Fansided

Biggest winners and losers of NHL free agency 2018

By Mackenzie Ingram

TORONTO, ON - JULY 1: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, poses with his jersey in the dressing room, after he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JULY 1: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, poses with his jersey in the dressing room, after he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 10
Next
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 01: Erik Karlsson #65 of the Ottawa Senators avoids a check by Jason Chimera #25 of the New York Islanders during the first period at Barclays Center on December 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 01: Erik Karlsson #65 of the Ottawa Senators avoids a check by Jason Chimera #25 of the New York Islanders during the first period at Barclays Center on December 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Loser: Ottawa Senators

Despite having one of the least appealing rosters on paper heading into the 2016-17 regular season, the Ottawa Senators found themselves within a single goal of reaching the Stanley Cup Final.

Expecting the team to return to form, Ottawa made few changes over the 2017 offseason; something it would soon live to regret.

When the opening days of the season concluded, the Sens looked shaky, but it was a period from October 27 to January 4 that truly emphasized the struggles the team was dealing with.

Over that 10-week span, the Senators maintained an abysmal 0.25 winning percentage, going a combined 7-16-5 and picking up just 21 out of a possible 56 points in the process.

Understandably, this triggered trade rumours for many of the Sens’ top players, such as Derek Brassard and Erik Karlsson; however, only the former was shipped out at the deadline. 

With no deal occurring at the deadline or draft, Ottawa made it clear it ntended on keeping Karlsson beyond next season when they offered the 28-year old a new contract earlier this week.

Yet the 28-year old seems uninterested in suiting up for the Sens’ again.

As if failing to re-sign Karlsson wasn’t bad enough, the Senators also neglected to fill any of the holes they have in their current starting lineup, signing literally zero NHL-caliber free agents.

In fact, the last time Ottawa’s front-office managed to attract a top-six player to Canada’s capital region was in 2014, when David Legwand signed with the team immediately after having a 51-point season.

Lastly, the Sens’ upper management must still address the contracts of Cody Ceci, Matt Duchene and their best forward, Mark Stone.

Over the last four seasons, Stone has cemented himself as one of the best two-way forwards in the world, leading the league in takeaways in three of them.

In 58 games last year, Stone had 62 points and lead the team in plus/minus rating with a plus-9, yet he had a cap hit of only $3.5 million.

With the ever-growing possibility of Erik Karlsson leaving, one must wonder if the Senators have the ability to re-sign Stone for the long haul, as well. Even if Ottawa manages to keep the forward around beyond next season, its inability to improve the overall roster or lock up its franchise player makes the Sens losers this free agency period.

Home/NHL Free Agency