WITH RFAS, THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND THE NHL IS GOING TO HAVE TO CHANGE WITH IT
With the opening of all 31 training camps and the first on-ice sessions set for the next day or two, the clock has officially begun ticking on the most lengthy and unique group of restricted free agents the NHL has ever seen. Every day missed by these young and talented players is one more day they’ll fall behind their teammates in preparing for the season. And if you don’t think it’s important for these guys to be on the ice on time, you haven’t been following the history of players who have gone down this road before. There are no easy answers here, otherwise, there would not be 11 teams in this position right now. All told, more than a third of the NHL – representing a total of 16 players – faces the prospect of going into camp with at least one roster player coming off an entry-level deal who does not yet have a contract. Three of them (Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, and Mikko Rantanen) finished among the top 20 scorers in the NHL last season and a number of the others are significant players on their rosters. And one thing is very…