Summer is back in motion for the NHL, and the league is already laying down a few clear markers for the season ahead.
One of the biggest? The decentralized draft is sticking around.
The league confirmed to The Athletic that the 2027 draft, set for June 25 and 26, will be held that way for a third straight year. That detail wasn’t part of Tuesday’s Zoom session with all 32 head coaches and general managers, but it came out of the same pre-season reset as teams prepare for camps opening next week.
The call itself was described by several people on it as routine, with the league walking clubs through what’s ahead as the new collective bargaining agreement moves toward full effect on Sept. 16.
Because it was done over Zoom rather than in person, there wasn’t much room for the kind of back-and-forth that usually comes with an in-person gathering. A board of governors meeting is also scheduled for Sept. 22 in New York City, where the expansion process is expected to come up again, including the latest on Houston and Austin.
The draft format may have been the clearest league-wide update, but around the NHL, the contract and trade buzz is already thick.
In Anaheim, Cutter Gauthier remains without a deal as training camp nears, though talks have not stopped. The Ducks’ negotiating position shifted once they matched Leo Carlsson’s five-year, $90 million offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers, and that has changed the landscape for any Gauthier agreement. Connor Bedard’s five-year, $15 million cap-hit contract has also been mentioned as a comparison point for Gauthier, who put up 41 goals and 69 points in 76 games in his second NHL season.
The new CBA adds another layer of pressure. Starting Sept. 16, eight-year contracts are off the table, while some of the structure and front-loading options that have mattered in player deals will be reduced. That means time matters for both sides if Anaheim wants to push for maximum term, and if Gauthier and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, want to preserve the current contract structure before the new rules kick in.
In Tampa Bay, Nikita Kucherov’s extension talks are moving with almost total silence. His agent, Dan Milstein, has declined to comment from the start and repeated that stance Tuesday, while Lightning GM Julien BriseBois would not discuss an active negotiation.
Kucherov is entering the final year of a contract that pays him $9.5 million annually, and his next deal would begin at age 34. The new CBA’s changes could matter here too, especially if the Lightning want to use longer term to smooth out the average annual value, something they’ve done before.
Still, the wait is notable. Kucherov, the reigning Hart Trophy winner, has not extended yet, and the fact that it has gone this far into the summer stands out. The sense around it is that he will eventually re-sign, but the timeline has stretched longer than expected.
Detroit has its own contract situation with Simon Edvinsson, and the expectation is that the restricted free agent will be at training camp even if he remains unsigned. That would be a little unusual, but the thinking is that he doesn’t want to lose ground, especially with shorter camps under the new CBA leaving less time to ramp up.
The other piece of the puzzle is Detroit’s front office situation. The Red Wings still do not have a general manager, and Jeff Greenberg removing himself from consideration may reopen the search.
Ryan Martin, who spent years in the Detroit front office before moving to the Rangers’ front office, is viewed as a logical name to at least interview.
There is also movement, or at least continued interest, around Connor Hellebuyck. The Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres and Utah Mammoth are among the teams tied to the trade chatter. Florida had real interest in June, but that possibility faded after the assets used in the Brady Tkachuk blockbuster and the Jacob Markstrom acquisition.
Carolina’s interest was reiterated Tuesday, and any deal there would likely involve unsigned restricted free agent defenseman Alexander Nikishin. Buffalo and Winnipeg had serious discussions, including offers and counteroffers on the Friday of the first round of the draft in late June, but nothing came together. For now, the issue is simple: there isn’t a package on the table that looks like fair value for Winnipeg.
That leaves the Jets in a difficult spot after the Team USA goalie made his trade request public. Winnipeg, though, is not in a position to simply move him for less than it wants. And if there’s a reason to think the Jets can navigate this, it’s that Kevin Cheveldayoff has been through similar situations before with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jacob Trouba and handled them well.
In Other News...
Lightning Prospect Is Already Stirring A Familiar Kucherov Debate
Oleg Kulebiakin is already giving Lightning followers a reason to keep one eye on the future. The 18-year-old winger made a strong first impression in Halifax, where he led the Mooseheads in scoring during his debut season in the QMJHL, a promising start for a player Tampa Bay sees as more than just a long-term project. Drafted in the second round in 2026, Kulebiakin has drawn attention for the skill that made him such an appealing prospect in the first place.
The Lightning were aggressive enough to move up for him, and the early returns only add to the intrigue around how his game will translate as he develops. Tampa Bay has already heard the familiar comparisons to Nikita Kucherov, whom Kulebiakin modeled his style after, and team executive Julien BriseBois has pointed to that talent as part of the attraction. The next step, as always with a prospect like this, is whether the rest of the package comes along in the same way. [Read more 🡒]
Lightning Fans Get An Early Look At Tampa Bays Next Wave
The Lightning are giving fans a first real glimpse at the next group of prospects set to bubble up through the organization, with the club unveiling its roster and schedule for the 2026 Prospect Showcase in North Carolina. The three-day tournament runs Sept. 13-15 and brings Tampa Bay into matchups with prospect groups from the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators, with games played in three 20-minute periods and the possibility of overtime or a shootout.
Among the names to watch are Sam OReilly and Dylan Duke, along with recent draft picks Oleg Kulebiakin, Tomas Kralovic and Benjamin Rautiainen. For a team that has spent years trying to stay competitive while keeping an eye on what comes next, these events matter because they are one of the few chances to see how quickly the organizations younger talent can start pushing for bigger opportunities. [Read more 🡒]