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Best Acquisitions By Each Team In The Atlantic Division |
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Yesterday I took a look at the best acquisitions each team in the Metropolitan Division made during this offseason. Today the focus shifts to the Atlantic Division. In this exercise I am not counting players who were drafted. I am only counting players that the teams acquired from another team after the season ended.
Boston Bruins Matt Irwin
The Bruins cleaned house this summer which included trading away their 22 year old top pairing defenseman Dougie Hamilton. They also moved on from Milan Lucic. Most of their assets they received back from those trades came in the form of draft picks. They did sign former San Jose defenseman Matt Irwin which was a nice under the radar signing . While in San Jose Irwin put up offensive numbers comparable to a top pairing defenseman in the league while his ability to defend was that of a lower end top four defenseman. For 800k the Bruins did well here. The one caveat to Irwin's prior success is that four of his most five common linemates the past three years have been Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, and Brent Burns.
Buffalo Sabres Ryan O'Reilly
No team did more to improve their team this offseason than the Buffalo Sabres. They may have as many as four new highly skilled top six forwards in the lineup in 2015-16 (Eichel, Kane, O'Reilly, Reinhart). To be fair when you are intentionally the worst team in the league and then start to try again you should make be among the teams that improved the most. In trading for Ryan O'Reilly the Sabres have acquired their short term #1 centerman. People will point to his 7.5M cap hit that he will have for eight years as bad value, but I don't agree. For starters the cap is going to keep going up (hello new MLBAM deal) and you cannot hide cap hits like you used to be able to. Good players are going to have high cap hits under this CBA.
His 1.92 points per 60 at even-strength the past three seasons places him at the very high end of a second line player. Additionally his defensive work is at a top line level. He is one of the better all around players at his position and his ability to defend while playing against top competition without taking penalties is impressive. Down the road O'Reilly also has the ability to switch over to the wing if and when both Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart are firing on all cylinders.
Detroit Red Wings Mike Green
Detroit used to have two of the best skilled defensemen in hockey with NIcklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski but with both of them since retired they have struggled to fill those voids. Detroit did a great job of landing a skilled player in Mike Green while also limiting the risk that usually comes with signing a UFA. Mike Green will make 6.0M but only on a two year contract. This is a great deal for Detroit. Green is a top offensive player at his position and is usually labeled as an "offensive defenseman". However, his impact on his teammates CA/60 at even-strength is actually at a top pairing level which may surprise some people. Mike Green is exactly the kind of player Detroit has been searching for and now they have him.
Florida Panthers Reilly Smith
Florida was able to trade away Jimmy Hayes for Reilly Smith because they were willing to eat up the remainder of Marc Savard's pricey contract. With Smith the Panthers are getting a player who has shown some decent offensively ability in the past. In 2013-14 Smith scored 20 goals and produced at the top end the second line level. Last year he came back down to earth a little bit only scoring 13 goals (low end third line level). The good news with Smith is that even when his offense dries up he is not a liability on the ice. He had a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 59.1% in 2013-14 which dropped to 54.2% in 2014-15. You never like to see numbers trend down but in both cases the numbers were excellent. Also encouraging is that those numbers were on the higher end in relative to his other Boston teammates.
Montreal Canadiens Alexander Semin
One of the more polarizing players in the league Alexander Semin was delivered some humble pie when his long term and highly lucrative contract was bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes. The result was Semin being left with taking a one year deal for low money (1.1M). Montreal is in a classic low risk high reward situation with this signing. They get a player who was formerly an elite offensive player who is coming off of a disappointing season which included a nagging wrist injury. Alex Semin on a one year contract is an ideal situation for the team who signs him.
Ottawa Senators ???????
I tried to find a player that fit my criteria for Ottawa but there just wasn't one. Ottawa relied on a crazy hot stretch at the end of last year to back door their way into the playoffs. They rode the amazing goaltending of Andrew Hammond during that hot stretch. Unfortunately, it is very likely Hammond returns back down to earth in 2015-16. Without adding any player of significance it will be tough for them to be a repeat team for the playoffs.
Tampa Bay Lightning Erik Condra
The Erik Condra signing is one that you can consider an analytically motivated one. Condra is not going to put up a lot of offense at even-strength but he isn't going to be a liability either. Condra has been a solid possession player the past few seasons for Ottawa and will fit nicely with Tampa's forward grouping which values that skill. In Condra the Lightning have a player that can eat minutes without giving you a scare which allows the top end players some time to rest. Very nice depth signing for a team that is known for its forward depth.
Toronto Maple Leafs PA Parenteau
Toronto made a lot of clever signings/acquisitions this offseason. They are a team that knows where they are in the grand scheme of things. They are in a rebuild. As a result they collected a lot of veteran players on one year contracts which implies one thing, trade bait come deadline time. The players who fit this description are Shawn Mattias, Mark Arcobello, Nick Spaling, and PA Parenteau. Out of this grouping Parenteau has had the best track record of producing offense and being responsible on the possession front. Last year in Montreal Michael Therrien's player usage of Parenteau was not conducive to getting positive tangible results. If Toronto is indeed looking to flip players like Parenteau they will give him the proper usage in order to pump up his value. Smart strategy by a team that knows they need to keep collecting assets for a rebuild.
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