5 teams that made most impactful moves first day of free agency

The free agent market opened for business at noon ET on Saturday, and within a few minutes news started to break about where many of the top unrestricted free agents were going.
Seven hours into the frenzy there were 101 contracts signed worth more than $438 million with an estimated combined salary-cap charge of approximately $162 million, according to calculations kept by CapFriendly.com.
Many teams dove deep into the free agent waters. Here are the five that made big splashes:

RELATED: [NHL free agent tracker | Trade tracker | Fantasy impact of July 1 signings ]

NEW YORK RANGERS

Key moves: Signed D Kevin Shattenkirk (four years, $26.6 million) and G Ondrej Pavelec (one year, $1.3 million)
The Rangers got Shattenkirk, the prize of the 2017 free agent class, to sign for three fewer years than many thought he would get and likely could have gotten elsewhere.
Shattenkirk, 28, who is from New Rochelle, New York, a 20-mile drive from Madison Square Garden, wanted to play for the Rangers, and he left term and millions of dollars on the table to do so.
Shattenkirk fills a specific need in New York as a right-handed, puck-moving defenseman who can run the power play from the right point. He's expected to be given the first crack to play with captain Ryan McDonagh on the top defense pair.
The $6.65 million cap charge makes him the Rangers' highest paid defenseman per season. However, the Rangers basically are using the cap space they created by trading center Derek Stepan ($6.5 million cap charge) to the Arizona Coyotes to pay Shattenkirk.

In addition, the Rangers signed Pavelec to be the backup to goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Pavelec replaces Antti Raanta, who was sent to Arizona along with Stepan.
So far this offseason, the Rangers have bought out the final three years on defenseman Dan Girardi's contract and traded Stepan and Raanta, and they have signed Shattenkirk and Pavelec, re-signed defenseman Brendan Smith (four years, $17.6 million), and acquired 21-year-old defenseman Tony DeAngelo and the No. 7 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, which they used on Swedish center Lias Andersson, from the Coyotes.
They still need to find a center to replace Stepan. General manager Jeff Gorton said they're looking in the free agent market but also talking with several teams about trades.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Key moves: Signed C Nick Bonino (four years, $16.4 million) and LW Scott Hartnell (one year, $1 million); acquired D Alexei Emelin in a trade from Vegas Golden Knights
Bonino is going to Nashville to try to be the No. 2 center behind Ryan Johansen, who is a restricted free agent. He was the No. 3 center with the Pittsburgh Penguins behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Hartnell returns to Nashville, where his NHL career began 17 years ago. He could be a bottom-six forward with some offensive upside after he had 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season.
Emelin, who was acquired for a third-round pick in 2019, joins a deep defense that already featured a top four of Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm.
Emelin gives Nashville more stability on its third defense pair, which last season was Matt Irwin and Yannick Weber. Each remains with the Predators, as does Anthony Bitetto. It's also possible Emelin or another defenseman could be used in a future trade.

DALLAS STARS

Key moves:Signed C Martin Hanzal (three years, $14.25 million) and RW Tyler Pitlick (three years, $3 million)
Hanzal replaces Cody Eakin, who went to the Golden Knights in the NHL Expansion Draft. He gives the Stars the opportunity to have enviable depth at center, including Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Radek Faksa and Devin Shore.
Signing Hanzal also means Stars coach Ken Hitchcock has the option to put Spezza on the wing to play with Seguin and Jamie Benn.
Hanzal, who is 6-foot-6, 226 pounds, can be a key cog on the penalty kill and provide scoring punch.
Between Hanzal and Faksa, the Stars have two centers who could take the majority of the defensive-zone faceoffs, insulating Seguin and Spezza and giving them a chance to get a lot of offensive-zone starts.
Pitlick had eight goals in 31 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season.
When you factor these moves in with the prior acquisitions of goalie Ben Bishop and defenseman Marc Methot, plus bringing in Hitchcock as coach, it already looks like a strong offseason for the Stars and general manager Jim Nill.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Key moves: Signed D Dan Girardi (two years, $6 million) and LW Chris Kunitz (one year, $2 million)
The Lightning were looking for a veteran defenseman to replace Jason Garrison, who went to the Golden Knights in the expansion draft. They wanted a defenseman who wasn't afraid to throw his body around, to block shots, to play a physical game.
They feel they got that player with Girardi, who has played 788 NHL games, averaged 19:06 per game with the Rangers last season, and has 1,650 blocked shots since 2007-08, the most in the League during that span. He shouldn't play that much with the Lightning, who have depth on the right side of their defense with Anton Stralman, Andrej Sustr, Jake Dotchin (restricted free agent) and Girardi.
Kunitz, like Girardi, brings a wealth of experience to the Lightning, who clearly are in win-now mode. Kunitz is a four-time Stanley Cup champion, including the past two seasons with the Penguins. He could play on any of the Lightning's four lines.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Key moves: Signed C Sam Gagner (three years, $9.45 million), LW Alexander Burmistrov (one year, $900,000), D Michael Del Zotto (two years, $6 million), D Patrick Wiercioch (one year, $650,000) and G Anders Nilsson (two years, $5 million)
The Canucks got younger and deeper with these signings. It's a stretch to say they're now a legitimate Stanley Cup Playoff contender, but they pushed in a positive direction Saturday.
Gagner and Del Zotto should help Vancouver's power play, which was 29th in the NHL last season (14.1 percent).
In particular, Gagner, who had 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists) with the Blue Jackets last season, is a right-shot forward who can play on the top power-play unit with lefties Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Loui Eriksson. He also can play any of the three forward positions.

Nilsson replaces goalie Ryan Miller, who signed a two-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks. Nilsson, who was 10-10-4 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .923 save percentage with the Buffalo Sabres last season, will compete for playing time with Jacob Markstrom. It could be close to an even split in starts between them.
Wiercioch replaces Luca Sbisa, who went to Vegas in the expansion draft. The Canucks are hoping Burmistrov can be a productive player for them after he had 14 points in 26 games with the Coyotes last season after they claimed him off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 2.