The 2024-25 NHL season is upon us, with regular-season games getting started tonight (Oct. 8). There will be plenty of storylines to follow once the puck drops, including which free-agent signings from the 2024 offseason could have the biggest impact on their new teams. Here are eight who have the most potential.
Jake Guentzel
The Tampa Bay Lightning made some sweeping changes this offseason, deciding to let franchise legend Steven Stamkos walk in free agency and replacing him with Jake Guentzel on a massive seven-year deal at an average annual value (AAV) of $9 million.
It’s hard to argue with general manager Julien BriseBois’ decision to swap Stamkos for Guentzel. The latter is five years younger and a much better five-on-five player at this point in their respective careers. This isn’t to say Stamkos is a power-play merchant, but 40 of his 81 points came on the man advantage last season. Chances are Guentzel will be able to contribute at a much more efficient rate at five-on-five while also helping the power play.
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The Lightning may not have the depth they used to, but a top line of Guentzel, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov is pretty terrifying. The team may be a bit vulnerable in the playoff race compared to years past, but expect Guentzel and his linemates to keep them highly competitive.
Steven Stamkos & Jonathan Marchessault
Speaking of Stamkos, he still has the potential to be an impact player for his new team, the Nashville Predators. The five-on-five decline is stark. Stamkos averaged just 1.82 points per 60 minutes at five-on-five last season, and his overall impacts at that game state are beginning to fall off.
I also don’t think Stamkos will put up the power-play scoring he did with the Lightning. That seems like a good case for not including him in this article, so why is he here? Even if Stamkos isn’t a 40-goal, 80-point scorer, you’d still bet on him to be a 30-goal, 60-plus-point player, which is still pretty impactful. His contract may not age well, but since we’re only focusing on the 2024-25 season, that’s something to worry about down the road.
The same arguments apply to Jonathan Marchessault, who the Predators also signed this offseason. His five-year contract probably won’t age well, and he likely won’t score 42 goals again as he did with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023-24. He’s also shown some signs of decline at…
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