We head out West to the Central division. This division has been dominated by the Red Wings in recent years, but with off-season moves aplenty, will that soon change?
 
**Remember the grades aren't on how good or bad the team is, it's based on how the teams management did in the off-season so far through trades and free agency.
 
Central Division
Detroit Red Wings
What's to say bad about the Stanley Cup Champions? There really isn't anything you can say that they did bad this off-season. If anything, you can still say they are weak in net, but Osgood proved his worth in the playoffs and with the team in front of him that stacked, you don't need an amazing Vezina caliber goalie in net. My thoughts on why Detroit didn't go after a new, younger starting goalie is because Ryan Miller is a UFA at the end of this season. Miller is a Michigan boy, and played all his hockey there, even in college, what a fit he would be in Detroit.
 
The obvious improvement the Wings made this off-season was the signing of Marian Hossa, who many believed was the top free agent on the market. Not only did they sign him, they signed him at a discounted rate because Hossa wants to win a cup, and because it's a rule that no one will make more then Lidstrom on the team. It was a great move by the Wings to re-sign Brad Stuart after acquiring him at the trade deadline last year. He adds a lot to the back end of that team.
 
Compared to some teams, the Wings were quiet, while at the same time making a big splash. You can tell it's all about quality for the Wings, not quantity. I am giving them an A- for their efforts. Signing Hossa was huge, re-signing Stuart is big, but the main thing is they kept the main core of their team in tact. The only reason the Wings didn't score higher is because how well some other teams did around the league. If you are a Wings fan, you must be happy.
 
Columbus Blue Jackets
For me, there is a lot of question marks on the Jackes off-season moves. First of all with the trade Fritche/Zheredev for Tyutin/Backman I am going WHY?! There would have been better and cheaper ways to get some D-men on your roster. Giving up Zheredev and Fritche is a LOT for 2 shakey defencemen, at best. Now the best defencemen on your team is Mike Commodore, who you are paying 3.75 million a year for....ouch!
 
Enough of the bad, and more of the good. Columbus acquiring R.J. Umberger at the draft was huge for them, this guy has a tonne of skill and will be a solid player for years to come. They also signed him to a contract that is very, very reasonable. I like the trade to get Torres on their roster, they need a player like him who will shake things up. It is too bad about Brule but it was a trade of one declining player for another, and I think a change of scenery will help both teams out. Kristian Huselius signing on for 4 years is great news for the Jackets, and Rick Nash. A line of Umberger, Nash and Huselius would be great, except Umberger really isn't a #1 center. I can really see Nash and Huseius playing well, and with signing Huselius it helps fill the void for the lost Zheredev.
 
The Jackets made some other minor moves, but really aren't worth mentioning. Overall I'll throw a B- the Jackets way. With some boneheaded moves they make me shake my head, but they also made up for it in signings and trades. They need to get Leclaire signed to have a steady goaltender and I think they may compete for a playoff spot next year.
 
St. Louis Blues
I hate to say it, but because of where I live (Canada) I almost forget that the Blues even exist anymore. The big story with the Blues was playing the offer sheet game with the Canucks, while somehow remaining respectful to each other at the same time (weird, isn't it?) The 'Nucks signed David Backes to an offer sheet, the Blues matched it, then the Blues signed Steve Bernier to an offer sheet (after he was traded to Vancouver) and the Canucks matched it. I hate the offer-sheet game but it sure makes things interesting between the teams.
 
Back to the Blues....their big splash was trading for goalie Chris Mason. Manny Legace isn't a real #1 goalie, and despit Mason probably not being one either, he's an upgrade from Manny. Let's not forget to mention Hannu Toivonen and Marek Schwarz each waiting for their shot. I think the Blues are smart to stock up on these goalies as they could just easily unload them to teams who are struggling in net with a big pay-day in return.
 
The Blues are going to get a B for their moves this off-season. I can't give them a bad mark as they didn't really get any worse, but they didn't get that much better either. Strong drafting is the way this re-building franchise is going and I think it will work out just fine.
 
Nashville Predators
What a surprising, and good year it was last year for the Preds. Despite being ousted in the first round, they actually made the playoffs, and managed to give the Red Wings a short run for their money. I didn't see the Predators make any bad moves this off-season, so there isn't to much to harp on them about. With the cap space they had though, they could have made some runs at some UFAs but who really knows if they did and just didn't luck out?
 
The positives for the Preds came with 3 names: Ryan Suter, Shea Weber and Dan Ellis. These 3 re-signings are huge for the Predators as all 3 should be good for some time to come. I know you may be thinking "come on?, Dan Ellis?" But Ellis will be a much more solid goalie then many think. Plus, with getting Chris Mason out of town, there is no controversey in net now, and the fact that Ellis is Nashvilles verified #1 must do wonders for his confidence.
 
It may be boring but I have to give out another B here. Once again, a team that doesn't make any moves bad or good naturally stays neutral.
 
Chicago Blackhawks
Wow, am I ever excited to see this team in action. If they can avoid the injury bug, I am saying they will compete with the Wings for the division title. This is another team that did nothing bad this off-season except for over-pay for free-agents, but so did everyone else so I am not faulting them too much for that.
 
The good of the Hawks is obviously signing Brian Campbell. I didn't even think Chicago was in the running for Campbell. He is an all-star defencemen and makes this team so incredibly much better. The other huge move for the Hawks was signing Christobal Huet. A #1 goalie who will compete for the job with the Boulin Wall (Until Khabiboulin is traded or bought out).
 
The Hawks get an easy A from me. They are young, skillful, and will be damn exciting to watch this season. It's time to really get excited if you are a Hawks fan, they will be a great team for a some years to come.
 
Final Grades:
Wings A-
Blue Jackets B-
Blues B
Predators B
Blackhawks A
 
This whole division did good this off-season. Detroit will still be the clear favorite but the Hawks will compete and so will the Jackets and Predators. The Blues on the other hand, they are still re-building so I won't hate on them to much if they are bad this year. Next up we will head to the Northwest in what is the most competitive division in the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild are featured here, it should be good.

Here's part 3 of 6 of my rankings for how teams have done this off-season through free-agency and through trades as well.

**FYI, the grade I give the team is for their off ice performance this summer, it doesn't reflect how I think they will do this year.

Southeast Division
Washington Capitals
After a stellar end to last season the Caps were in a good position to make some good moves this off-season and get THAT much better. Unfortunately for the Caps, they really let some good players get by. Their biggest loss came in the form of rented goalie Christobal Huet who signed with Chicago. Huet is a #1 goalie in this league on many teams, Washington being one of them, and they opted to signed Jose Theodore instead of Huet. This boggles my mind as to why they would go the route of taking a goalie who's best days are well behind him, and at 4.5 Million a season at that. That was some poor decision making on Washington's part.

The thing that surprises me most, is that many will say Huet was asking too much money, but when you compare the contracts of Huet and Theodore, I can't see why Washington would pass that up. Huet makes 5.625 a year against the cap and Theodore makes 4.5 million a year. Not to mention the Caps still have 6.3 million left to spend this season, a million more would have got them a big goalie upgrade.

It wasn't all bad news for Capitals though, they re-signed RFA Mike Green who was the leading defensive scorer last season. This is huge for the Caps as he will help quarterback that power play with Ovechkin. Other then re-signing Mike Green, there was no other significant moves made in the US Capital this off season.

Washington gets a C+ for their efforts this off-season. Sure they re-signed Mike Green who was priority #1, but the Theodore signing and letting Huet walk was a big mistake, at least they have a goalie to put in the net each night though.

Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes made their biggest moves through trades this off-season. Acquiring Joni Pitkanen for Erik Cole. This trade can really go either way, Cole is an oft-injured forward who has great upside when healthy and Pitkanen is a solid defenseman with some holes in his game. It's not a bad move for either team though, as Edmonton got rid of the salary of Pitkanen and the 'Canes got the defenseman they desperately needed.

There isn't much else to say about the 'Canes, they had a so-so off season as they didn't get really any better, they didn't get any worse either. For this I am giving them a B for staying neutral, I don't know how much better this will make them next season, but it's good they got a solid defenseman at least.

Florida Panthers
The Panthers in my opinion made the bonehead move of the off-season by dealing away Olli Jokinen for Nick Boynton, Keith Ballard and a 2nd rounder. I really think the Panthers could have gotten more for Olli, but I guess if that is what the market offered at the time and they were that set on getting rid of Jokinen it was a good move, but I really feel they should have waited out. Boynton will help the defense out a lot, and Ballard should be a solid 3rd line guy but the Panthers are in need of some other moves in order to compete.

A good start for Florida was signing Cory Stillman who has been a solid contributer for the majority of his career. Also signing Olesz to a 5 year deal will give them another solid forward to help build around.

The big focus for Florida is getting Jay Bouwmeester signed to a long-term deal, and try to avoid arbitration, they have just over 10 million left this season to do so but I would also not be surprised to see Bouwmeester shipped away.

The Panthers come up with a B- for their off-season efforts, they let Jokinen go for too little but were able to get some young guys to help build around and getting some more experienced players to help teach them along the way.

Tampa Bay Lightning
The biggest movers and shakers of this off-season are the Lightning. They managed to re-sign Vinny Lecavalier, sign Ryan Malone to a 7 year deal, get back Vaclav Prospal and sign him, sign Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi and Olaf Kolzig. They also traded for Matt Carle on D, while getting rid of the contract of Dan Boyle. Oh yeah, they also drafted Steve Stamkos to go along with that. This team has made a huge upgrade offensively, but they still look to struggle on the back-end as Kolzig is on a down-swing, though he is still a #1 goalie.

There isn't anything negative to say about this teams off-season moves as they have improved an amazing amount and still have around 10 million left to spend if they so chose. It would be nice for them to get better on the blue line as their defense is weak as well.

The Lightning get a A+ for their off-season moves. No team improved quite as much as Tampa this off-season and they are a very legitimate threat next year in the East.

Atlanta Thrashers
Not a terrible off-season for the Thrashers, they signed Ron Hainsey to a big contact which gives them a good, young-ish defenseman. They are still very much a re-building team as they got a kings ransom from the Penguins for Marian Hossa.

Atlanta is in desperate need of a goalie and they have 25 million dollars left to spend. A big trade could be made with Atlanta getting a franchise goalie.

Like some other teams, there isn't much to say about the Thrashers and their moves this 0ff-season, they are re-building and look to be doing well so far. They get a B for their efforts.

Final Grades:
Capitals C+
Canes B
Panthers B-
Lightning A+
Thrashers B

I really think that the Lightning can run away with the division next year and make a worst to first move. It would be one helluva quick re-build. Over recent years, this is by-far the worst division in hockey and may continue like that for a while.

Next time I will shift my focus out West to the Central division which features the Hawks, Wings, Blue Jackets, Blues and the Predators.

Last time I took a look at some of the ongoing changes that the Atlantic division has made, today I am shifting my focus to the Northeast division which is sure to stir up some controversy....

Northeast Division
Toronto Maple Leafs
I'll start out with the Leafs who have had a busy off-season thus far making many roster changes. The UFA additions the Leafs made were signing the likes of Nik Hagman and Jeff Finger. Hagman I don't have a problem with at 3 million a year, but we will have to see if he gets the big money syndrome and stops producing now that he's making money. The most ridiculous signing has to be Jeff Finger, sure he deserves a chance but at 3.5 million a season? That's incredibly ridiculous for a guy who has played 94 games and has proven nothing. Not to mention, he was benched most of last playoffs in Colorado. It appears with this signing that Fletcher caught a bit of the JFJ illness, it must be something in the coffee at the ACC.

It wasn't all bad news for the Leafs, they successfully got rid of Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft. Dumping these 2 salaries, even if it's taking a small cap hit, is very much worth it. They both were overpaid for not producing, and Toronto is doing well at moving on by getting rid of these contracts.

Another move by Toronto this off-season is acquiring Mikhail Grabovski from the Canadiens for a prospect and a 2nd round pick. Grabovski has a tonne of potential but can be lazy at times. It's a good trade for both teams as Montreal has no room to work Grabs into their current lineup even though he is NHL ready, and Toronto is rebuilding and Grabs will be a good addition for that.

Overall this off-season I am giving Cliff Fletcher and the rest of the Leafs brass a B. It would have been a B+ or A- but the signing of Jeff Finger brought it down, everything else has been all mostly positive this off season for the Leafs with the exception of the Sundin debacle, but that's another story in itself.

Ottawa Senators
There is a lot of question marks surrounding this team. They could be a great team, or could be a complete flop. They have yet to land a big name D-man and having lost the ever fading Redden as a UFA, they are hurting on the back end. They signed Jarrko Ruutu and Shean Donovan, but come on, what are they really going to help? Ruutu is the poor mans Sean Avery, and the Senators already have a pest in Chris Neil. The addition of Alex Auld isn't bad for the Sens, he is a good backup goalie and he was impressive when he came in for Boston last season. The problem is, the guy he is backing up is probably a back-up caliber goalie as well. Martin Gerber needs to re-find his game or he will be in for another season like last.

A real positive for the Senators came in the form of a subtraction, that being the buy-out of Ray Emery. Emery was nothing but a cancer for that team and with him gone they should have a different attitude.

The Senators are getting a C+ for their efforts this off season. They didn't improve their team at all through any key additions and they still need to land a big name D-man. Despite them not having a productive off-season, they should still make the playoffs with the big 3 of Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson.

Boston Bruins
A decent off-season for the B's as they didn't lose anyone of significance and were able to add Michael Ryder who was in the doghouse all last year in Montreal. The addition of Ryder should help an ever improving and young Boston squad, unfortunately with today's NHL market they had to pay him 4 million dollars a year. Ryder at his best is not worth 4 million a year.

There isn't a lot to say about this Boston team as they were relatively not busy this off-season, they had around 6.5 million to spend and spent 4 of it on Ryder. If they want to make another move they could try to unload Manny Fernandez and his 4.3 million dollars and give Tuuka Rask a shot.

The Bruins will fittingly get a big B this off season. They are young, and only getting better, I expect a good season from the B's because sometimes staying the same pays off.

Buffalo Sabres
Another team that has been relatively quiet this off-season as the only major player they got was Craig Rivet. That makes Rivet their highest paid, and best defenceman on this team, that is definitely an issue. Rivet will help replace the departed Dimiti Kalinin though, which is a good start for Buffalo.

What I am calling a big mistake by the Sabres this off-season is shipping out Bernier for a couple of picks. Unless this guy was being a real issue in the dressing room, or was having personal problems in the Buffalo area, I don't see the reason for trading a very good developing player.

I will give the Sabres a C this off-season. It may seem low and harsh, but Rivet is on a decline in his career and Bernier was on the up and up. These moves don't make sense for a team that needs some desperate help. I really hope they are shifting their focus to re-signing Ryan Miller before too long or it could be a very bad couple years in Buffalo.

Montreal Canadiens
Last, but certainly not least I get to my Montreal Canadiens who were some-what movers and shakers this off season. The big addition for the Habs was getting Alex Tanguay. This could really work out either way for the Habs and it truly is a gamble on a player who appears is on a downswing but may just need this change of scenery. Another big addition for the Habs, and you have to promise not to laugh, but it's Georges Laraque. Now it is crazy to pay an enforcer 1.5 Million a season, but Montreal NEEDED this guy, someone to step up and kick #### so the small-sized Canadiens are no longer pushed around. Perhaps the best move by the Canadiens was getting Andrei Kostitsyn signed on for 3 more years and at a cheap 3.25 million at that. This kid is going to be awesome and I am happy that no one threw an offer sheet at him (Kevin Lowe).

Montreal dealt away a great up and comer in Grabovski to the Leafs. As much as this sucks because he has a tonne of potential, it had to happen as Grabs was just going to be the odd man out in Montreal and he deserves to play in the N.

There was some personnel loss to the Montreal roster with the departure of Michael Ryder and Mark Streit but at the price tags they left for, it is alright. The big loss for the Canadiens, which isn't really a loss at all is still not being able to sign Mats Sundin. If the Canadiens were to go over the top and be a solidified contender, they would need a Sundin-like player to do it.

This off-season seen Montreal make some changes but the core of the team stayed the same. I am giving them a B for the efforts of Gainey and crew. The additions of Tanguay and Laraque will help the team out a lot more then Ryder and Streit would have.

Final Grades
Leafs B
Senators C+
Bruins B
Sabres C
Canadiens B

I am expecting a 3 way fight between the Canadiens, Bruins and Senators next year to win this division. Next time I will finish off the Eastern Conference by grading the worst division in the East last year, the Southeast. We'll see how the Capitals, Hurricanes, Lightning, Thrashers and Panthers all did.

The NHL off season is well underway and many teams have made many personnel changes to bolster their rosters. I am going to go through and grade each team on the moves they made so without further ado...

Atlantic Division
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pens coming off of a Stanley Cup finals appearance didn't have a large amount of money to spend but they had a lot of players to sign. Obviously they were going to lose some in the shuffle; their biggest losses came in the form of losing Marian Hossa. Hossa signed on with the Red Wings so in turn the Penguins have nothing left from their blockbuster deadline deal for Hossa. They really risked a lot of future to win now and it didn't quite pay off. Another key loss for the Pens came from losing Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts heading to Tampa, of the best depth players they have.

The Penguins added the likes of Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, but those 2 can not replace Hossa, Malone and Roberts, not by a long shot. Another bright point for the Penguins off season was resigning Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury to a long term deals which will solidify the core of their team for the next 5-6 years.
Overall this off season the Penguins are getting a B- from me because their losses in the roster far outweigh the additions, but the resigning of Malkin and Fleury are huge. I can't believe I wrote the whole column on the Pens and didn't mention Crosby once, oh #### there goes that hope.

New York Rangers
The Rangers got a lot better in the offseason through trades and free agency. I don't think the loss of Jagr will hurt the Rangers as it seems he was just a cancer in the dressing room anyways. The addition of Wade Redden is big for this club, but they well overpaid for a player who is gradually getting worse. Redden and Rosival will be sufficient for this team on the back end as long as Henrik Lundqvist plays to his potential. Adding Marcus Naslund was a nice move my the Rangers as well, I really think he just needed a change of scenery from out West to get his game going again.

The big splash that really improved the Rangers was trading for Nikolai Zheredev and Dan Fritsche. Zheredev seemed to come into his own last season and started to separate himself from being just a regular player to a offensive threat. Fritsche is still young but will have a nice career in the NHL. It seemed the Rangers had to give up very little to Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to get these 2 forwards, you can tell Columbus was desparate for D-men on this deal.

The Rangers will be a solid team next season, their biggest worry as always is going to be consistency and chemistry. On paper they should have no problems scoring, but when you put a bunch of individual players that play for themselves on one team it typically spells disaster. For their offseason moves I give the Rangers an A-. They look like a deadly team that's going to be a force...at least on paper.

New York Islanders
What a terrible, terrible team this is going to be. I am sorry to any Islanders fans but you can not get excited when you look at this roster. After trading down in the draft several times, the Isles really missed out on getting Luke Schenn. The Islanders only notable pick-up in the offseason has been Mark Streit, a great power play defencemen, who can be a potential liability on D. He is versatile as he plays both wing and defence, but he alone certainly can not save this team.

The one bright spot for this team is seeing players like Jeff Tambelleni and Kyle Okposo develop and become talents in the league as they both have the potential to do that.
The Isles are getting a C for their off season moves, an improvement on the blue line will help, but they need more then that......maybe they need John Tavares?

New Jersey Devils
The Devils threw some cash around this off-season, most notably signing Bobby Holik and Brian Rolston. They kept Bryce Salvador on the blue line after acquiring him at last years trade deadline and he should help out back there. Unfortunately, this team is lacking a lot of defence (but so is everyone) but I will never count out the defensive abilities of a team that has Martin Brodeur in net, no matter how old he's getting. Not to mention the traditional style of a New Jersey team is to play the "trap", and they can sure do it well.

They should make up for a lack of star power on the back end with the likes of Rolston, Elias, Gionta and Parise to name a few. New Jersey has always been a solid team over the past years, and I don't see any difference come this year.

The Devils get a B for their off season acquisitions, they lost nobody notable, and signed a great goal scorer in Brian Rolston who was one of the top forward UFAs this off-season.

Philadelphia Flyers
This off-season they didn't make any staggering moves to sign players, but they didn't have to (and didn't really have the cap space for it either). They got the most important guy to them signed in Jeff Carter. They also shed the contract of R.J. Umberger who was an RFA this season; as much as that is a loss to Philly you can't expect R.J. to play like he did last playoffs all season long. This is a team with a very bright future and has many up-and-comers who can jump into Umbergers old spot.

The Flyers will be a good team once again, and the issue as always with them is at the back end. The goaltending is nothing to brag over. Biron had an amazing playoffs but how long will that continue in this season? The other issue with the Flyers is on defence, aside from Kimmo Timonen, there isn't much to brag over. Braydon Coburn and newly acquired Steve Eminger will have to have big years.

The Flyers get a B- for this off-seasons work. They did what they had to do under the CBA and managed to get Carter signed on for 3 more seasons.

Final Grades:
Penguins B-
Rangers A-
Islanders C
Devils B
Flyers B-

Overall the Atlantic division should be a competitive one next season as each team with the exception of the Islanders could very easily make the playoffs. Next time I will have the Northeast division and we will look at the moves Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo and Boston made and see how they made out this off-season.