Welcome back to another edition of Around the NHL. We are roughly a month away from training camps opening up across the league as the dog days of summer are upon us.

It’s been awfully quiet with the Toronto Maple Leafs as of late, with only a couple of items left hovering over the team before next season. As far as what else is going on, here’s the very latest Around the NHL:

The Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets are in two very different spots in terms of Stanley Cup aspirations, however both general managers are hoping for the same thing next season. Kent Hughes in Montreal and Kevin Cheveldayoff in Winnipeg are looking for their young core players to take a giant step forward with their development in 2024-25.

Hughes spoke to NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest and it’s obvious he’s excited for the future of the franchise.

“We’re excited to see that growth of who we have right now. We’re excited about this group, and we want to see them take the next step.”

Hughes also touched on the contract extension for Juraj Slafkovsky, who signed an eight-year, $60.8-million extension this summer.

“I don’t know that development is always linear,” Hughes said. “Along the way, there’s bumps, and (Slafkovsky’s) had to manage the No. 1 overall label and try to live up to what that means and what people expect of him. We don’t need him to score 40 or 50 goals or it’s a failure. It’s about continuing to progress as a hockey player and to be the best version of himself, because we’re confident the best version of Juraj is going to give us a good chance to compete and win.”

While it’s not necessarily apples-to-apples, it will be interesting to compare Slafkovsky’s extension to what Matthew Knies soon receives from the Maple Leafs. Their potential doesn’t necessarily align perfectly, but both youngsters are expected to be core players of their respected teams for years to come.

As for the Winnipeg Jets, they are much further along in their development journey as they have a much stronger veteran presence on their roster compared to the Canadiens. Even though, Cheveldayoff knows in order for the team to get over the hump, they’ll need their younger core to develop and grow into impact players.

Cheveldayoff spoke to TSN at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last week and was very direct with who he’s expecting to step up.

“I’m looking forward for our younger players to try and take a step, whether it’s Logan Stanley, Ville Heinola, Brad Lambert, (Nikita) Chibrikov, (Cole) Perfetti. Those are the kind of players that we need to keep growing to push our organization forward.”

“The ball’s in their court. If you’re a young player in our organization right now, it’s all in front of you, there for the taking.”

The Jets finished 2023-24 with a record of 52-24-6, good for second in the Central Division. While Cheveldayoff expects big things from the likes of Stanley and Perfetti next season, don’t expect to see former first-round pick Rutger McGroarty in Winnipeg any time soon. The team continues to look at trade scenarios for the 2022 14th overall pick and it’s likely a deal materializes before the start of training camp. So far, no signs that the Maple Leafs are interested.

When the Edmonton Oilers hired Stan Bowman, one of the first orders of business on the to-do list was finalizing a contract extension for Leon Draisaitl.

Bowman, who was hired in late July, after being reinstated into the NHL for his involvement in the 2010 sexual assault scandal with the Chicago Blackhawks, spoke to the media last week.

“I had a good conversation (with Draisaitl’s agent Mike Liut), and we’re starting things off, and the timing on that will be what it will be,” the GM told NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest. “I don’t have an update of where it’s going to be or the timing on that, but there is nothing negative to report, certainly.”

The 28-year-old Draisaitl is entering the final season of his current contract in 2024-25 and is set to earn $8.5 million against the cap. With Connor McDavid making $12.5 million, expect to see Draisaitl looking for roughly the same average annual value.

So far, it appears things are headed in the right direction for Oilers fans, meanwhile fans in Boston may be disappointed as there’s been a ton of speculation about the Bruins being heavily interested if contract extension talks go sour.

While the free-agent class is no longer loaded with high-end talent, there’s still plenty of veteran depth to consider adding. The Colorado Avalanche added to the defensive depth as they announced they’ve signed defenseman Oliver Kylington to a one-year contract.

Kylington will make $1.05 million in 2024-25. He’s spent parts of the last six seasons with the Calgary Flames and in 33 appearances in 2023-24, recorded three goals and five assists, playing just over 17 minutes per game.

The Avalanche have been busy fine tuning their defense core for quite some time now, including moving Bowen Byram last season to Buffalo, meanwhile this offseason have added Kylington, Calvin de Haan and Erik Brannstrom.