by Aaron Portzline, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH , The Columbus Dispatch

Here is how The Dispatch grades the teams:

GRADE: A

* Chicago: Added Marian Hossa (12 years, $62.8 million), John Madden (1/$2.75M and Tomas Kopecky (2/$2.4M). The Blackhawks can push Detroit in the Central Division. Word of warning: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith are restricted free agents next season. Good luck with that.

* Vancouver: Keeping the Sedin twins at such a reasonable cost (5/$6.1M each) is worth the grade alone. Mikael Samuelsson (3/$7.5M) could end up on their line. How will they replace Mattias Ohlund?

GRADE: B

* Toronto: The Maple Leafs might not win, but they will leave a mark. Defenseman Mike Komisarek (5/$22.5M) was a good pickup, and Colton Orr (4/$4M) is a noted pugilist.

* Calgary: Trading for and signing Jay Bouwmeester (5/$33.4M) gives the Flames a premier defense. But who's going to replace Mike Cammalleri's 39 goals and 82 assists?

* Columbus: Two holes plugged with the signing of center Sami Pahlsson (3/$7.95M) and backup goalie Mathieu Garon (2/$2.4M). With Rick Nash's new contract done, a trade for an offensive defenseman would improve the grade to an "A."

* Pittsburgh: Keeping Ruslan Fedotenko (1/$1.8M) in the fold was key. Now general manager Ray Shero can take the rest of the summer off.

* Atlanta: Nik Antropov (4/$16M) gives the Thrashers a big body to bookend the top line with Ilya Kovalchuk. Pavel Kubina (trade) will help the defense.

* Washington: Needed a power forward, and Mike Knuble (2/$5.6M) fills the bill.

GRADE: C

* Montreal: The NHL's Lollipop Guild. Trading for Scott Gomez (awful contract), signing Brian Gionta (5/$25M) and Cammalleri (5/$30M) makes the Canadiens small up front. Jaroslav Spacek (3/$11.5M) and Hal Gill (2/$4.5) join the blue line.

* Philadelphia: Added Chris Pronger at the draft and energy booster Ian Laperriere (3/$3.5M). But seriously -- Ray Emery and Brian Boucher (2/$1.85M) are the goalies?

* Others: Anaheim, Boston, Carolina, Dallas, Phoenix, St. Louis

GRADE: D

* Detroit: A step backward. The salary cap cost the Red Wings Hossa, Samuelsson, Kopecky and Ty Conklin.

* New York Rangers: General manager Glen Sather again wins the "worst contract of the summer award" for Marian Gaborik (5/$7.5M).

* Edmonton: Swapped goalies -- Dwayne Roloson for Nikolai Khabibulin (4/$15M). Nearly landed sniper Dany Heatley in trade with Ottawa.

* Minnesota: Swapped a Slovakian injury-prone winger (Marian Gaborik) for a Czech injury-prone winger (Martin Havlat -- 6/$30M). Greg Zanon (3/5.8M) will help, but the Wild needed more.

* San Jose: Still waiting for general manager Doug Wilson to start that offseason restructuring he promised.

* Others: Buffalo, Los Angeles, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay

GRADE: F

* Colorado: Lost heart-and-soul player Ian Laperriere. Signed No. 2 goalie Craig Anderson (2/$1.8M) to be the starter.

* Florida: Loss of Bouwmeester will be a huge psychological hit, on the ice and with the beleaguered fan base.

* Nashville: Needed lots of help at forward, but didn't get it. Keeping Steve Sullivan (2/$7.5M) and Joel Ward (2/$1.5M) isn't enough.

* New Jersey: Lost three key forwards -- John Madden, Brian Gionta and Michael Rupp. Keeping Johnny Oduya off the market was wise.

* Ottawa: A debacle, in large part because of Heatley's demand for a trade.

\ Waiting on the wings

The Blue Jackets are likely to make a move in the coming weeks to alleviate the glut of wingers on their roster, especially left wingers.

About 10 weeks from training camp, the forward lines look like this:

First line: Kristian Huselius, Derick Brassard, Rick Nash

Second line: R.J. Umberger, Antoine Vermette, Jake Voracek

Third line: Fredrik Modin, Sami Pahlsson, Raffi Torres

Fourth line: Jason Chimera, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett

Two names are missing -- Nikita Filatov and Jared Boll.

Howson has said that Filatov will be a Blue Jacket this season, and Hitchcock said last week he wants to find a way for Dorsett and Boll to play on the same line.

Something has to give, and the bet here is that Chimera is the most likely to be moved in the Blue Jackets' attempts to land an offensive defenseman.

\ The bell tolls

Ole-Kristian Tollefsen was married last Saturday. A day later, he and wife, Guro, began a honeymoon in the South of France. On Monday, he learned that he won't be back with the Blue Jackets .

"Happy days," Tollefsen said. "Then, a sad day."

Tollefsen was not extended a qualifying offer by the Blue Jackets , making him an unrestricted free agent. So ends a memorable yet brief run with the Jackets.

"I love Columbus," Tollefsen said. "It's going to be hard to leave. I wish I could stick around. I love the city. I love the fans. I met a lot of really great people through the ( Blue Jackets ) Foundation."

aportzline@dispatch.com

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