from Bob McKenzie of TSN,

The expiry of the collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 15 is important beyond obvious reasons, especially for some of the National Hockey League's young guns currently without contracts.

And we're talking about high-profile restricted free agents coming out of entry-level deals - a group that includes Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban, Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane, forwards Jamie Benn in Dallas, Ryan O'Reilly in Colorado, Buffalo's Tyler Ennis, as well as defencemen Michael Del Zotto with the New York Rangers, Florida's Dmitri Kulikov and Washington's John Carlson.

Now these players would undoubtedly love to sign lucrative long-term deals in the same stratosphere as Jeff Skinner's six-year $34.35 million with the Carolina Hurricanes, or Jordan Eberle's and Taylor Hall's $6 million a year.

But none of these remaining restricted free agents appear close to getting something done and if they do, short term contracts appear more likely than long term ones.

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