TORONTO, ON — With Labour Day now in the rearview mirror, players, coaches and staff across the NHL are flocking to their respective cities in preparation for training camps that begin in a couple of weeks.

As the Florida Panthers look to defend their back-to-back titles, just about every other NHL club will try to dethrone them as Stanley Cup Champions come June 2026.

With a lot of hype in a number of markets, plenty of focus will also be on some of the game’s top stars now in the final year of their respective contracts.

Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor, Adrian Kempe, Martin Necas, Artemi Panarin, Alex Tuch, Filip Gustavsson and Alex Ovechkin lead the list of stars needing new deals, and they’ll be stealing much of the headlines once camps get underway.

With the salary cap going up to at least $104 million next season and at least $13.5 million after that, the League’s in a good spot and the players are waiting to cash in. Many of them are also waiting on McDavid to set the market.

Last week at the Hockey Canada Orientation Camp, McDavid reiterated he has “every intention to win in Edmonton,” and added “I’m going to take my time” to evaluate his position before committing to a new contract.

“All options are on the table. We’re going through it,” he said. “I don’t have a preference either way (on timing). I want to the (Oilers) to be as focused and dialed in and ready to roll from Day 1 as much as possible, and we don’t need any distractions.”

McDavid didn’t rule out a max-term contract, but the belief is he may end up in the three-to-five-year range once the dust settles on an expected extension. Naturally, the longer it takes to come to terms on a new deal, the greater the spotlight on the topic becomes. I have every indication that McDavid will re-up with Edmonton on some type of extension, but when it up to him.

And as McDavid’s camp begin their negotiations with the Oilers, players like Eichel and Kaprizov may choose to wait until that situation is settled before finalizing their deals.

The Minnesota Wild are prepared to pitch Kaprizov a significant contract and those conversations are expected as early as this week. Word out there suggests an eight-year deal worth in between $120 million and $130 million, which would put his AAV north of $15 million and potentially around or over $16 million.

With Mitch Marner locked into an eight-year deal in Vegas at an AAV of $12 million, the Golden Knights know the floor for Eichel. Just how much more, though, is the question.