Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid believes the NHL's current crop of unsigned restricted free agents will reach their respective agreements in bunches.

"It's obviously a unique situation where there's a lot of star players that are sitting out right now," McDavid said Monday, according to NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. "I think it'll just take one domino to fall and they'll all fall pretty quick. But someone's going to have to set that mark."

The list of RFAs that remain without a deal includes Brayden Point, Mitch Marner, Brock Boeser, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen, and Matthew Tkachuk, among others. Training camps open in roughly two weeks.

McDavid himself never came close to a contract holdout, as he signed an eight-year, $100-million contract in July 2017 to make him the league's highest-paid player, one year before he would've become an RFA.

"I didn't want to be sitting here and not going to training camp," McDavid said. "That was my biggest fear, honestly."

McDavid posted a career-high 116 points in 78 games in 2018-19, the first year of his new contract.

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Max Domi isn't afraid to stoke the fire of a century-old rivalry during the dog days of summer.

The Montreal Canadiens forward was recently asked about the difference between his current team's fan base and that of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the club that plays where he grew up. His dad, Tie, also played 777 games for the Leafs.

"I was pretty lucky as a kid to grow up around that same sort of vibe in Toronto with my dad, but Montreal's a whole other level," Domi told TSN. "I get it, Toronto's got their fans and the Leaf Nation is pretty big, but there's nothing even close to Montreal and their fans down there. The fan base for the Montreal Canadiens is second to none."

Asked for his reasoning, Domi pointed to the rafters.

"They've won 24 Stanley Cups," he said. "That's all that needs to be said, really. Sorry. It's a pretty simple answer."

After spending the first three years of his career with the Arizona Coyotes, Domi was shipped to the Habs in exchange for Alex Galchenyuk last offseason. He immediately noticed the vast difference between the two markets.

"It wasn't really anything I wasn't prepared for, but you don't really know what to expect until you step on the ice and experience skating around the Bell Centre and playing in front of a sold-out rink of 20,000 passionate fans that know exactly what's going on in your life and how your game's going and all that stuff," Domi said.

"If you're playing in Montreal, you're the luckiest dude in the world," he added.

Domi's first year in La Belle Province was a huge success, as he buried a career-high 28 goals while adding 44 assists, setting a new personal best with 72 points in 82 games.

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Colorado Avalanche winger and restricted free agent Mikko Rantanen is skating with the Storhamar Dragons in Norway as he awaits a new NHL contract, the Norwegian team confirmed Monday.

Storhamar is a member of the GET-ligaen, the highest level of Norwegian professional hockey.

The Avalanche, though, would prefer to see him back in their colors.

Rantanen, a native of Finland, is one of the biggest names in the NHL's group of unsigned RFAs. The list includes Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Brock Boeser, Zach Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk.

Meanwhile, Marner's camp contacted the Zurich Lions of the Swiss league last week to see about participating in their practices.

It doesn't appear that a resolution is imminent in negotiations between Rantanen and the Avs, but Colorado general manager Joe Sakic said earlier in August that the team would prefer the All-Star signs a long-term deal.

Rantanen was drafted 10th overall by Colorado in 2015 and is coming off a career season in which he posted 87 points in 74 games alongside Nathan MacKinnon on the top line. The 22-year-old added 14 points in 12 playoff games this past spring.

The Avalanche have roughly $15.6 million in available space to strike a deal, according to Cap Friendly.

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Connor McDavid is "working towards getting to camp" after suffering a season-ending knee injury during the final game of the 2018-19 campaign, he told reporters on Monday, according to TSN.

The Edmonton Oilers superstar isn't participating in the on-ice portion of BioSteel Camp this week, but he's been skating for at least "a couple months," the three-time All-Star said.

McDavid tore his PCL when he crashed hard into the post while driving to the net. The 22-year-old said he hasn't endured any setbacks during his recovery.

The Oilers play their first preseason game on Sept. 16 against the Winnipeg Jets. That tilt could mark the debut of James Neal, Edmonton's biggest offseason acquisition who was brought over in a trade with the Calgary Flames for Milan Lucic. McDavid's feelings about the move are mixed.

"Obviously disappointing to see a good friend in 'Looch' go," McDavid said. "He was someone that I got close with on the team, great guy, great family as well, definitely gonna miss them.

"But Nealer has a lot of upside. He's a guy that's won a lot in this league, scored a lot in this league ... obviously a down year last year but he's training (with Gary Roberts) and he's working as hard as I've ever seen him work."

Edmonton and Calgary square off twice this preseason, but the provincial rivals will wait until Dec. 27 before clashing in a meaningful game.

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Carolina Hurricanes prospect Stelio Mattheos will miss training camp this year as he completes treatments for testicular cancer, the team announced Monday.

Mattheos was diagnosed with testicular cancer in June - two days after helping the AHL's Charlotte Checkers claim the 2019 Calder Cup. He underwent surgery to remove one testicle and has since completed multiple courses of chemotherapy over the past two months.

The 20-year-old is expected to return to full health and will resume training for the 2019-20 season once his treatments are complete and he receives clearance from doctors.

"I'd like to thank everyone who reached out to offer support and well wishes since the diagnosis," Mattheos said. "I've had amazing support from my friends, family, teammates, coaches, and all of the hockey organizations I've been a part of, including the Hurricanes, Checkers, and Brandon Wheat Kings.

"I owe a debt of gratitude to my surgeon, Dr. Sabeer Rehsia, and all of the staff at Grace Hospital, as well as Dr. Piotr Czaykowski at Cancer Care Manitoba and all of the nurses on the chemotherapy ward."

Mattheos, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound right-winger, was the Hurricanes' third-round pick in the 2017 draft. After tallying 96 points in 65 WHL games in 2018-19, he joined the Checkers down the stretch, skating in 11 regular season contests and 14 playoff tilts, recording a total of seven points.

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Darren McCarty had a problem with the bottle.

The longtime NHL enforcer was an alcoholic. On Nov. 11, 2015, his blood pressure was spiking and his liver was about to explode. His addiction to beer and Jack Daniels led to four stints in rehab, ended two marriages, and was threatening to take his life.

"For me, growing up, you were either a jock or stoner, so I never smoked pot growing up, but I've been drinking since I was 12 or 13 years old. That was acceptable in the hockey circles, it's just culturally what was accepted,” McCarty told Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press. "So I would always say no to pot, until after my first surgery in 1999. I was on all these pills, and it was driving me crazy. And I'm an insomniac, so I can't sleep, and that had a lot to do with all the drinking."

A friend suggested he try some marijuana and "something went off in my head and it was like my body said yes."

This 1999 incident didn't stop him from drinking to the point of collapse. So in 2015, several of his friends, including a medical marijuana caregiver who supplied him with weed, isolated him, and for a full week, gave him "gram after gram" of Rick Simpson Oil - a potent marijuana concentrate created by Simpson in 2003 to treat his skin cancer.

"I was in a coma and when I woke up after seven days, I didn't have a physical addiction," McCarty said. "I dropped to my knees and said, 'Thank God.'"

McCarty hasn't had a drink since, has lost 60 pounds, has quit smoking cigarettes, and is off most of his prescription medications.

"If you've seen my progress over the past 10 years, you've seen me go through different stages from the alcoholism, which led me to this plant saving my life," he said. "I feel like I’m 35. I'm not lying. I feel like Benjamin Button."

McCarty, now 47, is smoking pot every day, but doesn't believe he ditched one addiction and picked up another.

McCarty played 15 seasons in the NHL, winning four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings. The rugged winger racked up 288 points and 1,477 penalty minutes in his 758-game career. He's now partnered with a cannabis company called Pincanna.

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