Training camps opening after NHL's shortest offseason

Updated Sep. 21, 2021 6:00 p.m. ET

Associated Press

Every offseason feels short to Philipp Grubauer, though this one was a doozy.

After playing the most games of his NHL career, the German goaltender saw his season end with Colorado in June, waited for a new contract and, by the end of July, joined the expansion Seattle franchise. He had new Kraken gear before a new place to live.

“Training camp comes around, it’s like, ‘Oh, I guess it’s time to go back now,’” Grubauer said. “It was an incredibly busy summer: still looking for a house, still moving. But we love playing.”

Training camps open around North America this week after the shortest offseason in NHL history. It has been less than 80 days since the Tampa Bay Lightning hoisted the Stanley Cup —

“It’s been short, that’s for sure,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "But I think when you win, you don’t complain about it as much because you won and you’re just kind of celebrating all summer."

The summer of celebration started July 7 when the Lightning wrapped up the final by beating the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5. By the time the calendar flipped to August,

Coming off a 105-point season in just 56 games,

“The important thing is being on the ice and skating and feeling good out there, so I try to put a lot of focus on that,” McDavid said.

McDavid and the Oilers were swept by Winnipeg in the first round, so they had more down time than others. Like McDavid, Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov would prefer less time off.

“I wish we could do that every year: going as far as possible,” Barkov said. “I had enough rest — mental rest, physical rest — and ready to get back to play.”

Veteran general manager Chuck Fletcher, who last week said Flyers players were relatively healthy after last season, announced three significant injuries Tuesday. Center Kevin Hayes is out 6-8 weeks after undergoing abdominal surgery, defenseman Samuel Morin is expected to miss the same amount of time after having surgery to remove particles in his right knee, and prospect Wade Allison is out indefinitely with a sprained right ankle.

While Stamkos and the Lightning could hope that drinking from the Stanley Cup heals their playoff wounds, Montreal players who fell just short refused to wait to get back on the ice to take another shot at it. Nick Suzuki got up to speed quickly because the guys he trains with were already in midsummer form, and fellow Canadiens forward Tyler Toffoli talked himself out of a long break.

“When I got home, I started working out like a week after, where normally I would probably take three weeks-ish before I started getting back into it,” Toffoli said. “I was basically right back in the gym."

Those workouts complete, players report for physicals Wednesday, with the first practice sessions scheduled for Thursday. Ahead is what's set to be the first 82-game regular season since 2018-19 before the pandemic derailed the NHL and the rest of the world, and the schedule will also be condensed to fit in an Olympic break in February so

With that in mind and with the NHL still planning to hand the Cup out again by the end of June, players understand camp this year is about preparing for the next grind, as much as coming back from the last one.

“I think you’re going to have to ease into it a little bit this year,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “I don’t know if the bodies are going to be quite where they’re supposed to be yet, but we’re pretty excited to get back.”

At least one player won't be back in the NHL any time soon. The Columbus Blue Jackets are not inviting forward Zac Rinaldo to camp because he is unvaccinated and said he'd attend the one run by the American Hockey League's Cleveland Monsters instead.

Rinaldo and any other unvaccinated player not welcomed to camp must be paid his salary — in his case a $300,000 minor league guarantee.

The league and Players' Association each signed off on virus protocols for the season.

The New York Islanders are taking those rules a step further with daily testing, general manager Lou Lamoriello said, even though the entire organization is vaccinated except for one player, who they are now trying to assign to Europe.

“That is his voluntary decision not to get vaccinated,” Lamoriello said. “We will not allow any player in our organization to participate unless they are vaccinated.”

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AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston contributed.

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

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