Today we are going to review Nashville, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, Utah, Vancouver, Vegas and Winnipeg.
We will revisit the last few weeks of June to include any trades.
Check out part one here.
Nashville Predators
Additions: Nick Perbix – D, Nicolas Hague – D, Erik Haula – F
Subtractions: Jeremy Lauzon – D, Colton Sissons – F, Marc Del Gaizo – D
The Predators revamped their back end a little with the additions of Perbix and Hague, who replaced Lauzon and Del Gaizo. With Roman Josi's health a concern in 2025-26, Nashville's defense could be under siege.
Perbix had three serviceable seasons in Tampa Bay as a bottom-pairing defender who rarely killed penalties. It will be interesting to see if the Predators try to increase his ice time.
Hague is a very large defender (6-6, 245 lbs), who kills penalties and has been a member of the 100 hits and blocks club twice in his career. He should be the fifth or sixth defender in Nashville.
They give up some physicality with Lauzon (388 hits in 2023-24) and some versatility with Del Gaizo, but overall, it's a bit of an upgrade.
In adding Haula and moving Sissons, Nashville got a slightly better skater in Haula. This move is a bit of a wash in the short term.
San Jose Sharks
Additions: Philipp Kurashev – F, John Klingberg – D, Adam Gaudette – F, Shane Bowers – F, Nick Leddy – D, Ryan Reaves – F, Dmitry Orlov – D, Jeff Skinner – F
Subtractions: Marc-Edouard Vlasic – D, Thomas Bordeleau – F, Henry Thrun – D, Walker Duehr – F
The Sharks made some interesting choices to add to their roster this offseason. The biggest addition was Orlov at $6.5 million AAV for two years, which is a fairly safe term. Orlov should slide into the top-four if not the top-two in 2025-26.
Gaudette had 19 goals with Ottawa in 2024-25 on just 91 SOG (20.9%). He could see some PP2 time in San Jose, but 12-15 goals would be considered a success in 2025-26.
Skinner produced 35, 33 and 24 goals before a disappointing 2024-25 with Edmonton, where he had just 16 goals and 13 assists in 72 games. The Sharks hope that he can produce 20-25 goals.
Kurashev, Klingberg, Leddy and Reaves are all reclamation projects, and the Sharks hope that one or two of them can play a regular role in 2025-26. Klingberg could be the quarterback on the first unit of the power play at times.
As for the players moving on, Vlasic was bought out finally, and Bordeleau, Thrun and Duehr are all replacement level at this point.
Bordeleau and Thrun still have some potential, but their runway is coming to an end.
Seattle Kraken
Additions: Mason Marchment – F, Frederick Gaudreau – F, Ryan Lindgren – D
Subtractions: Andre Burakovsky – F, Michael Eyssimont – F
The Kraken improved with the additions of Marchment, Gaudreau and Lindgren over the departures of Burakovsky and Eyssimont.
Marchment and Gaudreau can both slide up and down the lineup when needed, while Lindgren gives them a solid fourth or fifth defender who can kill penalties. Marchment should score 20 goals while Gaudreau is capable of 15-20.
Other than his first 49 games with the Kraken in 2022-23, Burakovsky's time in Seattle was rather disappointing.
St. Louis Blues
Additions: Logan Mailloux – D, Nick Bjugstad – F, Pius Suter – F
Subtractions: Zack Bolduc – F, Nick Leddy – D, Radek Faksa – F
I'm not sure I would have traded Bolduc for Mailloux myself, but the Blues do have a few other young forwards on the cusp with Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky and Otto Stenberg. They must think Mailloux has a lot of potential, as the team has Adam Jiricek and Theo Lindstein on defense as pretty good prospects.
Bolduc was a proven commodity in 2024-25, now we see if Mailloux can do what they hope in 2025-26.
At 33, Bjugstad is probably just a fourth-line center at this point, who can play the third line for short periods.
Suter had a career year in 2024-25 with Vancouver, and he's unlikely to get the ice time or the opportunity in St. Louis that he had in Vancouver in scoring 25 goals. If he can score 15-18 goals, it will be a good addition.
The Blues might miss Faksa's 57.0% face-off percentage, but Bjugstad has a little more offense to give.
San Jose did the Blues a favor by claiming Leddy, as he was more than likely a buyout candidate.
Utah Mammoth
Additions: J.J. Peterka – F, Scott Perunovich – D, Brandon Tanev – F, Nate Schmidt – D, Vitek Vanecek – G
Subtractions: Michael Kesselring – D, Josh Doan – F, Matias Maccelli – F, Nick Bjugstad – F
I thought Utah made a great trade in getting Peterka from Buffalo and losing Kesselring and Doan. Peterka slots into the top-six and perhaps the first unit of the power play.
Having Durzi back and healthy should offset the absence of Kesselring, while losing Doan is a risk if he develops into a point producer at the NHL level.
Utah bought high on Schmidt, so I wouldn't expect anything more than a sixth defender, who can slide up on occasion.
Tanev, if healthy, should be a crowd favorite.
The Mammoth hope that they have a solid backup goaltender with the signing of Vanecek. It doesn't bode well for Connor Ingram playing much early in 2025-26.
Maccelli was squeezed down the lineup in Utah during 2024-25 with the emergence of Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Jack McBain, and won't likely be missed.
Vancouver Canucks
Additions: Evander Kane – F, Pierre-Olivier Joseph – D
Subtractions: Pius Suter – F, Noah Juulsen – D, Arturs Silovs – G
If Kane can stay healthy for 60 games or more, this addition might be worth it for Vancouver. He is certainly capable of putting up 20-25 goals and providing a bit of physicality and petulance on the ice.
Joseph was acquired for depth and could slot in anywhere from the seventh to the ninth defender in Vancouver in 2025-26.
If Filip Chytil and Evander Kane struggle to stay healthy, the Canucks will miss Pius Suter quite a bit. There should be opportunities for Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Aatu Raty, Max Sasson, Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson to get a regular role in 2025-26.
Silovs was always going to be the third goaltender in Vancouver if Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen are both healthy. He would have needed to clear waivers.
Vegas Golden Knights
Additions: Jeremy Lauzon – D, Colton Sissons – F, Mitch Marner – F
Subtractions: Nicolas Roy – F, Nicolas Hague – D, Tanner Pearson – F
The biggest free agent was landed by Vegas when they sent Nicolas Roy to Toronto and signed Mitch Marner for eight years. He has averaged 102 points per 82 games over the past three years, but we know his playoff struggles.
I'm always a little wary of the chemistry between two players like Marner and Eichel, who both like to carry the puck a lot, playing on the same line. I suspect that they are split up at even strength. He is going to miss playing with Auston Matthews, as the Golden Knights don't have a pure sniper in their lineup close to him.
Lauzon should be able to replace Hague in the lineup as the fifth or sixth defender if he can play more than 28 games in 2025-26.
Sissons is pencilled in as the fourth line center for Vegas, but is more than capable of playing on the third line.
Winnipeg Jets
Additions: Jonathan Toews – F, Tanner Pearson – F, Samuel Fagemo – F, Phillip Di Giuseppe – F, Walker Duehr – F, Gustav Nyquist, Mason Shaw – F, Cole Koepke – F
Subtractions: Nikolaj Ehlers – F, Brandon Tanev – F, Dylan Coghlan – D, Mason Appleton – F
I think we have to temper our expectations for 37-year-old Toews, who is making a comeback after missing the past two seasons. In his last 124 NHL games, he averaged 0.56 points per game while still playing over 55% of the time on the power play. Realistically, if Toews can play 60 games and produce 10-15 goals and 10-15 assists, this will be a successful return to the NHL for him and the Jets.
There is no way that the Jets can replace Ehlers in their lineup, and the only hope is that Cole Perfetti continues to develop or that Gustav Nyquist turns back the clock to 2023-24 and puts up 55-65 points.
The one saving grace for losing Ehlers is that he wasn't on the first unit of the power play that much over the years, and he was prone to missing 15-20 games each year.
The fourth line should look different in 2025-26 with the loss of Appleton and Tanev, but the Jets have brought in experience with Pearson. Koepke will bring physicality to help replace Tanev, while Di Giuseppe, Duehr and Shaw will bring some much-needed depth.
Thank you very much for reading, and if you have any comments, please leave them below or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15