NEW YORK (AP) — Arenas are full, the NHL is a fixture on TV screens across North America, highlight-reel goals are talking points on a near-daily basis and “The Pat McAfee Show” even has a segment called “Hockey is Awesome.”

Piece it all together, and more eyes are on the puck than ever before with the playoffs beginning this weekend.

Business is booming for the NHL, which has bounced back in a major way from the pandemic. Backstopped by new media rights deals, digital dasher boards and helmet and jersey ads, and buoyed by an overlap of generational stars, ratings are up, attendance is on track for a record and revenue is at an all-time high — an estimated $6.2 billion annually.

“The league is going through a bit of a renaissance,” said Tom Gargiulo, chief marketing officer at Bodyarmor, whose deal to be the NHL’s official sports drink is the latest sponsorship agreement inked in recent years. “This sport is moving into the next phase of its evolution and is on a tremendous trajectory.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman says it starts with the game on the ice, which he believes has “never been more exciting, more competitive, more skillful, never been faster.” There are nearly six goals a game on average, and while Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are still producing, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon are in their prime with another wave of talent led by the likes of Connor Bedard not far behind.

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NEW FANS

Showcasing star players better than before in the team-first sport has helped. League officials are quick to credit ESPN and Turner for buying in, and viewership is up 7% for the most-watched NHL season on cable in 30 years.

“We’ve seen an influx and a growth of female fans, diverse fans,” senior VP of North American business development Kyle McMann said. “They’re finding our product, they’re falling in love with it, they’re starting to watch more.”

Trying new things, including puck and player tracking and cartoon versions of games to draw in younger fans, has set the table for this success. Decades since the experiment of the glowing puck, experts credited the league for attracting and retaining a bigger audience in a crowded sports marketplace.

“They keep doing stuff that’s innovative to keep their audience engaged,” said Lauren Anderson, director of the Warsaw Sports Business Center at the University of Oregon. “The NHL could’ve fallen back on being pretty traditional, and I think they haven’t been afraid to try some things and pivot even when it didn’t work.”

Salvatore Galatioto, who runs a sports finance and advisory firm and is a marketing professor at Columbia, said the league has done a good job reaching beyond traditional markets, overcoming some of the unavoidable shortcomings of being expensive to play.

“It’s not rocket science: It’s the number of eyeballs watching your product,” he said. “They have done a really good job of expanding their fanbase, and that’s the key.”

SELLING THE GAME

Chief NHL Content Officer Steve Mayer has made that his life’s work since joining in 2016, coming up with new and different ways to present a more-than-century-old sport, from the 2020 playoff bubble to outdoor games and a reimagined All-Star weekend.

“We’re not here to change the game,” Mayer said. “We’re here to enhance what is out there and to get it in front of more people because we know that if people watch our game, they’re going to fall in love with it.”

Central to the game are the players, and none of this would be possible without a constructive working relationship with the NHL Players’ Association, which may be at its most cooperative stage in decades. The league and union found common ground in extending the collective bargaining agreement through 2026, getting back to the Olympics and launching another international competition next year featuring the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland.

“It’s a key to moving forward,” union executive director Marty Walsh said. “When I first started, I had a conversation with Gary Bettman, and our teams talked about working together and growing hockey-related revenue, growing the sport. … We’re all vested in one direction.”

WORK TO DO

The NHL still has work to do to catch up with the NFL ($18.6 billion in revenue in 2022), NBA ($10.6 billion) and Major League Baseball ($11.6 billion), but it’s not unrealistic to think $10 billion is attainable before the end of the decade.

“We plan on getting there — how and when, obviously, will take some time,” chief business officer Keith Wachtel said. “Looking at hockey a bit differently than perhaps it was looked at a decade ago. It’s still the ultimate team sport, but we have such great players and personalities.”

One challenge is getting fans who are focused on their own team to watch others. There’s evidence that is also starting to turn, with Bedard (Chicago) and Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers) jerseys the highest-selling this season and good ratings even when Canadian teams are on national television in the U.S.

Executive VP Marketing Brian Jennings, who has been at the NHL for 33 years, said there is no shortage of people “knocking on the door” to get in on the boom.

“The constellation of those stars have aligned,” Jennings said. “When we look at our glide path and say, ‘Hey, how bright is the future?’ It’s really bright.”

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As we enter the final days of the NHL regular season, the Western Conference has its eight playoff teams locked in for the post-season while the Eastern Conference is coming down to the wire for its final two spots.

Elsewhere, some teams have signed NCAA prospects to contracts and the players I’m about to list have appeared — or are scheduled to appear — in NHL games this week.

In these cases, both the player and the organization have elected to “burn a year” off their entry-level contract, a strategy used so that the prospects will become restricted free agents a year sooner than they would have if their contract clock started in the fall. Most NCAA prospects request to play at least one game at the end of the NHL season as part of the decision to leave school and turn pro.

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I’m waiting to see what the Winnipeg Jets and top prospect Rutger McGroarty to do. McGroarty’s scenario is different than the other players on this list below. The Jets are still positioning themselves for the playoffs, trying to stay ahead of Colorado for home-ice advantage in their series. With something still to play for, it makes it more difficult to guarantee a college prospect game(s) at this time of year when coaches are assembling their playoff rosters and looking for synergy throughout the lineup.

In the meantime, four other players did sign with their NHL teams over the weekend who’ve caught my eye. Here are my scouting reports on them:

Cade Webber, D, Toronto Maple Leafs

Webber, 23, is a hulking six-foot-seven, 209-pound left shot defenceman. He’s easily defined as a defensive defenceman and a proficient shot blocker. I honestly can’t recall a defenceman at the college level, outside of a young Chris Tanev several years ago at RIT, who blocks shots the way Webber does.

Webber was credited with 133 shot blocks this season at Boston University. His long reach, and huge frame, assist in cutting down plays and taking away time and space. Webber skates well in straight lines and presents above average agility in open ice. His small area cuts and turns are predictably longer than smaller players. His most uncomfortable position is moving laterally, and that’s where a team could expose him right now, especially off the rush.

Webber isn’t going to bring any offence. He’s simple with the puck on his stick and takes what is given. If options break down, he will simply chip the play to open ice.

Here’s an example of Webber fronting a shot from distance. He ends up with two shot blocks in the sequence.

Luke Tuch, F, Montreal Canadiens

Tuch, brother of Alex, is a six-foot-two, 203-pound forward who was part of the leadership group for Boston University. He ended the season with 10 goals and 20 assists playing at even strength and on the power play.

On the power play, Tuch generally sets up around the crease, creating screens and looking for rebounds and tips.

He’s heavy set and hard to move off the play. At times Tuch displays a sneaky extra gear in transition and an ability to gain the edge and take the play to the net.

Consistent compete level and reliable hockey sense. Recognizes his responsibilities in all situations. Although he is heavy in the trenches, he isn’t a punishing body checker. He pushes, but doesn’t punish. Tuch leans fourth line utility forward at the NHL level.

Cutter Gauthier, F, Anaheim Ducks

Gauthier is an interesting study from a scout’s perspective. The six-foot-two, 200-pound forward is an elite shooter who led the entire NCAA with 38 goals. He also chipped in 27 assists in the 41 games he dressed for Boston College this season.

Gauthier was originally selected by the Philadelphia Flyers fifth overall at the 2022 draft. For whatever reason(s), the Flyers didn’t see a path forward with Gauthier and decided it was best to trade his rights to the Anaheim Ducks, and they got defenceman Jamie Drysdale in return (plus a 2025 second round selection).

Gauthier’s elite element makes him an attractive prospect. He has top line scoring upside, but his three-zone detail and effort off the puck will have to be more consistent at the pro level.

Here’s a look at my summary scouting report on Gauthier and a few clips to support what I see in his game:

Here’s a play that illustrates how, at times, Gauthier stops moving his feet on the back check. He needs to be more active when reading, reacting, and tracking back to his net to assist defensively:

Conversely, here is a sample of the elite scoring ability Gauthier has and what he’s celebrated for.

This sequence occurred at the world juniors in Sweden this year:

Frank Nazar, F, Chicago Blackhawks

Lastly, Frank Nazar has a jump start on the other players on this list. The former USNTDP and Michigan Wolverine forward scored his first NHL goal for the Blackhawks over the weekend.

Nazar turned pro after two seasons at the University of Michigan. He missed the majority of his freshman year with injury, only suiting up for 13 games in 2022-23.

His 2023-24 season went more to plan. Nazar produced 17 goals and 24 assists in 41 games for Michigan this season, where he generally played between 17 and 21 minutes a game and deployed in all situations.

The first thing that stands out about Nazar’s game is his speed. He’s quick out of the blocks and a threat off the rush. The same is true when he is fully engaged pressing back to assist on defence.

Nazar isn’t shy about driving to the net, or lurking around the crease looking for loose pucks.

He’s capable of playing the wing and down the middle. He has benefited from experiencing high leverage games at the world juniors and college level.

Defensively, his awareness is generally sound, but he will need to use his quickness to defend with more consistent purpose and detail at the pro level.

Nazar projects to be a potential middle six NHL forward and the kind of player who will be deployed as a second or third liner at the next level.

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