HENDERSON, Nev. -- With training camps opening up this week, the NHL is close to being back in action for the 2025-26 season after an eventful summer that included a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the League and the players.
ESPN's Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski caught up with dozens of stars at the NHL Player Media Tour near Las Vegas last week and asked all the pertinent questions:
What did they like about the new CBA? Who will take advantage of the new relaxed dress code? Are they happy with the current playoff format? Plus, their favorite "cheat meals," pregame pump-up tunes and weird equipment quirks.
Here's what the NHL's best had to say:
What's your favorite cheat meal?
"I'll go with my most recent: I had just a massive plate of chicken wings on Sunday to watch some NFL football. Like every other American. I'm a Giants fan. We scored less than a touchdown in Week 1. I'm not a hot chicken wing guy. I like the flavors. I went honey buffalo and garlic parm. It's so good." -- Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
A burger from 7th Street in New York -- Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
"Probably a burger and fries." -- Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks
"Pizza. Domino's. Unbelievable. Everything there." -- Seth Jarvis, Carolina Hurricanes
"Probably like a burger, something like that. There's some good spots in Denver for burgers. Hard to pinpoint one. But the Cherry Cricket has a solid burger." -- Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
"I'll go with Shake Shack. Burger, fries and a chocolate shake. That's a legit cheat meal. Some people are probably giving you, like, half answer." -- Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers
"Pizza. Pineapple and ham." -- Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
"Pizza with prosciutto. Not the American one. Like, the fancy pizza. Nice Italian one. Prosciutto with burrata." -- Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks
"Nachos. Tacos. Something Mexican, for sure." -- Brady Skjei, Nashville Predators
"Chick-fil-a. Or a Culver's burger, fries and chocolate shake." -- Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars
"A burger. From anywhere. I'm easy." -- Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks
What are you happiest about in the CBA?
"I appreciate that training camp is a little bit shorter. I'm not the biggest fan of camp, so that'll be good. And I think [adding] the two more games, I mean, anyone can grind out two more games. It's not like they're adding 10 right? It's going to be fine." -- Jarvis
"The relaxed dress code is cool. I think our [Finnish players] are definitely gonna take advantage. They just have cool stuff, and they look cool. I'm not the type of guy that can, like, pull off anything. I literally have sweatpants or golf clothes or suits, so I need to kind of branch out a little bit more. I'm excited to see what Roope Hintz cracks out because it feels like he could be wearing the craziest thing ever. And he makes it look cool." -- Oettinger
"I guess shorter preseason is probably the biggest thing. You'd rather play more [regular-season] games than have a long preseason, I think." -- Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
"No more suits. That's pretty good. A lot of people talk about the 84-game season, but it comes with less training camp and less preseason games, so it kind of evens itself out at the end. But I'd rather play two more meaningful games than two preseason games." -- Pierre-Luc Dubois, Washington Capitals
"I think the cap-compliant thing for the playoffs was neat. I think it was something that everyone loved to complain about, but now that's sort of taken care of, so the playing field is level again. So I think they did a good job with that. And then 84 games will be a lot, I'll tell you that. I thought 82 was good. But here comes 84." -- McAvoy
"I think maybe the healthcare that they added. I just think that's an important thing to have post-career. Obviously, guys that have retired before have stuff about that and said it's an important part of it, so it's good to see." -- Clayton Keller, Utah Mammoth
"No dress code. I like guys who express their fashion. You look at football guys, basketball, they get to show off. It's good that we get that too." -- Hedman
"The dress code. You can express a little bit more yourself. But I still like to keep the suits. I like my suits. You invested in suits, but then you can invest in some nice jackets and stuff, so I feel like you can be more flexible with that." -- Dostal
"No fitness testing was nice. It came a little late. I mean, I'm getting old. I wish they did that 15 years ago. But I'm sure the guys are most happy with that." -- Jordan Eberle, Seattle Kraken
"I like the pension and health care for retirees. There's so many great things that were able to come from the deal that I think will benefit players now and players and their families after they're done playing. So there's a lot of exciting things. The dress code allows guys to show a little bit more personality. But I think there's going to be lots of guys wearing suits still. It's a great hockey tradition. You see it right from minor hockey on up, with kids wearing suits to games. And I don't think that's going to change too much." -- Robert Thomas, St. Louis Blues
"I like the dress code being a little more lenient. Guys can probably show their flash and show their style a little bit more." [Are you planning to do that?] "If I had some flash, or some style, I definitely would." -- Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Which player on your team will most take advantage of the relaxed gameday dress code?
"That's a good one. I'll give you two guys. I think Pasta [David Pastrnak] is going to be the most. He's got the best style, so I think he'll be pretty eccentric. He'll have some good outfits. And then I'll say Morgan Geekie will take it easy. He loves a good hoodie and some sweatpants, just like me." -- McAvoy
"Myself. Timo Meier, Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt too. But I still think I'll wear suits a little bit, but for the most part I'll wear normal clothes and enjoy that." -- Hughes
"Probably Vince Dunn. I think he'll be pretty stylish, though. I don't know if he's taking advantage of it, but he'll take it to another level." -- Eberle
What's your go-to pre-game hype song, either as a team or personally?
"I don't have one. And they keep me away from the Aux cord in the room, anyway." -- Jarvis
"I feel like I'm not really getting hyped up as much anymore. I mean, I still do [to play], but I'm more of like 90s stuff, like Matchbox 20, Dave Matthews, that my kind of music." -- Skjei
"I like old-school Drake. Like, 'Headlines' Drake. That's my vibe." -- Oettinger
"My most hyped song I would go [with] is probably 'Best of You,' Foo Fighters." -- Hughes
"Just something like country music. I like Morgan Wallen, so his new album probably right now." -- Sanheim
"There's a lot of country on. And then there's hype music before we go on the ice. But it's different every time." -- Hedman
"I listen to French rap, so it's just whatever I'm into in that moment. I am the DJ at times, but I can't play French rap for the team, just for myself." -- Dubois
"I'm kind of whatever they throw on. I listen to anything. I don't mind. Some little oldies to get it going a little bit. Like Dire Straits' 'Money for Nothing.'" -- Makar
How would you change or expand the playoff format? Or do you prefer it as is?
"I think it's nice the way it is. I think you get those [great] matchups every year. The only tough thing is that two contenders might play each other in the first round, but it's part of it. You've got to beat the best to be the best. I got no problems with it." -- Alex DeBrincat, Detroit Red Wings
"I would do 1-through-8 again. We get to play the same teams pretty much every time in the wild card, so I would like to see it a little bit different." -- Hedman
"I would probably change it, because sometimes I feel like it's unfair when, in the first round, you get one of the best teams right away." -- Dostal
"I think we could [go back] to one through eight, but I can see how there's so many rivalries that have been created through the format right now. It's going to be hard no matter what you do. So it's not like the one through eight set up would be a cakewalk for the No. 1 seed. Every series is still going to be a tough series." -- Skjei
"I like the way it is. I mean, if we start expanding the league a little more and add more teams, then I think you've got to probably start adding more teams to playoffs. But I like the way it is. I would probably go 1-through-8 instead." -- Eberle
"I feel like all the players want back to 1-to-8. I think that's a thing that we'd like, but I get it. I understand the playoff format now. It makes the road harder sometimes. [Some players said the wild card locks in the same matchups every year?] I mean, if you're from Edmonton or LA, I'd say so, yeah. Sometimes you get a good matchup and sometimes you are playing a top-six team with another top-six team like we did this past year. That's the way she goes." -- Makar
"I would go 1-through-8. I wouldn't expand it. The toughest thing to be a part of is the Stanley Cup playoffs. To have half the teams make it ... I don't know if you'd want necessarily want more than that. I understand it'd be exciting and bring a new element to it. I think just as a player, over 82 games to be a part of the top 16, it's a challenge. If you open it up, you're going to have teams that maybe don't necessarily deserve to be there." -- Sanheim
"I wouldn't expand it. I'm all for trying new things sometimes and if they wanted to do the play-in like the NBA ... some people think that the 10th seed can make the playoffs, but the 10th just becomes the eighth. I like the 16 teams, with half the league in half the league out." -- Dubois
"I like how it is now. I'm used to it. Seeded one through eight might create some different matchups, but I've got no problems with it now." -- Jarvis
"I think I'm happy with 16 teams right now. I don't know how I feel about the play-in games in the NBA, but I think right now I think half the [NHL] makes it and I think that's pretty good numbers. I used to love 1-through-8, but the divisions were a little different too." -- Hughes
What's your weirdest equipment quirk? Or the weirdest thing you've seen a teammate do?
"The weirdest thing is probably moving my helmet around all the time before a faceoff. It's just my helmet fits so terribly, it's like a habit at this point to move it around all the time." -- Sam Reinhart, Florida Panthers
"I wear these massive foam-like donuts in the front of my skates to prevent lace bite. And I think I might be the only guy to wear those. They're about an inch thick. Rick Nash had the same problem, and I played with him in New York. So when I had lace bite, I went to him, and he's gave me a couple of pads, and I've used them ever since then." -- Skjei
"I'm very particular about my gloves. I'll change my left glove and keep my right glove. I'm sure I drive the trainers crazy, but sometimes I'm just looking for something." -- Eberle
"I get a new stick before every game. That's just something that I've done. I just don't trust it. I go crosscheck a guy and it'll snap in half. I don't want to be standing in the D-zone with a broken stick." -- Sanheim
"I'm always [hitting] my stick in my glove. I do that, like, 1,000 time a game. I don't know why. I saw Carey Price do it when I was about 14, and I started doing it and now it's just like a little tick. I don't even realize I'm doing it." -- Oettinger
"I cut the laces on my skates. The tip of it is plastic. I cut the plastic part off. I just fold it in half. It's because when I was in Junior, we didn't have 96 [inch] laces and the laces were too long. So I just started cutting them. Now I can get 96 laces.. But it just doesn't feel right." -- Dubois
They said it!
Quinn Hughes on new Canucks coach Adam Foote: "He's been really good. Brought structure, competitive, good guy. So we'll see how it goes with him as the coach, but I think he's really excited and looking forward to the opportunity."
Zach Werenski on belief in Columbus: "We were right there. We were in the playoff [mix] until Game 82. So we know we're a good hockey team. It's doing it consistently now, doing it again year after year, right? We had a good year last year. It still wasn't good enough. So it's doing it again and doing it even better. So I think [GM Don Waddell's] belief in us is going to give us some confidence, too."
Patrick Kane on Olympic Development Camp invite: "I think there was just talking with my agent about how there's the potential of maybe making the team and that I was under consideration. So when you hear that, it's not really that big of a surprise that you're there. Probably a little bit more surprised that Alex [DeBrincat] was left off, but I think both of us have some motivation to get off to good starts this year."
Robert Thomas on his goals for this season: "I'd like to get 100 [points]. I think I was pretty close to on pace for that last year, minus an injury. So, staying healthy and continuing to improve, I think that 100 points is my next target."
Connor Hellebuyck on learning from 4 Nations Face-Off ahead of an Olympic year: "The emotional grind of the Four Nations was definitely a learning experience. Not only that, but I learned about the off-ice [stuff] and what to expect from that, and how to manage bringing your family around, managing how much extra media there is and stress there is on that. I definitely learned some good stuff from that."
Sam Reinhart on Florida re-signing its own free agents: "I think it's a testament to what we've got going on there. Guys might be able to make more in other places you know? But we've got something they want to be a part of and they don't want to leave. It's obviously pretty exciting just to see it all get done the way that it has and see everyone back on board."
Patrick Kane, after Sidney Crosby interrupted an interview to say hello: "That'd be a good centerman to play with."