Connor McDavid doesn鈥檛 have a contract beyond this season, the back-to-back champion Florida Panthers start their Stanley Cup threepeat bid without Matthew Tkachuk and nearly a third of NHL teams have a new head coach.
Training camps open around the league this week with questions from Edmonton to South Florida, many of which will not be resolved by the time another banner is raised and the puck is dropped on opening night Oct. 7. It’s at 82 games before , shortening camps and reducing exhibition play.
Also gone next year? Mandatory fitness testing.
鈥淣ext year,鈥 Carolina’s Seth Jarvis said. 鈥淚 still got one more year.鈥
Long overdue, Seattle captain Jordan Eberle quipped: 鈥淚 wish that we did (away with) the fitness testing about 10 years ago.鈥
That’s all part of the next collective bargaining agreement, which maintains hockey’s fruitful era of labor peace until at least 2030. Without that looming over the sport, all 32 teams hit the ice for practice Thursday with dreams 鈥 however realistic 鈥 of playing all the way until June.
Tkachuk is out till December after surgery
from the immensely popular in February cost him the final couple of months of last season. He returned to help the Panthers win the Cup again, then had surgery to repair a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle.
鈥淲e anticipate him being out until December-ish, but don鈥檛 hold me to that,” general manager Bill Zito said. “That鈥檚 my internet medical degree.鈥
That is plenty of time for Tkachuk to be ready to play for the U.S. in Milan.
McDavid unsigned months after being eligible for an extension
The Oilers have lost consecutive finals to Florida, keeping McDavid from hoisting the Cup for the first time. Hockey’s best player has said he wants to remain with the Oilers as long as he believed they could be a perennial contender and give him a chance to win it all.
They cannot prove that to McDavid until this spring, and it’s more than likely he puts pen to paper on a new deal before that time. Until that happens, there is reason to wonder what his future might hold.
McDavid isn’t the only star without a contract. Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Vegas’ Jack Eichel are among players who could be unrestricted free agents July 1 if their situations don’t change.
Ovechkin approaches 900 goals at age 40
Five or so months removed from , Alex Ovechkin reported to Washington Capitals camp Wednesday on his 40th birthday. He has 897 going into his final season under contract and what could be his last in the NHL.
, teammates see the same gap-toothed big kid playing the game he cherishes.
鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 know anything about hockey, I would have said 鈥楾his guy, he just got here,鈥欌 Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois said. 鈥淗e shows up every day with a smile on his face, hungry, loves to talk hockey, do video 鈥 all those things.鈥
Maple Leafs start life without Mitch Marner
Craig Berube opened training camp Wednesday by telling reporters in 海角社区官网he was excited not to hear about the 鈥淐ore Four鈥 anymore. Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander combined to win two playoff series in nine years together.
Marner, who ranked fifth in the league in scoring last season with 102 points, in a sign-and-trade to go to the Vegas Golden Knights.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be a little weird, I think, just not seeing him in the locker room,鈥 said forward Matthew Knies, who is taking Marner’s place as a core piece of the franchise. “Obviously, he was pretty loud-voiced and he ran the music and he did a lot for us.”
Sullivan takes over as the Rangers’ coach
There were nine coaching changes during the offseason, including three-time Stanley Cup-winner Joel Quenneville returning from his NHL-imposed exile . On the East Coast, Peter Laviolette behind the bench for the New York Rangers.
Camp Sullivan is the start of the Rangers’ hope to get back into the playoffs.
鈥淵ou only have like two weeks of training camp before your first game,” forward Will Cuylle said. “Just making you鈥檙e really dialed in and making sure we understand all the systems and stuff, so by game one we鈥檙e not dipping our foot in. We鈥檙e more ready to go.鈥
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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.
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