The 2015 winners and losers in the NHL
It's been a weird year.
We've seen accidental futility conquer premeditated tanking, a marked shift in the NHL's core group of stars, and an improbable dynasty established in the face of parity.
Here are the NHL's winners and losers over the last 12 months:
Winner: Chicago Blackhawks
Dynasties aren't dead. Chicago's third Stanley Cup in six seasons - won in six games over the Tampa Bay Lightning - was extra special, being its first won on home ice in 77 years.
Loser: Pittsburgh Penguins
It hasn't been a banner run in Pittsburgh for Jim Rutherford. After a shameful five-game defeat at the hands of the New York Rangers last spring, the Penguins general manager packaged the only first-round prospect left in the system since the 2012 draft with a future first rounder in order to land Phil Kessel.
Though he received value in the transaction, it illustrated Rutherford's glaring oversight toward the fundamental flaws on Pittsburgh's roster. And for that, the under-performing Kessel has indirectly become a problem once again as his new team comes undone.
Winner: Carey Price
The toast of the NHL Awards in June, Price backed up his Hart and Vezina Trophy season with a dazzling 12-game run to start this campaign. Though his season has been derailed by a somewhat mysterious lower-body injury, his case for being the best hockey player on the planet has only be solidified by the Montreal Canadien's recent spiral.
Loser: Jonathan Bernier
He closed his calendar season with an impressive performance versus the Penguins, but that doesn't erase Bernier's 364 days of misery. He was 10-30-7 with a sub-.900 save percentage over the last 12 months.
Winner: Mike Babcock
No matter what happened over the last few months, Babcock was going to be a winner for having a management team essentially shove $50 million into a briefcase and deliver it via private jet. But the work he's done since has justified such theatrics.
Loser: Jarmo Kekalainen
Do you blame John Tortorella, or the man who hired John Tortorella?
Winner: Edmonton Oilers
This isn't at all on the basis of on-ice merit, as the Oilers will turn the page on 2015 in the West basement, again, but for literally winning the right to draft ultra-special - and unfortunately still injured - superstar Connor McDavid.
Loser: Buffalo Sabres
Edmonton's triumph was tragedy for the Sabres, of course, as unlike the Oilers, they invested all their resources into losing before ultimately losing hold on the best of consolation prizes.
Winner: Jaromir Jagr
Not only does the ageless and extraordinary Jagr lead the upstart Florida Panthers - the team he vitalized last season - in scoring in his 22nd NHL season, but he's wrest social media supremacy from teammate Roberto Luongo as well.
Loser: Patrik Elias
Jagr's countryman, who's apparently also in Jagr's crossfire, has been cast aside in what projects to be his final season with the New Jersey Devils. The 39-year-old Elias, who costs $5.5 million against the cap, has eight goals in 45 games over the last 12 months and has been in and out of the lineup since his rather generous inclusion in last season's All-Star Game.
Winner: Johnny Gaudreau
The wunderkind Gaudreau, having the best sophomore season among those in last year's outstanding rookie class, scored 73 points in 78 games in 2015, and will break into 2016 in the top 10 in league scoring.
Loser: Jonathan Drouin
Conversely Drouin, selected more than 100 slots ahead of Gaudreau in their respective drafts, registered four total goals in 2015.
Winner: Jamie Benn
Benn won last season's scoring title in the most dramatic fashion, registering a goal and an assist in the final 125 seconds for a four-point night in Game 82 to overtake John Tavares. And he hasn't looked back.
Benn, who collected 105 of his 409 career points over the last 12 months, trails only Patrick Kane in league scoring this season.
Loser: Sidney Crosby
From mumps to lumps, middle age - at least in hockey years - has hit Crosby harder than a viral illness ever could. He's on pace to finish below a point per game for the first time in his career.
Winner: Andrej Sekera
In a summer of marked patience from NHL executives, it was Sekera who somehow broke the bank. He scored $33 million in the most expensive free-agent deal of the summer.
Loser: Cody Franson
And then there's Franson, who cost himself millions in misreading the market. He settled for a two-year deal worth just north of $6.5 million with Buffalo after turning down lucrative long-term in-season offers from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Winner: Mike Hoffman
Hoffman didn't have it Franson bad, but was doubted by both his employer and a third party following his 27-goal rookie season, having been awarded just $2 million by an arbitrator. But he's now forced the Ottawa Senators to pay up in spades.
The sniper will finish the 2015 portion of the season ranked top-10 in NHL goal scoring, and will certainly cost the Senators more than he would have readily took last summer.
Loser: Alex Semin
He has, and will continue to earn, the money Hoffman temporarily lacks, but Semin will likely never see NHL ice again after being purchased out of his optimistic one-year deal with the Canadiens.
And not so fast ...
Remember when Don Sweeney was the laughing stock of the NHL, the Kings were cooked, and Jakub Voracek was worth $66 million?
A lot can change in a year.