3 NHL teams that have recently lost star players in free agents – Hockey Writer – Toronto Maple Leaf

There are many things to say about Mitch Marner’s potential pending, and the superstar’s winger hasn’t even attacked free agents yet. Perhaps the breakup with Marner was part of the talk of General Manager (GM) Brad Treliving when he famously believed that “DNA had to change our team.” Perhaps the breakup of the “Core Four” salary cap structure is a necessary part of the next step towards the organization.

However, anyway, a 102-point scorer who lost a dominant at his peak would be hurt. This is especially true if Marner appears elsewhere where there is no free agency that returns assets. However, the history of the NHL shows us that life is also there in addition to losing a star player. 2024 – The 25 Maple Leafs scored 18 points in the Eastern Conference playoff cutoff, so some slight recession may still bring in the playoffs even in the potential unmanned 2025-26 season – even before knowing the look of the roster.

Since we obviously cannot look forward and know exactly how the future without Mana might look at it, we can also review it. In recent years, there have been many influential players who can enter the new team of free agents, thus shaping the immediate future of not only one but two NHL clubs. Let’s take a closer look at the effect of four such signings on the “clumsy” teams where players leave.

John Tavarez (New York Islander)

In fact, it wasn’t long ago that Toronto was on the other side of this exact type of scenario. In the summer of 2018, John Tavares became one of the highest-profile free agents in exchange for the team in recent memory. Tavares grew up as a fan of the Maple Leafs, a local success story welcomed Tavares to the rising Maple Leaf with open arms and even was named the club captain a year later.

But the other side of the Tavarez coin presents a more unhappy story. On Long Island, the 2009 New York Islander’s first choice was seen as a betrayal of his drafting and developing his franchise over nine seasons. Not surprisingly, the 34-year-old was received accordingly, booing every time the Nassau Stadium and now UBS arena.

Strangely, the islanders immediately got better in the Tavares exit. After he scored 80 points on the Island’s Swan songs and second inning chief in the Metropolitan Division, New York improved by 23 points after one season, finished second in the division, entered the second round and made three consecutive playoff appearances. GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Barry Trotz’s new brain trust immediately had an impact as the club’s season was better than the better season left by the Tavares.

This has been a less positive memory for Maple Leaf fans in the years since, but now serves as an encouraging source of hope as they prepare to bid farewell to Marner. Considering Tavares is a free agent again this summer, it’s also a suitable anecdote, despite not having the hype seven years ago.

Artemi Panarin (Columbus Blue Jacket)

Due to his successful tenure at the Big Apple over the past six seasons, Artemi Panarin has a close ties with the New York Rangers, so it’s easy to forget that the Blues are actually his third NHL team. After two excellent 30-ball sports to start his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, he was acquired by Columbus Blue Jacket and led the team to score points in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

However, that’s Panarin’s time in Columbus, who joined the Rangers in 2019. While New York didn’t get the reward for the acquisition right away (thanks in part to the pandemic), they ended up taking away three sensational seasons in a row, including two final appearances in the Eastern Conference, thanks to Russia’s weird Russian Explosives Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Explicits Existions Attack.

Just as the Wanderer rose with the rise of the trailer, the fall of the Blue Jacket was not direct. The group led by John Tortorella returned to the playoffs and even won the Maple Leafs’ qualifying game. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Zach Werenski led the ultimate defensive-oriented team as they ended up falling into champion Tampa Bay Lightning but failed to replicate their previous season’s frustration victory. Columbus has never returned to the playoffs in the sixty years since then, but at least they weren’t stuck at the bottom of the meeting after Panarin stepped out of the door.

You may also like

Alex Pitlanglow (St. Louis Blues)

Despite their different positions, after 12 seasons studying Alex Pietrangelo, who started from the St. Louis Blues, joined the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020, providing an interesting and potential case study for the possibilities of living after Mana.

Pietrangelo and Blues only hang the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history when they left free agents. Their 2019-20 season won the Central Division Championship, but the club struggled in the bubble playoffs, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 in the first round. Pietrangelo’s Las Vegas tenure is only three seasons, and the blue lining will improve the Cup again.

In St. Louis, things still haven’t changed even if one of the club’s biggest minutes of lumberjacks was lost. The Blues took a step back in the regular season standings (from 0.662 points to .563) and ranked fourth in the pandemic West Section, but they returned to the playoffs that season, adding to the season afterwards. Pietrangelo left big skates to fill it up, but the new Torey Krug did a great job of absorbing his lost minutes, and the team kept moving as far as possible.

To be clear, none of these examples portray an idealized organization that thrives in the absence of one of the best players. Instead, the scenes set out through free agents from Tavares, Panarin and Pietrangelo provide varying degrees of optimism, as losing Marner is not the end of the world. If he travels elsewhere on July 1 (or later), the Maple Leafs will do a lot of work in his absence. But a talented roster and some viable potential alternatives suggest that success can still be achieved in Toronto.