There was no lack of action when the 2020 NHL offseason officially began, shortly after the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in October. With an $81.5 million flat salary cap set for next season, teams were scrambling to move all of the pieces necessary to get under the cap for 2021.
Good players who otherwise would not have been moved were traded. Free agents due for big pay days, like Taylor Hall, signed short-term deals instead, with Hall going to the Buffalo Sabres on a one-year deal to try to reset his market after a down season.