2024 NHL team report cards: draft, free agency and trades - ESPN

Every NHL offseason is a chance for front office personnel around the league to bolster their club's on-ice roster in an effort to improve their Stanley Cup chances in the upcoming campaign. This particular offseason included blockbuster trades (some occurring during the Stanley Cup Final), several teams drafting a new No. 1 prospect for their pipeline, and a particularly frenetic free-agency period that included more than 100 players signing and $1 billion spent on July 1 alone.

Some teams aced the offseason test. Other teams… did not.

Here are the report cards for all 32 NHL teams through the first wave of signings and trades, based on the moves they made, the moves they wanted to make and their needs entering the rest of the summer.

Note: Advanced statistics are from Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey. Cap and contract information is from PuckPedia; teams with negative remaining cap space are that much over the cap, and must be cap-compliant by opening night. Kristen Shilton covered the Atlantic and Metro teams, while Ryan S. Clark handled the Central and Pacific clubs.

Jump to a team:
ANA | BOS | BUF | CGY
CAR | CHI | COL | CBJ
DAL | DET | EDM | FLA
LA | MIN | MTL | NSH
NJ | NYI | NYR | OTT
PHI | PIT | SJ | SEA
STL | TB | TOR | UTA
VAN | VGK | WSH | WPG

Key players added: F Tyler Bertuzzi, D TJ Brodie, G Laurent Brossoit, F Pat Maroon, D Alec Martinez, F Craig Smith, F Teuvo Teravainen
Key players lost: F Colin Blackwell, F Tyler Johnson, F Sam Lafferty, D Jaycob Megna, D Jarred Tinordi, D Nikita Zaitsev
Remaining cap space: $6.68 million

Coach status: Patience is one trait that can play a role in defining a rebuild. Luke Richardson has been a patient figure in his two seasons in charge of a young Blackhawks roster.