Sidney Crosby and Leon Draisaitl have their contract extensions, Paul Maurice and the Florida Panthers have the Stanley Cup and a brief but busy summer of moving and shaking is over.
Now, back to hockey.
Less than 90 days since the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of a thrilling final, training camps open around the league this week with plenty of questions before the puck drops next month on another season.
Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman is the most prominent player left unsigned, camp in Columbus goes on in sorrow after the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau and players and staff in Utah get a fresh start after the Coyotes relocated from Arizona to Salt Lake City. Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog may be back, Washington winger T.J. Oshie may be gone and it's anyone's guess who will lift the Cup in June.
The Bruins traded 2023 Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Linus Ullmark to Ottawa, content to give the starting job to Swayman. One problem? He's a restricted free agent without a contract for the season.
“Those things just kind of sort themselves out as they do,” said teammate Brandon Carlo, who pointed to his own late arrival and that of fellow defenseman Charlie McAvoy in recent years as reasons not to be worried. “We have a lot of faith within our organization, in our management, to get the right deal done.”
Swayman, who turns 26 in late November, ranked fifth in the NHL with a .916 save percentage and eighth with a 2.53 goals-against average last season. He was being paid a team-friendly $3.475 million on a one-year contract and will get a raise — but how much and for how long?
“It’s obviously a balance of going back and forth,” Carlo said. “But I’ve had some conversations with Sway. He seems pretty encouraged and in a good mindset with it all, so as long as he’s feeling OK mentally, that’s all we really care about.”
Among the other unsigned players are Detroit's Moritz Seider two years removed from being rookie of the year, Dallas defenseman Thomas Harley and New Jersey forward Dawson Mercer. The Red Wings signed Lucas Raymond to a $64 million, eight-year contract Monday.
The Blue Jackets are getting back on the ice mere weeks after Johnny Gaudreau and younger brother Matthew died when they were struck by a driver of an SUV while riding bicycles on the eve of their sister's wedding. A candlelight vigil was held outside the arena in Columbus, players and team employees attended the tearful funeral and playing hockey was the furthest thing from anyone's mind.
Captain Boone Jenner and general manager Don Waddell hope the rink will serve as a refuge of sorts.
“We both agreed the quicker we can get guys back in the room together, the better it would be for everybody,” Waddell said. “We all mourn and heal differently, but I think as a team, being together like that is going to be critical for them to get moving forward.”
This is the team's second camp in recent years that follows the offseason death of a player. Goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died in July 2021 of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast at the wedding of an assistant coach's daughter.
This will be the 45th training camp for the organization that was once the original Winnipeg Jets, then the Phoenix Coyotes and until earlier this year the Arizona Coyotes. It's the first and only season as the Utah Hockey Club after a move from the desert to Salt Lake City.
Ryan and Ashley Smith's Smith Entertainment Group now owns the team, keeping the same hockey operations staff, coaches, players and prospects but starting over with a clean slate in the record books like an expansion franchise.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play with a new organization," said Josh Doan, who's now with Utah after making his NHL debut with the team dad Shane captained for much of his career. “But to do it with all the guys you’ve been with and the people that you’re close with already is something that’s fun to do.”
Utah, which is expected to get permanent name and logo after the season, plays its first game Oct. 8 against Chicago at the downtown Delta Center, the home of the NBA's Jazz.
Six-time 30-goal scorer Max Pacioretty is the biggest player attending camp on a professional tryout agreement. Pacioretty is in Toronto, and agent Allan Walsh has said he expects the 35-year-old winger to sign a contract prior to the start of the season.
Others with the opportunity to earn a deal include Travis Dermott with defending Western Conference champion Edmonton; fellow defenseman Tyson Barrie with Calgary; 2020 and '21 Cup winner Tyler Johnson with Boston; and respected veteran forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare with Colorado. Longtime New York Islanders enforcer Matt Martin is also back, hoping to stick around and get another contract.
Landeskog's next game will be his first in the NHL since lifting the Stanley Cup over his head when the Avalanche defeated the Lightning in Game 6 of the final in 2022. A nagging right knee injury and subsequent cartilage replacement surgery to attempt to fix the problem have cost the Swedish forward the past two seasons.
“Seeing him around the rink, obviously being more active on the ice, seeing the progressions he’s made from when we were here for playoffs previously, it’s awesome to see,” forward Logan O'Connor said.
Oshie has played through chronic back problems for years and said after Washington lost in the first round of the playoffs he would only return if he and doctors could come up with a solution that keeps him in the lineup. The Capitals seem to have prepared for life without Oshie, but it is not clear if the 37-year-old who was part of their 2018 Cup run intends to try to keep playing.
AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow, AP Sports Writer Pat Graham and AP freelance writer W.G. Ramirez contributed.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Columbus Blue Jackets line up at their blue line for the national anthem with Boston Bruins before the Sabres Prospects Challenge hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/John Wawrow)
FILE - Boston Bruins' Jeremy Swayman makes a glove save during the third period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers, May 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Two years ago, food cart worker Fathima Shiyama had to wait in line, sometimes for days, to get cooking gas, fuel and other essentials. It was a test of patience for her and millions of other Sri Lankans as their country languished in economic and political chaos.
Since then, under President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the South Asian island nation's economy has begun a fragile recovery. As the country gears up for a crucial presidential vote, key economic indicators have improved and there are no shortages of food and fuel. Inflation is almost under control after peaking at 70%.
Sri Lankans who usually vote along religious and ethnic lines will be keeping the state of the economy in mind when they vote Saturday on a new president. Many are still struggling, borrowing money or leaving the country to cope with rising living costs and limited opportunities.
Shiyama says she isn’t still earning enough to cover her monthly expenses and pay for her ailing daughter’s medical tests. In desperation, she has turned to borrowing from loan sharks at an exorbitant 20% interest rate.
“We are trying our best to survive despite many difficulties,” said the 48-year-old mother of five, as she was selling “string hopper” noodles and coconut “pittu,” popular traditional dinner items, from a cart on the outskirts of Colombo.
As Sri Lanka sank into economic collapse in 2022, a popular uprising led its then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country.
This weekend's election pits his successor, Wickremesinghe, against opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Dissanayake, leader of a Marxist-led coalition that has been gaining popularity. Poll results are due Sunday.
All the candidates have promised to lead Sri Lanka into a prosperous future by developing new industries, improving agriculture, broadening the tax base to increase revenue and creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Under Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka has been negotiating with the international creditors to restructure the country's staggering debt and get the economy back on track. The International Monetary Fund approved a four-year bailout program last year, but many Sri Lankans are unhappy over the government’s efforts to increase revenue by raising electricity rates and imposing heavy taxes on professionals and businesses, to meet IMF conditions for its assistance.
Overall conditions have improved after the long dry spell during and after the pandemic. Vital tourism earnings have risen and the Sri Lankan rupee has recovered. But rising prices due to the government's austerity measures are squeezing many households.
“We are in a very critical time” said Murtaza Jafferjee, an economic analyst and chairman of Advocata Institute, a Colombo-based independent policy think tank.
"The economy is looking up,” he said, but has not fully recovered. The government should aim for at least 4% growth this year, instead of its target of 3%. Politicians need to focus on policies that don't just benefit the country's elite, Jafferjee said.
“It is high time that we run this country for the benefit of the 22 million people,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis began well before the upheavals of 2022.
Staggering economic mismanagement by successive governments was compounded by poor policy choices and then the pandemic. Rajapaksa pushed through big tax cuts in 2019. Then, he banned imports of chemical fertilizer to preserve Sri Lanka’s scarce foreign reserves, hurting crop yields in a a country largely dependent on agriculture.
With the war in Ukraine, food and fuel prices surged and fuel, cooking gas, medicine and food ran short. Sri Lankans lined up for government rice handouts and charity meals.
Today, inflation has dropped below 5% and there's no need to line up to buy essentials. But key parts of the economy remain in crisis.
Jagath Dissanayake said conditions remain dire for his construction firm in Gampaha, a town located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Colombo after prices of building materials tripled. Most of Dissanayake projects are suspended and he had to lay off two-thirds of his employees.
“People have no money to do new construction as they give priority to buying essentials. We hardly get any new work," Dissanayake said.
His income is down almost 75%, he said, so there is no more dining out and Dissanayake rides a motorbike instead of driving a car, to save money on fuel.
“Of course, there are no queues for petrol anymore, but we don't have enough money to buy it.” he said.
Sri Lanka’s construction industry has shed about 400,000 jobs in the last four years, according to some estimates. Once a booming industry that contributed nearly 12% to the country’s growth figures, its share has dropped to 7% this year.
Many Sri Lankans have sought jobs abroad.
Viraj Maduranga, formerly a teacher in a government school, went to Dubai in 2021 to find work when he became unable to repay loans he had taken to build his house and buy a vehicle.
“Either I had to sell off the house and the car, or find an alternative income. So, I decided to leave. It was not an easy decision for me and my wife, but we have to make sacrifices to build our lives,” said Maduranga, who now works as a teacher in Dubai and won’t be able to vote in the election.
Not everyone is impressed with the promises made by the candidates in this election.
“We have seen it in the past, politicians saying various things, but when they come into power they have simply ignored what they have said during campaigns,” said W.A. Wijewardena, an economic analyst and former deputy governor of Sri Lanka's central bank.
Jafferjee, the economic analyst, said the election is “extremely crucial” for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery. The next president should use his executive powers to “enact pro-consumer policies" and be more open to trade.
“This (crisis) is not insurmountable, but you need to make unpopular choices. What you need basically is a president who looks to grow the pie," said Jafferjee.
In the meantime, Sri Lankans like Maduranga are impatiently waiting for change.
He longs to rejoin his wife and 8-year-old son in Sri Lanka, but still needs to repay his loans.
“This is not the best time to go back," Maduranga said. “I want to live in Sri Lanka as a free man without being indebted to anyone.”
Saaliq reported from New Delhi.
Indian tourists pose for a photograph on a beach in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
FILE - Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe waves to supporters as he arrives to address a public election rally in Minuwangoda, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)
Members of a construction crew take a break from work at the Colombo port, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A woman buys fruits from a stall at a local wholesale market, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Workers pull a hand cart loaded with sacks of vegetables through a wholesale market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
A man sells plastic bags on a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Election posters showing portraits of National People's Power's presidential candidate Anura Dissanayake, are pasted on the kitchen walls of an eatery where a cook prepares food for customers in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Jagath Dissanayake, owner of a private construction firm, supervises work at a building site in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
A man sits next to election posters of opposition leader Sajith Premadasa as he gets a shave from a roadside barber in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A couple walks past an election poster showing a portrait of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Fathima Shiyama, 48, waits for customers next to her food cart in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Fathima Shiyama, 48, prepares local delicacies at home, to be sold later from her food cart, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Fathima Shiyama, 48, who sells food on a mobile cart to support her five children, speaks to the Associated Press at her residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
A bird flies past gantry cranes working at the Colombo port, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
