Connor McDavid has joined an exclusive club, but he won’t be overly happy about it.
The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions and now the rest of the NHL enters a summer of transition as they attempt to dethrone them.
As the summer transactions begin to roll in, here is everything you need to know.
TEAMS TO WATCH
Who might look for real notable change?
Toronto: All eyes remain on the Maple Leafs after yet another first-round exit left the fan base exhausted of excuses and craving change. Sheldon Keefe has, so far, been the only one moved out, replaced by Craig Berube behind the bench. Most of the speculation has centred on Mitch Marner who has just one year left on his contract before he can become a UFA but also has a full no-movement clause that makes finding a trade more difficult.
An extension may still even be on the table here.
While the frenzied call for change that immediately followed their exit against Boston has cooled — at least a little bit — into accepting that perhaps things won’t change as much as some would like, GM Brad Treliving has been known to blow the doors off with huge, unforeseen trades before.
Regardless of if there’s a monumental shift to the core, the Leafs have quite a bit of business to get to. They need a goalie to run shotgun with Joseph Woll. They have to figure out what to do with UFAs Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, or replace them. And their defence needs some massaging, with Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe and Simon Benoit the only regulars still under contract for 2024-25.