2024 NHL Free Agency - Early Losers

Who did the worst after the first couple days of free agency?

NHL Free Agency is a time when teams make good decisions and teams make incredibly bad ones. On Monday, the 2024 edition of free agency opened, and more than 1 billion dollars was spent as a good chunk of the 32 teams tried to make moves to improve their respective rosters. There were 121 signings totaling 290 contract years, as per CapFriendly. The signings continued on Tuesday, but things slowed down significantly. Perhaps teams were approaching things more cautiously, especially considering some of the mistakes that were made on day one.

Even though there is lots of work left to do in free agency, who are the early losers?

Losers: Vegas Golden Knights

The big splash was made early as the Nashville Predators added Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei. Marchessault left Vegas and was pretty bitter about the way things ended. Why would the Golden Knights let him leave? Well, the thought was they were going to make a big play. They struck out early and often.