The Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin after the NHL's regular season finishes April 6, with 16 teams set to battle for perhaps the most famous trophy in all of sports.
But the business of hockey is not just about what will happen this spring. Shortly after Gary Bettman asks the captain of the league's championship team to come to center ice and raise the silver chalice, the league's general managers will get together for one of the most impactful drafts in recent memory.
American center Jack Hughes is the top prize this year, and while he may not be as ballyhooed as Connor McDavid was in 2015, he is not far behind.