The five best signings from the first day of NHL free agency

Even though the NHL free agent signing period can turn out to be a regretful experience for teams that sign the wrong player, there are exceptions to that. Some teams will find value and it is usually on the short-term deals with minimal risk involved.

We already looked at the riskiest deals signed on Saturday. 

Now let's take a look at five of the best signings on the first day of the league's signing period.

Matt Duchene to the Dallas Stars

The deal: One year, $3 million

Duchene was a late entry into the free-agent market after the Nashville Predators bought out the remainder of his contract on Friday. The Stars may have gotten one of the best bargains on the open market.

While he may not have been worth the $8 million per year Nashville was paying him on his now bought out contract, for one year and $3 million he is an excellent depth addition to a Dallas team that is already one of the best in the NHL. Duchene scored 65 goals over the past two seasons and is great in transition, giving the Stars even more potential scoring punch. 

Daniel Sprong to the Detroit Red Wings

The deal: One year, $2 million
Sprong is not a complete player by any stretch of the imagination, but he can do one thing extremely well: score goals. 

He scored 21 goals for the Seattle Kraken in 2022-23 in only 66 games, while averaging just 11 minutes of ice-time per game. On a per-minute level, few players in the NHL were more efficient at putting the puck in the net than Sprong. 

Still, Seattle opted to not tender him a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent and allowed him to test the open market. The Red Wings, a team in desperate need of some secondary scoring to get back into the playoffs, may have found one of the best values in the entire free agent class. At least offensively.  

Max Pacioretty to the Washington Capitals

The Deal: One-year, $2 million
Pacioretty might be the biggest wild card in all of free agency this summer and the Capitals are making a small bet that they can catch lightning in a bottle with him.

When healthy, Pacioretty is still an outstanding goal-scorer that is capable of posting 30 or even 40 goals in a season.

The problem is that injuries have limited him to just 44 games over the past two year and held him to only five this past season. He suffered two major Achilles injuries during the 2022-23 season that wiped out almost his entire campaign. He might not be ready for the start of the 2023-24 regular season, but when he does return to the ice, he has the potential to be an impact goal scorer for a Capitals team looking to bounce back from a disappointing year. Very low-risk deal. Potentially very high reward.  

New York Islanders re-sign Ilya Sorokin

The deal: Eight years, $66 million

Technically not a free-agent signing, but a long-term contract extension re-signing. Sorokin was still under contract for one more season, but the Islanders wanted to make sure he was not going to hit the unrestricted free agent market next offseason.

For most goalies, an eight-year contract worth that much money would be an insane risk and probably a terrible deal.

But Sorokin is not only one of the best goalies in hockey, he is also the single biggest reason the Islanders are an even remotely competitive hockey team. Smart business to get the franchise player re-signed. 

Erik Gustafsson to the New York Rangers

The deal: One year, $825,000
The Rangers made a series of small, one-year bets on veteran players on Saturday, signing Blake Wheeler, Jonathan Quick, Nick Bonino and Gustafsson to short-term deals. 

Gustafsson might prove to be the most impactful of them all, even if he is not the biggest name out of the group. While he may not be the most steady defensive hand on the blue line, he does have some significant offensive upside and is coming off a very strong 2022-23 season that saw him score seven goals with 35 assists in 70 games. He brings some mobility and offense to a Rangers blue line that could desperately use a little of both.