Best And Worst Moves By Each NHL Team Since 2012 Lockout

All NHL teams have made some excellent transactions that make them laugh at the victim to this day and horrible moves that still haunt them. NoVa Caps looks at every club’s best and worst trade, contract extension, free-agent signing since the 2012 lockout.

NOTE: “best” and “worst” focus on most and least impactful move relative to what a team gave up (NHL salary cap space, players, prospects, draft picks, etc.) or took on to get these players, instead of the best and worst players teams acquired or let go and overall aftermath in a transaction

• • Anaheim Ducks

    • Best: RW Frank Vatrano (three-year contract, $3.65 million cap hit in 2022) — The 30-year-old has 59 goals and 101 points in 163 games since signing in Orange County as an unrestricted free agent after setting career-highs in goals (37), assists (23), points (60), and games played (82) last season. 
    • Worst: D Shea Theodore (traded to Vegas Golden Knights to select D Clayton Stoner, protect Ds Josh Manson/Sami Vatanen in 2017 NHL Expansion Draft) — While averaging 21:41 per game in 444 regular-season games with Vegas, Theodore has 66 goals, 289 points, a +67 rating, .537 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .539 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .537 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage. Theodore averaged 20:08 per game (second among Golden Knights blueliners), including 3:08 on the power play (first), en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2023. Meanwhile, Vatanen and Manson were dealt by Anaheim at the 2020 and 2022 NHL Trade Deadlines, respectively.

• • Boston Bruins:

    • Best: G Linus Ullmark (four-year contract, $5 million cap hit in 2021) — With Tuukka Rask set to retire, Boston signed Ullmark to work in a tandem with Jeremy Swayman and it worked out beautifully, with Ullmark posting an 88-26-10 record (eighth in the NHL in wins), .924 save percentage (first), 2.28 goals-against average (second), and five shutouts in 130 games. Though, he went 3-6 with an .887 save percentage and 3.59 goals-against average in nine postseason games as a Bruin. Ullmark was traded to the Ottawa Senators for the 2024 25th overall pick, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, and center Mark Kastelic on June 24.

• • • Worst: C Tyler Seguin (traded to Dallas Stars along with C Rich Peverley, D Ryan Button for LW Loui Eriksson, D Joe Morrow, RW Reilly Smith, RW Matt Fraser in 2013) — In 766 regular-season games with Dallas, the 32-year-old has tallied 295 goals and 667 points. Seguin has five seasons with at least 30 goals and six with at least 70 points in the Lone Star State. Eriksson tallied 30 goals and 63 points in 82 games during the final of his three seasons in Boston while Smith recorded 33 goals and 91 points in 163 games with them before getting dealt to the Florida Panthers. Morrow never made it to the NHL and Fraser scored five goals in only 38 games with the Bruins.

  • Buffalo Sabres:

    • Best: C Tage Thompson (acquired along with C Patrick Berglund, C Vladimir Sobotka, D Ryan Johnson, 2021 49th overall pick from St. Louis Blues for C Ryan O’Reilly in 2018) — In 331 games in Buffalo, the 26-year-old has 129 goals and 245 points. Over the last three seasons, his 114 goals are tied with Toronto Maple Leafs right-wing William Nylander for 15th in the NHL. O’Reilly was traded by St. Louis in February 2023.

• • • Worst: D Rasmus Ristolainen (six-year contract, $5.4 million cap hit in 2016) — Ristolainen tallied 27 goals, 180 points, a -95 rating, .458 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .459 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .461 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 348 games and was a black hole defensively for Buffalo after signing the contract. However, he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for right-wing Isak Rosen, defenseman Robert Hagg (who was flipped to the Florida Panthers the following trade deadline), and center Anton Wallberg in 2021.

• • Calgary Flames:

    • Best: C Elias Lindholm, D Noah Hanifin (acquired from Carolina Hurricanes for RW Michael Ferland, D Dougie Hamilton, D Adam Fox in 2018) — In 418 regular-season games in Calgary, Lindholm tallied 148 goals and 357 points and scored at least 19 goals and 47 points, respectively, in each of his five full seasons there. Hanifin notched 42 goals, 191 points, a +46 rating, .526 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .532 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .524 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 420 games for Calgary. The Flames ultimately flipped both of these players for a combined package that featured left-wing Andrei Kuzmenko, two first-round picks, and defenseman Daniil Miromanov earlier this year. Meanwhile, Ferland and Hamilton both left Carolina in free agency after one and three seasons, respectively, while Fox refused to sign with the Hurricanes out of college.

• • • Worst: RW James Neal (five-year contract, $5.75 million cap hit in 2018) — Neal went through the worst season of his career, tallying seven goals and 19 points in 63 games before getting flipped to the Edmonton Oilers for left-wing Milan Lucic the following summer. Edmonton eventually bought out the final two seasons of Neal’s contract.
  • • Best: RW Seth Jarvis (acquired from Toronto Maple Leafs with RW Alexander Pashin, RW Patrick Marleau for D Axel Rindell in 2019) — The 22-year-old has 64 goals and 146 points in 231 regular-season games, including a career-high 33 goals and 67 points in 81 last season, and 13 goals and 27 points in 40 postseason games (5-4-9 in 11 postseason games in 2023-24).

• • Worst: C Jesperi Kotkaniemi (one-year, $6.1 million offersheet in 2021) — In 227 games with Carolina, Kotkaniemi has only 42 goals and 99 points (including 12-15-27 in 79 last season). He also has just three goals and 10 points in 40 postseason games as a Hurricane. Kotkaniemi signed an eight-year contract that carries a $4.82 million cap hit after the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline. The Montreal Canadiens ended up flipping the 27th overall pick in 2022 (C Filip Bystedt) to the Arizona Coyotes for center Christian Dvorak and selected defenseman Adam Engstrom 92nd overall with the other pick acquired from Carolina.

• Chicago Blackhawks:

  • Best: LW Artemi Panarin (two-year, $812,500 contract in 2015) — The undrafted forward scored 61 goals and 151 points in 162 games with Chicago and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year in 2016.

• • Worst: C Dylan Strome (did not qualify as restricted free agent in 2022) — Chicago did not opt to retain Strome’s rights despite the fact he was coming off of a season where he set a career-high in goals (22) and tallied 48 points in 69 games. Since signing with the Washington Capitals, Strome has set career-highs in goals (23 and 27, respectively) and points (65 and 67) in each of the past two seasons, where he has missed just one game combined.

• Colorado Avalanche:

  • Best: D Devon Toews (acquired from New York Islanders for 2021 60th overall pick, D Calle Odelius in 2020) — After signing a four-year contract (which carried a $4.1 million cap hit) with Colorado, Toews has recorded 41 goals, 198 points, a +148 rating, .5646 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5776 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5869 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 281 regular-season games, where he has averaged 24:37 per game, including 1:47 on the power play and 2:57 on the penalty kill (all of which rank second among Colorado blueliners). Toews, whose seven-year contract extension that comes with a $7.25 million cap hit kicks in this season, also got Norris Trophy votes in each of his first three seasons in Colorado.

• • Worst: D Erik Johnson (seven-year contract, $6 million cap hit in 2016) — While averaging 20:35 per game (seventh), including 43 seconds on the power play (ninth) and 2:52 on the penalty kill (fourth), Johnson tallied 19 goals, 92 points, a +46 rating, .5081 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5015 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5147 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 391 regular-season games during the length of this contract. He recorded a goal and five points in 20 postseason games in 2022 to help Colorado win the Stanley Cup.

• Columbus Blue Jackets:

  • Best: Panarin (acquired from Chicago along with RW Tyler Motte, 2017 170th overall pick for LW Brandon Saad, G Anton Forsberg, 2018 142nd overall pick in 2017) — Panarin scored 55 goals and 169 points in 160 regular-season games with Columbus while Saad notched 62 goals and 115 points in 220 during his second stint in Chicago. Even though Panarin left as an unrestricted free agent two years later, Columbus got good value out of this trade.

• • Worst: C William Karlsson (traded to Vegas along with RW David Clarkson, 2017 24th overall pick, 2019 50th overall pick in 2017) — To protect Jack Johnson, Joonas Korpisalo, and Josh Anderson in the NHL Expansion Draft and offload Clarkson’s contract, Columbus dealt Vegas two high picks. Karlsson has recorded 152 goals and 367 points in 502 regular-season games with the Golden Knights (including a 43-goal season in 2017-18 and 30-goal campaign last season).

• Dallas Stars:

  • Best: RW Joe Pavelski (three-year contract, $7 million cap hit in 2019) — Pavelski scored 66 goals and 163 points in 205 regular-season games over the course of this contract and scored 13 goals and 19 points in 27 postseason games to help Dallas reach the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. His big postseason performance followed a disappointing first season in Texas where he tied his career-lows with 14 goals and 31 points in 67 games but it is understandable after Pavelski spent the first 13 years of his NHL career in one place. Pavelski ended up getting re-signed to a one-year contract twice and finished with 121 goals and 307 points in 369 regular-season games as a Star before retiring last month.

• • Worst: G Antti Niemi (three-year contract, $4.5 million cap hit in 2015) — Niemi went 37-25-11 with a .900 save percentage, 2.92 goals-against average, and three shutouts in 85 regular-season games over two seasons with Dallas before having the final year of his contract bought out. He also went 1-3 with an .865 save percentage and 3.29 goals-against average in five Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2016. The Stars also unnecessarily traded away the 190th overall pick in 2015 (C Marcus Vela) to the San Jose Sharks to acquire Niemi’s pending UFA rights.

• Detroit Red Wings:

  • Best: LW Patrick Kane (one-year, $2.75 million contract in 2023) — Kane tallied 20 goals and 47 points in 50 games last season before re-signing in Detroit for another year at $4.5 million plus potential bonuses.

• • Worst: D Jonathan Ericsson (six-year contract, $4.25 million cap hit in 2014) — Ericsson posted 13 goals, 57 points, a -34 rating, .4686 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4485 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4554 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 355 regular-season games, where he averaged 18:38 per game, including 2:27 while shorthanded.

• Edmonton Oilers:

  • Best: C Leon Draisaitl (eight-year contract, $8.5 million cap hit in 2017) — Draisaitl ranks second in the NHL in goals (297), fifth in assists (416), second in points (713) in 528 regular-season games since signing the deal. He is also tied for eighth with 35 goals in addition to ranking seventh with 57 assists and second in points-per-game (1.51) in the postseason over that time.

• • Worst: G Jack Campbell (five-year contract, $5 million cap hit in 2022) — In 41 games over two years in Edmonton, Campbell went 22-13-4 with an .886 save percentage, 3.53 goals-against average, and one shutout before clearing waivers in November and having his contract bought out in June.

• Florida Panthers:

  • Best: RW Carter Verhaeghe (three-year contract extension, $4.167 million cap hit in 2021) — Verhaghe has 76 goals and 145 points in 157 regular-season games and 18 goals and 38 points in 45 postseason outings over this contract.

• • Worst: RW Jonathan Marchessault (exposed in 2017 NHL Expansion Draft) — After breaking out for 30 goals and 51 points in 75 games during his lone season in Florida, Marchessault had 192 goals (including another 30-goal campaign in 2021-22 and career-best 42-goal output last season) and 417 points in 514 regular-season games as a Golden Knight. He added 36 goals and 75 points in 95 postseason outings, including a Conn Smythe Trophy victory in 2023 after scoring 13 goals and 25 points in 22 games and helping Vegas beat Florida in the Stanley Cup Final.

• Los Angeles Kings:

  • Best RW Trevor Moore (acquired with RW Alex Laferriere, 2021 88th overall pick from Toronto Maple Leafs for Campbell, RW Kyle Clifford in 2020) — In 293 regular-season games with LA, Moore has 71 goals and 162 points after breaking out for 31 goals and 57 points in 82 last season. Laferriere notched 12 goals and 23 points in 81 games during his rookie season. Campbell left Toronto after two-and-a-half seasons as an unrestricted free agent and Clifford just signed an AHL contract.

• • Worst: C Gabriel Vilardi (traded with C Rasmus Kupari, C Alex Iafallo, 2024 37th overall pick to Winnipeg Jets for C Pierre Luc Dubois in 2023) — After getting acquired, Vilardi signed a two-year contract that carries a $3.4375 million cap hit as a restricted free agent. The 24-year-old’s first campaign in Winnipeg was derailed by injuries, including an enlarged spleen and sprained MCL, but Vilardi finished with 22 goals and 36 points in 47 regular-season games (a 38-goal, 63-point pace over a full 82-game season). Vilardi added four assists in the Jets’ five-game first-round exit to the Colorado Avalanche. Iafallo recorded 11 goals and 27 points in 82 games but was held to one assist in the first round while Kupari notched a helper in 28 regular-season games. Dubois, who signed an eight-year contract worth $8.5 million against the salary cap following the trade, earned 16 goals, 40 points, and a .497 faceoff-winning percentage in 82 regular-season games and added a goal in five postseason games before getting flipped to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper in June.

• Minnesota Wild:

  • Best: LW Kevin Fiala (acquired from Nashville Predators for C Mikael Granlund in 2019) — In 215 regular-season games with Minnesota, Fiala scored 79 goals and 186 points, including a 33-goal, 85-point campaign in 2021-22. He was ultimately flipped to Los Angeles for defenseman Brock Faber, who notched eight goals, 47 points, a -1 rating, .4771 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .507 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .498 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 82 games during his rookie season, and left-wing Liam Ohgren, the 19th overall pick in 2022 who scored 12 goals and 19 points in 26 SHL games and a goal and an assist in two NHL games last season, to clear cap space in June 2022. Meanwhile, Granlund has 64 goals and 226 points in 358 outings with three different teams since leaving the State Of Hockey.

• • Worst: C Martin Hanzal (acquired from Arizona Coyotes with RW Ryan White for 2017 23rd overall pick, 2018 55th overall pick, 2019 104th overall pick in 2017) — Hanzal recorded just four goals and 13 points in 20 regular-season games and a goal in five postseason contests for Minnesota before signing with Dallas as an unrestricted free agent in the following offseason. White pitched in with only two goals and three points in 19 regular-season games, was scratched twice in the postseason, and has seen the NHL ice since. A couple of the picks Minnesota gave up turned into Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Kevin Bahl.

• Montreal Canadiens:

  • Best: C Nick Suzuki (acquired from Vegas along with RW Tomas Tatar, 2019 50th overall pick for LW Max Pacioretty in 2018) — Suzuki has 108 goals and 286 points in 373 career regular-season games and established himself as a first-line center last season when he set career-highs in goals (33), assists (44), and points (77) in 82 games. Suzuki also has 11 goals and 23 points in 32 postseason games, including seven goals and 16 points in 22 during Montreal’s run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final that included a six-game victory over Vegas in the Semifinal. Tatar recorded 57 goals and 149 points in 198 regular-season games and two goals and three points in 15 postseason outings as a Canadien. Montreal turned the pick into defenseman Mattias Norlinder and the 126th overall pick (D Jacob Leguerrier) in 2019 after flipping selections with Los Angeles.

• • Worst: D Mikhail Sergachev (traded to Tampa Bay Lightning for C Jonathan Drouin in 2017) — Drouin posted just 48 goals and 186 points in 321 games and hit the 50-point mark just once in his six seasons in Montreal. Meanwhile, Sergachev matched that goal total and tallied 257 points, a .5203 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5311 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5284 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 471 games, where he averaged 20:25 per game, including 1:53 on the power play and 1:19 on the penalty kill, before Tampa Bay flipped him to the Utah Hockey Club in June. Sergachev averaged 22:15 per game (third among Lightning defensemen), including 1:54 on the power play (second) and 1:30 on the penalty kill (fourth) during the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs to help Tampa Bay win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

• Nashville Predators:

  • Best: LW Filip Forsberg (acquired from Washington for RW Martin Erat, LW Michael Latta in 2013) — Forsberg ranks 13th in the NHL with 286 goals and 29th with 599 points in 680 games since the 2014-15 season. He has hit the 30-goal mark four times, including a career-high 48 last year, and 60-point plateau five, including a personal-best 94 in 2023-24. Meanwhile, Erat and Latta combined for just six goals as Capitals. Erat was traded 11 months later and Latta, who was not an everyday NHL player, was not tendered a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent in 2016.

• • Worst: C Ryan Johansen (eight-year contract, $8 million cap hit in 2017) — Johansen scored 88 goals and 267 points in 409 regular-season games with Nashville after signing this contract and was traded to Colorado at .5 retained for AHL center Alex Galchenyuk last summer.

• New Jersey Devils:

  • Best: LW Taylor Hall (acquired from Edmonton Oilers for D Adam Larsson in 2016) — Hall recorded 76 goals and 208 points in 211 regular-season games with New Jersey before getting traded to Arizona in 2019 in a package that lured in Dawson Mercer (who has 64 goals and 131 points in 246 NHL games). Hall won the Hart Trophy in 2018 as league MVP after setting career-highs in goals (39), assists (54), and points (93) in 76 games. Larsson posted 16 goals, 68 points, a +5 rating, .487 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4932 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4829 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 329 games, where he averaged 20:44 per game (fourth among Oilers defensemen), including 1:58 on the penalty kill (fourth), for Edmonton before the team lost him in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

• • Worst: G Corey Schneider (acquired from Vancouver Canucks for Bo Horvat in 2013) — In 311 games with New Jersey, Schneider went 115-133-50 with a .915 save percentage, 2.50 goals-against average, and 17 shutouts but had save percentages below .909 in each of his final three seasons there after recording save percentages above .920 in each of his first three and ultimately cleared waivers and had his contract bought out. Horvat recorded 201 goals and 420 points in 621 regular-season games in Vancouver, who got a first-round pick and ultimately flipped it to acquire Filip Hronek from Detroit. They also got Aatu Raty and Anthony Beauvillier, whom they eventually used to acquire Nikita Zadorov from Calgary, in the trade that sent Horvat to the New York Islanders.

• New York Islanders:

  • Best: G Robin Lehner (one-year, $1.5 million contract in 2018) — In his lone season on the island, Lehner went 25-13-5 with an NHL-best .930 save percentage, 2.13 goals-against average, and five shutouts before going 4-4 with a .936 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average in eight postseason contests.

• • Worst: LW Andrew Ladd (seven-year contract, $5.5 million cap hit in 2016) — In 181 games with the Islanders, Ladd tallied just 39 goals and 72 points. He cleared waivers three times before getting sent, along with the second-round pick acquired from Colorado for Toews (which turned out to be J.J. Moser, who Utah just traded to Tampa Bay for Sergachev) and the 2022 45th overall pick in 2022 (D Calle Odelius).

• New York Rangers:

  • Best: D Adam Fox (acquired from Carolina for 2019 37th overall pick, 2020 41st overall pick) — In 357 games with New York, Fox has 53 goals, 308 points, a +108 rating, .5186 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5279 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5268 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 357 NHL games, where he has averaged a team-high 23:04 per game, including 3:09 on the power play (most among Rangers blueliners) and 1:42 on the penalty kill (fifth among New York defenseman to play 100 games over the past five seasons). Fox has posted at least 56 assists and 72 points, respectively, in three consecutive seasons and won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman for the 2020-21 season. Fox has finished top-five in Norris Trophy voting four times and has gotten votes for the NHL’s All-Star team in every season after his rookie campaign. The Hurricanes turned their return into the 2019 44th (defenseman Jamieson Rees) and 83rd overall picks (defenseman Anttoni Honka) and 2020 41st (right-wing Noel Gunler).

• • Worst: LW Pavel Buchnevich (traded to St. Louis Blues for LW Sammy Blais, 2022 55th overall pick in 2021) — Since joining St. Louis, Buchnevich has 86 goals and 206 points in 216 games while Blais did not score any goals in 54 games in the Big Apple and was sent back to St. Louis in the deal that sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the Rangers in February 2023. New York used the pick acquired to get rental Andrew Copp, who left Manhattan less than four months later, from the Winnipeg Jets in March 2022. Buchnevich just signed a six-year contract extension that carries an $8 million cap hit to remain in St. Louis last month.

• Ottawa Senators

  • Best: C Tim Stutzle (acquired, along with C Josh Norris, C Chris Tierney, D Dylan DeMelo, LW Rudolfs Balcers, 2019 44th overall pick, 2021 38th overall pick from San Jose Sharks for D Erik Karlsson, LW Francis Perron in 2018) — The third overall pick in 2020 has 91 goals and 247 points in 285 games, including consecutive seasons with at least 50 assists and a 90-point season in 2022-23. Norris has 70 goals, half of which came in 66 games during the 2021-22 season, and 123 points in 183 games. Ottawa was also able to flip DeMelo for the 70th overall pick in 2020 (Leevi Merilainen). Balcers played just 51 games for Ottawa before getting waived but Tierney recorded 90 assists (including 39 in 81 games in 2018-19) and 122 points (48) in 277 games with the Senators. Meanwhile, Karlsson’s time in San Jose was derailed by injuries before he set career-highs with 25 goals, 76 assists, and 101 points in 82 games during the 2022-23 season, when he won the Norris Trophy. Karlsson finished with 52 goals and 243 points in 293 outings as a Shark but was poor defensively even though he tallied a .5259 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5178 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .5155 five-on-five scoring chances in-for percentage due to his prolific offensive game. Karlsson, who signed an eight-year contract that carries an $11.5 million cap hit with San Jose in 2019, was flipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins a year ago for Granlund, the 14th overall pick this past June (which was ultimately traded for the 11th — Sam Dickinson), and Jan Rutta. Perron has never played an NHL game. The 2019 second-round pick was flipped to Carolina for a pick used to select goaltender Mads Sogaard and 2021 second-rounder was used on center Zack Ostapchuk.

• • Worst: Matt Murray (four-year contract, $6.25 million cap hit in 2020) — After getting acquired for Jonathan Gruden and the 51st overall pick in 2020 (Joel Blomqvist), Murray went 15-25-3 with an .899 save percentage, 3.23 goals-against average, and three shutouts for Ottawa. He eventually cleared waivers and was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with the 2023 76th overall pick (which was thrown in the deal that got Toronto Ryan O’Reilly from St. Louis in February 2023) and 2024 200th overall pick (D Matt Lahey), for no return. Ottawa also had to eat .25 of Murray’s cap hit for a year to trade him to Toronto but got out of having to pay him for another since Murray missed the 2023-24 season.

• Philadelphia Flyers

  • Best: RW Owen Tippett (acquired along with 2024 32nd overall pick, 2023 95th overall pick from Florida for C Claude Giroux, C German Rubtsov, 2024 141st overall pick in 2022) — In 179 games wearing the orange and black, Tippett has posted 59 goals and 109 points (including back-to-back seasons with at least 27 goals and 49 points, respectively). The Flyers traded the first-round pick acquired in the trade to Edmonton for the Oilers’ 2025 first-rounder. Center Denver Barkey was selected with the 2023 third-round pick acquired. Giroux left Florida after just one postseason run and Rubtsov never suited up for the Panthers.

• • Worst: C Kevin Hayes (seven-year contract, $7.14 million cap hit in 2019) — Hayes tallied just 63 goals, 157 points, and a .48 faceoff-winning percentage in 253 games in the City of Brotherly Love before getting traded for what ultimately turned into the 107th overall pick this summer (center Heikki Ruohonen). The Flyers had to eat .5 of the contract to offload Hayes, who was dealt once again this summer. Philadelphia unnecessarily gave up the 134th overall pick in 2019 (center Harrison Blaisdell) to acquire Hayes when they could have gotten him for free in free agency a month later.

• Pittsburgh Penguins:

  • Best: RW Phil Kessel (acquired from Toronto, along with RW Tyler Biggs, D Tim Erixon, 2016 61st overall pick, cash for D Scott Harrington, RW Kasperi Kapanen, C Nick Spaling, 2016 30th overall pick, 2016 72nd overall pick in 2015) – Kessel recorded 110 goals and 303 points in 328 regular-season games (including 70-, 80-, and 90-point seasons) and 20 goals and 56 points in 65 postseason games in Pittsburgh to help the Penguins become the first back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions since 1998. Kessel was ultimately flipped to Arizona four years later, along with defenseman Dane Birks and the 2021 121st overall pick (goaltender Rasmus Korhonen), for Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Alex Galchenyuk (who was traded to Minnesota for Jason Zucker eight months later). They selected goaltender Kasper Bjorkqvist with the third-round pick. Harrington appeared in 15 games for Toronto while Kapanen was traded back to Pittsburgh. Spaling played 35 games for Toronto before getting traded to San Jose seven-and-a-half months later. The Maple Leafs used the first- and second-round picks to acquire Frederik Andersen from Anaheim and the third-round pick, defenseman James Greenway, never made the NHL. Spaling ultimately got them Sean Durzi, who was eventually traded to Los Angeles for Jake Muzzin in 2019.

• • Worst: Johnson (five-year contract, $3.25 million cap hit in 2018) — Johnson recorded four goals, 24 points, a -5 rating, .4655 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4681 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage, and .4777 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage in 149 regular-season games, where he averaged 19:22 per game (fifth among Penguins defensemen), including 2:14 while shorthanded (second). His contract was bought out just two years later.

• Seattle Kraken:

  • Best: RW Eeli Tolvanen (claimed off of waivers from Nashville in 2022) — In 129 games with Seattle, Tolvanen has 32 goals and 68 points. He also recorded three goals and eight points in 14 postseason games in 2023.

• • Worst: G Philipp Grubauer (six-year contract, $5.9 million cap hit in 2021) — Since finishing third place in Vezina Trophy voting as the league’s top goaltender the season prior in Colorado, Grubauer has gone 49-61-11 with a .893 save percentage, 2.99 goals-against average, and four shutouts in 130 games with Seattle. He lost the Kraken’s starting job to Joey Daacord last season.

• San Jose Sharks:

  • Best: RW Kevin Labanc (one-year, $1 million contract in 2019) — After a 17-goal, 56-point campaign in 2019, San Jose talked Labanc into signing a very team-friendly deal. Labanc followed it up with 14 goals and 33 points in 70 games for that season.

• • Worst: Stutzle (traded, along with Norris, Tierney, DeMelo, Balcers, 2019 44th overall pick, 2021 38th overall pick to Ottawa for Karlsson, Perron in 2018) — The Sharks ended up missing out on two top-six centers just a year before entering a rebuild and Karlsson may have had a monster season in San Jose but his time there was plagued by injury before his historic year.

• St. Louis Blues:

  • Best: Buchnevich (acquired from Rangers for LW Sammy Blais, 2022 55th overall pick in 2021) — Buchnevich, who has at least 26 goals and 63 points in each of his three seasons in the Gateway City, has been one of the league’s most prolific scorers since going to St. Louis.

• • Worst: RW T.J. Oshie (traded to Washington for G Pheonix Copley, RW Troy Brouwer, 2016 87th overall pick in 2015) — Oshie has 192 goals and 385 points in 567 regular-season games and 29 goals and 60 points in 76 postseason games with Washington while Brouwer left St. Louis after one season and the Capitals got both Copley and the third-round pick (center Garrett Pilon) back.

• Tampa Bay Lightning:

  • Best: Sergachev (acquired from Montreal for Drouin in 2017) — Sergachev was a big part of Tampa Bay’s run to back-to-back Stanley Cups and a record-setting regular-season in 2018-19 while Drouin was a major disappointment in Montreal.

• • Worst: RW Tanner Jeannot (acquired from Nashville for D Cal Foote, 2023 83rd overall pick, 2023 115th overall pick, 2023 147th overall pick, 2024 53rd overall pick, 2025 top-10 protected first-round pick in 2023) — Jeannot recorded just eight goals and 18 points in 75 regular-season games with Tampa Bay, where he averaged under 12 minutes per game (ninth among Lightning forwards to play in at least 50 games since the trade). He was dealt to Los Angeles for a 2025 second-round and the 2024 118th overall (defenseman Jan Golicic) picks this past June. Though, Foote played just 24 games for Nashville before signing in New Jersey last summer. The draft picks Tampa gave up turned into defenseman Dylan MacKinnon, right-wing Jayson Shaugabay, center Felix Nilsson, and defenseman Andrew Gibson.

• Toronto Maple Leafs:

  • Best: Nylander (six-year contract, $6.9 million cap hit in 2018) — Nylander scored 169 goals (29th league-wide) and 393 points (30th) in 418 games during the length of the contract despite other players having a two-month head start on him due to a contract stalemate during the 2018-19 season. Nylander is set to start an eight-year contract that carries an $11.5 million cap hit this season.

• • Worst: C Nazem Kadri (traded to Colorado with D Calle Rosen, 2020 74th overall pick for D Tyson Barrie, C Alexander Kerfoot, 2020 179th overall pick) — Kadri recorded 58 goals (including 28 in 71 games during 2021-22 season) and 155 points (career-high 87) in 178 regular-season games with the Avalanche and 16 goals (seven during Colorado’s run to the Stanley Cup) and 34 points (15) in 33 postseason outings. Meanwhile, Barrie left Toronto after just one season and Kerfoot recorded just 40 goals and 134 points in 285 games with the Maple Leafs. The third-round pick Colorado got turned into right-wing Jean-Luc Foudy while the sixth-rounder sent to Toronto would end up being center Joe Miller, who is not currently under contract.

• Utah Hockey Club:

  • Best: D Shayne Gostisbehere (acquired from Philadelphia, along with 2022 36th, 216th overall picks for future considerations in 2021) — Gostisbehere notched 24 goals, 82 points, a -30 rating, .4525 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4363 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage, and .4433 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage in 134 games for the Arizona Coyotes. However, what makes this the best move for the team was all the draft capital that they acquired. Arizona turned the picks acquired to take on Gostisbehere into defenseman Artem Duda, left-wing Samuel Lipkin, and a 2026 third-round pick (acquired from Carolina in March 2023).

• • Worst: D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (eight-year contract extension, $8.25 million cap hit in 2018) — Ekman-Larsson posted 26 goals, 98 points, a -36 rating, .4919 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4595 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage, and .4735 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage in 193 games for Arizona after signing this contract and was traded to Vancouver in July 2021 with right-wing Conor Garland for right-wing Loui Eriksson, center Jay Beagle, right-wing Antoine Roussel, and right-wing Dylan Guenther (taken seventh overall in 2021). Arizona had to eat $990,000 of this contract for two years before Vancouver bought out this contract, which Utah is still paying for.

• Vancouver Canucks

  • Best: C J.T. Miller (acquired from Tampa Bay for G Marek Mazanec, 2019 71st overall pick, 2020 20th overall pick in 2019) — Since this deal was made, Miller ranks 25th in the league with 143 goals (including 37 in 81 games last season), ninth with 259 assists (66), and 11th with 402 points (103). He re-signed with Vancouver for eight years at $8 million per in 2023. Meanwhile, Mazanec never suited up for Tampa Bay and the third-round pick turned into goaltender Hugo Alnefelt. The first-round pick was flipped to New Jersey for Blake Coleman eight months later.

• • Worst: RW Loui Eriksson (six-year contract, $6 million cap hit in 2016) — Eriksson’s production fell off a cliff in Vancouver as he never hit the 30-point mark in five seasons before getting dealt for Ekman-Larsson. Eriksson finished with just 38 goals and 90 points in 252 games with Vancouver.

• Vegas Golden Knights

  • Best: Karlsson (acquired from Columbus along with RW David Clarkson, 2017 24th overall pick, 2019 50th overall pick to not take Johnson, G Joonas Korpisalo, RW Josh Anderson in 2017 NHL Expansion Draft) — In addition to getting Karlsson, Vegas used the first-round pick to select Suzuki, who ultimately was used (as well as the second-round pick involved in this trade) to get Pacioretty, whom notched 97 goals and 194 points in 224 regular-season games and 15 goals and 30 points in 36 postseason games for the Golden Knights, as well. Getting paid to steer clear of Johnson was a bonus. Karlsson has 28 goals and 65 points in 95 postseason games for Vegas, including 11 goals and 17 points in 22 en route to the Stanley Cup in 2023.

• • Worst: Tatar (acquired from Detroit for 2018 30th, 2019 54th, 2021 93rd overall picks in 2018) — Tatar earned only four goals and six points in 20 regular-season games and was a healthy scratch for most of Vegas’ run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, appearing in just eight postseason games where he tallied a goal and an assist. He was flipped to Montreal for Pacioretty less than seven months later. The draft picks given up turned into centers Joe Veleno and Robert Mastrosimone, who is currently unsigned, as well as goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (Detroit flipped the third-round pick to Carolina in 2021).
• • Best: Strome (one-year, $3.5 million contract in 2022) — Strome was re-signed to a five-year contract extension at a team-friendly $5 million cap hit less than seven months after signing in Washington and made that look like a bargain last season.

• • Worst: Erat (acquired with Latta from Nashville for Forsberg in 2013) — Forsberg had eight times more goals just last season than Erat and Latta ever scored for the Capitals combined.

• Winnipeg Jets

  • Best: Vilardi (acquired with Kupari, Iafallo, Freij from Los Angeles for Dubois in 2023) — Winnipeg dodged giving out one of the worst contracts in the NHL and made their offense better by adding three forwards, most notably Vilardi, who scored at a 38-goal, 63-point pace over a full 82-game season last year.

• • • Worst: G Steve Mason (two-year contract, $4.1 million cap hit in 2017) — The contract was bought out after just one season, where Mason played just 13 games, going 5-6-1 with a .906 save percentage, 3.24 goals-against average, and one shutout. He yielded the starting job to Connor Hellebuyck and hasn’t appeared in the NHL since.

By Harrison Brown