It’s the dog days of summer, and also of the NHL offseason. After a fairly busy first few days of free agency, front office staffs are taking their vacation time despite some interesting free agents remaining unsigned. Now’s a good time to look at who has improved the most so far this summer.

I’ll be factoring in any acquisitions made from outside of the organization after the end of the regular season. Re-signing players won’t be included. Without further ado, let’s look at which NHL teams have made the most significant improvements this summer.

Honorable Mentions

The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t made any huge additions (yet), but even if they don’t trade for Erik Karlsson, new front office head honcho Kyle Dubas has done a quietly solid job of adding to the roster. Reilly Smith is a quality top-six forward who should replace Jason Zucker. Noel Acciari and Lars Eller should both help their bottom six forward group. Losing long-time defenseman Brian Dumoulin stinks, but Ryan Graves should replace him nicely. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic has struggled recently, but at $1.5 million, he’s a decent bet to be a better backup than Casey DeSmith.

Speaking of Dubas, his old team the Toronto Maple Leafs have made some fun moves this summer. Tyler Bertuzzi was a surprising addition on a one-year deal. Many people expected him to sign a multi-year deal. The Leafs needed more grit and Bertuzzi certainly adds that along with skill. ‘Tyler Bertuzzi was a surprising addition on a one-year deal. Many people expected him to sign a multi-year deal. The Leafs needed more skilled grit and Bertuzzi brings it to the table.

Tie Domi’s son Max is a Maple Leaf. How cool is that? Unlike his dad, Max is not going to accumulate penalty minutes like Connor McDavid puts up points, but he’s another player who adds skilled grit to the lineup. Ryan Reaves certainly adds grit and it should be fun to see his personality in Toronto. Defenseman John Klingberg is an intriguing addition, though I’m not completely sure how he’ll fit in their lineup.

New Jersey Devils

The Penguins went with a quantity over quality approach to their additions this offseason. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils decided to use the opposite approach – quality over quantity. Though re-signing Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier to surprisingly reasonable deals don’t count for this exercise, trading for forward Tyler Toffoli does count. The Devils’ already terrifyingly strong core of forwards now has another 30 goal scorer in the mix.

Defenseman Colin Miller is an overlooked signing. He’s not going to wow anyone, but he’s a better defenseman than many give him credit for and the Devils got him at a very reasonable price. Miller gives them a safe option in case incoming rookie defenseman Luke Hughes (brother of Devils franchise center Jack Hughes) has rookie struggles.

Dallas Stars

Much like the Devils, the Dallas Stars went with quality over quantity. The Stars saw the Nashville Predators buy out forward Matt Duchene and signed their former foe to a one-year deal worth $3 million. That’s a steal for Duchene, who put up 22 goals and 56 points last season on a Predators team that struggled to score. The Stars don’t struggle to score, so don’t be surprised if Duchene sees an uptick in goals and points.

Though the Stars lost defensive forward Luke Glendening, they’re replacing him with Craig Smith, another forward who used to play for the Predators. After consistently being in the 30 to 40 point range from 2018 to 2022, Smith’s offense dried up last season, as he only had 16 points in 64 games. However, his underlying numbers are decent and a bounceback might be in the cards.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings decided to add a bit of quality and quantity this offseason. I love the addition of Daniel Sprong. The only forwards with a higher five-on-five goals per hour rate than Sprong over the past three seasons (minimum 1,500 five-on-five minutes) are Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, Filip Forsberg, and former Seattle Kraken teammate Jared McCann. There’s a catch – Sprong has the lowest five-on-five time on ice per game of anyone in the top 100. But the Red Wings need goals any way they can get them. Sprong has proven he can score goals.

Last summer, the Colorado Avalanche weren’t able to re-sign Nazem Kadri. They asked J.T. Compher to replace him as their second line center and he responded with a career-best 52 points in 82 games. Compher likely won’t repeat those numbers with the Red Wings, but even before last season, he has consistently been in the 30 to 40 point range despite not playing many minutes with the Avalanche’s two star forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. He should help shore up the Red Wings center depth.

Klim Kostin should add some depth to the Red Wings’ bottom six forward group. He had a breakout season with the Edmonton Oilers last season. Before the 2022-23 season, Kostin had 11 points in 46 games across three seasons. He more than doubled his previous point total, putting up 11 goals and 21 points in 60 games during the regular season. Kostin also had five points in 12 postseason games.

Christian Fischer had a bit of a resurgence last season with the Arizona Coyotes. He put up 27 points, his highest total since the 2017-18 season. Fischer should be a nice addition to the Red Wings’ third or fourth forward line.

Both Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Holl should help the Red Wings improve their defense. Gostisbehere is more of an offensive defenseman. After struggling in his final years with the Philadephia Flyers, a trade to the Coyotes rejunevated him, as he put up 82 points in 134 games there before being traded at the trade deadline to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Red Wings need more production from their defensemen and Gostisbehere will help there.

Holl’s offense isn’t anything to write home about but he handled tough minutes adaquetely with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Don’t be surprised if he winds up getting some minutes alongside Moritz Seider. Considering how awful the Seider and Chiarot pairing was last season, the Red Wings might as well try something new because Holl can’t be much worse.

James Reimer should be an upgrade over Alex Nedeljkovic in the Red Wings goaltending tandem. Also, Alex Lyon could be a sneaky good addition if Detroit can sneak him through waivers. He went on a nice run with the Florida Panthers last season, helping them make the playoffs after the Panthers needed him to step in following an injury to Sergei Bobrovsky.

However, the big addition this summer for the Red Wings is forward Alex DeBrincat. One of the biggest hurdles for their rebuild has been acquiring top-notch talent, especially since the draft lottery gods haven’t smiled upon them. DeBrincat is coming off an off-year in which he still nearly scored 30 goals. I expect him to bounce back and perhaps score more than 40 goals.

Which teams would you have on your list? Let me know in the comments!

* Featured phot courtesy of The Hockey Writers*