The NHL produced no shortage of action this past offseason. While there are many angles to break down and events to analyze, we're going to focus on the moves that left us asking one simple question: "Why?"

Flyers confuse everybody

If there's one team that puzzled everybody this summer, it's the Flyers. While Philly sought changes after missing out on the playoffs, none of its moves made sense. The team bought out popular winger Oskar Lindblom, who had one year remaining on his contract at little cost, to create some additional cap space. General manager Chuck Fletcher then handed a four-year contract to 31-year-old enforcer Nicolas Deslauriers, whose career high in points is 15. He also traded for oft-criticized blue-liner Tony DeAngelo when the club's back end appeared set, signing him to a two-year, $10-million contract.

Fletcher's salary cap allocation is particularly confounding given the club was labeled a destination for Johnny Gaudreau, this summer's prized free agent. The GM attributed his failure to offload salary and bring in a franchise player from the area to the high price needed to convince teams to take on some of the Flyers' cumbersome contracts.

Philadelphia doesn't want to commit to a full rebuild, yet it won't surrender assets to make a pitch at the best player available. To make matters worse, Gaudreau signed for a division rival at a cheaper cost than anyone expected.

Predators take on McDonagh

The Predators' acquisition of blue-liner Ryan McDonagh for Philippe Myers and Grant Mismash was one of the more notable trades this past summer. The writing was on the wall for McDonagh's tenure in Tampa Bay immediately after the Lightning fell short of a three-peat.

When the Bolts made it known the veteran blue-liner was available as a salary-cap casualty, Nashville pounced, reinforcing an already strong blue line without giving up much. But the acquisition was perplexing for a couple of reasons.