[CaptainCrunch]

Pretty much everyone that's good has been snapped up in free agency, so I think its as good of a time as any to take a look at how the Canadian Teams have done in the off season, and if its not, I'm doing it anyways.


So I'm going to try to give a summary and grade


Toronto Maple Leafs (A+)


Out: Plekanec, Bozak, Polak, Van Riemsdyke, Komarov


In: Jooris, Tavares, Cracknell, Jordan Subban


Admittedly the Leafs gave up some depth. bit they scored the most sought after free agent in hockey in center John Tavares. If you're building a team from the center position out and the blueline up, this is a success. Having Tavares and Mathews up the middle with Marner and Nylander on the wings is a great problem to have, however I'm still not sold on the blueline or their goal tending. The Leafs have about $14 million in cap space with only Nylander to sign this year, however next year becomes a bit of a problem with Mathews and Marner needing new deals.


Calgary Flames (A)


out: Hamilton, Fox, Ferland, Shore, Bartowski, Wotherspoon

In: Lindholm, Hanafin, Ryan, Czernik, Neal


The Flames knew they needed to roll out a new lineup with a new identity after last years debacle. What Treliving has done is equivalent to pushing all of your chips into the middle of the table and smirking. The Flames forward group looks a lot deeper and more skilled, and bringing in Neal also has the potential of putting some sandpaper on the top line. The major move which was the trade is all about gambling on potential. The Flames have about 13 million in cap space with Lindholm, Hanafin , Hathaway and Kulak needing new deals. The Flames also still need to decide on a backup goalie.


Vancouver Canucks (C-)


Out: no one anyone cares about

In: Roussel, Beagle, Schaller


I have to admit that I'm confused about Vancouvers rebuild strategy at times, but they have to put a lineup together. In Roussel and Beagle they add to their bottom six, but this is a team that is in the midst of inserting youth in the lineup. The Canucks have about 13 million in cap space with only the disappointing Virtanen needing a contract.


Montreal (C-)


Out: Galchenyuk, Fucale, Cracknell, Hemsky
In: Oullete, Plekanec, Armia, Mason (Buyout), Domi,



I think that Montreal did get some helpful pieces in Domi and Armia. I expect that the Habs were banking their hopes on getting Taveres, and were slightly shocked that they weren't in on it. This is a bad team, and it will still be a bad team. It will be interesting to see how Domi does in Montreal. The Habs currently have 13 million dollars in Cap space with only Armia looking for a new deal.


Winnipeg (F)


Out: Stastny, Hendricks, Mason, Armia

In: Broissoit


You can't help but feel that the Jets are going to wake up feeling screwed over, clearly they cleared cap space for Stastny who went to Vegas. The Jets are still a deep lineup, but losing out on Stastny and Armia could hurt a bit going forward. I don't know whether this was a case of Winnipeg believing that they had Stastny and screwing it up, or Stastny just flipping them the bird. The Jets have about 28 million in cap space with Trouba looking for big money, Morrisey is also looking for a new deal and Hellybuyck is also going to be looking for a massive raise.


Ottawa (F)


Out: Hoffman
In: Bodker, Carey


Ottawa is a team in Chaos, I'm sure they didn't want to dump off Hoffman like they did, but they didn't have a choice. Bodker is a useful forward, but a bottom 6 guy coming in for a top 6 guy is a loss. Lets face it, the Sens are just freaking broken. The Sens have lots of cap room with 18 million in space, however they have to sign Stone and Ceci, however I doubt that cap room means much to Ottawa as nobody wants to run away to join the circus anymore.


Edmonton (D)


Out: Slepyshev, Pakarinan, Brossoit, Gryba
In: Brodziak, Rieder.


Some people believe that the Oilers last season were some kind of outlier, that this super talented team should be a playoff contender. But when you look at the Oilers, they really have a lot of problems, they maybe have one of two natural top 6 wingers and that's stretching it, they're forced to borrow from their center depth to shore up the wing, which means that they are then short of actual centers. Their blueline is atrocious and they're praying that Talbot can bounce back. The Oilers also have precious little help coming from their laughable development system. The signing of Bridziak should help, but he's a bottom 6er at best, Brodziak is a 32 year old journey man, and isn't going to contribute much. The Oilers have a bit under 8 million in cap space with Strome needing a 3 million dollar qualifier and Nurse looking for a significant raise.