Though the weather forecast may not show it in all parts of the country, autumn is right around the corner and with that, so is the hockey season.
This off-season brought fans no shortage of drama, from a billion-dollar free agency opening to dramatic trades to the return of offer sheets. Yet, with training camp just mere weeks away, unfinished business still lingers around the league and the rumour mill keeps churning.
To prepare us all for the long, 82-game regular season ahead, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and new co-host Kyle Bukauskas take us through some of the biggest storylines heading into the pre-season in the season premiere of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
Here are some of the highlights.
CROSBY IN NO RUSH TO SIGN WITH PENGUINS
Among the elite players fast approaching free agency, perhaps none have more uncertainty than Sidney Crosby.
Players like Mikko Rantanen in Colorado or Connor McDavid in Edmonton — both set to enter free agency in 2025 and 2026, respectively — have a more-or-less clear futures with their respective club. Rantanen is on a former Stanley Cup-winning squad with the Avalanche and McDavid heads up a perennial contender in the Oilers.
Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins, however, are at a bit of an impasse.
No longer the same elite overall squad as Pittsburgh was with back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning rosters in 2016 and ’17, the team has an aging lineup. While the Penguins still been on the playoff bubble the past two years, that may not be the case for much longer.
With Crosby eligible to sign an extension at any time, Friedman believes that the Penguins placed the ball firmly in their captain’s court regarding a new contract.
“I think the Penguins are like, this is Sidney Crosby. He has the right to make a decision as he sees fit,” Friedman said. “I think they’ve made him a bunch of different offers.”
Given that the Penguins have presented Crosby with multiple offers, each with different terms, Friedman believes his decision to push back a decision may be related to the direction the Penguins are going.
“(GM) Kyle Dubas sent a signal in the off-season, he made some interesting bets on guys like Cody Glass … But I think that he’s sending a signal with the trade of (Jake) Guentzel that, as much as anything else, they have to try to rebuild a little bit. Whether it’s a rebuild on the fly or whatever you want to call it, they have to start building up the pipeline and the youth.”
Crosby is still very much an elite player, coming off a 42-goal — the 12th 30-plus goal campaign of his career — and 94-point season at 37 years old and has three career Stanley Cups under his belt.
Until the future Hall of Famer makes a decision, the question remains: Will he be a Penguin for life, or will he chase one more chance at victory?
ARE FLAMES VETERANS UNHAPPY WITH REBUILD?
Two years removed from the most exciting playoff run since 2015, the Calgary Flames are simply not as competitive as they once were. In a top-heavy division squaring off against the Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights and resurgent Vancouver Canucks, the Flames haven’t been able to replicate the success of the 2021-22 campaign.
Having lost their general manager Brad Treliving to the Toronto Maple Leafs and with coach Darryl Sutter no longer in the picture, the team is heading in a new direction, though how long it will take to arrive at their destination is unclear.
“(GM) Craig Conroy clearly has a plan. His plan is to start turning over his team a little bit,” Friedman said. “I don’t think he wanted to completely tear it down. I think we can all see where the Flames are going — they are in a rebuild — but he didn’t want to do it to where the young players starting up would get completely destroyed on the ice.”
Despite losing a fair amount of players last season, the Flames still have veterans on their roster, including the likes of Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund, Jonathan Huberdeau and Rasmus Andersson.
The problem going forward with the veterans on their squad, Friedman believes, may be a lack of enthuisasm to be part of a rebuild.
“I think there are some players who are still there who have said, ‘Look, if this is a complete tear-down, I’d like for you to think about something else,'” he said. “(Conroy’s) plan is to start the year, see how it goes, and then decide what he’s going to do with some of these players. He’s asked these players to keep an open mind, see how this year goes, and then he’ll start looking at what he might need to do, or what they want to do.”
Friedman also believes that given the noise of last summer — including a public trade request from Nikita Zadorov and the then-pending free agencies of Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev — Conroy would rather keep these discussions private and avoid the spectacle that was the beginning of last season.
“I think Conroy has decided, ‘I like the calm, I like the quiet, I don’t want the craziness of the last couple years. I just want a more stable situation,’ and that’s what he’s asking for at the beginning of the year,” Friedman said.
DUCKS WORKING ON A FOWLER TRADE
On the topic of rebuilds, the Anaheim Ducks have been embroiled in a six-year quest to return to the playoffs. Anchored by youngsters like Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry, along with the acquisition of prospect Cutter Gauthier, the Ducks seem poised to take the next step and enter the final stage of their rebuild.
For a veteran like Cam Fowler, though, this may mean his future in Southern California is up in the air.
The 32-year-old Fowler has two years remaining on his contract with the Ducks and has been a staple on their blueline since entering the league in 2010-11. Though Fowler has spent his entire career as a Duck, Friedman stresses that the ongoing discussions regarding his future in Anaheim are not negative and both the player and the team are working together on a resolution.
“They’ve got a lot of good, young players. Eventually, what you’ve got to start doing is you’ve got to say, ‘Cam, we’ve got to start taking away some of your ice time so that the other players can learn what it’s like to play in the important situations,'” he said. “(Fowler) knows that when they’re good and really ready to contend, it’s going to be their team, and not his team.”
For his part, Fowler has tried to make the process as easy as possible for the Ducks, including expanding his once small trade list.
“From what I’ve heard, Fowler has indicated a willingness to talk to more teams than (those on his list) and consider more teams than that,” Friedman added. “I think there will be interest.
“Everyone here has to make it work, but I believe the Ducks are willing to talk about it, I believe the player is willing to talk about it. I don’t think anyone will be surprised if sometime this season, Cam Fowler is elsewhere. From what I’ve been told, it is a positive working environment with him and the Ducks about getting this done and finding him a new place to play.”
Fowler, who was the Ducks’ 12th-overall pick at the 2010 NHL Draft, had five goals and 39 points in 81 games last season.
WHERE DO MARNER, MAPLE LEAFS STAND?
For the Maple Leafs, the prevailing storyline for much of the second half of last season was Mitch Marner. After signing both Auston Matthews and William Nylander to hefty contract extensions, much has been said about Marner’s future with the club, and whether the Leafs are willing to pay the contract he is due following this season.
Marner had his fifth consecutive point-per-game season, scoring 26 goals and 85 points despite playing in just 69 games. But his production took a nosedive during the post-season and he failed to duplicate the success he had in the 2022-23 playoffs.
Though neither the player nor the team has come forth with any comment on the future of Marner in Toronto, Friedman thinks it would be a mistake for the Maple Leafs to let a talented player like Marner walk away.
“The best thing for the player and the team is for everyone to come to their senses and find a way to ensure that he stays.”
It’s worth pointing out that last summer, it appeared that talks between the Maple Leafs and Nylander had stalled to a point of putting him on the market. Nylander then went out and had his most productive season yet, scoring 40 goals and 98 points, which left the club no choice but to sign him. Friedman believes Marner is hoping that he’s able to have that type of year.
It’s also important to recognize the role that Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, has in the process.
“He always believes in walking his guys to free agency unless you give him a reason not to. I think he starts the year, and we’ll see what happens,” Friedman said.
Despite what the noise around the Toronto market might say, Marner is an elite player. Though failing to eclipse the 100-point mark, he’s come close several times and has been a point-per-game player for the majority of his career. Friedman believes that while both parties know where the other stands, it would be a mistake to not take a bet on a player with Marner’s talent.
“Everyone’s going to regret it if he leaves.”
CANUCKS MAKE CHANGE TO DEMKO’S ROUTINE
For weeks — arguably months — the prevailing concern among the Vancouver Canucks is the health of starting goaltender Thatcher Demko.
The 28-year-old netminder dealt with an ongoing knee injury late last season, missing 14 games before eventually returning ahead of the regular-season finale. He started in the Canucks’ playoff debut, but aggravated the injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the post-season run.
Since then, Demko’s return has been a bit of a mystery. There was a constant back-and-forth about whether he’d be able to appear in another playoff game if the Canucks’ run had gone longer. With training camp upcoming, there still is doubt as to whether he’ll be ready for the season opener.
“The best piece of information I’ve been given is that (Demko) is going to have to learn how to play with that,” Friedman said. “It’s not something that can fixed with surgery, but it’s something he’s going to learn to play through, and he can play through, to a high level.”
In order to do this, the Canucks will reportedly be making changes to how Demko practises, which has been facilitated by former goalie coach Ian Clark’s transition out of day-to-day coaching.
“One of the reasons that Demko got to where he is, is by Ian Clark’s tutelage. That should not be forgotten,” Friedman added. “Clark is a drill guy. You do your drills every day … I think they feel that’s come at a cost (to Demko).”
As part of the transition, the Canucks are going to be taking a critical look at how often he goes on the ice and what his work load is throughout the season, attempting to add an additional NHL veteran goaltender to help ensure a manageable workload.
Demko was a runner-up in Vezina Trophy voting last season, second only to Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, after posting career-highs in save percentage (.918) and goals-against average (2.45) with a 35-14 record.
The good news, Friedman notes, is that even though it’s uncertain as to whether Demko will be ready for the Canucks’ Oct. 9 season opener, the team doesn’t believe he will be out long-term.
Training camp will take place in Penticton, B.C., from Sept. 19-22.
LATEST ON RED WINGS’ SEIDER, RAYMOND
The Detroit Red Wings came as close to a playoff appearance as a team could get, falling just short of the final spot and failing to make the post-season for the eighth consecutive year.
Though that will undoubtedly fuel the hunger of the Red Wings to finally break their drought this year, the team still has to sign restricted free agents Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond to new contracts.
Despite the season fast approaching, little progress has been made between Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman and the two promising youngsters and, according to Friedman, the GM isn’t ready to budge just yet.
“They’re good players, they’re important players, they’re the cornerstone of the Red Wings, but because they’re RFAs, Yzerman doesn’t necessarily have to bend unless something forces him to do so,” Friedman said.
Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie in 2022, has been a consistent 40-plus point producer in his three years in the league. Raymond enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2023-24, scoring 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games, and is due a pay raise.
“It’s pretty clear that right now Raymond and Seider are higher than Yzerman wants to go, and if he’s dug into his position, you need something to get him to move,” Friedman said. “Either you bend, or you wait for him to bend. To be honest, right now, it’s not a pressure point.”
It’s not unheard of for RFAs to miss time while awaiting a new contract. In 2021-22, Canucks stars Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson missed training camp and parts of the pre-season before signing their contracts and in that same year, Brady Tkachuk missed training camp, the pre-season and the season-opener with the Ottawa Senators.
Though the Red Wings still have some time, the clock is ticking for their young guns to put pen to paper on a new deal.