{"id":200518,"date":"2025-09-04T21:09:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T21:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200518\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T21:09:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T21:09:15","slug":"ten-most-intriguing-nhl-team-camps-plus-pick-up-some-tips-for-your-fantasy-hockey-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200518\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten most intriguing NHL team camps. Plus: Pick up some tips for your fantasy hockey league"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Light newsletter<\/strong>\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey<\/a>\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning, hockey friends. We are mere days away from real NHL happenings on the ice, so we\u2019re here to get you set for what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

Key dates as the NHL gets set to return<\/b><\/p>\n

First up on the calendar: prospect events. A lot of teams have taken to connecting with a handful of other clubs to have their young players compete in mini-tournaments, most of which begin at the end of next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth checking your team\u2019s website for exact dates, but the majority are in this upcoming five-day window.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sept. 11 \u2013 15<\/strong>: NHL prospect camps and tournaments\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sept. 17<\/strong>: Most NHL main training camps open\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sept. 20<\/strong>: First preseason game (Blues at Stars)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Oct. 4<\/strong>: Final preseason games (22 teams in action)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Oct. 6<\/strong>: Final roster and cap compliance deadline (cut to 23 players by 5 p.m. ET)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Oct. 7<\/strong>: Regular season begins<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a whole lot happening all in the next four and a half weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 10 most intriguing teams to watch<\/b><\/p>\n

Here are my picks for the 10 teams whose training camps will be worth keeping an eye on.<\/p>\n

10. New York Islanders\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

After an injury-plagued 82-point season and dealing away Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson, the Isles aren\u2019t getting a lot of attention coming into the year. With No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer \u2014 who turns 18 tomorrow \u2014 trying to make the team and KHL star Maxim Shabanov another camp wild-card, plus new GM Mathieu Darche\u2019s positive early returns, there are reasons for intrigue here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

9. San Jose Sharks\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Sure, the Sharks were awful last season, with a league-worst 52 points, but every game I tuned into was still worth a watch. Macklin Celebrini is an incredible talent who could supernova as a sophomore, and the two Wills \u2014 Smith and Eklund \u2014 are likely to take another step, too. If Michael Misa cracks the roster out of camp, that\u2019s a whole lot of the future contributing in the present. Plus, Yaroslav Askarov is going to get a lot of runway in net.\u00a0<\/p>\n

8. Dallas Stars\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

It clearly took Mikko Rantanen a little time to adjust after two huge trades from the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes, but in the playoffs he showed how much of a difference-maker he can be. The Stars will need him to be after shedding a bunch of their forward depth, with Mason Marchment, Mikael Granlund and Evgeni Dadonov moved to fit in another big salary. Is a next step from Mavrik Bourque the answer?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

7. Carolina Hurricanes\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaking of the Canes, they have certainly been busy. Add Nikolaj Ehlers and K\u2019Andre Miller to other recent newcomers Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Alexander Nikishin, and that\u2019s a pretty substantial core makeover over the last six months. Apparently more could be coming, too. How will it all fit together? And will it be enough for them to take the next step?\u00a0<\/p>\n

6. Utah Mammoth<\/b><\/p>\n

Grafting JJ Peterka onto a lineup that\u2019s already filled with talented young scorers should help Utah improve on their somewhat anemic offensive showing last year. Could one or two of their younger prospects like Tij Iginla surprise and make an immediate impact, as well? If so, this might be a fun season in Wasatch country.<\/p>\n

5. Toronto Maple Leafs<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s always a lot of eyes on the Leafs, but this training camp it\u2019ll be more about who they lost than who they added. GM Brad Treliving is attempting to replace one of the top offensive talents in the league (Mitch Marner) with a depth approach, and it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess right now who\u2019ll get that plum assignment alongside Auston Matthews on the top line. Plus, there\u2019s an outside shot top prospect Easton Cowan can win a role with a strong showing. Plenty is up in the air up front for Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

4. Anaheim Ducks<\/b><\/p>\n

One of an incredible nine teams with a new head coach this season, the Ducks went big (and controversial) behind the bench<\/a> by signing Joel Quenneville. He takes over a group that mixes a pile of compelling young talent<\/a> (led by Leo Carlsson) with a couple new greybeards (Chris Kreider and Granlund). If Lukas Dostal stands on his head again, there\u2019s an outside shot this is a playoff team in the weak Pacific.\u00a0<\/p>\n

3. Montreal Canadiens\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I thought about putting the Habs first, though it\u2019s also possible the leaguewide hype train is getting a little out of control. While this remains a roster with some key holes (i.e. 2C), they\u2019re also just a ton of fun, and adding Noah Dobson, Zack Bolduc and a full season of Ivan Demidov only makes them even better must-see TV. I think they\u2019re the real deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2. Vegas Golden Knights<\/b><\/p>\n

Replacing Alex Pietrangelo with Marner is about as seismic a change as you can get for a contender. How this blue line holds up without their veteran stalwart and how Marner plays away from Matthews will be just two things to watch early in the year. There\u2019s not really a youth movement<\/a> coming and some around the league are forecasting a step back, but there\u2019s still a lot of talent here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

1. Edmonton Oilers\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Like it or not, the Connor McDavid contract talk<\/a> is going to be a massive storyline until there\u2019s a resolution. Combine that with Edmonton coming off two consecutive losses in the Stanley Cup Final, a couple interesting rookies penciled into the top six entering camp<\/a> and massive questions in goal<\/a>, and the Oilers are going to be leading the news cycle regularly this fall. McDavid isn\u2019t the only one wondering if this team is any better\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(David Kirouac \/ Imagn Images)Calder Talk with Corey, Scott and Max<\/b><\/p>\n

To drill down further on what\u2019s a very compelling class of youngsters this fall, I turned to our three prospect experts \u2014 Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and Max Bultman \u2014 for some analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The betting markets seem to love Demidov as the favorite<\/a>, which would mean back-to-back Calder Trophies for rookie of the year for the Habs. Our trio agree \u2014 but with one caveat: Wild defenseman Zeev Buium could mount a real challenge as he joins Minnesota\u2019s blue line after lighting up the NCAA with the University of Denver.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for some other potential candidates?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pronman<\/strong>: \u201cBerkly Catton<\/a> would be my dark horse if he makes Seattle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bultman<\/strong>: \u201cNikishin a possible sleeper? Although I feel like the voters don\u2019t like the older rookies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wheeler<\/strong>: \u201cZayne Parekh in Calgary<\/a> is a wild-card if he sticks. And there\u2019s a chance Isaac Howard or Matt Savoie get blessed with a certain linemate<\/a> in Edmonton.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more prospect coverage, check out Corey\u2019s Under 23 rankings<\/a> and our latest NHL prospect podcast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MirTrivia, offseason edition<\/b>\ud83d\udca1: Sergei Makarov was famously the oldest winner of the Calder Trophy when the long-time CSKA Moscow star was named the NHL\u2019s rookie of the year shortly before his 32nd birthday back in 1990. But who was the youngest player to ever win it<\/b>, accepting the Calder while still only 18 years old? The answer is below and here\u2019s a hint: He\u2019s still active.<\/p>\n

Coast to Coast<\/b><\/p>\n

Not dialed into the hockey news cycle yet? Red Light \ud83d\udea8 can help. Here are some of our top items<\/b> from the past seven days you may have missed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb8 One big piece of news: the NHL\u2019s playoff salary cap is being implemented right away. Pierre LeBrun has reactions from a host of GMs<\/a>, all of whom are gathered for meetings in Detroit in advance of the season. (My take? Making in-season trades just got a lot trickier<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd14 McDavid\u2019s contract extension isn\u2019t the only one top of mind right now in the NHL. The Wild also have a massive one to get signed with Kirill Kaprizov, something they\u2019re optimistic will happen relatively painlessly<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfd2 Which of the NHL\u2019s rebuilds are on track to contend<\/a> the fastest? (Hint: There\u2019s some bad news for some of the league\u2019s biggest markets.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd47 Good stuff from CJ on how Sidney Crosby remains such a huge weapon<\/a> for Team Canada as they prepare to return to the Olympics in Italy next February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be your fantasy<\/b><\/p>\n

Early September means it\u2019s time to dust off your hockey pool account, pick your keepers and start doing your research. (I think I\u2019m sticking with Auston Matthews and Connor Hellebuyck, plus maybe a late-rounder in Kirill Marchenko, in The Athletic company pool.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thankfully Dom and Shayna have their fantasy hockey cheat sheet<\/a> ready to go right on schedule. I highly recommend using this as at least a starting guide to your draft, as it incorporates whatever scoring settings your pool has to customize the list, unlike many other fantasy tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The only issue? If Dom and Shayna are actually in your pool \u2014 and everyone else you\u2019re up against also uses it \u2014 it kind of nullifies the advantage. But that might just be a me problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your MirTrivia answer\u2026\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Nathan MacKinnon <\/b>was still more than a couple months from turning 19 when he won the Calder back in 2014, beating out Jeff Skinner (2011) as the youngest winner by a few months. MacKinnon\u2019s Sept. 1 birthday meant he was only two weeks from being bumped to the 2014 draft rather than going first overall to the Avs in 2013.<\/p>\n

\"\ud83d\udceb\"\u00a0Love Red Light?<\/strong>\u00a0Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox. Good morning, hockey…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":200519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-200518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115148080339012290","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}