Grading the Offseason: Western Conference

Blackhawks B+

They signed Richards to the best deal of the Summer and moved Bollig in one of the best trades. The contracts to Rocky and Bullwinkle delights the Blues fan in me. Trading Leddy is a step in the wrong direction. They project to be over the cap next year too. Pretty much anything they do to get under the cap will make Blues fans happy.

Dallas A-

Traded for Spezza. Signed Hemsky and Lindback. Spezza was a great acquisition. Adding Hemsky is a plus although I think they overpaid. They probably should have added 1 more defenseman. Their backup goalie is Anders Lindback. Lehtonen has a concussion. Not good.

Colorado D

Lose Stastny. Trade away Parenteau. Trade for Brad Stuart and Daniel Briere. Sign Iginla. Losing Stastny hurt. Briere and Iginla are unlikely to replace Stastny and Parenteau. Regression to the mean is a bitch.

Minnesota B-

Vanek in, Heatly out. Upgrade. Goalie situation seems unsettled and the defense could have used an upgrade.

Winnepeg C

Adding Perreault was good. That's about all they did. They could have bought out Ondrej Pavelec or signed a better backup.

Nashville B

Trade for Neal. Sign Jokinen, Roy, Ribiero, Volchenkov. Neal should score more than Hornqvist. Ribiero is a reasonable gamble. Nashville rolled the dice with their centers. Volchenkov helps the depth on defense.

Anaheim A-

Trade for Kesler and Nate Thompson. Sign Stoner, Heatly, LaBarbara. Kesler is an upgrade. Letting Hiller walk was the right call. Not sold on Stoner. Pretty good overall.

Los Angeles B+

Didn't need to do much. Kept Gaborik. Let Mitchell walk. Not bad.

San Jose C-

Threatened to blow up the team. Let Boyle and Havlat walk. Signed John Scott. Traded Stuart for picks. Not really progress.

Phoenix C-

Bought out Ribs. Lost Vrbata.   Trade for Gagner and Crombeen. Sign Vitale. Sign Dubnyk. No major progress here either.

Calgary C-

Sign Hiller, Raymond, Engelland. Trade for Bollig. A mixed bag. Hiller, Raymond?  Good.  Engelland, Bollig?  Bad.  Probably more minus than plus.

Edmonton C+

Trade Gagner for Purcell. Sign Fayne, Nikitin, Pouliot, and Aulie. Probably more plus than minus.

The Best?

Blues A-

A golden draft. The Blues made the right call on their goaltender situation, upgraded their defense, and made huge upgrades up front. Letting Sobotka walk and signing Ott are missteps. I would have liked to see an insurance policy in net.

The Worst?

Vancouver F

Trade Kesler for Bonino and Sbisa. Sign Miller and Vrbata. Give away Garrison. Kesler out, Bonino in. Downgrade. Garrison out, Sbisa in. Downgrade. Luongo out, Miller in. Downgrade. Pretty much a disaster.