The NHL faucet has turned on, hockey fans! Training camps will open across the league one week from today, which means we’ll have NHL players on the ice! There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation for the Blackhawks this season with the return of Patrick Kane and other significant additions to the roster, including Bowen Byram. One week from today, they’ll be skating together, officially, as teammates.
As we look ahead to the start of a nee NHL season, there will be changes. The regular season begins in September this year, moving to an 84-game slate. Which means shorter training camps. A new collective bargaining agreement takes affect on Sept. 15, so there will be some changes from that as well.
With NHL players in Vegas this week for the North American player media events, there’s some news and notes coming out from insiders and reporters around the league. We got two notebook-emptying columns at The Athletic on Tuesday from Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston. We’ll start our first Around the NHL of the 2026-27 season with some comments from those pieces.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor HellebuyckNHL Insider Updates
A few notes from LeBrun’s rumbling column on Tuesday:
LeBrun reported the Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres and Utah Mammoth are the teams considered to be the most likely destinations for Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. On NHL expansion:The NHL also has a board of governors meeting slated for Sept. 22 in New York City, at which point there should be an update of the expansion process, including the latest on Houston and Austin.
LeBrun also reported defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who is still an unsigned restricted free agent, intends to be there when the Red Wings open training camp next week — even if he doesn’t have a contract done yet. “The holdup in talks, of course, is that the Red Wings still don’t have a GM.” Yeah… that’s a problem. According to LeBrun, “Connor Bedard’s new five-year, $15 million cap-hit contract has been brought up as a comparable for [Cutter] Gauthier.” As a reminder: the Ducks have roughly $9M in available cap space right now…A few notes from Johnston’s news and notes column:
An interesting note regarding the preseason and training camp in the new CBA:Experienced players will be put through only a 13-day camp, down from 20 days, and those with at least 100 NHL games on their resumes are now limited to two exhibition games.
Johnston also reports fitness tests have been abolished in this CBA. But… now how will we know if a player is reporting to camp in the best shape of his life? And interesting clarifying quote from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly regarding NHL teams being able to assign 19-year-old players to their AHL affiliate. The new CBA allows players drafted in the first round out of the CHL to play their age-19 season in the AHL. There was some reporting over the summer that teams might be limited to one player. That apparently is not the case, which is interesting for teams that have multiple first-round picks in a draft (see the Blackhawks in 2027).“Teams aren’t limited to one per club,” Daly said. “If they meet the criteria for assignment, they meet the criteria. You might have two of those players. You might have three of those players. So that’s how it’s going to play out.”
Other NHL News and Notes
Speaking of significant, still unsigned restricted free agents, there has been radio silence out of Columbus with Adam Fantilli. He was the third pick in the 2023 NHL Draft behind Bedard and Leo Carlsson — both of whom signed big-money extensions this summer. He’s a terrific player and should be the face of the future of the franchise for the Blue Jackets. But… they haven’t come to an agreement yet. Fantilli reportedly didn’t attend the team’s annual golf outing. Fantilli is able to sign an offer sheet, so I’m sure there are a few interested parties around the NHL watching this situation closely…#CBJ Adam Fantilli, who remains an unsigned restricted free agent just eight days from the start of training camp, did not take part in the Blue Jackets’ annual pre-camp golf outing today at club owner John P. McConnell’s exclusive golf club, Double Eagle .
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 8, 2026 Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson spoke with the media on Tuesday morning and said he hopes that he and the team can finalize a contract extension before training camp. Batherson, 28, is entering the final year of a contract that has a $4.975M cap hit. It will be fascinating to see where these negotiations go. After trading Brady Tkachuk to Florida, the highest cap hit on the Sens’ roster is $8.35M for Tim Stützle. One would think in the current market a player who has scored 87 goals over the past three seasons is going to be looking for a contract with an eight-figure AAV.Drake Batherson media avail Sept 8. pic.twitter.com/rVcflFhBia
— Coming In Hot (@ComingInHotSens) September 8, 2026 The Carolina Hurricanes signed defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to a one-year contract that has an $850k cap hit. The San Jose Sharks signed goaltender Ilya Samsonov to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season. The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Alex Formenton to a one-year contract. Unrestricted free agent center Tyson Jost will attend the Nashville Predators‘ 2026 training camp on a PTO. Finally, on Tuesday the Boston Bruins announced a seven-year extension with Fraser Minten that has a $7.2M AAV. As I mentioned in my piece on contract trends yesterday, Minten was a second-round pick (No. 38 overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft — a pick that was trade to Toronto by the Blackhawks in the deal for Petr Mrázek and the first-round pick that became Sam Rinzel.Keeping it fresh.The #NHLBruins have signed Fraser Minten to a seven-year contract extension.?: t.co/k0hnqz0yaZ pic.twitter.com/5slDt3vrCV
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 8, 2026Hence then, the article about around the nhl new cba updates gauthier s price tag hellebuyck suitors more was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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