Gaudreau, Giroux, Palat and Kuemper change clubs in action packed Day 1 of NHL free agency
Star UFA forward Claude Giroux (34) was the first free agent snapped up pretty much just as the market opened. The long time captain of the Philadelphia Flyers spent the tail end of last season with the Florida Panthers, now he is moving to his home country of Canada. He signed a three year contract with the Ottawa Senators with an AAV of 6.5 million dollars.
The goalie carousel was very much one of the biggest topics of the first day. Ilya Samsonov (25) signed a one year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs after leaving Washington. Two UFA goalies got their big paydays - Jack Campbell (30) signed a five year deal worth 5 million dollars a year with the Edmonton Oilers while the Washington Capitals tied freshly crowned Stanley Cup champion Darcy Kuemper down with a five year contract with an AAV of 5.25 million dollars.
Another champion leaving the Avalanche is Andre Burakovsky (27) who signed a five year contract with the Seattle Kraken with an AAV of 5.5 million dollars. Former Rangers center Ryan Strome got a similiar contract out of the Anaheim Ducks, but with an AAV of 5 million dollars.
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired two superstar veterans via trades. One of them being defenceman Brent Burns (37) from the Sharks in a deal involving several AHL players, the other being Max Pacioretty (33) from Vegas. They got the former Canadiens captain from a cap-tied Golden Knights team for 'future considerations' which is pretty much fancy NHL lingo for 'nothing'.
After the Tampa Bay Lightning signed Sergachev, Cirelli and Cernak to big eight year contracts, they found themselves tight on money - expectedly too tight to resign two time Cup winner and key playoff performer Ondrej Palat (31). The Czech forward leaves Tampa Bay for the first time in his career and gets his payday with the New Jersey Devils - five years with an AAV of 6 million dollars.
And finally, the biggest fish of this year's pond also found a new home during the first day already. Johnny Gaudreau (28), fresh off of scoring a career high 115 points with the Calgary Flames, was courted by the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders before eventually signing a big contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The key numbers? Seven years and an AAV of 9.75 million dollars.