In the NHL, business is about to pick up.

General managers are heading back to their offices and starting to work the phones again with agents. At least one team is assembling its coaching staff this week to begin prep for training camp, which begins around Sept. 21.

This is good news for the players that remain on the open market with contracts, hoping for clarity about their NHL future. Some have been told to wait as teams clean up their salary caps through mechanisms like long-term injured reserve. Some are expecting to come into camps on tryout contracts, either with the promise of a job or the promise to compete for one. Some are waiting to see whether that one perfect situation opens up to justify their patience or, in some cases, to entice them to return to the NHL for another season.

Yet these are nervous times for players who didn't find a home during last month's free-agent frenzy; or, in some cases, didn't heed the advice from agents like Jerry Buckley.

"Don't get greedy. Find a place to play at a good number and get going. Because these musical chairs can get taken really quick," he told ESPN this week.

That's especially true under a salary cap that rose only $1 million to $82.5 million for the 2022-23 season. The "flat cap" has impacted the free-agent market and overall player salaries.

"The unfortunate part of this year in general is that the marketplace has shifted because of the cap," one NHL agent said. "You have a weird situation where you have 16 or 17 teams that want to lose and you've got the rest that want to win. The cap has incentivized losing in a way: 'Hey, if I'm not going to make the playoffs, I could do better by selling my cap space.'"

Leaving little for free agents still seeking contracts, for example.

Here's a look at seven significant names that are still on the free agent market with less than a month before the start of training camps.

P.K. Subban, D
Age: 33 | 2021-22 cap hit: $9 million

At the end of the New Jersey Devils' season, P.K. Subban met the media with a voice ravaged by a head cold and a mind focused on becoming an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.

"Mixed emotions. It's exciting," he said. "Probably the biggest eye-opener is that eight years has flown by already. Should be a fun summer."

Subban, 33, completed an eight-year contract that he signed in 2014 with the Montreal Canadiens. He made $8 million in base salary last season and $9 million against the salary cap. His ice time dropped by nearly four minutes per game on average this season. He had 22 points in 77 games for the Devils, but his underlying numbers were strong, if overlooked due to the mediocrity of New Jersey's season.

Even the strongest analytics can't turn back the clock for Subban or give him the explosive skating he had in his Norris Trophy contention years. He's not an $8 million defenseman anymore, obviously. But he wants to play, and he can help the right team.

His agent, Don Meehan, recently told the Montreal Gazette that one reason Subban is still on the market is that he's earned the chance to be selective.

"Without sounding too aggressive, I think he's earned the privilege to be somewhat selective in terms of where he would play so that it works for the team and it works for him," Meehan said. "In other words, he doesn't just want to play anywhere. He has that measure of independence."

The agent said that he's had "expressions of interest" from teams on Subban, that the teams that have expressed interest "aren't in a position to contract now because they've got other things in play."

Subban hasn't appeared in the playoffs since the 2018-19 season and is still chasing a Stanley Cup ring. He has been off the radar, skating with a lottery team for three seasons. He's ready to make a difference if the fit is right.

"My tank's never empty. That's just the way I am and the way I feel," Subban said. "There's still a lot of hockey I have yet to play before I step away from this game."

Evan Rodrigues, C
Age: 29 | 2021-22 cap hit: $800,000

Rodrigues, 29, remains one of the buzziest players without a contract. Fans wonder why the former Pittsburgh Penguin hasn't been signed yet, while also fantasy casting the versatile center on their team's roster.

His agent, Darren Ferris, told ESPN that there are "a good seven or eight teams" he's having discussions with about Rodrigues and hopes to have something done soon.

"There are two or three teams that we feel he's a good fit with, but there are cap restraints. There are guys trying to move [money] to make room for it," said Ferris, who took over representation of Rodrigues from Peter Fish during the offseason.

One of those teams is the Penguins, who are capped out at the moment after a summer of reuniting the band (new contracts for Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust) in addition to bringing on defenseman Jeff Petry. The Calgary Flames have shown interest in Rodrigues, and Ferris said they "may be in that conversation as well."

Rodrigues had 19 goals and 24 assists in 82 games for the Penguins last season. He played behind Crosby and Malkin. When either or both were out of the lineup, Rodrigues stepped up and put up numbers in their absence.