Now that the National Hockey League regular season is ending let's look at the top 3 2021 NHL free agency wins in the second and final part of this series. In the last part, I looked at the top 3 worst signings this past off-season.
Michael Bunting was signed to a 2-year 1.9 million dollar deal. Bunting signed on July 28th, 2021 and has a cap hit of 950k. In 74 games this season while playing on the Toronto Maple Leaf's top line, Bunting has 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points in what is controversially considered his rookie season. If we're looking at the most value for signing, 950k for a 60-point scorer is a master class by the Leaf organization. Considering 74 of his 100 NHL games have been played this season.
Philip Danault signed with the Los Angeles Kings this off-season to a 6-year 33 million dollar contract which carries a cap hit of 5.5 million dollars per season. After a slow start to the season in which everyone thought Danault was overpaid, he quietly has righted the ship and is having a very productive first season of his deal. In 74 games with the Kings this year, he has 23 goals and 24 assists for 47 points while being a reasonably reliable faceoff and defensive forward to go along with his offensive output this season.
The Carolina Hurricanes signed goaltender Frederik Andersen to a 2-year 9 million contract during free agency this past off-season. He carries a 4.5 million dollar cap hit through both years of his deal and a modified no-movement clause for this year and next. In. Andersen, who struggled in the last 2 years of his contract in Toronto, has seemingly returned to form in a much smaller Carolina market. In 51 games this year, Andersen has put together a Vezina-calibre season with a 35-13-3 record with 4 shutouts, a 2.07 goals-against-average, and a .926 save percentage. If the Rangers' Shesterkin wasn't playing out of his mind this year, in my opinion, Freddy would be the front runner for the Vezina.
