from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe,

Teams that have had the best offseasons:

Columbus — Grabbing Johnny Gaudreau won’t make the Blue Jackets Cup contenders, but it does make them an outside playoff threat. More importantly, it did wonders for Columbus’s image. The power play could be top five in the league if Gaudreau is dishing to Patrik Laine, who reupped for four years at $8.7 million per. It wasn’t all roses for GM Jarmo Kekalainen; the less said about the Erik Gudbranson contract (four years at $4 million per), the better.

Ottawa — Image-changing summer for GM Pierre Dorion, who signed Claude Giroux, traded for Alex DeBrincat, extended Josh Norris, and replaced Matt Murray and his contract with Cam Talbot. Looking like the team that will push Boston the most for a playoff spot, if it can get a shaky defense sorted.

Detroit — Signed a slew of veterans — Andrew Copp, David Perron, Dominik Kubalik, Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, and Mark Pysyk — to add to the young talent. Ville Husso may or may not be a No. 1 goalie, but he’s better than Alex Nedeljkovic.

Edmonton — Brought in a high-caliber goalie in Jack Campbell and re-upped Evander Kane, both at around $5 million. Mattias Janmark helps the bottom six. Offloaded Zack Kassian.

Tampa Bay — Eight years each for Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak, and Mikhail Sergachev, and seven years for Nick Paul. As usual, the Lightning will find a way to wiggle out of any of those deals if they become problematic. They had to sacrifice Ryan McDonagh.

more plus other topics including the Florida/Calgary trade...