It’s safe to say that very few hockey fans would call the 2024 off-season boring.
Having witnessed the Edmonton Oilers claw back from an 0-3 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final to force an ultimately unsuccessful Game 7 against the Florida Panthers, what happened in the two months following continued to produce some jaw-dropping moments.
Between the Draft weekend at the Sphere in Las Vegas and a free-agency opening that saw clubs spend over $1 billion in total, a few very notable players swapped their threads for the upcoming season.
With all clubs having played at least 10 games, we’re starting to get a feel for which newbies have hit the ground running and which are sputtering.
To that end, let’s take a closer look at how some of the most high-profile acquisitions — either by trade or by free agency — are fitting in with their new teams.
All data retrieved from Money Puck and Natural Stat Trick.
STEVEN STAMKOS
When the Nashville Predators went out and spent over $111 million on four shiny, new players on the first day of free agency, they probably didn’t expect to be in the basement of the NHL’s Central Division just four months later.
It certainly doesn’t help that their shiniest — and by far most decorated — acquisition, Steven Stamkos, has not lived up to his standards. At least, not yet.
The two-time Stanley Cup Champion as captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning has struggled to find his footing in Smashville, scoring just two goals and three assists across 11 games. Additionally, all but one of Stamkos’ points has come on the man-advantage. While strange to have just one point at 5-on-5 just under a month into the season, it’s not completely out of the ordinary for Stamkos. In 2023-24, nearly half his point total by the end of the regular-season came on the power play. In fact, this year in Nashville, just six forwards have managed to score at even strength.
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The whole team is struggling to produce offence, not just Stamkos. Though for $8 million per season, the Predators were likely hopeful for more characteristic output from the two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner. They would certainly prefer if the team wasn’t getting out-scored 6-1 when he’s on the ice.
Is this slow start indicative of what the rest of his season will look like in Nashville? Probably not.
Right now, Stamkos is shooting at a career-low 6.1 per cent. Despite being out-scored, the Predators are out-shooting their opponents 84-65 with him on the ice. His struggles can’t all boil down to bad puck luck, but for a player whose career shooting percentage hovers around 16 per cent, it’s fair to say he’ll regress back to the mean.
MIKHAIL SERGACHEV
Before the Utah Hockey Club (formerly the Arizona Coyotes) made a big splash at the NHL Draft by trading for Mikhail Sergachev, they were in need of a top-pairing defenceman to complement Sean Durzi.
In acquiring Sergachev, they got just that. Even better, they got their guy.
The 26-year-old has effectively become their No. 1 defenceman, which was made pretty much official with the long-term injury of Durzi. Sergachev plays in all positions — quarterbacking their power play, serving on their first penalty-kill unit, and generally being their go-to guy on the back end. His 25:35 time on ice is fourth in the league in that metric behind only Roman Josi, John Carlson and Seth Jones.
Playing top-pairing minutes with Michael Kesselring, Utah has out-scored opponents 4-2 and out-shot opponents 129-97 with that duo on the ice.
Having already proven himself as a perfectly capable offensive defenceman, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in Tampa, he came to Utah as-advertised. In 12 games this season, he’s scored twice and recorded seven assists. He’s recorded points in three of his last four outings, including a goal and two assists against Calgary on Oct. 30.
Though maybe not a shut-down defenceman, the native of Nizhnekamsk, Russia, ranks second amongst Utah defencemen in blocked shots with 20, trailing only Ian Cole (27).
What the small sample size tells us is that Sergachev is capable of being a No.1 defenceman and he’s led Utah to a 5-4-3 record — holding their own amongst the Central Division heavyweights.
LINUS ULLMARK
Finally nearing the end stages of their rebuild, the Ottawa Senators have been searching for the goaltending that help them find their next level.
When they traded Joonas Korpisalo, Mark Kastelic and their 2024 first-round pick to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Linus Ullmark, they hoped they found it in the 2022 Vezina-winning goalie.
While Ullmark has certainly not been terrible for the Senators, he hasn’t been the game-stealing, elite goaltender they expected when they subsequently signed him to a four-year extension.
The 31-year-old has made six starts, posting a .902 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average — not horrific for a team whose save percentage for starting goaltenders has been sub-.900 for two seasons and above the league average this year (.898).
Not horrific, sure, but not up to Ullmark’s standards either.
This season, Ullmark is sitting at a minus-2.1 goals saved above expected, which is a fairly steep downfall from his 14.8 goals-saved above expected in 2023-24 with the Bruins. He’s also well below his career save percentage (.918) and goals-against average (2.51).
Even watching Ullmark shows that he’s not operating quite at his best. Though he’s made some highlight-reel saves for the Senators, he’s also had his share of stinkers, including against the Vegas Golden Knights, when he allowed five goals on 27 shots — three in the third period alone — in his first start after returning from a four-game injury-related absence.
In an ironic twist, the Senators have offered their goaltender a bit of leeway: They’re neck and neck in the Atlantic Division, two points out of a tie for second place.
JAKE GUENTZEL
There is a reason that the Tampa Bay Lightning traded for the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel the day before free agency opened.
Guentzel came with a Stanley Cup pedigree, several years playing with one of the best players in the world in Sidney Crosby, and has been nearly a point-per-game player (0.94/game) his entire career. Now, alongside two more top-tier players in Tampa, Guentzel seems to be picking up right where he left off.
The Lightning’s top line of Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point have out-scored their opponents 12-3 and out-shot them 160-142 in 138 minutes together.
Guentzel has also provided them with adequate individual success, scoring five goals and eight assists in 12 games, while getting looks on the Lightning’s top power-play unit.
Even though the 30-year-old has 36 total minutes on the man-advantage, three of his five goals and five of his eight assists have come at even-strength. He’s tied for third on the team in 5-on-5 scoring and third in power-play points — in short, he’s capable of producing for the Lightning in all situations.
Operating at a point-per-game clip early in the season, it’s clear that Guentzel is fitting in just fine with the perennial Cup contenders. The biggest question mark for him and the Lightning is his ability to stay healthy.
Though he’s appeared in every game for Tampa Bay thus far, he hasn’t had a full 82-game season since 2018-2019 and missed 15 games last year with an upper-body injury.
ELIAS LINDHOLM
After suffering a down year in 2023-24 that saw him score just 15 goals in 75 games split between the Calgary Flames and Canucks, Elias Lindholm arrived in Boston looking for a fresh start amidst an already offensively-gifted core.
Instead, both he and the Bruins have found themselves sputtering to an uncharacteristically slow start, only just back to .500 hockey after recent back-to-back wins.
Lindholm has been adequate offensively — his eight points in 13 games is third amongst Bruins forwards, behind linemates David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand — though he’s not at the level of which he’s shown he’s capable when he broke out for 42 goals in 2021-22.
Perhaps that was a one-off — he’s historically hovered at the 25-30 goal range — but he’s been put in the best possible position to succeed by centring Pastrnak and Marchand on the top line, much like his elite linemates that year in Calgary.
Important for the Bruins, however, is that he is finding other ways to contribute while waiting for the offence to really heat up.
Lindholm has spent his career cultivating a 200-foot game and the ability to play in all situations, and that’s no different on the Bruins. Amongst forwards, he ranks fourth in penalty-killing ice time at 24 minutes. Of the Bruins’ 34 power-play goals allowed, only three of them came when Lindholm was on the ice. The 29-year-old Swede also ranks first amongst Boston’s forwards in blocked shots.
With three points in three games, Lindholm is starting to find his footing even if he isn’t the game-changer he has been in the past. But with a Bruins core that historically hasn’t struggled to produce offence for extended periods of time, maybe he doesn’t have to be.
JAKE DEBRUSK
The Vancouver Canucks signed Jake DeBrusk because they were in need of a top-six winger to play with Elias Pettersson. In that regard, DeBrusk hasn’t paid dividends for the Canucks — the former Bruin plays primarily on the top line alongside J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser.
Despite getting looks with the team’s most dangerous duo, DeBrusk just isn’t producing the offence the Canucks expected when they signed him to a seven-year, $38.5 million contract.
The 28-year-old has five points in 10 games and, perhaps more cause for more concern, he only just scored his first goal of the season on Saturday.
Part of a current career-low shooting percentage — 6.7 per cent, down from his 12.4 per cent career mark — comes down to bad puck luck and a small sample size, but he’s also simply having trouble finding the net. Of his 30 shot attempts, 12 were blocked and three missed the net entirely. Among Canucks forwards, only Boeser — who has a team-high 57 shot attempts — and the snake-bitten Pettersson have had more of their shots blocked.
The Canucks needed someone with top-six offensive ability and though DeBrusk has always been a streaky scorer, his 27-goal campaign in 2023-24 proved he was capable.
His lack of finishing, however, has been a problem for a team that signed him to do just that. The Canucks have managed to keep their heads above water in the Pacific Division to this point, but if they want to replicate the success of last season, DeBrusk and the rest of their top-six need to find their offensive footing — and quickly.
