On a hectic afternoon in which Claude Giroux looked ahead to a homecoming in Ottawa, the Washington Capitals landed Stanley Cup-winning goalie Darcy Kuemper and the New York Rangers spent big on center Vincent Trocheck, Jaromir Jagr — remember him? — even wondered whether he could get in on the action.
In a message to NHL GMs on Twitter, Jagr wrote that he is a little slow at 50 but has strong hands, before closing his note with “Call me anytime,” followed by a winking emoji.
With all the moves and all the money being thrown around Wednesday in the opening hours of free agency, it would hard to blame Jagr for joking about the possibility of returning for a 25th NHL season.
The slight, $1 million rise of the NHL salary cap to $82.5 million, coupled with numerous teams dumping or buying out contracts to free up payroll space, led to a rush of action once teams were allowed to begin signing players.
“It was a little bit expected because teams have had time to recover from the COVID pandemic,” said defenseman Ben Chiarot, who signed a $19 million, four-year contract with Detroit. “Players thought it would be better than in past years because teams are operating at a normal clip.”
The Red Wings were among the busier teams in general manager Steve Yzerman’s bid to end a six-year playoff drought. Detroit also signed center Andrew Copp to a $28.125, five-year contract and left winger Dominik Kubalik for $5 million over two years.
Washington GM Brian MacLellan took particular notice of the Red Wings being one of the teams with cap space that capitalized on it.
“Detroit was really busy,” MacLellan said with a laugh. “It went real quick. I think you add another team and you got 32 teams competing for guys, it’s a competitive environment.”
The Capitals signed Kuemper to a $26.25 million, five-year contract. Kuemper, who had a career-best 37 wins last season, takes over after the Capitals moved on from llya Samsonov by not issuing him a qualifying offer and traded Vitek Vanecek to New Jersey.
Colorado also bid farewell to forward Andre Burakovsky, who signed a $27.5 million contract with the Seattle Kraken. The defending champions did re-sign forward Artturi Lehkonen and defenseman Josh Manson to long-term contracts.
Despite all the moves, much of the focus remained on where prized winger Johnny Gaudreau might land, on a day that also included a major trade involving defenseman Brent Burns. The 2017 Norris Trophy-winner is headed to the Carolina Hurricanes with forward Lane Pederson from the San Jose Sharks for two players and a 2023 third-round pick.
In addition to Gaudreau, who declined to re-sign with Calgary, Colorado's Nazem Kadri, and the top defenseman available, John Klingberg, were still available by Wednesday evening.
Giroux’s signing in Ottawa was expected: General manager Pierre Dorion joked he couldn’t escape Senators fans asking: “When are you signing Claude?” Giroux, who played his junior hockey across the river from Ottawa in Gatineau, Quebec, signed a $19.5 million, three-year contract.
The 34-year-old Giroux brings veteran leadership to Ottawa’s mix of youngsters. He spent his first 14-plus seasons in Philadelphia, where he served as the Flyers captain, before being traded to Florida in March.
“I wouldn’t sign here if I didn’t think we had a chance to win the Cup,” Giroux said. “I’m not saying we’re going to win the Cup this year, but the plan is to build on it and have baby steps for that.”
Trocheck signed a $39.375 million, seven-year contract with the Rangers following Copp's departure. The 29-year-old Trocheck has nine seasons of NHL experience, including two-plus years in Carolina, where he had 39 goals and 96 points in 135 games with the Hurricanes.
Trocheck is reunited with Rangers coach Gerard Gallant after the two were together in Florida.
“This was one of just a few teams that we really looked at and thought it was a good fit. So coming in, we knew that New York was probably our number one choice,” he said.
Besides Kuemper, the offseason-long goalie carousel saw Jack Campbell leave Toronto for a five-year, $25 million contract with Edmonton. Campbell cashed in after a season in which he had career highs in wins with a 31-9-6 record, five shutouts and 47 starts.
The Oilers are retooling after veteran Mike Smith’s playoff inconsistencies contributed to the Oilers being outscored 22-13 in a sweep by Colorado in the Western Conference Final.
Elsewhere:
— The Chicago Blackhawks finally began adding players by signing six players, including forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Max Domi to one-year, $3 million contracts. The Blackhawks are in a full rebuild after trading center Kirby Dach to Montreal and forward Alex DeBrincat to Ottawa and watching forward Dominik Kubalik leave for Detroit.
— The Buffalo Sabres added experienced goaltending depth by signing Eric Comrie to a two-year deal. The former Winnipeg backup will be in the mix to compete for playing time with veteran Craig Anderson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Buffalo also locked up one of its top offensive players by agreeing to re-sign Victor Olofsson to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million. Olofsson, who turns 26 next week, was a restricted free agent and scored 20 goals and a career-best 49 points last season.
— The New Jersey Devils traded forward Pavel Zacha to Boston for center Erik Haula. The move balances out the Devils’ lineup with New Jersey in the mix to land Gaudreau.
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AP Hockey Writer Larry Lage and AP freelance writer Denis Gorman contributed.
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