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The 2023 NHL off-season is well underway, as the draft and first wave of free agency is over.
The off-season is a time every NHL team can improve, but with the cap not going up, it was a difficult off-season for some. Although there are still a few months until training camp, most of the big moves are done, so let's grade the Central Division.
Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes have had a very weird off-season. The Coyotes had an interesting draft, as they reached both their first-round picks.
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Yet, armed with a ton of cap space, Arizona did bring in Jason Zucker, Alexander Kerfoot, Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Sean Durzi and Travis Dermott. Although there was no major name added, the Coyotes did some nice work to build around their young core.
Grade: B
Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago started their off-season with arguably the best move of the off-season, drafting Connor Bedard first overall, as he's a generational talent.
The Blackhawks needed to get to the cap floor, so they traded for Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno and Corey Perry and signed the latter two to a one-year $4 million deal. Chicago won't be a good team, but adding Bedard makes this grade easy.
Grade: A
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche had one of the best off-seasons in the entire league. The Avs didn't have much cap space but moved Alex Newhook to Montreal for two picks, and then sent one to Ross Colton, who could be better than Newhook.
The Avalanche also added Miles Wood, Jonathan Drouin and Ryan Johansen but did lose JT Compher. Colorado is arguably a better team than last year and is a legit Cup threat.
Grade: A
Dallas Stars
Dallas, like most Cup-contending teams, didn't have much cap space but did add Matt Duchene to an already solid forward group. The Stars did lose Max Domi, but Duchene is better and swapped some depth forwards around.
Dallas is a very similar team to last year but got slightly better, which might be enough to win the Cup.
Grade: B
Minnesota Wild
Minnesota had one of the worst cap spaces in the NHL due to the buyouts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.
With that, the Wild saw Matt Dumba, John Klingberg, Gustav Nyquist and Sam Steel while only adding Pat Maroon who will be on the fourth line.
Grade: C-
Nashville Predators
Nashville has a new GM in Barry Trotz who wanted to change the culture and sent Duchene and Johansen out of town and brought in Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Schenn, Denis Gurianov and Gustav Nyquist.
The Preds could be competing for a playoff spot next year, and their moves are laudable.
Grade: B
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues have had a quiet off-season, as they added Kevin Hayes and lost Josh Pitlick and Tyler Leivo. Hayes is a big upgrade, but the Blues team is still flawed and needs more work.
Grade: B
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets were forced to trade Pierre-Luc Dubois and got good returns. The Jets still may move Connor Hellebuyck, which will impact their grade, but for now, IWinnipeg has done well.
Grade: B+
