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So, the wait is over — hockey is back. Rookie camps, prospect tournaments, golf tournaments, media day, training camp and preseason are all queued up beginning, well, today, which means we’ll have a wall of coverage up at The Athletic NHL.

Key Dates

What’s coming on the hockey calendar

We’ll dig into your burning questions in a second, but first I wanted to lay out what to expect around the league in the coming days. There are usually some minor differences from team to team with some of these dates, but based on our information, here’s a look at a condensed fall calendar for the NHL. (And be sure to check out Pierre LeBrun’s preseason rumblings, too.)

Today and tomorrow: Rookie camps open across the league, with prospect tourneys to follow between Saturday and Tuesday. Twenty-nine of the 32 teams are set to take part in prospect games across North America; Chris Peters has a comprehensive list of the schedule for those here.

Next Wednesday and Thursday (Sept. 16-17): Training camps open across the league. Teams typically have an off-ice media day before on-ice sessions on Day 2, when we’ll start to see revamped rosters take shape. (Related: Our list of players who might not make the cut around the league.) The NHL’s new CBA also kicks in Sept. 16, bringing with it the end of eight-year contracts, among other tweaks.

Next Saturday (Sept. 19): NHL preseason opens with seven games. The league has cut preseason back to just 65 total games — down from 104 last year — as it moves the start of the regular season up (to Sept. 29) and extends the season by two games, to 84.

So, it’s going to be a breakneck pace this year, with one of the shorter training camps and preseasons we’ve seen in the NHL in decades. The good news? The playoffs will start earlier, which should help avoid the condensed Stanley Cup Final ➡️ NHL Draft ➡️ free-agency logjam we had this past summer.

Question Time

Can one team get two Hughes brothers?

Welcome to my first ever mailbag, newsletter edition. Last week, we put the call out for your questions, and you flooded our redlight@theathletic.com address with plenty of gold. Plus, some copper, zinc and pyrite. (Questions edited for clarity and brevity.)

Let’s dive into the Mirtbag, starting with this one …

Chris asks: “With the Quinn Hughes drama, and talk of him synchronizing his contract with Jack’s, there’s the fact that no team can afford to sign both players in the same contract year. Say they are each worth $20 million, and as UFAs, any team signing them wouldn’t be giving up any salaries in a trade. Which team has $40 million in cap space and still field a decent team?”

So, just for those who aren’t following every thread from this (huge) story in Minnesota, Quinn Hughes is in the final year of his contract. Brother Jack in New Jersey, however, is under contract until 2030. So one possible outcome that’s been speculated of late is maybe Quinn could sign a three-year extension and then head to UFA with Jack down the line.

Let’s be clear: There’s no guarantee that’s how things will play out, as this is very much a developing situation. But the first thing I’d point out is that $40 million in 2030 is going to be a lot different than $40 million this season with how fast the salary cap is set to escalate. Some sources believe it could be as high as $140 million, meaning $40 million would be the equivalent of what $27 million was last season. (That said, it’s possible the Hugheses are looking for even more than that by then.)

But the other thing that’s rapidly changing in the league is teams are, in many cases, drowning in cap space. If you look at the cap sheets for 2027-28, for example, 15 teams have roughly $40 million or more cap space at the moment.

I don’t think that trend is going anywhere, even with some of these massive contracts being given out to the Cale Makars and Leo Carlssons. The problem going forward for a lot of NHL teams is likely to be they have too much cap room and not enough to spend it on, not that they can’t find a way to fit star player contracts into their budgets.

Which is a lot different than the pandemic-induced flat-cap era.

Mark asks: “Flyers GM Danny Briere is sitting on about $14 million in cap space. Next year, he’ll have to pay Matvei Michkov an RFA contract, but the available cap space is projected to rise to nearly $35 million. Do you think he’s sitting on that prospective space to make a play for a big-name player (a Connor McDavid-type)?”

This question goes back a bit to what I was talking about above with the Hugheses: A lot of teams have cap space burning a hole in their pocket right now, and the challenge is going to be finding something to spend it on. So, absolutely, the Flyers would love to be in on a star like McDavid with their cap space — and they have a real need down the middle — but so will almost everyone else. The competition for these players is going to be fierce.

More Questions

Defensemen appreciation!

Sheldon, a new hockey fan recently converted by his college-aged daughter, asks: “How do I watch and appreciate defensemen?”

Love this question. And it’s probably worth a full column with input from NHL players or scouts at some point.

I was spoiled growing up in that we had Scott Niedermayer on our junior team in the WHL. Watching him play the game, up close, was an education in what one of the best defensemen in history looks like, and it’s not always about a flashy passing play or booming slapshot to score a goal.

What you should be looking for in watching a defenseman is how they control and influence the game. Many of the best blueliners in the league right now (Hughes, Zach Werenski, Rasmus Dahlin, etc.) are playing close to half the game and are amazing transporters, in that they can lead a breakout, skate through the neutral zone and quarterback play in the offensive zone.

But it’s equally important that they’re able to limit chances against, which a D-man can do using excellent puck control and positioning — sometimes through being an amazing skater (like Niedermayer or Makar), but sometimes through using a combination of size, skill and smarts, the way Zdeno Chara, Chris Pronger and others did in their Hall of Fame careers. There’s no one-size-fits-all to being great on D.

I’d encourage you to get to some games in person and zero in on particular players when they’re on the ice, shift to shift. That can be a great way to gain an appreciation for players who might not be directly in on the scoring play but who helped manufacture the opportunity that generated it.

D4RK PH03N1X asks: “True or False: If Auston Matthews returns to a top-five center and Sergei Bobrovsky is a top-10 goalie, the Leafs make the playoffs.”

Ah, yes, a Leafs question.

I’m going to say likely yes, with the caveat that the East and Atlantic are likely going to be very competitive. It might take a 20-point improvement for Toronto to make the postseason, and to me, their roster has some big-time question marks elsewhere, especially on D.

💡 This week’s MirTrivia: It’s preseason, so I’m going to give you a ridiculously hard question. Hey, no one ever said MirTrivia was fair.

A member of the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame, this player skated with all three of the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators and won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year with the Habs. He only spent parts of four seasons in the NHL, however, and finished with 70 career points. (And, yes, this is a bit of a trick question.)

Answer at the bottom.

Coast to Coast

💔 Barry Melrose, one of the most prominent analysts and ambassadors for hockey in the U.S., died yesterday at age 70.

🤔 Some interesting details here on EBUGs and other changes this season with the new CBA coming in, from Chris Johnston.

🆕 The Oilers have signed winger Alex Formenton to a one-year deal. The former Senator spent the past three years in Switzerland and was one of the five former members of Canada’s World Junior team found not guilty of sexual assault charges in a July 2025 trial.

🦆 Add another UFA to players looking for a new home: Chris Kreider is a free agent after agreeing to terminate his contract with the Ducks, getting Anaheim out of a salary-cap pickle.

📰 Good stuff from Thomas Drance on the massive new contract for Canucks defenseman Zeev Buium, and what it means for the broader landscape for similar players.

💸 Another young player cashes in, with Bruins center Fraser Minten signing a seven-year, $7.2 million a season extension. You might say he’s making a mint.

🏗️ Had fun working on this feature on Jason Marshall, a former NHL defenseman who is now an architect who designs hockey arenas for a living.

✅ Couple good pieces here from Julian McKenzie and Mark Lazerus on one of the biggest storylines of the offseason: How do the Senators move on without captain Brady Tkachuk? And will his arrival in Florida bring the Panthers back to contender status?

The answer to our trivia question is … Johnny Quilty, who won the Calder way back in 1941 for Montreal. Bit of a trick question because he only played for the Senators in the Quebec senior leagues, not the modern team.

But Quilty has a great back story, which makes him a worthy trivia answer. Gold star if you got this one.

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