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NHL free agency 2020 – Signings, analysis, grades and buzz

NHL free agency 2020 – Signings, analysis, grades and buzz

8:45 PM ET

  • ESPN staff

Due to the altered schedule whereby the 2019-20 NHL season was completed quite a bit later than usual — with the Stanley Cup playoffs lasting until Sept. 29 — free agency began on Oct. 9 this year, as opposed to the traditional July 1 starting point.

But while the key dates have shifted, the goal of free agency has not: GMs around the NHL hope to land the game-changing veteran who can boost their contention status, or bolster their core with the glue that builds championships.

Here’s our continuously updated tracker, featuring a list of every player signed from Sept. 1 onward, along with analysis on the biggest deals, and buzz on what could happen next. Note that the newest deals are at the top.

Grades on big signings | Team previews | Top 60 FAs

Draft recap: Every pick | Grades | Takeaways

Oct. 10

Veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian (one year, $1 million) and forward Travis Boyd (one year, $700,000) have signed with Toronto.

Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk lands with the Capitals on one-year, $800,000 deal.

RFA defenseman Brandon Montour is back with the Sabres on a one-year, $3.85 million pact.

A two-year, $4.5 million contract has brought veteran forward Cody Eakin to the Sabres.

Former Ranger Jesper Fast has landed with the Hurricanes on a three-year, $6 million contract.

RFA forward Sam Anas agrees to a two-year, $1.45 million deal with the Blues.

Netminder Louis Domingue lands with the Flames on a one-year, $700,000 contract.

Forward Kevin Labanc sticks with the Sharks, agreeing to a four-year, $18.9 million deal.

Former Wild captain Mikko Koivu has made his next move, signing a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Blue Jackets. Grade for the deal.

Dallas bolsters its blue-line depth, signing former Panthers defenseman Mark

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Disgraced Financial Advisor To Ex- NHL Players Sentenced To 17 Years In Prison

Disgraced Financial Advisor To Ex- NHL Players Sentenced To 17 Years In Prison

Former NHL player and 1995 number one draft pick Bryan Berard was one of several people who gave emotional victim impact statements in Long Island federal court last Monday, when financial advisor Phil Kenner was sentenced to 17 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from Berard and over a dozen other former professional hockey players and Long Island citizens in an elaborate investment scheme.

“I guess he got what was coming,” Berard told Newsday outside the Alfonse M. D’Amato United States Courthouse in Central Islip. “Just a lot of mixed emotions. He stole a lot of money from people. Ruined people’s lives.”

Kenner, 51, of Scottsdale, Arizona, was a co-defendant in the federal case with his business partner, Tommy Constantine, a one-time aspiring race car driver. A jury convicted the two men in July 2015 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Kenner had remained jailed since his 2013 arrest. 

The case is a jarring cautionary tale for professional athletes who — like Berard’s case — seek business advisors to handle their millions and personal finances. According to federal prosecutors, Kenner and Constantine operated three separate schemes, and lured numerous NHL players — including Berard, Michael Peca, Darryl Sydor and Bill Ranford — to invest their retirement funds and life savings into a Hawaii real estate venture and a start-up business in Arizona.

Instead, Kenner and Constantine used the millions for their own personal gain. In one scheme, according to prosecutors, Kenner was able to convince Berard, Peca and others to give $100,000 each toward a Hawaii land development project. Kenner

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NHL free agency 2020 – Grades, analysis for every big signing

NHL free agency 2020 – Grades, analysis for every big signing

NHL free agency for 2020 is underway!

For each key signing, Emily Kaplan, Chris Peters and Greg Wyshynski will be assessing the player’s fit with his new team, weighing whether the terms of the contract make sense and serving up an overall grade.

We’ll be grading the most notable offseason signings below, so come back for updates as deals are completed throughout the fall.

Free agency: Tracker | Preview | Top 60

Trades: Grading every big deal

Draft recap: Every pick | Grades | Takeaways

Terms: Seven years, $6.5 million average annual value

Where does he fit: Well, this was a shocker. At least to everyone not named Scottie Upshall, who predicted that Blues general manager Doug Armstrong would “do everything in his power to get Alex Pietrangelo back in the Blue Note this afternoon. But if not, expect a big play at the stud Torey Krug.”

The focus on the Blues was very much about unrestricted free agent Pietrangelo, and whether the St. Louis captain would end up re-signing with his team. Speculation was that the fate of Krug, another unrestricted free agent, hung in the balance until Pietrangelo made his decision.

Turns out everyone had it reversed.

The former Boston Bruins defenseman ended the Pietrangelo era in St. Louis on Friday with a seven-year, $6.5 million AAV contract. He joins Marco Scandella, Carl Gunnarsson and restricted free agent Vince Dunn on the left side of the Blues’ defense, although Justin Faulk can play both the right and left side, too.

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