TORONTO -- Don't bother Mike Babcock with questions about the past.

That was the message from the new Toronto Maple Leafs coach when he met with the media at MasterCard Centre on Thursday as his players took their physicals prior to the start of training camp, which begins Friday in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

"We can spend all the time you want talking about the last this many years and that many years; none of that is on my radar at all," Babcock said. "It starts here today for me. My job starts today as far as the on-ice product and we're going to work hard to make that better. We're going to work hard to restore the Maple Leafs to the rightful place in the League."

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins are confident their offensive prowess will return this season, but their defensive expectations remain tepid.

Pittsburgh responded to a disconcerting offensive effort throughout the final month of last season and the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by adding forwards Phil Kessel, Eric Fehr, Nick Bonino and Sergei Plotnikov. The offense is expected to return to form with arguably the most depth the Penguins have had since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009.

There was a tradeoff, however.

"We had a good offseason, especially with our forwards," Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said. "We clearly have more depth than we did a year ago. We'll have more balance. We'll be able to play the game different ways and we'll have a better chance to score. We all know it's hard to score in this League.

"Our defense, it's time now. … We'll watch our defense, because it is a little bit younger. We'll see how that goes in the first half of the season."

As training camps across the NHL open, many free agents still are looking for contracts. Several players, including former all-stars and Stanley Cup winners, have agreed to professional tryout offers in hopes of performing well during the preseason and signing a contract for the season.

Whether it's because of an injury or poor play, numerous players accepted PTOs in lieu of contracts hoping to make an impression. Last season, Scott Gomez signed a PTO with the New Jersey Devils and ended up being signed by the team in December. His 34 points in 58 games exceeded expectations and tied for third on the team while playing far fewer games than most of his teammates.

Here are the 10 players who signed PTOs who have the best chances of making their teams, according to NHL.com:

BUFFALO -- The past year for Evander Kane has been one he'd like to put behind him. The new start he'll get with the Buffalo Sabres is just the opportunity he's been seeking.

Kane spoke with the media Thursday at the first day of training camp at First Niagara Center and showed that his trademark confidence and swagger is still intact when he talked about what could happen if he stays healthy for a full season.

"If I can ever play 82 games … obviously I can score 30 goals. Will I is more the question," said Kane, who had 30 in 2011-12 as a 20-year-old with the Winnipeg Jets. "I hope to score as many goals as possible. Thirty is just kind of a set number. I've already scored 30. So maybe I want to score 40 or 50."

The ice is down, the skates are sharpened and NHL players are starting to report to training camp. They'll have to hit the ice on the fly; preseason games start Sunday, and the regular season begins Oct. 7.

Here are 16 storylines to watch as the 30 teams head to training camp:

TORONTO -- The Boston Bruins had a summer of massive change, and it widely was believed to be a direct reaction to the organization missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007.

But the Bruins captain doesn't think so.

Defenseman Zdeno Chara's first season with the Bruins was 2006-07, which was the last time they missed the playoffs. Since then the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and reached the Final again in 2013, where they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

According to Chara, the struggles last season showed it was time for the Bruins to put that run of success behind them and prepare for the next run, even though they finished two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final Eastern Conference wild card.

VANCOUVER -- It took Ryan Miller five months to completely recover from the knee injury that cost him most of the final two months of the 2014-15 season, but that doesn't mean the Vancouver Canucks should worry about the health of their 35-year-old goaltender.

Watching Miller moving around his crease during a training session with former NHL goalie Alex Auld on Tuesday, there were no signs of the delays that plagued his comeback late last season.

"There was a certain amount of inflammation and it would give feedback it was sore and a little slow, and then all of a sudden, about mid-July, it was just kind of like, 'OK, we're done with that and we're good,'" Miller told NHL.com.

TORONTO -- Dion Phaneuf admits he heard the rumors.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs undergoing a change in direction and top scorer Phil Kessel having been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for prospects and two draft picks, there was speculation Phaneuf might be the next to go.

It did not happen. Rather, new coach Mike Babcock said he welcomes the opportunity to work with the Maple Leafs captain. That is a relief for Phaneuf, who at age 30 is set to play his 11th season in the NHL.

"I never wanted to leave here," the defenseman said at the NHL's Player Media Tour in early September. "I signed here for a reason; I love being a part of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I love being a Toronto Maple Leaf. I love the city and I want to be a part of the solution. That's why I'm here."

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is focused on a specific number heading into this season, one that has nothing to do with goals or assists.

"My only goal is to play 82 games," Letang told the Penguins website. "That's my main goal. I just want to help the team all year long and not just part of it."

Letang tied his NHL career high with 11 goals last season and set a personal best with 54 points, but he missed the final seven games of the regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a concussion.

The 28-year-old missed 89 games in the three previous seasons because of assorted injuries and a stroke but reported feeling in top shape heading into this training camp.

"I was on the same program that I always do in the summer. No setbacks, nothing. I felt pretty good," Letang said.

PINE HILL, N.J. -- Forward Wayne Simmonds knew before a lot of others that the Philadelphia Flyers had named Dave Hakstol as their new coach.

The Flyers hired the longtime University of North Dakota coach to replace Craig Berube on May 18.

"He's friends with some of my agents, so they gave me a heads-up," Simmonds told NHL.com prior to teeing off at Trump National Golf Club at the Flyers Celebrity Golf Invitational on Tuesday. "I got to talk to Hakstol and talked to my agents about him. So I knew a little bit about him."

What did Simmonds learn?

"Stern but fair," he said of Hakstol. "He expects a lot, he demands a lot from his players. At the same time, he seems like a very fair person."