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In NHL history, much like every sport, there are good and bad moves. Sometimes, signing the right player can lead to success. Similarly, signing the wrong player can be disastrous for teams. It's not often known until well into or after the deal, but some moves have been particularly awful, setting franchises back for a long time.
One Redditor posed the question on r/NHL on Monday: What's the worst offseason fans have ever seen for a GM? Whether it was horrible moves or letting players go, GMs can easily make mistakes while team building. Fans have seen quite a lot of that and had more than a few examples to point to.
"Toronto once wasted both of their compliance buyouts on a guy who had one year left, and a guy who was actually their second-best forward (Mike Komisarek and Mikhaik Grabovski) and then used the cap space to sign probably the worst UFA contract ever (David Clarkson)," a fan commented.
"I'm a Sabres fan so bias is noted but Darcy Regier let Black Monday happen. We had just won the President's Trophy, had deep playoff runs filled with really good hockey. Then we lost Chris Drury and Danny Briere in the same day for nothing," one fan wrote.
"The 'Summer of Brad' Treliving in 2022 was initially seen as an absolute masterpiece. Instead it sent the Flames into a rebuild and set us back at least 5 years," one commented.
"Bowman after the Hawks got swept by the Preds," another wrote.
NHL GMs made big moves this offseason
It's difficult to predict which moves will be mentioned in debates, such as the one above, but every offseason is rife with opportunities. The most recent NHL offseason is full of big moves. Will they all pan out? It's not likely.
The top moves include Victor Hedman to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vladimir Tarasenko to the Detroit Red Wings, Jake Guentzel to the Lightning, and Chandler Stephenson to the Seattle Kraken. Time will tell if GMs did well or not this offseason.
