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Four NHL teams that have kept low profiles so far this offseason
Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall has practiced patience so far this offseason. Len Redkoles/Getty Images

Four NHL teams that have kept low profiles so far this offseason

Plenty has been said, and repeated, about the NHL teams that have made big moves during this offseason, particularly around the opening of the free agency market.

  • Trading for P.K. Subban gives the Nashville Predators the toughest blue line in the Western Conference.
  • Signing Milan Lucic shows that the Edmonton Oilers are taking a rebuild seriously.
  • Steve Yzerman is a wizard among general managers.


Stuff like that has been flying around since Friday.

But what about those other teams? I'm talking about the ones that haven’t made a splashy free agent signing or blown up everyone’s Twitter feed because of a top draft pick or a trade that nobody saw coming. We aren’t talking about the teams that have most of their lineups together and made a couple smaller, depth-related signings — the Washington Capitals, for example — but teams that were expected to be more active.

For some NHL squads, the salary cap is just a little too close for comfort. For others, it’s about rebuilding from within the organization. And for some it is the dangerous mix of having less than $1 million in cap room on top of a disgruntled ex-captain as part of the team's core. (Actually that’s just the Los Angeles Kings, who have garnered plenty of headlines and did not make this list.)

Here’s a look at a couple teams that have kept an extra low profile through the insanity this offseason.

New York Rangers

It seems like the only time the Rangers have appeared in headlines recently has been because players are being subtracted from their roster — Keith Yandle being moved to Florida is the most noticeable. The Blueshirts were spectators on free agent Friday, but Yahoo Sports suggested that a colossal trade should be on the horizon in an effort to free up some cap space:

… we’re all waiting for the Big Trade from the Rangers. They’d like it to include the $7.8 million cap hit for Rick Nash, who as a 12-team no-trade list, but have found no takers. There was talk that Derek Stepan was in play, but that hasn’t come to pass. 
The Nash, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal contracts continue to be anchors around their collective necks. Frankly, the time is right to trade Henrik Lundqvist, but he has both a love of New York and a full no-move.”

Lundqvist waving his no-movement clause doesn’t sound like anything that would come to fruition. However, a big trade toward the end of the summer could still be in the cards.

Philadelphia Flyers

It’s hard for a team to make any kind of move when it’s just $8.6 million under the salary cap. But all hope is not lost. Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer explained after the opening of the free agent market that this another step in the Flyers’ journey to bringing in younger talent, as opposed to overpaying for a big-name player right this second:

The building started last season when youngsters Shayne Gostisbehere, Nick Cousins, and Brandon Manning got key minutes and even gained some surprising playoff experience as a bonus. 
It should continue this year with Ivan Provorov's likely becoming the second of the young defensive guns to crack the lineup. Winger Travis Konecny also could make the team, though that may have become more of a long shot with the signing of Weise. 
In the coming years, promising prospects such as Travis Sanheim, Sam Morin, Phil Myers, German Rubtsov, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and Radel Fazleev will be here, and the hope is that they can make an impact before players such as Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek, and Wayne Simmonds are past their primes.”

The narrative surrounding the Flyers appears to be based on trusting that GM Ron Hextall and exercising patience in the process.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Perhaps what makes the silence on Columbus’ front surprising is because of the way the team started the previous season — the worst start to an NHL campaign in 72 years followed by a coaching change in October. There probably won’t be any noise coming out of CBJ’s camp anytime soon, either. At least, there won't be anything extreme.

Veteran Blue Jackets writer Aaron Portzline explained in a chat for the Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday that, while the roster probably isn’t complete yet, there won’t be any splashy moves happening. He also pointed to the players already on the John Tortorella’s roster being the ones who need to make the team a competitive product. In answering a question in regard to CBJ being quiet on free agent Friday, Portzline responded:

“This is a year of redemption, not rebirth. To put it very frankly: there are a number of players on this roster who have not lived up to expectations, not lived up to their contracts, have a lot to prove in 2016-17 and beyond. I think the expectation is that this should be a competitive team. Last year is being counted as a mulligan, but those are rare in pro sports. Almost non-existent anymore.”

With that in mind, it makes more sense to keep an eye on who looks impressive in CBJ’s development camp.

Colorado Avalanche

So much has happened in the Central Division this offseason — heck, so much has happened over the last two weeks — but the Avs have not taken part in it.

Sure, they signed a couple players among the mayhem of free agent Friday, traded Nick Holden and bought out vet Brad Stuart. None of this appears to be the earth-shattering jolt this Colorado team needs. Yahoo Sports believes that the Avalanche could be up to making some noise a bit later:

GM Joe Sakic said the team would be on the sidelines for free agency, but there was talk about the Avs on the verge of something big. Like shipping Tyson Barrie to Edmonton instead of settling on a high-price one or two-year deal in arbitration. Like trading Matt Duchene or, even more significantly, Gabriel Landeskog. 
New contracts for Nathan MacKinnon and Barrie are going to eat a lot of that remaining cap space. So is this the team they come back with next season?

It’s definitely food for thought regarding a team that has been a bit too hushed this offseason.

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