The busiest portion of any professional sports league offseason is certainly the free agency period. This has been no different for the NHL since October 9 at noon ET when players could sign with teams. The flat cap of $81.5 million for the 2020-2021 season due to COVID-19 has forced big spenders and free agents into more shorter-term contracts with slightly less money involved than usual. Every year the cap space for each team has been steadily expanding to offer more flexibility for both players and decision makers amongst teams.

  The 2020 free agent class certainly has some impactful players that could help the prospects of any team’s future outlook. Alex Pietrangelo, Taylor Hall, Torey Krug, Mike Hoffman, Jacob Markstrom, Henrik Lundqvist, and Braden Holtby headline the list of players that were available for the taking.

The Buffalo Sabers have been very active so far in free agency, shocking everyone by bringing in 2018 NHL MVP Taylor Hall into the organization on a 1-year $8 million deal. He gets to join forces with superstar center Jack Eichel to formulate an intriguing young roster in upstate New York. Many Sabers fans here at St. Lawrence, including myself can certainly celebrate the signing as it was seen as a major surprise to many across the NHL world. Hopefully he can play on the first line with Eichel where he can flourish and sign a long-term deal after this season.

The Vegas Golden Knights signed former St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to a seven-year, $61.6 million contract to solidify their blue line and bolster their Stanley Cup odds. The Boston Bruins lost defenseman Torey Krug to St. Louis but added forward Craig Smith to a three-year $9.3 million contract. It was great to see the former Rangers star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist find a new home in Washington, where he will split playing time with up-and-comer Llya Samsonov. T.J. Brodie signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs to help improve their struggling blue line and Tyson Barrie signed a short-term deal with the Edmonton Oilers to help round out the forwards to compliment the league’s best player, Connor McDavid.

We all hope that the NHL can start the 2020-2021 season without any disruptions, as puck drop right now is planned for January 1. There have been many ideas regarding how to play safely including only playing games in Canada to start but hopes of a vaccine and further progress towards COVID should help reduce any major harm.