The top storylines to watch as NHL Draft, free agency draws near

The Stanley Cup has been awarded. Now, it is time for a very quick turnaround into the NHL offseason. 

There are many storylines to watch out for this summer, and honestly, just over the next few days. The Florida Panthers won the Cup on Monday, the Hockey Hall of Fame announced its inductions on Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers held their end-of-year press conference on Wednesday, the NHL Awards are on Thursday, the NHL Draft is on Friday and Saturday, the Panthers Stanley Cup parade is on Sunday and NHL free agency opens up on Monday morning. 

Is that all? Well, we have a few trades, the biggest likely being the New Jersey Devils grabbing goalie Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames, we have some expected buyouts, we have Matthew Tkachuk jumping into the Atlantic Ocean with the Stanley Cup, we have new uniforms and a couple of full franchise rebrandings, we have a team owner walking away, we have rumors on top of rumors… Okay, exhale. 

Which storylines are the biggest? Which should you keep your eye on over the coming days, weeks and months? 

Tyler Yaremchuk: Hey, I think the expectation is it’s Draft week and things should be spicy around the NHL… Let’s just kick off with that, a general vibe check… What are you keeping your eye on, what are some big stories over the next couple of days that really have your interest?

Frank Seravalli: Well, of course there’s the draft order… There’s salary dumps, there’s buyouts that are going to come on Thursday when the buyout window opens, there’s non-qualified players who will become unrestricted free agents and there’s of course hockey trades… To this point right now… I just talked to five NHL GM’s in the last hour. I said ‘What’s going on?’ They said ‘It’s really quiet’… We’ll see what happens, but for now, famous last words… It’s been a little quiet. 

You can watch the full episode here: