The draft is one week away. Free-agency begins a few days after that.

Welcome to the NHL off-season, which has plenty of compelling storylines to provide a fix for fans between now and next season.

While this summer’s free-agency crop does not have much sizzle as past years, it — along with the rising salary cap — creates the possibility of some summertime trade winds as clubs kick off their quest to Stanley Cup glory in 2027.

With that in mind, here are three teams poised to make major noise between now and puck drop on the 2026-27 campaign.

San Jose Sharks

Led by one of the league’s best up-and-comers in Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks took a massive jump forward last season, going from perennial also-rans to missing the playoffs by four points.

A blueprint for San Jose’s next step can be found by looking at state rivals, the Anaheim Ducks. Both teams are loaded with young talent, and have plenty of tantalizing prospects. Anaheim added veterans in key spots, and jumped into a playoff position this past season.

The Sharks have holes to fill and possess the assets to add via trade and salary-cap space to ink players interested in joining a team on the rise.

And thanks to the lottery, San Jose also owns the second overall pick in this year’s draft, giving the club the option to either add another possible future star or using it to acquire a big piece immediately.

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal reached the Eastern Conference final in an exciting playoff run, but received a huge lesson in a five-game loss to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes.

That defeat will spark the players and the organization to find ways to take another step. Where Montreal needs help is obvious, a second-line center and top-four defenseman, preferably who can play on the right side.

Players for those roles are costly to acquire, but the Canadiens are at the stage when it is time to make a big push for the likes of Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, for example.

One player bandied about as trade bait is top prospect Alexander Zharovsky, a second-round pick last year who had a sparkling season in the KHL.

St. Louis Blues

Sure, we could discuss Edmonton poised to sign Mike Babcock as coach (to paraphrase the movie Dodgeball, “bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off”), how the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers plan to pull out of the depths, and even how the Hurricanes plan to repeat.

Amidst all that, it is St. Louis who piqued our interest. On paper, the Blues finished just outside a playoff spot, but that is thanks to a late-season push that ended with a four-game winning streak after they were eliminated, and it is obvious changes are needed.

The Blues have plenty of cap space, prospects and a whack of valuable draft picks — notably three first-round selections — if they want to go on a spending spree.

At the same time, they have the likes of goaltender Jordan Binnington, defenseman Colton Parayko and forwards such as Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas as trade chips should they opt to re-tool.

New general manager Alexander Steen has the opportunity to make a huge mark on the franchise. What lane will he choose to take?

When the Seattle Mariners were in West Sacramento, Calif., late last month, the Athletics started left-handers in two of the teams’ three matchups.

The Mariners swept the series to move past the A’s and into first place in the American League West, where they remain.

The Boston Red Sox are scheduled to start not two, but three, lefties this weekend in Seattle in a three-game series that will continue on Saturday night.

The situation worked well for the Red Sox on Friday night as Ranger Suarez allowed one hit over 6 2/3 scoreless innings in Boston’s 6-2 victory that snapped the Red Sox’s four-game losing streak. Teammate Caleb Durbin went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run.

The only runners Suarez (3-3) allowed through six-plus innings came on a pair of walks to Cal Raleigh before Josh Naylor doubled into the gap in right-center field with one out in the seventh.

“He was amazing. I could smell the no-hitter,” Red Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez said in a postgame interview on NESN. “He was controlling the zone and mixing everything.”

Suarez said he jinxed himself in trying to throw Boston’s first no-hitter since Jon Lester accomplished the feat in 2008.

“When I was going into the seventh inning, it was the first time I thought about it,” Suarez said through an interpreter. “Once I realized that I was thinking about it, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. The first (six) innings, I was pitching well and I wasn’t thinking about it. Once I started thinking about it, it didn’t go the way I wanted.”

The Mariners entered the game 27th out of 30 MLB teams with an 85 wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus) against left-handers; 100 is the league average.

To combat that, the Mariners called up right-handed-hitting utilityman Weston Wilson from Triple-A Tacoma and designated Miles Mastrobuoni for assignment.

“We have a pretty left-handed-heavy lineup and roster, so we’re looking to get someone right-handed in here, and that’s where Weston comes in,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.

Wilson, signed to a minor-league contract Sunday, a week after being DFA’ed by Baltimore, started at third base and went 0-for-3 while batting ninth.

The left-handed-hitting Mastrobuoni was a popular player in the clubhouse and a key reserve in Seattle’s playoff run last season.

“Always difficult to lose a player who’s part of the family,” manager Wilson said. “What ‘Stro’ did here … was outstanding. He filled a lot of holes and played in a lot of different spots for us.”

Julio Rodriguez returned to the lineup after sitting out Thursday with a hamstring spasm and hit a two-run homer to thwart Boston’s shutout bid.

The Red Sox are scheduled to send left-hander Connelly Early (5-5, 3.81 ERA) to the mound Saturday against Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28).

Early is 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA this month. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings Sunday in a 6-4 loss to visiting Texas as he gave up six runs on 11 hits, both season worsts. Early will face the Mariners for the first time in his career.

Like Early, Hancock is coming off his worst start of the season, a 10-1 loss Sunday in Washington in which he allowed six runs on nine hits over four innings.

Hancock is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one previous start against the Red Sox.

–Field Level Media

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani could be back in the Los Angeles lineup on Saturday after missing one game for the birth of his second child.

Ohtani was not present Friday night due to the baby’s impending birth when the Dodgers defeated the visiting Baltimore Orioles 6-5.

The Dodgers declined to place him on the paternity list — he could have missed up to three games — anticipating his quick return to the team. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters he expected Ohtani would play this weekend against the Orioles, and perhaps even Saturday.

Right around midnight local time, Ohtani posted to Instagram that his wife, Mamiko, had given birth.

Ohtani, who is notoriously private, posted no details about the baby’s gender or birth weight. His announcement included a photo of his beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a newborn’s feet sticking out from a blue blanket.

“We are again overjoyed to experience this wonderful day in our lives together,” read a note from Ohtani and his wife included with the announcement.

“Thank you for being born safely. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us throughout this journey.”

Roberts said he found out “only recently, very recently” about the pregnancy.

Ohtani announced the birth of their first child in April 2025 in the same way. At the time, he revealed they had a daughter. And while her photograph has not made it to social media, references to milestone events, such as Mother’s Day, have included a touch of pink.

The couple could have been signaling with the blue blanket that Baby No. 2 is a boy.

Just seven hours after the post went up on Instagram, it had 1.6 million “likes” and many congratulatory comments written in both English and Japanese.

–Field Level Media