With training camps beginning today, players hitting the ice for practice tomorrow and the first exhibition games set for this Saturday, the NHL is embarking on a less-than-two-week sprint to opening night on Sept. 29.Â
That’s the earliest the regular season has ever started (a gimmicky 2007 opener in England happened on the same date) as the schedule expands from 82 to 84 games â the biggest change brought in by a new collective bargaining agreement that took effect today.
Here’s a look at what else is new around the league.
Big moves
To name a few headlines since the Carolina Hurricanes hoisted the Stanley Cup in June, Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk forced a trade to Florida to join forces with his brother Matthew; Edmonton gambled on disgraced head coach Mike Babcock to help Connor McDavid finally win a Cup; and the new Toronto braintrust of Mats Sundin and John Chayka picked highly touted Canadian prospect Gavin McKenna first overall in the draft.
The retooling Leafs also got the jump on free agency by acquiring late-blooming defenceman Darren Raddysh in a sign-and-trade deal with Tampa Bay before signing two-time Cup-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky away from Florida. Washington landed the top player on the market, getting high-scoring power forward Alex Tuch in an eight-year, $84-million US sign-and-trade with resurgent Buffalo.
Next moves?
Three-time Vezina Trophy winner and U.S. Olympic hero Connor Hellebuyck remains in limbo after requesting a trade from Winnipeg last month. Carolina and Buffalo are among the teams thought to be interested in the star goalie.
Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Zach Werenski is still in Columbus, for now, after indicating he won’t re-sign with the Blue Jackets when his contract expires in 2028. Dallas 45-goal scorer Jason Robertson rejected a sign-and-trade with Seattle that would have paid him a whopping $15M per year over eight years, opting for a one-year, $12M deal with the Stars that allows him to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.
Other big pending UFAs include reigning MVP Nikita Kucherov, who has spent his entire career with Tampa Bay, and superstar defenceman Quinn Hughes, who has refused to re-up with Minnesota after they acquired him in a trade with Vancouver last December. There’s speculation that Hughes is trying to finagle a Tkachuk-esque pairing with his brother Jack, a star forward with New Jersey who’s under contract until 2030.
In Pittsburgh, the longtime dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are also on expiring contracts. And this could be Alex Ovechkin’s last dance after he signed a one-year deal to stay in Washington.
Meanwhile, perennial 30-goal scorer Dylan Larkin is in an extremely awkward spot in Detroit, where the struggling Red Wings stripped him of his captaincy following a trade request that they appear to be in no rush to fulfill.
Big money
With the salary cap rising from $95.5M to $104M this season and projected to climb to $113.5M in 2027-28 (two extra regular-season games, increasingly insane ticket prices and all those annoying ads on the boards and everywhere else can apparently do wonders for your bottom line) teams have been doling out some truly head-spinning contracts.
Things got really nutty back in July when Philadelphia tendered an offer sheet to 21-year-old Anaheim centre Leo Carlsson worth an average of $18M over five years. The Ducks matched it as Carlsson, who had a modest 67 points last season, temporarily became the league’s highest-paid player in terms of annual cap hit.
Not for long, though, as San Jose inked 20-year-old superstar-in-the-making Macklin Celebrini to a five-year extension for $18.8M per year. And then Colorado defenceman Cale Makar topped him with an eight-year extension worth an NHL-record $20.4M per. Meanwhile, Chicago gave former No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard, who has yet to record more than 75 points in a season and is expected to be out until November after shoulder surgery, a five-year extension for $15M annually.
The mind-bending contracts haven’t stopped there. Just yesterday alone, Washington rewarded forward Ryan Leonard for his 20-goal rookie season with an eight-year, $84-million US extension and handed forward Justin Sourdif, a 2020 third-round draft pick with 16 NHL goals, an eight-year, $50.8M extension. These deals came in just before the midnight arrival of the new collective bargaining agreement, which limits extensions to seven years and deals with external free agents to six years.
Some other stuff to know
* The new CBA also extends the salary cap into the playoffs. Recent Stanley Cup winners Florida, Tampa Bay and Vegas were among the teams who exploited a loophole by putting players on long-term injured reserve to free up cap space to add other guys, then exceeding the cap when the injured players returned for the playoffs, which had no cap.
* Sadly, the new CBA has also killed the anonymous EBUG, those emergency backup goalies who worked regular day jobs and occasionally got to live out every fan’s fantasy when they were pressed into action â like accountant Scott Foster for Chicago in 2018 or Zamboni driver David Ayres, who was 42 years old when he came on to help Carolina beat Toronto in 2020. EBUGs are now regular team employees who will travel to every game.
* The All-Star Game returns after a two-year hiatus in favour of the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Winter Olympics. This February’s event on Long Island features a new five-team, three-on-three tournament with teams representing Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden, plus a squad made up of players from the rest of the world. A revived World Cup of Hockey will be played in 2028, and NHL players are set to continue with the Olympics in 2030.
