We are now ten days into free agency, and here are the notable additions and subtractions from each roster in the Western Conference (not including 2020 draft picks). This week we will look at the next five teams in the West in alphabetical order.

Dallas Stars

Additions:

Mark Pysyk – The Stars have been very quiet this off-season having only the signing of Pysyk for one year at $750k to show for additions to the lineup. Pysyk is a depth defenceman that averaged just under 13 minutes per game last season in 58 games with Florida. He did manage nine goals and nine assists for a career-high of 18 points but probably won't match that output unless given more ice time in Dallas which is not likely to exceed 15 or 16 minutes per night when he does get in the lineup. His role will be a 6th or 7th defenceman depending on the health of Stephen Johns or the play of Joel Hanley or Taylor Fedun.

Subtractions:

None.

Edmonton Oilers

Additions:

Kyle Turris – Turris should be an upgrade as the third line center in Edmonton, although if people expect him to approach his production of 50 points from prior years, he is going to disappoint. His even-strength production has cratered in recent years and even his 31 points last season were propped up with 10 points on the power play. The contract he was playing under in Nashville will be a burden removed from his shoulders and the $1.65 million he is earning now might be a bargain for the Oilers if Turris can produce 40 points.

Tyson Barrie – Barrie is betting on himself signing a one-year deal at $3.75 million with the Oilers and he is probably salivating at a chance to run the power play with McDavid and Draisaitl on it. Even in an off-year in Toronto last season, Barrie still managed 0.62 pts/game and had 39 points with 12 being with the man advantage. He has had seasons with 25 points on the power play in Colorado and if healthy he will be at 50-60 points. Just expect the Oilers to give up a few more chances in their end.

Subtractions:

Matt Benning – It was obvious the Oilers were not going to qualify Benning at the salary he would have commanded while only averaging over 13 minutes per game and being a 6th or 7th defenceman. Barrie will replace him in the lineup and Edmonton has Evan Bouchard, Philip Broberg and Dmitri Samorukov waiting in the wings. If none of these three are ready the team will need to bring in a depth player to bridge the gap.

Los Angeles Kings

Additions:

Olli Maatta – Maatta has a chance to become a top-four defenceman again in Los Angeles, as he will be given the minutes to play at the beginning of his time there. It is up to him to sink or swim as he has done in Pittsburgh and Chicago. At 26 years old, he's unlikely to find another gear to his game that would prove those teams wrong that had him as a 5th or 6th defenceman in recent years at around 18 minutes per game. If the Kings do nothing else this off-season for their back-end, Maatta will go into the year as the second oldest defenceman after Drew Doughty. This is still not a good team, as exciting as their prospect pool is, they are still 2-3 years away from competing again. Maatta is a stop-gap for one or two seasons and will be a marginal upgrade on Joakim Ryan.

Lias Andersson – When you are only three years removed from being a 7th overall pick in the NHL entry draft and you are traded for a draft pick and it is only a 60th overall pick, things are not going well. For the Kings, this could turn out to be a very good trade if Andersson comes back and even makes it to the NHL regularly. So far so good in the SHL for Andersson this season as he has four points in his first four games with HV71. 

Subtractions:

Joakim Ryan – His 19 minutes per game will be easily swallowed up by another depth signing or a young player like Mikey Anderson or Kale Clague. would think the Kings will add more depth on defence as they are very thin there for roster spots and prospects.

Minnesota Wild

Additions:

Kirill Kaprizov – The Wild have been patiently waiting for Kaprizov to come over from the KHL for a few years now and at the age of 23, he is ready to join them. Minnesota instantly gets the most skilled player on their roster and he should slot in on the top line and the top powerplay unit. Now it is up to the club to surround him with the appropriate talent to help Kaprizov and the team succeed. The team is automatically a more offensive team with him in the lineup, but temper your early expectations to 50 points. This team just doesn't score enough to justify more.

Cam Talbot – Talbot comes in and replaces Devan Dubnyk who had played well in Minnesota for five seasons but did not play well in his 6th season. Talbot is a year younger, a little bit cheaper and is coming off a solid season and a very good playoff in Calgary. A new team and a new structure can always play havoc with goaltenders, so temper your expectations, but he should play 40-50 games over Alex Stalock.

Nick Bjugstad – Acquired to bolster the third line, Bjugstad is hoping to put his injury-riddled season behind him next year. If healthy he can score 15-20 goals and be a difficult player to go up against, but he has only played 77 games over the past two seasons.

Nick Bonino – Bonino has one year left at $4.1 million and should give the Wild more offence than Mikko Koivu who the team elected to let go. He is a more capable player than Koivu in sliding up to the second line for short stretches, so this will be an upgrade for Minnesota. Bonino is surprisingly very effective at generating offence at even-strength. This type of addition is more typical of a team challenging for the Stanley Cup and thinking they are missing one last upgrade.

Marcus Johansson – I'm not sure what the Wild are hoping for with the acquisition of Johansson as he has one year left on his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent. If he proves to be the number one center on this team, then the Wild won't be making the playoffs. Don't get me wrong as he is a capable player but he tops out at 45-55 points over 80 games. That is a lot of pressure to put on an 18-year old Marco Rossi, but Kirill Kaprizov needs you sooner than later.

Subtractions:

Mikko Koivu – As hard as I tried to get him to retire, Koivu signed in Columbus. The Wild will miss his leadership, penalty killing and defensive responsibility, but Bonino is an upgrade at this point in Koivu's career.

Eric Staal – Even at 36 years of age, he had 19 goals and 47 points, which will be hard for any other Wild player other than Kirill Kaprizov to match. Staal's play is declining, no doubt, but he is still a very effective player that drives five on five offence and provides leadership. I can't help but think that even a healthy Bjugstad is a short-term downgrade.

Ryan Donato – In 84 games with the Wild, Donato had 18 goals and 21 assists, which is a pretty good output for a 24-year old player on this roster. I'm a little surprised that they moved him for a 3rd round pick as he didn't play much more than 10 minutes per game and saw limited time on the power play. He is a player that is not useful in the lineup unless he is in the top six and with the addition of Kirill Kaprizov, another roadblock was put up for Donato, which management felt he wasn't going to get over.

Devan Dubnyk – Dubnyk had his worst year in the NHL this past season with an 89.0 save percentage, only nine quality starts in 30 starts and the kicker was negative 16.23 goals saved above average. To compare, Talbot was 7.53 GSAA.

Luke Kunin – Kunin had finally secured a regular role in the lineup and had 15 goals and 31 points in 63 games while playing mostly on the 2nd or 3rd lines and averaging over 15 minutes/game. The 22-year old former 15th overall pick in 2016 seemed to be on the rise statistically, so it was a little surprising to see him and 2nd round pick sent for a one-year rental in Bonino. Kunin seemed to be an ideal player to build around, but this ownership/management group is convinced they can win now for some reason. This deal will look bad, when Minnesota misses the playoffs, Bonino is gone and Kunin is getting 45-50 points in Nashville. 

Nashville Predators

Additions:

Luke Kunin – Nashville was under salary cap constraints so did well to move out Bonino for Kunin. He will be given the opportunity to play top-six minutes with Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg or Ryan Johansen and I'm sure the hope is that he provides some sort of offensive spark to those three as well. Kunin remains a restricted free agent but doesn't have arbitration rights so expect a one or two-year deal at $1.2 to 1.5 million AAV.

Mark Borowiecki – At $2 million AAV, Borowiecki is not a bargain signing for what he brings to the table, but he will be a welcome addition to the Predators. He replaces Dan Hamhuis and brings much more physicality (199 hits), but less defensive awareness than Hamhuis. Borowiecki slots in as a 5th or 6th defenceman who will be a good addition on the penalty kill. He hasn't played more than 53 games in the past three seasons, which is a product of the game he plays.

Matt Benning – Benning will be the 6th/7th defenceman who looks to replace Yannick Weber on the roster. Benning might have a little more offence to offer than Weber (who can forget Weber's 11 goals in 2014-15 though?), but both have the same issues on defence. Benning is a depth signing.

Brad Richardson – If Richardson still has anything left in the tank at 37-years old, then a $1.0 million contract for one season, should be good value. He is a great penalty killer and very good on the faceoff. His offensive zone starts (30.1 percent) will rarely translate to a healthy Corsi, so don't read too much into his 42.6 CF percentage. He's a quality player if he still can skate with the rest of the NHL. Having said that, this is still a downgrade on Bonino.

Nick Cousins – Cousins will be on his fifth team in four seasons and it is sometimes tempting to read into that. He's emerging as a tweener 3rd line winger, that isn't good enough to play 2nd line, but he still manages power-play time that boosts his playing time to around 13 minutes/game. There is an opportunity in Nashville for him on the 2nd line, but he would have to replace Calle Jarnkrok or Eeli Tolvanen if he is ready. He doesn't generate much even-strength offense on his own, so the odds are against him playing anything more than 3rd or 4th line and chipping in 10-12 goals and 25-30 points.

Subtractions:

Colin Blackwell – Blackwell played well in his 27 games in Nashville last year and had 10 points. He made good use of his extended look in the NHL and was rewarded with a two-year deal with the NY Rangers for $750k per year (second year is one-way and first year $350k in AHL).

Dan Hamhuis – The team will miss his presence more than his play on the ice, but are hoping Borowiecki and Benning will be suitable replacements. Hamhuis had an excellent career with 1,148 regular season games in the NHL split between Nashville, Vancouver and Dallas.

Craig Smith – Smith will be a difficult player to replace in the lineup but there was no way that the Predators could afford his $3.1 million AAV he signed with Boston (although it seems like a bargain). His 20-25 goals will partially be replaced by Kunin but his role will not be. Smith is one of the most consistent 3rd line wingers in the league and Nashville will miss him.

Nick Bonino – I've mentioned Bonino above and the Predators will not be as good a team as they were with his departure. The club knew they wouldn't be able to afford him as a free agent and got good value in a 2nd round pick and Kunin.

Austin Watson – There must have been some regret with the three-year extension that Nashville extended to Watson in November of 2019 as they moved him to Ottawa for a 4th round draft pick. Watson did not have a good season in Nashville while only dressing for 53 games and putting up 14 points. The Predators got out from under a three-year deal and are hoping that Watson's physicality and size will be replaced for half the price with Mathieu Olivier.

Next week we will look at the remaining teams in the West, San Jose, St. Louis, Vancouver, Vegas and Winnipeg.

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