Perhaps it’s fitting that a guy whose NHL career once seemed like an unlikely proposition made the — to put it mildly — unexpected decision to sign a seven-year, $68.25 million deal with the Jackets. If Taylor Hall raised eyebrows when he signed a one-year contract with the Buffalo Sabers two years ago, Gaudreau melted faces when he walked down the aisle with Columbus. Whatever your opinion on Gaudreau’s call, it was clearly the headliner on the opening day of NHL free agency. But there was plenty more to chew on while we waited for that 165-pound chip to drop. With that in mind, let’s look at some winners, losers and situations somewhere in between now that the ink on some of these big contracts is starting to dry. Winners Columbus blue jacket We can’t start anywhere else and we also can’t help but be a little happy for a club that has been rejected in the recent past by big-name players who either hit town or chose never to come. Columbus knew it would be difficult to re-sign any of Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene or Sergei Bobrovsky in the summer of 2019, but chose to participate anyway and completed the first playoff series win in franchise history before the three . he did, in fact, ink elsewhere. What’s interesting about this Gaudreau scenario is, in the past, Columbus has tried to attract stars by offering the heaviest contracts. Whether he was trying to convince Panarin to stay on a bigger deal than he signed with the New York Rangers or flirting with an RFA offer sheet for Mitch Marner later that summer, GM Jarmo Kekalainen seemed to embrace the idea that maybe had to hit a star. socks off to get him to commit to Columbus. While we knew Gaudreau would be leaving money on the table when he opted to leave Calgary — about $15 million, as it turns out — for what we all assumed would be a team in the Eastern Conference, it’s not like Columbus had to blow other teams like the New Jersey Devils or New York Islanders out of the water at the $9.75 AAV they got Gaudreau to agree to. Whatever the case, it’s over now. Shoot the cannon. Ottawa Senators Even at their best, the Sens were never really a winning organization in the summer. In 2022, though, I’m not sure anyone will have a better offseason than Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion, because signing Claude Giroux to a three-year deal with a $6.5 million AAV was just the latest in a string of strong and logic moves. Giroux may turn 35 halfway through next season, but this is much more than someone with ties to the area coming “home” to play the game. With 23 points in 18 games as a Florida Panther following the deadline deal that sent him there from Philly, Giroux showed just what he can do on a good team. Are the Ottawa “Panthers” good right now? No. But that front six is stacked awfully with Giroux joining a group that includes Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and the guy who started this summer’s hitting streak for Dorion, Alex DeBrincat. Throw in Cam Talbot — acquired via trade just before the free agency market opened — and it’s pretty easy to see how an Ottawa team that hasn’t made the playoffs since coming within one goal of its final Stanley Cup in 2017 could rise and push for a postseason berth in 2022-23. Carolina Hurricanes Who needs signings when you can get top talent in trades for basically nothing? The additions of Brent Burns – still a monster at 37 – from the rebuilt San Jose Sharks and Max Pacioretty from the Vegas Golden Knights were great moves for a fantastic team trying to overcome these final hurdles in the league. Pacioretty has one year left on his deal, and if healthy, it’s easy to envision a 40-goal season for him. Edmonton Oilers Keeping Evander Kane and Brett Kulak were very nice developments for a team that made it to the Final Four last season. It would be very upsetting to see Kane, in particular, walk out the door after we all saw how well he fit next to Connor McDavid. Goaltending questions have plagued this franchise for some time, and while it would be foolish to simply assume that’s ancient history now that Jack Campbell is signed — the 30-year-old late-bloomer’s sample size as a No. 1 is still relatively small — it’s another very sensible play by GM Ken Holland to give Campbell a five-five and I hope he dramatically upgrades what he was getting in the crease. If Campbell is truly the long-term solution, this will mark a watershed day in Oil Country. Charlie Lindgren, Washington Capitals We always talk about big numbers at the start of free agency, so here’s an average one for you: 28. That’s how many career starts 28-year-old Charlie Lindgren has made. In the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, that number was zero, meaning he played five games in the last two NHL campaigns. All of those outings, however, came during a 10-day stretch with the St. Louis Blues last December and Lindgren stopped 113 of 118 shots he faced for a .958 save percentage. Other than that, he had strong AHL regular season numbers last year for, really, the first time in his career and a decent playoff performance in that league with the Springfield Thunderbirds. Still, that was enough to entice the Washington Capitals — who made Darcy Kuemper their starter earlier in the day — to offer the southpaw goaltender a three-year, $3.3 million contract. That number, according to Cap Friendly, is slightly more than Lindgren’s estimated career earnings to date. I see what you did there Detroit Red Wings It’s not that one of the things Steve Yzerman did was a genius, it’s just that bringing in Michigan boy Andrew Copp, hard-nosed D-man Ben Chiarot and veteran scorer David Perron is an undeniable sign that Yzerman is ready to begin this rebuild. in a new tool. If Ville Husso’s game works in the goal, the Red Wings look much more competitive this season. Tampa Bay Lightning Imagine the scene. you’re in some Tampa bay view crowd enjoying a pleasant beverage when walking $159.6 million in newly expanded Lightning talent. Talk about a ride home! OK, so Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak might not all be in Tampa right now to celebrate, but you get the point. By adding the trio to eight-year extensions a year before they were all eligible to become RFAs, Tampa locked up key players with all kinds of hockey greats in front of them in the pretty Florida-friendly numbers we’re used to. That takes the sting out of having to deal with Ryan McDonagh and knowing you won’t be able to bring back Ondrej Palat. Colorado Avalanche You knew there would be some losses, but getting Josh Manson back on the blue line is a huge win, and it’s easy to see the newly extended Artturi Lehkonen scoring many more crucial playoff goals for this club over the next half decade. Keeping Valeri Nichushkin’s massive frame around for another eight years means fans of the defending champions are sure to have the party going all summer long. Pittsburgh Penguins For a while there, it felt like there was a real chance Evgeni Malkin could walk out the door. But his decision to re-sign right before the market opens means both he and Kris Letang — after a season of speculation — will return to the club for the final good years of their careers. I don’t know what those deals will look like in Year 4, but that’s not the issue for Pittsburgh. By keeping both, GM Ron Hexall wedged a crowbar in his team’s Stanley Cup window and kept this thing open for at least another spring or two. Toronto Maple Leafs What the new goaltending battery of Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov lacks in safety, it can make up for in upside. Murray has a championship and lost his way in Ottawa. Samsonov was a first-round pick who looked like a surefire No. 1 pick in the early stages of his development. The latter is only 25 years old, and more than one guy in his position began to find himself at this age. 1998 signing Curtis Joseph was not an option for the Leafs, and GM Kyle Dubas did a decent job navigating the situation in front of him. Defeated Every team leveled by the Gaudreau Shockwaves Nothing about how the Calgary Flames played should actually qualify them as “losers.” They selected Gaudreau in the fourth round of the 2011 Draft, showing faith in a diminutive player that no one else stepped up to. Gaudreau scored a goal in his first game with Calgary and scored his final game as a Flame in what turned out to be his final matchup with the club, the overtime affair Edmonton won to claim Alberta’s Battle of the 2 Stanley Cup round. Playoffs. In between those events, Gaudreau did enough for Calgary and GM Brad Treliving to field an eight-year max offer, which various reports had an AAV of $10.5 million. It’s not Calgary’s fault they didn’t get it, but it leaves the Flames hurting. If he wasn’t going to sign in Calgary, it looked like some nearby places like Jersey, Long Island or Philadelphia would be…
