NHL superstar roundtable: Top players discuss playoff format, cheat meals, hype-up music

HENDERSON, Nev. -- With grooming camps opening up this week, the NHL is adjacent to being backmost successful enactment for the 2025-26 play aft an eventful summertime that included a caller Collective Bargaining Agreement betwixt the League and the players.

ESPN's Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski caught up with dozens of stars astatine the NHL Player Media Tour adjacent Las Vegas past week and asked each the pertinent questions:

What did they similar astir the caller CBA? Who volition instrumentality vantage of the caller relaxed formal code? Are they blessed with the existent playoff format? Plus, their favourite "cheat meals," pregame pump-up tunes and weird instrumentality quirks.

Here's what the NHL's champion had to say:

What's your favourite cheat meal?

"I'll spell with my astir recent: I had conscionable a monolithic sheet of chickenhearted wings connected Sunday to ticker immoderate NFL football. Like each different American. I'm a Giants fan. We scored little than a touchdown successful Week 1. I'm not a blistery chickenhearted helping guy. I similar the flavors. I went chromatic buffalo and ail parm. It's truthful good." -- Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins

A burger from 7th Street successful New York -- Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders

"Probably a burger and fries." -- Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks

"Pizza. Domino's. Unbelievable. Everything there." -- Seth Jarvis, Carolina Hurricanes

"Probably similar a burger, thing similar that. There's immoderate bully spots successful Denver for burgers. Hard to pinpoint one. But the Cherry Cricket has a coagulated burger." -- Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche

"I'll spell with Shake Shack. Burger, fries and a cocoa shake. That's a legit cheat meal. Some radical are astir apt giving you, like, fractional answer." -- Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers

"Pizza. Pineapple and ham." -- Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning

"Pizza with prosciutto. Not the American one. Like, the fancy pizza. Nice Italian one. Prosciutto with burrata." -- Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks

"Nachos. Tacos. Something Mexican, for sure." -- Read Entire Article