The former Sabres’ captain had two 30-goal seasons and six straight seasons of 50-plus points when he was in Buffalo. A once consistent 30-30 threat, has failed to top 20 goals in each of the last three seasons, but heads back to Buffalo, where he will look to rediscover his goal-scoring touch in the Sabres’ top-9.
Scandella, 27, is a big physical defenseman but does not possess a lot of offensive ability outside of a big slap shot. Scandella has a career-high of just 23 points (11G / 12A) and is coming off of a year in which he had just four goals and nine assists (13 points) in 71 games. The Sabres have made a clear effort to improve their blue line, by adding Scandella and Nathan Beaulieu this offseason.
Kanzig, 22, was a third round pick in 2013 (No.67 overall) but has struggled since turning pro in 2015-16. The 6-foot-6, 245 lbs. defenseman has appeared in just nine AHL games so far and spent the majority of last season in the ECHL, where he had just five points (1G / 4A) in 40 contests.
Murphy can be classified as a bust after being selected No.12 overall in 2011, but the majority of it can be chalked up to injury issues. In his first five seasons, he has amassed just 37 points (6G / 31A) in 151 career NHL games and likely won’t get a major opportunity to play thanks to a top notch Flames’ blueline.
Lack was a key member of the Canucks in 2014 and 2015, but struggled in two years with Carolina. With the Hurricanes acquiring Scott Darling from the Blackhawks, they needed to move Lack or Cam Ward and the Flames came calling for a backup. Lack has posted a career 2.56 GAA and .911 SV% in 136 NHL games and will be the primary backup to Mike Smith in 2017-18.
Samuelsson, 25, was a second round pick (No.61 overall) in 2009 but has bounced around a bit and has only appeared in a combined 13 NHL games. After being acquired from the Canadiens, Samuelsson had 14 points (3G / 11A) in 25 games with the Charlotte Checkers, finishing the season with 19 points (4G / 15A) in 65 AHL contests.
Dumont, 26, split the 2016-17 season between the NHL and AHL. He had just four points (2G / 2A) in 39 games with the Lightning and 10 points (5G / 5A) in 20 games with the Syracuse Crunch. The first year of his contract is a two-way deal and the second is a one-way.
Andrighetto was acquired from the Canadiens for Andreas Martinsen at the trade deadline and recorded 15 points (5G / 10A) in 19 games after the trade. The undersized winger has registered 18 goals and 27 assists (45 points) in his last 46 AHL games, which showcases the offensive ability that he possesses.
Butler, 30, has been a strong producer at the AHL level throughout his career, but has struggled to produce at the same rate in the NHL. Butler is coming off of a season in which he had five goals and 21 assists (26 points) in 72 games with Chicago (AHL).
After spending a season in Switzerland, Conacher returned to the Lightning last season and scored one goal and three assists (four points) in 11 games with the Lightning. He spent the majority of the season in the AHL, where he amassed 60 points (17G / 43A) in 56 games with the Syracuse Crunch.
After posting 34 and 36 points during injury riddled seasons in his first two years in Edmonton, Pouliot struggled mightily in 2016-17, recording just eight goals and six assists (14 points) in 67 games. Pouliot was entering the fourth year of a five-year contract that carried a $4.0M cap-hit. His buyout will save the Oilers $2.66M against the cap this season.
Condon was brought in from Pittsburgh last season because Craig Anderson missed a substantial amount of time attending to a personal matter. The 27-year-old went 19-14-6 with a 2.50 GAA, .914 SV% and five shutouts in 40 games with the Senators and will serve as the primary backup to Anderson in 2017-18.
Smith only played in 51 games in 2016-17, including 18 with the Rangers after being acquired at the trade deadline. He averaged a career-high 20:10 TOI/GM in New York and will be leaned on as a second-pairing defenseman in 2017-18. Smith has a career-best of 19 points (in 2013-14).
Gryba, 29, had two goals and four assists (six points) in 40 games for the Oilers last season and with the Edmonton blueline improving, he will likely serve as a seventh defenseman again in 2017-18.
Street, 30, appeared in six games with the Red Wings in 2016-17, spending most of the season in Grand Rapids (AHL), where he amassed 25 goals and 30 assists (55 points) in 62 games and added an impressive 21 points (8G / 13A) in 19 playoff games en route to the Griffins winning the Calder Cup.
De La Rose has been unable to turn himself into a regular NHLer since being drafted No.34 overall in 2013. This past season he appeared in just nine games with the Canadiens, spending the rest of the year collecting 31 points (14G / 17A) over 62 games with St. John’s (AHL).
Berglund dislocated his shoulder during an offseason training program and will need at least five months to recover. This is a tough break for Berglund as he is coming off of a career-high 23 goals, but at least the Blues added Brayden Schenn at the Draft to give them some depth down the middle while Berglund is out.
Pekka, 23, appeared in all 76 regular season games with Rockford (AHL) last season, collecting six goals and 24 assists (30 points). With Chicago trading Niklas Hjalmarsson to Arizona and Trevor van Riemsdyk being selected in the Vegas Expansion Draft, Pokka has a much better chance of cracking the NHL roster in 2017-18.
The Blue Jackets acquired Schroeder from the Wild for Dante Saliture on June 23rd and inked the restricted free agent to a two-year pact yesterday. The deal is a two-way contract for 2017-18 and turns into a one-way deal in 2018-19. Schroeder has split his time between the NHL and AHL since being drafted No.22 overall in 2009 and has complied 40 points (17G / 23A) in 144 NHL games (w/VAN & MIN) and 195 points (77G / 118A) in 292 career AHL games.
Acciari, 25, is a hard-hitting bottom-6 forward who had five points (2G / 3A) in 29 games with the Bruins and added 14 points (6G / 8A) in 30 AHL games with Providence. Acciari will likely break training camp in a Boston uniform.
