There was no bigger story than John Tavares' homecoming on Sunday, but there were plenty of other intriguing moves on the first day of NHL free agency.
Predictably, many clubs paid hefty prices for less-than-stellar players, while others addressed immediate needs while paying market value.
Here's a look at who made out like bandits and whose moves left something to be desired:
Winners
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs were the clear victors on day one, and not just because they won the Tavares sweepstakes.
They also got the superstar center on a hometown discount, for a reasonable seven years and $77 million.
Toronto's transformation into a perennial playoff contender undoubtedly played a part in Tavares' decision. Besides winning the 2016 draft lottery for Auston Matthews, team president Brendan Shanahan and new general manager Kyle Dubas (along with former GM Lou Lamoriello and former assistant GM Mark Hunter) deserve a ton of credit for fully rebuilding the club and putting it in a position to add a player of Tavares' caliber.
The next stage of the "Shanaplan" came to fruition Sunday, and now the future looks exponentially brighter for the Blue and White.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights entered their first-ever free-agent period with a boatload of cap space, and while they weren't in the mix for the biggest fish, they did catch an excellent consolation prize.
Vegas signed Paul Stastny to a reported three-year, $19.5-million deal, landing the second-best center on the market at a fair cost.
Stastny gives this past season's Stanley Cup runner-up a skilled two-way pivot to anchor the Golden Knights' second line, and they still have plenty of cap space ($18.75 million, according to CapFriendly) left over to re-sign top-line center William Karlsson.
Tough guys
Sunday was a great day for offensively gifted players, but it was also kind to fighters and pests.
The Golden Knights gave Ryan Reaves a two-year contract reportedly worth $5.55 million in total, perhaps rewarding the grinder for his goal that eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference Final.
Oh, and also for this:
GM George McPhee talks to the media about free agency:
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) July 1, 2018
When asked about Ryan Reaves.... 👇
“he keeps the flies off the honey.” 🐝🥊
Elsewhere, the Islanders handed Leo Komarov four years and $12 million after losing Tavares, and the Dallas Stars gave Roman Polak a one-year, $1.3-million deal.
Jack Johnson
The Pittsburgh Penguins might deserve to be in the "losers" category for giving marginal defenseman Jack Johnson a five-year pact worth $3.25 million per season, but it's a big win for the veteran whose financial troubles have been well documented.
Johnson was essentially a borderline third-pairing blue-liner toward the end of his tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but regardless of what you think of him as a player, it's nice to see him get some job security. Hopefully he's allowed to keep a good chunk of his new payday.
Losers
New York Islanders
There were no bigger losers on the first day of free agency than the New York Islanders. After weeks of taking part in the Tavares sweepstakes, the team watched hopelessly as its franchise forward left the only NHL organization he's ever known for his hometown team.
New York re-signed defenseman Thomas Hickey to a four-year, $10-million agreement and reunited Komarov with Lou Lamoriello, but neither of those moves will do much to ease the pain of Tavares leaving.
Poor Barry Trotz.
Winnipeg Jets
It was widely believed that the Jets dumped Steve Mason's $4.1 million on the Montreal Canadiens, along with young forward Joel Armia and two draft picks for defenseman Simon Bourque, to create space to re-sign Stastny.
However, the prized free-agent center opted to leave Winnipeg for Las Vegas once free agency opened.
Ouch.
The only one-way move the Jets made as of about 7 p.m. on Sunday was bringing in backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit on a one-year, $650,000 contract. It's not exactly how they were hoping to begin the frenzy.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are supposedly a rebuilding team, but you wouldn't know it based on their free-agent activity.
Vancouver finalized a couple of puzzling signings Sunday, handing out dual four-year, $12-million deals to Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, in addition to giving forward Tim Schaller $3.8 million over two years and re-signing Sven Baertschi for $10 million over three years.
Both Beagle and Roussel have shown they can provide value as depth players in limited roles, but general manager Jim Benning went against the grain by adding them to a team that in all likelihood is still far from being competitive.
St. Louis Blues
Bringing back left wing David Perron for four years and $16 million wasn't a terrible move for the Blues, but giving Tyler Bozak $5 million per season for the next three years was a head-scratcher.
The Blues also bid farewell to stellar goaltender Carter Hutton, and while that was a foregone conclusion, they were only able to replace him with Chad Johnson, the journeyman who posted a pedestrian .891 save percentage last season.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
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