The best hockey save of the year might’ve just happened in Sweden thanks to a goaltender who initially didn’t recognize he needed to make one.
Gustaf Lindvall is a goalie for Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Hockey League. In a semifinal playoff game against Frölunda HC on Tuesday, he made a full-extension diving stick save to prevent a goal.
Lindvall watched from his crease as opposing goalie Lars Johansson got tangled up with Skellefteå forward Linus Lindstrom. The referee gave a delayed penalty to Lindstrom for goalie interference. Lindvall assumed that play had been stopped for the penalty and wandered from the paint to the corner of the zone, which he usually does when there’s a whistle.
Except, there was no whistle — the play hadn’t stopped.
Frölunda forward Jayden Halbgewachs saw the wide-open net at the other end and shot the puck from the neutral zone. As Lindwall realized his mistake, he turned and dove back across the ice, raising his goalie stick high enough with his right arm to deflect the puck out of play with the shaft of his stick.
Frölunda ended up defeating Skellefteå AIK, 2-0. Lindvall finished with 21 saves, including one that’s going to be played in highlight reels for years to come.
The 2024 NHL offseason moves fast. Consider the following: The Florida Panthers had not yet even hoisted the Stanley Cup when the wheels of player movement were set in motion last month. Only recently has the leaguewide flurry of signings and trades started to slow down.
By now, though, just a few productive veterans — names such as Daniel Sprong, James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk — remain unsigned. So with most of this summer’s biggest dominoes having fallen, let’s do a little offseason accounting. Using last season’s goals above replacement (GAR) totals, we’ll be looking at the teams that picked up the most net value (from additions minus subtractions) via trades, free agent signings, retirements and other moves since the end of the 2023-24 regular season.
This won’t take into account rookies — so No. 1 draft pick Macklin Celebrini won’t have any previous GAR to contribute to the San Jose Sharks — but it should otherwise give a good sense for which teams boosted their talent base, and who will have to replace production from a year ago.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a great case study in both areas, for example: They picked up Jake Guentzel from the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade, but they also said goodbye to captain and franchise icon Steven Stamkos. Between those and other moves, the Bolts came out pretty much exactly even on net GAR — ranking 16th out of 32 teams.
How do the other 31 teams grade out? Let’s unpack some of the teams at each end of the spectrum, and then reveal the full rankings:
