fact: Milan Lucic has just 20 career power play goals! And given that like half of his contract is in signing bonuses, itâs also buyout-proof!
Donât hate it as a show-me deal, but you get the feeling dude is done.
Hey, a solution to that whole âWe donât have a backupâ thing from last year. And only like seven months too late!
Jonathan Marchessault to Florida
I think this is a kid who can really play, and getting him at $750,000 is a good gamble for Florida for sure.
Really like this deal for a not-good Stars blue line that lost some good players already this summer.
Michael Grabner to New York
Solid bottom-six player a good price point. I like it.
Moneyâs fine, term isnât, just given his age. Good player, though. Should help the Islanders in the near-term.
Loui Eriksson to Vancouver
Like the player a lot, like the fit well enough, like the contract a little less than that. The contract is what Eriksson was getting anywhere, and he might fit in well with the Sedins (aging, useful Swedes who can play top-line minutes). Other than that, though, whatâs the point? Theyâre still not a good team.
Another player I really like a lot, but any contract for big money where a guy will be 38 at the end of it is, perhaps, ill-advised.
I donât love the player but given what everyone said he was going to get maybe this is the best anyone could have done. Four years is a little too long, and $4.5 million probably way too much, but he could be a useful enough depth player for Calgary.
Patrick Wiercioch to ColoradoÂ
This is a defender everyone should have been targeting, so for Colorado of all teams to win the sweepstakes is a little surprising given their, uh, organizational philosophy.
Sneaky-good depth defense signing. As if Nashville needed more help on the freakinâ blue line, eh? Love the move to lock him up for two years instead of one.
Lee Stempniak to Carolina
Ah jeez you know I like this one fam!
Given the term and who they have as the starter right now, Florida has to be figuring on a 1a/1b scenario for the next season or two, and then maybe Luongo (whoâs not getting any younger) calls it a career in another two or three years.
David Schlemko to San Jose
This is one of the best third-pairing defensemen in the league, and he can play some sneaky-good second-unit power play minutes. One of the better signings of the day.
David Perron to St. Louis
This is a useful player on a short-term deal at middling money. Thatâs what St. Louis needs.
I think he can be a very useful top-six forward in the NHL, maybe even a top-line guy. The moneyâs not even as bad as everyone thought! Tell me more about this âcharacterâ problem PK Subban had, though.
In theory this is a great deal for one of the best young defenders in the league. Now what does he look like away from Brian Campbell?
They got their guy for a decent number of years at what could be a very good number if everything goes as planned. Have to like what St. Louis has done in net.
This is arguably the best pure backup in the league, and getting him dirt-cheap to play behind Brian Elliott is great insurance. If youâre worried Allen canât go 60-plus, even having a 55-28 split probably works out. Calgary is now confidently deep in goal. Calgary is! Crazy.
Andrei Vasilevskiy to Tampa
So thatâll just about do it for olâ Benny Bishop in Tampa, hey? This contract could soon look very smart.
I love the money here â especially given that he was rumored to be seeking something well above the $3.5 million he actually got â and I think heâs still a useful No. 2 center. Heâs never gonna be The Guy again, but this is a guy who can still play, bad stretch on Broadway aside.
Iâm a little worried about the term here, but thatâs the price of doing business. And Iâm a little less worried about the production away from John Tavares, but playing with one of Eichel/Reinhart/OâReilly is a good fallback position.
This was the contract he was going to get anywhere, and the landing spot seems mutually beneficial.
Brian Campbell to Chicago
How much of a bargain in this? Campbell, a defenseman who deserves as much credit for Ekbladâs maturation in the last three seasons as anyone, reportedly left a $5 million, one-year offer from Florida on the table to move to Chicago, where he makes his home, and take $3 million less.
Campbell is still very, very good, and really shores up what could have been an iffy Chicago blue line at a low, low price point. Best UFA deal of the day.
Slam-dunk best contract of the day. Steve Yzerman is sharking everyone else in the league. Bolts are well-positioned to be Cup-competitive for the next three years at least.
Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here
