Thomas Drance

2 days ago | nytimes.com | Thomas Drance

Buckle up, because we’re just at the beginning of an NHL summer frenzy that will be unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory. The upper limit of the NHL salary cap, which has been relatively frozen for years during the “flat cap era” due to an extended, collectively bargained period of pandemic-driven austerity, will reach $95.5 million during the 2025-26 season. This cap jump, in comparison with last season, is the most significant single-season increase in league history.

4 days ago | nytimes.com | Thomas Drance

The meat of the NHL offseason is upon us now and hockey news is beginning to flow at more regular intervals as the NHL Draft approaches. Just on Monday, we saw some real, impactful trades go down, an ordinary course buyout get exercised and a variety of fascinating extensions get signed. Meanwhile, the rumours are reaching a feverish crescendo as we move closer to draft day and the start of a new league year on July 1.

5 days ago | nytimes.com | Thomas Drance

The next 10 days could prove to be transformative for both the Vancouver Canucks and the NHL as a whole. We’re entering a new era of NHL hockey, one that will be defined by cap growth, player power and recruiting efficiency. An era in which parity, which has already died, will be formally buried six feet under. An era in which super teams will reign in low tax jurisdictions, and in which superstar players will have a greater say in determining both team composition and the outcome of games.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Thomas Drance

We’re approaching that most dreaded moment of the NHL calendar. That moment when the industry’s entire world turns upside down. Call it the “silly season,” call it the “frenzy,” call it the most dangerous time of year. As the offseason gets underway, mistakes will be made, ambitions will be dashed and Stanley Cups will be won — even if we won’t know the outcome of all of the moves that are made until it plays out on the ice. This offseason promises to be especially topsy-turvy.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Thomas Drance

The Stanley Cup has been awarded, and the starting gun that signals “Go!” has sounded to mark the official start of the NHL offseason. For the Vancouver Canucks, a team coming off a disappointing 2024-25 season, this is a critical offseason, one that has started in an unsettled fashion given the departure of head coach Rick Tocchet and the seemingly endless local speculation about the franchise’s future and the future of its star player.