3 NHL offseason moves that made no sense

By Cole Shelton

Modified Aug 08, 2023 16:40 GMT

The NHL offseason is always full of moves that fall under two categories. They can either be brilliant or come back to haunt teams.

Although the bad deals may not always be apparent for a couple of seasons, right away some just look suspicious. Some deals just don't make sense at all, and here are three that took place this offseason:

#1, Toronto sign Ryan Reaves

On paper, the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to get more physical, but signing Ryan Reaves doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Reaves' skating is well below league average and when the puck gets trapped in Toronto's end, he will be a liability.

What makes this signing worse is that the Maple Leafs gave Reaves a three-year deal, even though he is already 37. By the final year of the deal, whether or not Reaves will even be an NHL player is up for debate, so even a two-year deal was considered a stretch to some.

Toronto just had the same thing happen to Wayne Simmonds who was a physical enforcer. His lack of speed kept him out of the lineup and the Leafs were waiting to get out of his contract this off-season only to replace him with someone similar.

#2, Justin Holl signs for Detroit

Justin Holl struggled in Toronto

Justin Holl entered free agency after a poor NHL playoffs where the Tampa Bay Lightning skated around him for goals. At one point, Holl was on the ice for nearly 75% of all Lightning goals as he was a total liability on the defensive end.

It was a bad time for Holl to enter free agency, and many expected him to have to sign a one-year prove-it deal. However, Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings gave him a three-year deal worth $3.4 million per year.

Holl is not a good defender and he doesn't bring much offense. He seems like a bottom-pairing defenseman in the NHL at best. To give him $3.4 million for three years feels like a bad deal already.

#3, Islanders re-sign Varlamov

The New York Islanders could've taken the top three spots on the list for their re-signings of Semyon Varlamov, Pierre Engvall, and Scott Mayfield. All four got long-term deals that weren't necessary, but Varlamov is the worst by far.

Varlamov is the Islanders' backup goalie at 35 years old. He is one of the better backup goalies in the league, but the problem is New York signed him to a four-year extension worth $2.75 million. They gave him a full no-trade clause in the first two years and a 16-team no-trade clause in the final two years.

Giving a backup NHL goalie nearly $3 million is already bad enough but to give a 35-year-old a four-year deal and a no-trade clause compounds it.