CHICAGO \u2014 Summer break is over! Greetings from Chicago, where The Athletic\u2019s hockey writers and editors are meeting this week to kick off the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n
The NHL, meanwhile, held a digital meeting with all 32 head coaches and general managers on Tuesday in advance of the season. After conducting the same meeting in person in Detroit last September, many involved wanted this year\u2019s to be over Zoom, to avoid traveling at a time of year when there\u2019s plenty to do for the coaches and GMs, with camps opening next week.<\/p>\n
Because it was on Zoom, the meeting didn\u2019t lend itself to as much interaction as one would expect in person. According to several people on the call, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a meeting that\u2019s not public, it was pretty standard fare, with the league walking GMs and coaches through what to expect this season, especially with the new collective bargaining agreement coming into full effect Sept. 16.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
One thing that wasn\u2019t discussed Tuesday but was confirmed by the league to The Athletic was that the 2027 draft, on June 25 and 26, will be decentralized for a third year in a row. The league didn\u2019t seek feedback from the 32 clubs after the second decentralized draft in June, probably because there wasn\u2019t the same level of outcry as there was with the first attempt in 2025.<\/p>\n
So it would appear the decentralized draft is here to stay.<\/p>\n
What else is going on around the NHL as things kick into gear post-Labor Day? After catching up with other sources around the league, given anonymity to discuss talks that aren\u2019t public, here\u2019s what I\u2019m hearing.<\/p>\n
Why sports leagues finally embraced Las Vegas<\/p>\n
Tifo Sports<\/p>\n
Gauthier negotiations<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier remains unsigned as training camp approaches, though the sides have kept the dialogue going.<\/p>\n
The Ducks have been in a tough place in this restricted-free-agent negotiation from the moment they matched Leo Carlsson\u2019s monster five-year, $90 million offer sheet<\/a> from the Philadelphia Flyers. Whatever a Gauthier contract might have looked like before the Carlsson deal is very much different from what it will be now, in this new, ever-evolving salary landscape. Connor Bedard\u2019s new five-year, $15 million cap-hit contract has been brought up as a comparable for Gauthier, who scored 41 goals and 69 points in 76 games in his second NHL season.<\/p>\n It\u2019ll be interesting to see how this plays out. The new CBA kicks in Sept. 16 \u2014 no more eight-year deals, but also less enticing structure language and rules for players and agents having to do with signing bonus money and limits on front-loading. All of which is to say, if the Ducks want eight years, the clock is ticking, but if Gauthier and agent Kurt Overhardt want the existing structure options before it\u2019s too late, there\u2019s also heat on them.<\/p>\n Kucherov extension<\/p>\n