Oct 1, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) during the second period against the Utah Hockey Club at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images The draft is one week away. Free-agency begins a few days after that.
Welcome to the NHL off-season, which has plenty of compelling storylines to provide a fix for fans between now and next season.
While this summer’s free-agency crop does not have much sizzle as past years, it — along with the rising salary cap — creates the possibility of some summertime trade winds as clubs kick off their quest to Stanley Cup glory in 2027.
With that in mind, here are three teams poised to make major noise between now and puck drop on the 2026-27 campaign.
San Jose Sharks
Led by one of the league’s best up-and-comers in Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks took a massive jump forward last season, going from perennial also-rans to missing the playoffs by four points.
A blueprint for San Jose’s next step can be found by looking at state rivals, the Anaheim Ducks. Both teams are loaded with young talent, and have plenty of tantalizing prospects. Anaheim added veterans in key spots, and jumped into a playoff position this past season.
The Sharks have holes to fill and possess the assets to add via trade and salary-cap space to ink players interested in joining a team on the rise.
And thanks to the lottery, San Jose also owns the second overall pick in this year’s draft, giving the club the option to either add another possible future star or using it to acquire a big piece immediately.
Montreal Canadiens
Montreal reached the Eastern Conference final in an exciting playoff run, but received a huge lesson in a five-game loss to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes.
That defeat will spark the players and the organization to find ways to take another step. Where Montreal needs help is obvious, a second-line center and top-four defenseman, preferably who can play on the right side.
Players for those roles are costly to acquire, but the Canadiens are at the stage when it is time to make a big push for the likes of Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, for example.
One player bandied about as trade bait is top prospect Alexander Zharovsky, a second-round pick last year who had a sparkling season in the KHL.
St. Louis Blues
Sure, we could discuss Edmonton poised to sign Mike Babcock as coach (to paraphrase the movie Dodgeball, “bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off”), how the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers plan to pull out of the depths, and even how the Hurricanes plan to repeat.
Amidst all that, it is St. Louis who piqued our interest. On paper, the Blues finished just outside a playoff spot, but that is thanks to a late-season push that ended with a four-game winning streak after they were eliminated, and it is obvious changes are needed.
The Blues have plenty of cap space, prospects and a whack of valuable draft picks — notably three first-round selections — if they want to go on a spending spree.
At the same time, they have the likes of goaltender Jordan Binnington, defenseman Colton Parayko and forwards such as Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas as trade chips should they opt to re-tool.
New general manager Alexander Steen has the opportunity to make a huge mark on the franchise. What lane will he choose to take?
