Some teams were very busy in the first day or two of free agency with signings and/or trades, while others held firm.

We will look at each team in the West and see what fantasy-relevant players they added to their roster and where those players might slot into the lineup.

Anaheim Ducks

Robby Fabbri – F

Brian Dumoulin – D

Fabbri hasn't played more than the 68 games he played in 2023-24 since the 72 he played in his rookie year in 2015-16, where he set career-highs in goals (18) and points (37). He did match his career-high of 18 goals last year with an 18.6 shooting percentage. He is in the last year of his contract which will pay him $4.25 million. He could see some time between the second and third lines and could threaten his career highs if healthy.

Dumoulin has had 100 hits and 100 blocks in a season three times before but had a pretty disappointing campaign with Seattle where he had just 16 points, 72 hits and 79 blocks in 80 games while averaging just over 17 minutes per game. He could get back to 100/100 and see his ice time increase, but if Pavel Mintyukov, Jackson LaCombe and Olen Zellweger all progress, he could see himself as a sixth defender in 2024-25.

Calgary Flames

Anthony Mantha – F

Jake Bean – D

Mantha could and should see some top-six minutes on the Flames in 2024-25. He has a career-high of 25 goals and 48 points but has scored at least 23 goals three times in eight seasons. 2023-24 was a bit of a comeback for him with 23 goals and 21 assists in 74 games, which is about my expectation for him in Calgary. He's a good gamble for one year at $3.5 million.

Bean is a 26-year-old former 13th overall pick from the 2016 draft who was an offensive defenseman in the WHL and AHL but has struggled to put up much offense in the NHL. He has 56 points in 197 career games and posted just 13 points in 72 games in 2023-24.

Chicago Blackhawks

Tyler Bertuzzi – F

Teuvo Teravainen – F

Ilya Mikheyev – F

Alec Martinez – D

T.J. Brodie – D

Laurent Brossoit – G

Bertuzzi played in 80 games in 2023-24 which was the first time he had played more than 73 games in his career. He has scored 20 goals three times and 30 goals once and posted a career-high of 62 points in 68 games with Detroit in 2021-22. Unless he has some unreal chemistry with Connor Bedard, I'd peg him at 20-25 goals and 45-50 points. His four years at $5.5 million AAV seem expensive for that output.

Teravainen played his first 115 NHL games with Chicago and put up 44 points before spending eight seasons with Carolina. He is back in Chicago on a three-year contract at $5.4 million AAV. He had a career-high 25 goals in 2023-24 while shooting 17.6%, which will be hard for the 10.7% career shooter to duplicate. I'd expect 18-22 goals and 35-40 assists from him in 2024-25.

Mikheyev has never had more than 32 points in a season and had a very disappointing 11 goals and 31 points in 78 games during 2023-24 followed by a pointless 11-game playoff run. He is capable of scoring 15-25 goals and 35-40 points, but is his knee 100%? He hit 20 MPH 196 times in just 53 games in 2021-22, but could only muster 188 times in his next 124 games with Vancouver.

Martinez could be amongst the league leaders in blocks but has played more than 60 games just once in the past six seasons. He is now 36 years old and signed for one year at $4 million.

Brodie has a similar fantasy output as Martinez and perhaps Chris Tanev, in that they all block shots, and put up 20-25 points but are not physical by any means.

It is easy to look at Brossoit and what he did in 2023-24 and get excited with what he could do if given 35-45 games in a season. Unfortunately, he hasn't played more than 24 games in any of the 10 years he has been in the NHL. I would peg him for 25-35 games on a mediocre team, so perhaps 12-17 wins.

Colorado Avalanche

Parker Kelly – F

Calvin De Haan – D

Erik Brannstrom – D

Kelly can put up 15-25 points and 150-200 hits.

Since 2016-17, De Haan has played more than 70 games just once. He is capable of 100 hits and 100 blocks but would need to reach 70 games again in 2024-25 which is unlikely.

Brannstrom was the 13th overall pick in 2017 but has not been able to put up any offense at the NHL level in five years with Ottawa. He's an intriguing addition to the Avalanche as he can skate and move the puck, so he could benefit from the change of location.

Dallas Stars

Matt Dumba – D

Ilya Lyubushkin – D

Casey DeSmith – G

Dumba has averaged between 0.16 and 0.18 points per game over his last 155 games but has had back-to-back 100 hit/block seasons.

Lyubushkin has never had more than 14 points but did have 176 hits and 168 blocks in 74 games in 2023-24.

DeSmith could see 25-30 games for Dallas in 2024-25 and perhaps 12-15 wins.

Edmonton Oilers

Viktor Arvidsson – F

Jeff Skinner – F

Josh Brown – D

I would temper my expectations of Arvidsson as he will need to remain healthy for 65-75 games and play on the first unit of the power play to put up 25-35 goals in 2024-25. It is unlikely he sees time on the first unit of the PP and he has only played more than 66 games once in the past six years.

Skinner has scored 30 goals or more six times, and 20 or more 10 times in his career. Much like Arvidsson, it is unlikely he sees a lot of time on the first unit of the power play, but Skinner should be good for 25-30 goals in 2024-25.

Brown struggled to be a regular on Arizona's blue line and has never played more than 68 games in a season. He can hit and block shots and his 82-game average over the past three years is 183 hits and 128 blocks.

Los Angeles Kings

Warren Foegele – F

Tanner Jeannot – F

Darcy Kuemper – G

Kyle Burroughs – D

Foegele set career-highs in 2023-24 with 20 goals and 21 assists. His three-year average is 16 goals and 18 assists over 82 games, which is probably his ceiling in Los Angeles.

Jeannot is a hitting machine (averages 317/82 games) and had 24 goals and 41 points in 2021-22. Unfortunately, he has settled between 0.24 and 0.25 points per game over his past 131 games.

Kuemper had his worst campaign in 12 NHL seasons with a save percentage of 89.0, a GSAA of negative 11.82 and just 13 wins in 33 games. The Kings are hoping he can get back to 45-55 games, 25-30 wins and above-average stats.

Burroughs could struggle to be a regular on the blueline for the Kings, even though he did play 73 games in 2023-24, putting up eight points, 233 hits and 134 blocks. It got so rough in San Jose last year, that Burroughs was quarterbacking the first unit of the power play for a few games.

Minnesota Wild

Yakov Trenin – F

Jakub Lauko – F

Trenin is most likely destined for the fourth line on the Wild. He can score 10-15 goals and should get 150-200 hits.

Lauko should join Trenin on the fourth line. He scored two goals in 60 games while throwing 176 hits. The fourth line on the Wild should be physical at least.

Nashville Predators

Steven Stamkos – F

Jonathan Marchessault – F

Brady Skjei – D

Scott Wedgewood – G

This July, the Predators added to the top of their lineup perhaps more than any other team in the West.

Stamkos should be a point-per-game forward on the first line and on the first unit of the power play. At least for the next year or two.

Marchessault has been between 3.1 and 3.6 shots per game since 2016-17. He has scored 20 goals four times, 30 twice and got to 40 in 2023-24. He didn't reach 20 goals, just once in 2020-21 when he had 18 in 55 games. He should be good for 25-35 goals in Nashville.

Skjei has generated offense (0.47 to 0.59 points/g) over the past three years with minimal power play time, so theoretically, he should be able to take that forward to Nashville as he certainly won't be on the first unit of the power play.

There are a lot of rumors about Yaroslav Askarov being dealt by Nashville after the team extended Juuse Saros and signed Wedgewood for two years as a free agent. I'm not sure a team signs a hedge bet for two years at $1.5 million AAV without having something in mind. Wedgewood could see a similar role to what he had in Dallas behind Jake Oettinger. 25-30 games and 12 to 18 wins.

San Jose Sharks

Tyler Toffoli – F

Barclay Goodrow – F

Alexander Wennberg – F

Jake Walman – D

The Sharks made a surprising splash in free agency this July and arguably overpaid on some new players.

Toffoli has had 33 and 34 goals in back-to-back years but might not have the support in San Jose that he had in Calgary, New Jersey or Winnipeg. He should get lots of opportunities and could get between 25-30 goals and 50-55 points.

Goodrow hits (169), blocks shots (88) and takes faceoffs (337 FOW), but only produced four goals and eight assists in 80 games with the NY Rangers. If he can get back to 10-15 goals and 15-20 assists, he might be fantasy relevant.

Wennberg signed a two-year deal for $5 million AAV. He hasn't produced more than 38 points since 2016-17 and has a career-high of 17 goals. He takes a lot of faceoffs but has a career-winning percentage of 46.2 and has never got above 50.

Walman had 12 goals on 108 SOG with Detroit in 2023-24, which works out to a 11.1 shooting percentage. He is going to the Sharks and will be unlikely to duplicate his goal total. There is a good chance that his plus/minus takes a beating if your pool counts that.

Seattle Kraken

Chandler Stephenson – F

Brandon Montour – D

Stephenson has averaged between 0.68 and 0.81 points per game over the past four seasons, with highs of 21 goals and 65 points. He could slide from the first to third line in Seattle but should be good for 15-20 goals and 35-40 assists.

Seattle fans should dismiss the 73-point year that Montour had in 2022-23 from their minds as he has never had more than 37 points in any other campaign. He should get plenty of minutes with the Kraken and could get 35-45 points, to go along with 80-90 of both hits and blocks.

St. Louis Blues

Alexandre Texier – F

Mathieu Joseph – F

Pierre-Olivier Joseph – D

Texier comes into the Blues as a forward who can slide in on the second, third or fourth lines. He missed all of the 2022-23 season, but played 78 games in 2023-24 with Columbus and had 12 goals and 18 assists. I'd expect a similar range in St. Louis with 10-15 goals and 15-20 assists while mostly playing on the third line.

The Joseph brothers are both coming to St. Louis in 2024-25. Mathieu had 11 goals and a career-high of 35 points in 2023-24 with Ottawa and should be on the third line in St. Louis. He could see 10-15 goals and 20-25 assists once again. Pierre-Olivier struggled a bit in 2023-24, playing just 52 games and putting up 11 points while averaging 15:05 per night. He was a healthy scratch on more than a few occasions and there is no guarantee with the Blues that he won't be the seventh defender once again.

Utah Hockey Club

Kevin Stenlund – F

Mikhail Sergachev – D

John Marino – D

Stenlund won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers and has moved on to Utah for 2024-25. He won't generate much offense, but will win his share of faceoffs (51.4%) and kill some penalties. For a big guy, he averages just around a hit per game.

Sergachev comes to Utah after seven seasons in Tampa Bay. He broke his leg in the second half of 2023-24 and missed 48 games in total. There should be some questions about him being 100% going into 2024-25, but if he is, Utah could give him the keys to the PP and play him over 23 minutes per night. He had 64 points in 2022-23, but I'd be more comfortable putting him between 45 and 55 points.

Marino should get between 15-25 points, but is unlikely to get more than 100 hits or blocks. He should get top four minutes in Utah.

Vancouver Canucks

Jake DeBrusk – F

Danton Heinen – F

Kiefer Sherwood – F

Derek Forbort – D

Vincent Desharnais – D

If DeBrusk can produce a floor of 25-30 goals and 20-25 assists for the next few seasons, the Canucks will be happy. He has averaged about 16:48 per game over the past two years and could see a minute or two more per game in Vancouver.

Heinen needed a professional tryout in 2023-24 to get a contract and he had to wait until the end of October for Boston to sign him. He ended up playing 74 games and had 17 goals and 19 assists and turned that production into a two-year contract with Vancouver for $2.25 million AAV. There is no reason he can't produce 15-20 goals and 15-20 assists.

Sherwood appears to have found his role in the NHL after 187 games split over six seasons. He had 10 goals, 17 assists and 234 hits in 68 games with Nashville in 2023-24 and the Canucks are hoping he can put up something similar.

If Forbort can play 65-70 games, he should be a lock for 100 hits and 100 blocks.

Desharnais should match Forbort with 100 hits and blocks if he can play 70 games.

Vegas Golden Knights

Alexander Holtz – F

Victor Olofsson – F

Ilya Samsonov – G

Akira Schmid – G

Holtz could get a real opportunity to succeed in Vegas, as they have lost a few players and need to fill those roles in the top six. He averaged just over 11 minutes per game in New Jersey, but I could see him getting 14-15 in Vegas in 2024-25. If he can improve his defense, he could produce 20-25 goals.

Olofsson has scored 20 goals or more three times and had 28 goals in 2022-23. He is a definite sleeper in my mind to score 25-30 goals in 2024-25.

Samsonov should play 35-45 games in Vegas and even if he is average, he should get 20-25 wins. Schmid will be Plan B for Samsonov.

Winnipeg Jets

Kaapo Kahkonen – G

Kahkonen should get 20-25 games with the Jets and could get 11-15 wins. But with goaltending, opportunities sometimes happen out of the blue.

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Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or players you'd like me to look at please message or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.