It's easy for NHL fans to lull themselves into a sense of false security during the long months of summer. July 1 always brings some action as free agency opens—the John Tavares Saga made this year's edition particularly enthralling—but the best available players are typically gone within hours.
Insiders start to vanish from Twitter, taking some much-deserved time off to unwind next to crystal-clear bodies of water... or do whatever it is that remarkably plugged-in reporters do to recharge their news-breaking superpowers.
At this juncture, most of us are wondering about what opening-night lineups will look like.