The Vegas Golden Knights have won the Pacific Division two out of the three years they've played in it.

Might the newest expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, be the best bet to stop Vegas from doing it again?

We'll get into that and more as we look at the best way to attack the Pacific Division futures market.

The favorites

With implied odds of 73.7%, Vegas (-280) is a heavy favorite to win the Pacific. Rightfully so. They made the final four just a few months ago and by all accounts were a dominant team in the regular season. They won more games than anybody while only Colorado fared better in terms of five-on-five goal share. Outside of Marc-Andre Fleury, whose departure will sting, the Golden Knights' most notable "losses" were Tomas Nosek, Ryan Reaves, and Cody Glass, who was struggling to establish himself in the lineup. Almost the entire cast is returning, which means the Golden Knights are positioned nicely to win a poor division.

The rest

I have a hard time believing the Oilers (+550) can give the Golden Knights a run for their money. Their top six are as potent as anyone's and they have a lethal power play, but the list of positives ends there. Defensive play is almost certainly going to be a problem. It wasn't a great group last season and they replaced Ethan Bear, a promising up-and-comer, and Adam Larsson, a stout in-zone defender, with Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci. The former is long past his best-before date and Ceci, simply put, is not very good. Put that weak blue line in front of questionable goaltending and it's a recipe for disaster. Yes, Mike Smith was good last season. His track record in recent years isn't, though, and the 39-year-old is a likely candidate to regress. Mikko Koskinen isn't capable of carrying the load if and when that happens. This team is going to have a hard time outscoring its problems, which is saying something considering the Oilers have two of the best players in the league up front.

Seattle (+1000) is an attractive alternative to Vegas. People are down on them because they didn't have a flashy draft and left some talent on the table. I get it, but the pieces are still there to be solid. While the Kraken may be lacking high-end talent up front, Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz, Jared McCann, and Yanni Gourde (who is ahead of schedule in his recovery), should help score enough to get by, especially considering the quality depth behind them. The Kraken also have the potential to be one of the best defensive sides in the NHL. Larsson, Mark Giordano, Jamie Oleksiak, and even Carson Soucy are all strong in-zone defenders. Vince Dunn is an underrated threat ready to explode with more opportunity. The pieces are all there to be a formidable group. The Kraken have a fantastic one-two punch in goal, too, with Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger. They might not play a sexy brand of hockey, but they have the potential to grind out a lot of wins in this division.

I don't want anything to do with the Canucks (+1400) this season. Their forwards are solid, and I love Thatcher Demko in goal, but I just can't look past their defense core. It is, in a word, horrible. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is a shell of his former self. Tyler Myers is overpaid and overused. Tucker Poolman, Travis Hamonic, and Luke Schenn are a third pairing at best. It's Quinn Hughes, who does have shortcomings defensively, and a bunch of "blah." This team is going to be in tough to make the playoffs, let alone contend for a division title.

Calgary (+1500) should be a more competitive side in its first full season under Darryl Sutter. They have a few stars on the roster to work with and a bunch of "Sutter guys" - none more so than Blake Coleman - who fit into the coach's play style. The Flames should also have strong goaltending with Jacob Markstrom and newcomer Daniel Vladar manning the crease. There's potential here.

Los Angeles (+1800) is on the up. The Kings have a ton of quality prospects and made some nice moves this offseason to improve right now. They do have surprise potential in this division, but they're likely a year or two away from making some noise.

The Sharks (+6000) are a disaster. Their roster is littered with declining, overpaid players who will be used in prominent roles. Given where they're at, they kind of have to accept defeat and suffer through a couple of poor seasons while they try and clear things out. This team will not be good.

I have no idea what the Ducks (+20000) are doing. There's no plan with the team. It's a bad club - and has been bad for years - yet it's making almost no changes. They're not moving big-ticket players. They're not using veterans on expiring contracts to stockpile pieces for a rebuild. They're just keeping the band together, which is puzzling considering the lack of floor and ceiling this team has.

Best value: Calgary Flames (+1500)

This Flames team is interesting. Their top-six forwards, overall, are good at both ends of the ice. Mikael Backlund is an elite 3C. The defense core - led by the Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin pairing, which was dominant last season - is competent, and they're in excellent shape in goal. They could grind out a lot of 2-1 and 3-2 wins. Vegas would need to be hit with the injury bug for Calgary to have a real shot but at +1500 the Flames are certainly worth consideration.

Best bet: Seattle Kraken (+1000)

I backed the Kraken to make the playoffs so I might as well sprinkle in some division futures. They should be a strong defensive side with excellent goaltending. If, like Vegas a few years ago, they can benefit from a couple of players popping with more opportunity coming their way, this team could surprise.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk isn't ready to commit to a long-term seven- or eight-year contract with the club, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

It's expected the league's salary cap should be much higher in a few years once the losses from the COVID-19 pandemic are recuperated. The rise would provide Tkachuk with more flexibility and possibilities on a long-term deal.

Tkachuk is one of the final restricted free agents left to be signed in the NHL with the 2021-22 season less than a week away. Head coach D.J. Smith said on Tuesday he must prepare to start the season without his star forward.

The Senators are in the midst of a complete rebuild and boast a considerable amount of youthful talent in the lineup. In September, general manager Pierre Dorion said the rebuild is complete and he feels it's time for the club to start winning again.

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A middle-aged man having lunch near the fireplace extends his hand to Trocheck and asks the Carolina Hurricanes forward how he's doing. He works in real estate here in the Raleigh-Durham area. Trocheck tells him he'll buy a home, no question, if he signs a long-term extension. Right now, in early September, with a season left on his deal, the Trocheck family is fine renting.

Trocheck takes a seat one table over. While scarfing down a quesadilla, waffle fries, and a beer, he gushes over head coach Rod Brind'Amour's impact on his experience so far in Carolina. In fact, he says, he's never played for a better coach. Brind'Amour and Trocheck hooked up for a round of golf the other day. They talked a little business - including the recent addition of young forward and potential future linemate Jesperi Kotkaniemi - but mostly chatted about non-hockey matters.

To Trocheck, Brind'Amour and the Hurricanes were just another rival and the laid-back Raleigh-Durham area was just another stopover as recently as 18 months ago. In the early going of trade deadline day last February, Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon called Trocheck to deliver the news that he'd been traded to Carolina for four lesser-known skaters. The GM and player met in the Panthers' Vegas hotel to discuss why Tallon had parted with the core piece. The conversation grew into a heart-to-heart.

"We talked more about life than the trade," Trocheck says. He's now on the Old Chatham driving range, whistling between swings. A few minutes ago, as Trocheck walked across the parking lot connecting the clubhouse and range, a few teammates chirped him from their vehicles, wondering where he'd been for the past 30 minutes.

Trocheck, who, at the moment, is the only Hurricanes player with a membership at the club, hosted about a dozen of them for 18 holes and lunch but left the group to eat inside with a guest. It's abundantly clear by the way teammates interact with Trocheck that he's a cultural catalyst, a 5-foot-10, 183-pound bridge between up-and-comers and veterans.

On the ice, Trocheck is a top-six center for a squad that, despite a polarizing offseason, believes it's on the cusp of something special. The 28-year-old has appeared in just 19 playoff games since breaking into the league in 2014. He needs more.

"Winning's been everything since Day 1," Trocheck says. "Since I was 3 years old."

Around the Hurricanes organization, the names Tom, Don, and Rod are attached to every conversation relating to the on-ice product. There's no siloing between owner Tom Dundon, president and general manager Don Waddell, and Brind'Amour, the NHL's reigning coach of the year.

Dundon is so heavily involved in the day-to-day activity that he's drawn comparisons to the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones. Waddell holds the final vote on trades, signings, and draft picks and also presides over the business arms of the Hurricanes and PNC Arena. Brind'Amour is the rare coach who both chats one-on-one with ownership on a regular basis and serves as a consultant to the GM on personnel decisions.

For a moment in the spring, it looked as if the trio might be on the verge of becoming a duo. But, following months of negotiations, Dundon and Brind'Amour came to terms on a deal to keep the face of the franchise behind the bench for three more years. From there, the Hurricanes got after it, turning over nine spots on the 23-man roster.

"That part is not ideal. I'll be honest with you; I didn't want to make any changes," Brind'Amour says during a lengthy interview at the Hurricanes' practice facility. "Why would we? We had the (third)-best record in the NHL. We lost to Tampa. Tampa's the best team in the league. We're knocking on the door. Part of the reason why we had so much success last year is, if you go back to a year ago, we had one change. One player."

In the next breath, Brind'Amour concedes that to expect little to no year-over-year changes would be foolish with the salary cap flattened by the pandemic. Key people are bound to move on, he says, referring to Dougie Hamilton, the Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman who, on the first day of free agency, inked a seven-year, $63-million contract with the New Jersey Devils.

Free-agent signee Tony DeAngelo and trade acquisition Ethan Bear are tasked with filling the Hamilton-sized hole on the right side. Waddell believes Carolina's revamped blue line, which also features incumbents Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei, and newcomers Ian Cole and Brendan Smith, should be better defensively in 2021-22. But, the GM admits Hamilton's offensive punch will be difficult to replace.

If anybody is capable of moving the puck, joining the rush, or running a power play close to Hamilton's standards, it's DeAngelo. (He tied for fourth in points among NHL defensemen in 2019-20.) Conversely, if anybody is capable of disrupting a dressing room and dividing a fan base, it's DeAngelo. His past is checkered with incidents in which he harassed teammates and abused on-ice officials. The New York Rangers benched him for maturity issues and then, after a physical confrontation with a teammate, placed him on waivers for the purpose of buying out the remainder of his contract. On social media, DeAngelo has downplayed COVID-19's impact and fought with other users over hot-button political issues.

The Hurricanes say signing DeAngelo to a one-year, $1-million contract wasn't an impulsive decision. They did their homework. Brind'Amour had multiple probing conversations with DeAngelo and the team interviewed numerous ex-teammates and coaches, including David Quinn, Jesper Fast, and Skjei, all formerly of the Rangers.

According to Waddell, the main takeaway from the process was that DeAngelo has "learned his lesson" and is "remorseful" about his past. "He also knows that, hey, we have high standards here. I go to the contract. He's probably, what, a $4-million player? If we paid him $4 million, I couldn't say all of these things. We paid him $1 million. We said, 'Tony, you come in and prove to us. Forget about the playing side. That's going to take care of itself. But prove to us that you can be the person that this organization wants to move forward with. And if you do that, everything's going to work out fine.'"

Brind'Amour brings up an anecdote involving his wife. "She just kind of looked at me and said, 'Well, if you don't give him a chance - he's admitted to (indiscretions), things he's not proud of - who's going to give him an opportunity? Are you just going to throw him out and be over at (25) years old?' Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense either. To have a willingness to let people change or show that they've changed seems kind of easy."

Amazingly, DeAngelo wasn't the signing that attracted the most national attention during Carolina's hectic offseason. The late-August offer sheet to Kotkaniemi counts as the biggest splash, especially since Kotkaniemi's old team, the Montreal Canadiens, ultimately chose not to match the one-year, $6.1-million deal. (Mind you, the social media pettiness associated with the offer sheet - which we'll discuss later - certainly supercharged outside interest in the transaction.)

The Hurricanes also traded their Calder Trophy finalist, goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, in late July, and then replaced him and his veteran partners with two goalies with recent injury issues, Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta. That would normally be a spicy talking point coming into a season, but aside from the initial reactions to the additions and subtractions, the goaltending overhaul has largely flown under the radar. The DeAngelo and Kotkaniemi signings have commanded almost all of the oxygen.

Carolina's offseason has left many observers puzzled. Some are skeptical or cynical, or a combination of both. For example, the Hurricanes garnered the No. 1 spot on one publication's league-wide list of "most bizarre offseasons"; finished first with a 9.6 (out of 10) rating on an offseason "bizarro-meter ranking"; and inspired a frank question, "Did the Hurricanes outsmart themselves?"

Dundon, a Texas billionaire, became sole owner of the franchise this past June. He originally purchased a majority stake in the franchise in late 2017, which means the 2021-22 campaign will be Tom, Don, and Rod's fourth full season running the show. So far, the team has made the playoffs every year, winning four postseason series in total.

While Waddell says the upcoming 82-game slog will be the proving ground, the GM is confident they've built the "most talented" roster of the young but eventful Dundon era.

A day after his latest round at Old Chatham, Trocheck is sitting on a couch in his living room staring at the assembly instructions for a miniature hockey game. It's early afternoon and the work day - time in the gym and on the ice - has already wrapped.

Within arm's reach are Lennon, 10 months and sporting a stained shirt, and Leo, an inquisitive 3-year-old obsessed with hockey. Leo asks if he can place sticker logos of both the Hurricanes and Panthers on the plastic game. Dad allows it. Romeo, an overly friendly Goldendoodle, and Porter, a docile Golden Retriever, trot around the humans.

The Trocheck residence is simultaneously chaotic and quiet. This is life as a young dad.

"I love the friendship aspect of it," Trocheck says of fatherhood. "Leo's now my best friend. I can hang out with him." Of Lennon, he says she's "the most chill, happy baby on the planet." It's still a thrill for him to see her face light up when he comes home from the rink.

Trocheck and his wife, Hillary, met roughly a decade ago in a high school economics class in Saginaw, Michigan. Trocheck, who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, moved to Detroit at 12 to play in a more competitive minor hockey loop. He then spent his entire junior career with Michigan-based OHL teams in Saginaw and Plymouth. It wasn't until he turned pro that he left the state, splitting his rookie season between AHL San Antonio and NHL Florida, which drafted him in the third round, 64th overall, in 2011.

Trocheck, like every NHLer, will never forget his first big-league call-up in March 2014. Along with the delight of skating in the world's best league and sharing the ice with legends Roberto Luongo and Ed Jovanovski, he can vividly recall the presence of the late Jimmy Hayes; specifically, how Hayes, who was new to the team too, made him feel welcome.

"He was the first one to come knock on my door and ask me to go to dinner with the guys - like I had known him for 20 years," Trocheck says of Hayes, who died in August. (Trocheck was one of hundreds from the hockey community to attend Hayes' funeral in Boston.) "That always stuck out to me as something that made me feel more comfortable in my first few games," he adds. "It's tough for guys coming into the league. You're nervous, don't want to say too much, too little, and he made it a seamless transition."

Trocheck posted a solid 30 points in his first 70 NHL games. He leveled up in 2015-16, with 53 points in 76 contests, and has never looked back. He blossomed in Florida alongside franchise cornerstones Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Aaron Ekblad. Team success was a problem, though, as the Panthers made the postseason only once during Trocheck's tenure. He played for five different head coaches in seven years.

Despite the lack of success, Trocheck looks back fondly on his Florida days. He could have done without the injuries - chiefly the broken right fibula he suffered in 2018. Trocheck and an opponent had been battling for position when his leg pretzeled. His chilling screams filled the arena as play came to a halt and a stretcher arrived.

At that exact moment, all Trocheck could think about was Alex Smith. The NFL quarterback had recently suffered such a severe injury, and doctors were considering amputating Smith's leg because of an infection. "I was just hoping it wasn't serious enough that I was going to be done for my career," Trocheck says. Luckily, tests showed he had no ligament or muscle damage. The surgeon inserted a plate and some screws. Otherwise, he would be alright.

Trocheck faced another setback in 2019, cracking his left tibia blocking a shot. Somehow, he still suited up in 55 contests for the Panthers prior to the trade deadline, recovering fully only when the NHL went on its COVID-19 hiatus. There's more: In the 2020-21 playoffs, he suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in Game 2 of the Hurricanes' second-round meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning. By Trocheck's estimation, he was at 30% health when he returned to the lineup for the fifth and final game of the series.

Not requiring surgery on his knee, Trocheck rehabbed this summer and felt 100% prior to training camp. In camp, he's missed two practices due to a "middle-body" injury, though Brind'Amour has told reporters he should be all set for the season opener next Thursday. The center position was barely touched in the offseason, so his spot in the lineup is unchanged: Sebastian Aho remains the top guy, Trocheck is the 2C, Jordan Staal is 3C, and veteran Derek Stepan is the new 4C.

What makes Trocheck so effective as a center is how he's able to blend a low center of gravity and elite strength with speed, offensive instincts, and a pesty streak. He possesses the toolbox of a finesse player and the mentality of a grinder. The first thought to pop into Staal's head when Carolina acquired Trocheck was how much he hated playing against him. "Those are the guys that you want on your team, right?" Staal says.

Adds Brind'Amour: "The competitive nature of this group is really good and you have to have that. Troch is a ringleader in that. That's part of his deal."

Trocheck, who is mellow off the ice, admits to being some kind of a pest on it.

"Sure, I like to get under people's skin," he says on his back patio, as Hillary handles childcare duties inside. "It's just my competitive nature. I can't really hold it back."

The Philadelphia Flyers traded Brind'Amour to Carolina in 2000. It didn't take the future Hall of Famer long to spot the difference between a traditional and nontraditional market.

"I asked for directions to get to the arena here, and the people I asked didn't know what or where the arena was," Brind'Amour says. Over two-plus decades, though, he's watched the franchise - which arrived from Hartford in 1997 - come of age alongside the fan base. "Night and day would kind of be an understatement," he says.

Brind'Amour breaks it down: In the early years, before the salary cap was implemented in 2005, the Hurricanes "were doing the best" they could. Great, committed people. However, ownership lacked financial might, so the player payroll was low, staffing budget was tight, and facilities were subpar. Internal expectations were relatively low. (With arena construction delayed, the team actually played its first two seasons in a minor-league rink located 80 miles west of Raleigh.) In 2001-02, the Hurricanes finally broke through on the ice, making the Stanley Cup Final. The powerhouse Detroit Red Wings - whose payroll was essentially twice as large - disposed of them in five games.

The cap's introduction helped level the playing field with big-market teams for a while. Yet it became painfully obvious over time that teams spending to the upper limit would have a far greater chance of maintaining success than those who don't. According to CapFriendly, The Hurricanes were in the bottom three in cap spending for the three seasons before Dundon acquired controlling interest in the team from original owner Peter Karmanos.

Dundon increased spending the past two seasons and is projected to hit the upper limit in 2021-22. "Now, all of a sudden ...," Brind'Amour says before snapping his fingers. "That, to me, is the biggest thing. People talk about all of (these other factors), but at the end of the day, you've got to have the players. That's it. If you don't, you have no chance."

Dundon, a hockey outsider who made his money in subprime automobile lending, has brought a fresh outlook to the boardroom. North Carolina is a college basketball state. The ACC schools - Duke, North Carolina, NC State, and Wake Forest - dominate the sports landscape, and the Hurricanes won't change that anytime soon. What they can do is appeal to fans by developing a brand that prioritizes entertainment.

"We're in a market that we feel like we have to continue to sell the game. Not just on the ice, we have to sell it off the ice," Waddell says during a sit-down at PNC Arena. "We've put a lot of effort into and really ramped up our social team a few years ago."

Ah, yes, social media. The Storm Surge celebration doesn't become a phenomenon in 2018-19 without it going viral. The "Bunch of Jerks" nickname (and merchandise jackpot) doesn't persist if the Hurricanes don't embrace grumpy Don Cherry's commentary about the player-led Storm Surge. The David Ayres story of 2019-20 - remember him, the cuddly emergency backup goalie in Toronto? - isn't part of the NHL news cycle for a week straight if Carolina doesn't take full advantage of the moment.

This offseason, the Hurricanes doubled down in the wake of the Kotkaniemi acquisition. The offer sheet was partly revenge for the Canadiens presenting an offer sheet to Aho two years ago, so, of course, there was a cheeky $20 signing bonus baked into Kotkamiemi's deal, a reference to Aho's jersey number. There was also a "people don't forget" tweet; reverse Uno card tweet; matching press release quote; and French-language signing announcement. It was obnoxiously passive-aggressive, and Dundon signed off on all of it. "There's a lot of decisions we can make and move on," Waddell says of Dundon chiming in. "Something this big, everybody was involved."

Two days before the Kotkaniemi offer sheet was tabled, the team announced an eight-year extension for star forward Andrei Svechnikov. Fans apparently responded positively to all of the buzz, with a team spokesman confirming 2021-22 will be the Hurricanes' best year for season-ticket sales since 2007. (Carolina won its only Cup in 2006.)

Brind'Amour, the captain of the '06 team, is one of the organization's prized assets. At the rink, he is the tone-setter not only with respect to Xs and Os, but also culture building and work ethic. (Famously, the 51-year-old stays in game shape, continuing to keep his "Rod the Bod" nickname relevant.) He seems to be universally adored by his players, too. "I wouldn't say there's been a lot of times where a coach has been make-or-break for a team I've played on," Trocheck says. "But I think Roddy really puts us over the edge."

A part of the appeal with Brind'Amour is that he's refreshingly authentic. There's absolutely no fluff. A multimillionaire several times over from his playing days, he drives an old GMC Sierra truck. And he'll drill cliches into his players' brains not because he feels that's what a coach should be doing, but because he really does swear by phrases like "Earn it" and "Win the day 1-0." Both are displayed prominently inside the team's practice facility.

"We were always an OK team, a good team, and we're now moving towards being the best," says Staal, a Hurricane since 2012. "That's the bar that we've raised here."

Trocheck is big on family. The black ink on his left arm is permanent proof.

Among a full sleeve of intricate tattoos are number sets for his parents' birthdates; music notes for his dad's saxophone- and piano-playing skills; haircut shears for the multiple hairdressers in his extended family; and grapevines for his Italian heritage.

The Hurricanes view themselves as a family, which helps explain, at least in part, why Trocheck has meshed so well. He's a dressing room DJ. He's slowly making a name for himself as a legitimately good singer on the karaoke mic. And over the past month, he's brokered club memberships between five eager teammates and Old Chatham.

Every player on Carolina's roster and staff is fully vaccinated, so the fast-approaching season should be as normal as possible in terms of being able to bond on the road. These interactions pay dividends, Trocheck says. One example: The 2015-16 Panthers' 12-game winning streak followed a trip to New York City and the annual rookie party. "Things like that, it brings people together," he says. "You get close with the guys. If it's not the same team that it was the year prior, those are times you get to know everybody, really."

The new-look Hurricanes will have plenty of mingling to do on and off the ice. They must come together in short order, too, with the Metropolitan Division boasting five other strong but imperfect teams in the New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Flyers. Carolina possesses one of the NHL's deepest forward groups and a formidable defense corps, even without Hamilton. The fate of the Hurricanes' season may rest on the shoulders of a high-risk, high-reward goalie tandem.

Trocheck, who's coming off an excellent season in which he tied his career high in points per game, has been lining up alongside Kotkaniemi and Teuvo Teravainen in preseason action. The trio might not stay together - preseason is for experimenting - yet Trocheck will nonetheless receive top-six minutes at even strength and a starring role on the power play. The pending free agent has an outside chance of making Team USA for the Beijing Olympics, as well.

"We're going to sit down at some point here and talk to (his representative) about a long-term deal," Waddell says. "He's a piece that, for multiple reasons, we'd like to keep around."

Trocheck loves it in North Carolina. He says the contract is not on his mind on the eve of the season, but he would consider signing long term. You can bet his coach is on board.

"He fits with what we expect out of a Carolina Hurricane," Brind'Amour says.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer.

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Additional access to Jack Eichel's medical file has once again sparked trade negotiations surrounding the Buffalo Sabres superstar, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

There haven't been any rumors about a prospective Eichel blockbuster since his former agents said in July they were anticipating a trade "in the near future." Eichel changed agents a month later, hiring CAA's Pat Brisson.

The lack of clarity regarding Eichel's health likely played a role in the stalled negotiations over the summer. The 24-year-old failed his training camp physical and was stripped of his captaincy in the process.

The rift between the player and organization stems from a differing opinion on how to repair the herniated disc in his neck that sidelined him for the second half of last season. The Sabres want him to undergo a fusion surgery, while Eichel wants to have an artificial disc replacement procedure. The team has denied Eichel's preferred method. It's a relatively new surgery that hasn't been performed on an NHL player before.

The Minnesota Wild were one of the known teams to have initial talks with the Sabres about the star center in June, but the team's cap situation has changed drastically in that time. Eichel carries a $10-million average annual value through 2025-26.

Eichel is coming off an injury-plagued 2020-21 campaign. However, in the prior two seasons, he recorded 160 points over 145 games - good for 12th in the NHL and fifth among centers over that span.

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Every new NHL season brings numerous question marks, and there are more than usual heading into 2021-22.

The league returns to an 82-game schedule after each team played 26 fewer contests in 2021, and after the 2019-20 regular season was cut short before those playoffs took place in bubbles.

Additionally, the Seattle Kraken embark on their inaugural campaign. Many wondered whether they'd take the NHL by storm as the Golden Knights did in 2017-18, but that appears unlikely with opposing organizations better prepared for the 2021 expansion draft and that now-perennially elite Vegas team in the same division.

Here are five significant questions as the upcoming campaign draws near:

Can the Lightning pull off a 3-peat?

The Tampa Bay Lightning accomplished an impressive feat with their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship in July, but it's not going to be easy to win a third straight. The last time an NHL team won the Cup three times in a row was nearly four decades ago when the New York Islanders prevailed in four straight years from 1980 to 1983.

It's also much harder to do it in the salary cap era. The Lightning lost Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde, David Savard, and Tyler Johnson this offseason, and they added Corey Perry, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Zach Bogosian, among others.

However, if any team can do it, it's this powerhouse Tampa Bay squad. Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point, and Steven Stamkos lead a dominant core full of all-world talent that remains intact, and the club's depth is still solid enough to ensure another Cup run.

How will the Eichel saga end?

Few expected Jack Eichel to still be with the Buffalo Sabres at this point. With the regular season about a week away, we'll see how the drama finally concludes after everything that's transpired.

It seemed the Sabres would move Eichel during the offseason, but that didn't come to fruition, presumably because other teams felt Buffalo's asking price was too high considering the risks. The internal rift between the center's camp and the club over the type of surgery he ultimately undergoes is further complicating a resolution, as well.

The Sabres stripped Eichel of his captaincy after he failed his physical at training camp, and the soon-to-be 25-year-old is now on injured reserve. That doesn't mean he'll never play for Buffalo again, but it's hard to imagine the 2015 second overall pick remaining with the team long term. However, he'll need to demonstrate he's healthy before another organization parts with assets to land him, and there's no telling when or if that'll happen, so this situation may not be settled for a while.

What will McDavid do for an encore?

Connor McDavid's 2021 season was one for the ages, so what does he have in store for the upcoming campaign? The Edmonton Oilers superstar racked up an unbelievable league-best 105 points while playing in all 56 games. His 72 assists were 19 more than the next-closest player's - his teammate, Leon Draisaitl - and his point total topped Draisaitl's for first by 21.

McDavid became only the second player ever - the other being Wayne Gretzky in 1981-82 - to win the Hart Trophy unanimously. And he may match, or even exceed, that performance if offseason signing Zach Hyman's puck-retrieval skills give McDavid more opportunities than he's had previously.

The Edmonton captain is already entering his seventh season, but he's still only 24 years old. The fact that McDavid has already achieved so much personal success and hasn't even entered his prime yet is a scary thought for opponents and their fans, but it's exciting for the game as a whole.

Can the Maple Leafs finally win a playoff round?

The Toronto Maple Leafs' repeated playoff failures have become a source of amusement for opposing fans, especially considering how much the club pays its top four forwards. But the team's postseason struggles are no laughing matter in Toronto, where the pressure to win is among the highest of any market.

The Maple Leafs have failed to make it out of the first round in four of the last five years and didn't even reach that stage in the other, losing in the qualifying round in 2020. They had an easier road last season thanks to the NHL's temporary divisional realignment, but the Montreal Canadiens rallied to eliminate them in seven games. Toronto's offseason was underwhelming, and now the Maple Leafs are back in the loaded Atlantic Division with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, among other perennially competitive adversaries.

Toronto is clearly a talented team and has been for a handful of years, but it needs to end its string of premature exits to avoid a potential major shakeup. The Maple Leafs certainly can win a first-round series in 2021-22 to silence the criticism, but the subject will loom over them until the day they do it.

How will COVID-19 affect the NHL over a full season?

The NHL is bringing back the usual schedule, but COVID-19 is still prevalent in many parts of North America. So how will the league handle a complete regular-season slate amid those conditions?

Very few NHL personnel tested positive to begin the last campaign, but numerous players, coaches, and executives contracted the virus as 2021 progressed, even with an increased vaccination rate toward season's end. More importantly, many arenas relaxed capacity restrictions despite the continuing spread.

Nearly all NHL players are vaccinated heading into this season, which is definitely encouraging. The league's new COVID-19 protocols also appear prudent, as they limit what unvaccinated players can do while allowing teams to discipline them. But even with most personnel fully vaccinated in 2021-22, it could still be a challenge to keep team members and fans safe over an eight-month season.

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The Arizona Coyotes have signed forward Alex Galchenyuk to a one-year contract worth $750,000, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

Galchenyuk joined the Coyotes on a professional tryout in September. He spent last season split between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, managing 13 points over 34 games.

The 27-year-old previously suited up for the Coyotes during the 2018-19 campaign. The Montreal Canadiens dealt him to the desert, and he was flipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins after one season.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have released forward Nikita Gusev from his professional tryout, while Josh Ho-Sang has converted his opportunity into an AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies, the team announced Tuesday.

Gusev joined the Leafs for training camp after spending last season with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils, managing 10 points in 31 games between the two clubs.

Ho-Sang will report to the Marlies, but signing an AHL deal exempts him from waivers for the time being. If the Leafs want to call him up, they can ink him to an NHL contract.

The 25-year-old former first-round pick played in the Swedish Hockey League last campaign after the New York Islanders waived him.

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It appears Phil Kessel is a prime candidate to be traded during the 2021-22 season.

"Kessel is in the final year of his contract with the Arizona Coyotes. We also know that (general manager) Bill Armstrong and the Coyotes have defined the direction that they're going in, and that will not include Phil Kessel," TSN's Darren Dreger said on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

"He wants a fresh start, he wants to earn a new contract somewhere in the National Hockey League," Dreger continued. "He's got some no-trade protection, he wants to go to a competitive, if not a contending team, if you will.

"He's got the big cap hit, but the salary is only $1 million. So if you have an injury, or team that's struggling offensively, he could be a fit later in the season."

Kessel is entering the final campaign of an eight-year, $64-million contract signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2013. The Coyotes, meanwhile, parted with several significant assets this past summer while beginning a full-scale rebuild.

Arizona acquired Kessel from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019. There's a list of eight teams he'd accept a trade to in his contract, according to Cap Friendly.

The 34-year-old registered 20 goals and 23 assists over 56 contests last season while averaging 17 minutes per game. His active Ironman streak of 900 consecutive games is the fifth-longest in NHL history. However, the impressive feat could be in jeopardy because he's been sidelined with a foot injury during training camp.

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