Off-Season winners

[hockeyfan716]

We're talkin draft, free agency, trades, any organizational moves.

We've seen Staal get dealt to Carolina to play with his brother plus Semin joining them as well.

In the north we've seen Parise and Suter return home to Minnesota to play with a talented bunch of prospects.

Out east, Nash has made the splash in the Big Apple to play alongside Richards and Gabby (whenever he returns).

From an organizational standpoint, who are the biggest winners in the 2012 NHL off-season?

[metswon69]

My sig says it all

Carolina too..

[homie564]

Carolina, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Minny imo.

[Bullseyed]

Probably should wait for the offseason to be over. But yeah, the three teams you listed are the most likely final list, unless some huge trade is brewing behind the scenes.

Interesting thread for a 2nd post.

[Bullseyed]

Carolina, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Minny imo.

I forgot about Jagr and was thinking "why does Roy make them winners...." heh.

[BranWingss]

Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild for sure. They brought in some big names that should get them over the bump over a fringe playoff team to a playoff team. I don't think either are ready for big runs though. I've got them both as a first round elimination.

You can then go with

Dallas - Loved their moves. I don't care how old Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jage are as they can still play. Ray Whitney probably should have been an All-Star last season. $9,500,000 combined for these two is a decent deal. Derek Roy too.

New York Rangers - They stole Rick Nash from Columbus. They've kept the same team too.

Colorado - Had a bunch of RFAs. They re-signed Johnson, O'Reilly, Downie, Wilson, and Duchene to solid contracts. Then brought in another top six forward in Pareanteau.

Steve Downie - Ryan O'Reilly - Gabriel Landeskog
Milan Hejduk - Paul Stastny - David Jones
Jamie McGinn - Matt Duchene - P.A. Pareanteau

That's three lines that can be in a top six role.

[nyrlamonte]

Carolina, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Minny imo.

Carolina and Minnesota decidedly. These were teams that weren't too competitve last year (not ignoring Minny's great start), however, with their off-season additions appear to be in contention for playoff spots this year. They brought in players that can be difference makers (as well as good character guys in Minny) and both fanbases are excited for the upcoming season as they should be.

Dallas brought in additional scoring with Whitney and Jags, but did lose Ribeiro. Not convinced they'll be too much better next year.

In the long run, I think Pitt did make some good moves this offseason, but next year the team is definitely a little worse off. Lots of questions on D next year and Sutter is not quite the player Staal is.

Homer addition:
The Rangers addressed an obvious need by acquiring Nash . The trade was, however, a bargain from a Rangers standpoint, but they did lose some depth and grit this offseason. Still, I think the moves they've made may have given them the little push they need to be top contenders for the cup.

[nyrlamonte]

Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild for sure. They brought in some big names that should get them over the bump over a fringe playoff team to a playoff team. I don't think either are ready for big runs though. I've got them both as a first round elimination.

You can then go with

Dallas - Loved their moves. I don't care how old Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jage are as they can still play. Ray Whitney probably should have been an All-Star last season. $9,500,000 combined for these two is a decent deal. Derek Roy too.

New York Rangers - They stole Rick Nash from Columbus. They've kept the same team too.

Colorado - Had a bunch of RFAs. They re-signed Johnson, O'Reilly, Downie, Wilson, and Duchene to solid contracts. Then brought in another top six forward in Pareanteau.

Steve Downie - Ryan O'Reilly - Gabriel Landeskog
Milan Hejduk - Paul Stastny - David Jones
Jamie McGinn - Matt Duchene - P.A. Pareanteau

That's three lines that can be in a top six role.

Forgot about the Roy-Ott trade. Changes my mind a little bit actually but I still don't know how they're going to compete next year. Just my opinion though...can obviously see why they could be considered much improved

[1908_Cubs]

Carolina, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Minny imo.

Not that I think Pittsburgh did "bad", but I don't see them much of a "winner" either. Had they added Parise or Suter, sure. But at this point, they cleared a lot of space, sent out Stall and Michalek, resigned Crosby and added Suter and some prospects and a backup goalie. Wouldn't call them a real winner.

[Rangers&MetsFTW]

In terms of team last season vs team this season (so that means Crosby is on the roster, nothing to do with him being healthy or not) I think the Penguins downgraded their roster in removing one of the best 2 way centers in the game and a top 4 D on a team that exited the playoffs because of bad Defense.

[Wingman]

The Rangers hands down. IMO, the Nash deal makes them an early SC favorite. They also added Pyatt and Asham. With a little over 11.5 mil in cap space left and only Del Zotto to sign, it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up landing Doan, too. Especially, if they can get him to agree to a short term deal. I'm probably one of the only Wings' fan that wanted all of those players.

[Seguin]

Minnesota is the clear winner. They gave up nothing and got probably the 2 best available players this offseason, long term, for nothing but cash and a
Reasonable cap hit.

[BranWingss]

Reasonable cap hit in years 7-12?

[homie564]

I don't see how the Penguins didn't win?... They resigned Crosby long term, Got Vokoun and now have the best goalie tandem in the game with Thomas out, and added Sutter who's production won't be much worse than Staal's. People forget, despite Carolina adding a shiny forward, the Penguins pretty much raped the hell out of that deal. They got a really nice prospect and a solid depth prospect too. Michalek was a waste of cap space for them, Despres is ready and better.

Did I also mention they now have a ton of cap to improve their roster as players become available throughout the season. An acquisition at the deadline could be huge in a cup run.

[BranWingss]

I don't see how the Penguins didn't win?... They resigned Crosby long term, Got Vokoun and now have the best goalie tandem in the game with Thomas out, and added Sutter who's production won't be much worse than Staal's. People forget, despite Carolina adding a shiny forward, the Penguins pretty much raped the hell out of that deal. They got a really nice prospect and a solid depth prospect too. Michalek was a waste of cap space for them, Despres is ready and better.

Did I also mention they now have a ton of cap to improve their roster as players become available throughout the season. An acquisition at the deadline could be huge in a cup run.

Come on dude. Brandon Sutter's PPG was .39. Jordan Staal's was .81.

Now that we've got that out of the way, we can pretty much say you're wrong. The only think you can say Brandon Sutter won't be much worse at is his defensive game. Staal's is superior right now, but Sutter IMO, will have an elite defensive game in just a few years.

Offensively, yeah, that hurt them. They also lost Steve Sullivan.