Loui Eriksson: Signed with Vancouver for six years, and an average of $6 million per year. He provides offense, usually to the tune of 25-30 goals per year, and though the years may be a little high, given that the Sedins will likely retire by the time Eriksson finishes year four of the contract, they could always do worse. I'm okay with this signing, but it will be up to Willie Desjardins to keep a level of consistency that maximizes the talent available (that means not putting Derek Dorsett with the Sedins ever again).
Milan Lucic: Edmonton claims him to the tune of seven years, $6 million per year. Obviously, his familiarity with General Manager Peter Chiarelli was an influence, but it will be the idea that he is likely getting slotted with Connor McDavid and Jordan Eberle that should have Oilers fans excited. It also adds another big, physical presence to a team that is finally figuring out what they really want to do.
Kyle Okposo: Same contract configuration as Lucic, but with the Buffalo Sabres. On the minus side, he may experience a drop off in numbers now that he won't be alongside John Tavares. However, it's not so bad when you realize that Okposo could be on a line with Jack Eichel at best, and Ryan O'Reilly, at worst. Given the uncertainty of Evander Kane's future after another run-in with the law, Okposo is a welcome addition to a maturing Sabres team (minus Kane).
David Backes: Five years, $6 million per year to play in Boston. This wasn't such a great signing, but not because Backes can't play. However, it's a far different thing to play on a team with a superstar in Vladimir Tarasenko than it is to play with unproven talents such as David Pastrnak. Boston needed an NHL body on the blue line worse, and though they may find that player yet, Backes doesn't fill a need in any way, shape, or form for them.
Eric Staal: Three years, $3.5 million is what Minnesota is giving him to center the second line. The days of putting up boffo offensive numbers is long past, but he is still useful. The contract, as a whole, is friendly to both him and the team, so at worst, it beats the deal they (regrettably) handed Thomas Vanek two years ago.
Thomas Vanek: Speaking of Vanek, the recently bought out player didn't have to wait long to find a new home, as Detroit signed him to a $2.6 million deal for one year. 18 goals last season wasn't cutting it for Minnesota, and it's questionable if it cuts it for Detroit. However, one year is not a bad deal, and the Red Wings could still get something out of him.
James Reimer and Jason Demers: Reimer is heading to Florida for five years, and $3.4 million to presumably be the full-time starter when Roberto Luongo finally hangs it up. In the meantime, he will serve as a backup with the possibility of splitting time to start. Also, in recent news, the Panthers also signed Jason Demers to a five year, $4.5 million deal. He won't put up the numbers recently departed Brian Campbell has, but he's younger and should make up a fair amount of that offensive production. Plus, he's likely first in line to get paired with Aaron Ekblad, who signed an eight-year extension recently.
There's more, but there is one that I will address that caught my eye, and that is...
Alexander Radulov: One year, $5.75 million to play in Montreal. If you remember his first NHL stints with Nashville, it was pretty headache inducing, right down to Radulov being benched for a game due to missing curfew in the 2012 playoffs. From 2012 until now, he had played in the KHL, falling short with CSKA in the last two seasons. Montreal needs offense, but this may be too much of a gamble, as Radulov was never a proven player in the NHL, and few players who spent the majority of their careers in the KHL ever see that success translate to the NHL level.
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