This is Year 1 AC — After Carlsson.

We are in a new era, a new NHL. Players are flexing their muscles more than ever, with teams determined to regain more control over their situations. Cale Makar is the first $20 million player, and Quinn Hughes peers over his shoulder. The cap could be $127.5 million in the fall of 2028, a number we never dreamed we’d see. Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has run the league with an iron fist for almost 35 years, will be 75 next June and admits succession discussions are underway.

If you are my age (an old and creaky 56), there’s one movie line you never forget: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." That’s Matthew Broderick from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and 40 years after it hit the theatres, it’s as true as the first time I heard it. There’s something special about this time of year. Tuesday morning, I will walk into an arena for Opening Day 2026-27, and I’m going to love it. I’m closer to the end of my career than the beginning and I will miss these days when they are gone.

This is an age of change, and more is coming.

It was great to see Lou Lamoriello at the Board of Governors, but it’s different without him in one of the 32 GM chairs. Steve Yzerman is absent. So is Doug Armstrong, although I won’t be the least bit surprised to see him resurface. These were three of the league’s most powerful managers, big personalities with a big say. Eric Tulsky’s Stanley Cup victory gave more teams the confidence to consider an alternate path to the managerial chair.

Even with a Kirill Marchenko conclusion, there are more unsettled situations to start a season than I can remember. From Connor Hellebuyck to Dylan Larkin to Nikita Kucherov to Hughes to Simon Edvinsson to Alexander Nikishin, there is going to be as much focus off the ice as there will be on it. Some of those names are bigger than others, but all are (or will be) impact players for years to come. They are wanted, coveted, and less afraid to rock the boat.

Then, there’s the hockey itself.

If the four-game exhibition schedule did one thing, it was ramp up the intensity. Usually, we’d have to watch Florida/Tampa Bay or Montreal/Ottawa for fireworks. I don’t know what got into everyone’s cornflakes, but this year’s games were nasty and fierce. This is going to be an incredibly entertaining season, especially because few teams are in retreat.

It’s a rebuild in Vancouver, a youth movement in Calgary, a "let’s see how this goes" in Nashville and a desire to compete everywhere else. Teams are not stupid. They see what’s going on out there. They see how players are fleeing what they see as unwinnable situations. No one wants to be that. That rising cap scares them, not only for economic reasons, but also because it gives the best teams — or locations — more money/space to play with. Rebuilding in the NHL is a long and painful process. Many owners only go that route as an absolute last resort.

In 82-game seasons during the salary cap era, just 10 of 75 teams four points out of the playoffs after games on Nov. 1 made the post-season. Fall behind early and you drown.

This is going to be a crazy 84-game season. I can’t wait for it to start.

32 Thoughts: The PodcastHockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.Latest episode

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

1. The league dropped an immediate banger on our laps with Carolina raising the banner against hated rival Florida. Adding to the intrigue: I don’t know who, but someone created a photo of a Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup banner with the caption "Missed the Panthers in the playoffs, 2025-26" — insinuating victory because they avoided Florida. Apparently, it was sent to members of the Carolina organization, big yikes. When I heard that, I thought Rod Brind’Amour was going to play.

2. The delay in completing the Marchenko trade was due to NHL "tagging rules." Essentially, you can’t have more salary committed for future seasons than the cap allows, so Toronto was not allowed to extend the winger without clearing space beyond this year. I suspect that’s why Emil Andrae was included, as he has $1.55 million owed in 2027-28.

Columbus GM Don Waddell made it clear he didn’t have to trade an unhappy Marchenko yet, especially as the Blue Jackets hope to compete for a playoff berth. There were at least three reasons he reconsidered. First, they were never offered anyone as appetizing as Knies, especially since he’s locked in at great value. He will benefit from "quiet," not being in three trade rumours per week. Teammates believed he was annoyed at the speculation; had enough of it. Second, the Maple Leafs think so highly of Marchenko — an absolute superstud in their eyes — they were willing to take Elvis Merzlikins and Miles Wood to get it done.........

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