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NHL free agency 2020: Winners and losers after one week

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Breaking down the winners and losers of 2020 NHL free agency after one week.

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The Sabres landed the biggest fish on the market in Taylor Hall, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal. If he pans out, Hall will likely re-sign on a long-term deal. If he doesn't, the Sabres could trade him at the deadline and gain future assets. It's a win-win.

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The Coyotes are looking to move out salary and explored trading captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who would only accept a deal to Boston and Vancouver. Darcy Kuemper's name is also rumored to be on the block. A team that was slowly trending in a positive direction is suddenly moving backwards again.

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If you're a general manager and Joe Sakic calls, don't pick up. He acquired two-time Stanley Cup champion Brandon Saad and top-four defenseman Devon Toews without giving up any of his top prospects. The Avalanche will be the Stanley Cup favorites next season.

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The Bruins let Torey Krug walk for nothing and their big-name signing to this point is Craig Smith, who's a solid middle-six forward but doesn't exactly move the needle. Pending restricted free agent Jake DeBrusk remains unsigned and could be traded while Zdeno Chara's future in Boston is also unclear.

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Steve Yzerman is having a terrific offseason for the Red Wings, who signed forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Bobby Ryan and defensemen Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher on short-term deals and replaced Jimmy Howard with Thomas Greiss. He also acquired defenseman Marc Staal along with a second-round pick. The Red Wings won't be a playoff team next season, but they're taking proper steps in a rebuild by collecting future assets and signing veterans to short-term deals to alleviate the heavy responsibilities for their younger players.

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The Blackhawks traded two-time Stanley Cup champions Olli Maatta and Brandon Saad and elected not to re-sign franchise goaltender Corey Crawford, the latter of which was the most surprising of them all. Mattias Janmark and Lucas Wallmark were fine signings and Nikita Zadorov is a dependable third-pairing defenseman, but it's hard to see the Blackhawks taking a step forward next season.

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The Canadiens shored up their backup goaltender in Jake Allen, added a physical shutdown-type defenseman in Joel Edmundson, a gritty power forward in Josh Anderson and a dependable two-way winger in Tyler Toffoli. They also locked up Brendan Gallagher on a six-year contract.

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The Panthers had the third-worst goals against average last season and only made a few minor signings to help patch things up defensively. But more notably, Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman were the team's two leading goal scorers and they're no longer part of the mix. The Panthers will be relying heavily on Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau to carry the offensive load.

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