The National Hockey League is close to finalizing plans for what plans to be a very busy, very nostalgic 2016-17 season.

Not only will it be the 100th anniversary of the Toronto Maple Leafs (nee Arenas), but it will also be the 100th season of the NHL.

As well, it’s the 50th anniversary of the six-team expansion of 1967 that doubled the league in size.

One of those teams, the Los Angeles Kings, will hold the NHL all-star game as part of its celebrations. Another, the St. Louis Blues, appears to have snared the Winter Classic, which will be played at Busch Stadium, home of baseball’s Cardinals. They’ll play the Chicago Blackhawks, who must have it in a contract somewhere that they are in one of every three outdoor games played.

The Maple Leafs, at one point, were in the running for the Winter Classic. (It is believed NBC heavily objected.) And they were in the running for the all-star game, too.

There’s a worry around Toronto that the Leafs are getting frozen out, but that’s not so. They will host the Heritage Classic, likely against the Montreal Canadiens, at BMO Field as part of the league’s Stadium Series. And the host of the 2017 draft has yet to be announced. It will be in Buffalo this year.

The league and the Leafs are both being tight-lipped. The league is certainly not going to snub the Leafs — in one of the biggest hockey markets — in their 100th year.

“We’d certainly like to include Toronto in our centennial celebration (theirs as well) in some meaningful way,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly wrote in an email. “Still a work in progress, though.”

Certainly the Flyers and Penguins, part of the 1967 expansion, will have big fetes and could meet in the Stadium Series.

What’s less clear is what do with the Minnesota North Stars, now in Dallas, and the California Seals, who became the Cleveland Barons, then merged with Minnesota, then unmerged with ownership starting up the San Jose Sharks. Maybe the Sharks can wear white skates for a game.

Usually, all the events for the following year are sorted out by the all-star break. But there are more moving pieces this year than last.

What’s easy to predict is that the Toronto hockey fan will be asked to reach deep into his or her wallet next season.

Not only will the Leafs have the extra events, and jerseys with the new logo, but the NHL has placed the World Cup at the Air Canada Centre in September. And the International Ice Hockey Federation has its world junior tournament in Toronto and Montreal. Canada will play its preliminary round matches in Toronto.

What’s dead in the water, apparently, is the movement for the league to rename some of its trophies. Some were seizing on the 100th season as the perfect opportunity to rename the Art Ross Trophy in Wayne Gretzky’s honour, and the Norris Trophy in Bobby Orr’s. And so on.

But Art Ross and Co. will live on. All hail Lady Byng.

Captain Fantastic: All that chit-chat about what’s wrong with Sidney Crosby, when he started the year with nine points in his first 17 games, seems to have died down. The Penguins captain, the league’s first star if the week, is one of the hottest players in the NHL and moved into the top 10 in scoring over the weekend. With two goals and four points Monday night, he has goals in seven straight games, 12 points in his last four games, and 22 points during an 11-game point streak.

Crosby points to the coaching change that brought in Jeff Sullivan as the catalyst. “Everyone has to prove themselves. Everyone kind of starts fresh,” he told reporters in Pittsburgh. “I feel like I was in the same boat, wanting to make sure I was personally better. As a group, I think we’ve been better. When the team’s playing well, I think everybody individually benefits.”

Just say Ovie: Alex Ovechkin keeps hitting the record books. Ovechkin has recorded 86 game-winning goals since entering the NHL in 2005-06, 18 more than the next-closest player in that span (Daniel Sedin). Ovechkin also reached the 30-goal plateau, becoming the third player in NHL history to score 30 or more goals in each of his first 11 seasons in the league, joining Mike Gartner (15) and Wayne Gretzky (13). Ovechkin is the only player in the NHL to score 30 or more goals in every season since 2005-06. He has a goal in four of his last six games.

Calder watch: Don’t count Connor McDavid out as a candidate for rookie of the year just yet. His return from a broken collarbone has been electric, reminding everyone of just how special he his. He has two goals and four assists in the four games he’s played since his return, and 18 points in 17 games. He still has a long way to go to catch Artemi Panarin, the 24-year-old rookie with the Blackhawks (52 points). But it’s not out of the question of he gets within range of Detroit’s Dylan Larkin (37) or Buffalo’s Jack Eichel (36). Eichel, meanwhile, has gotten hot of late, with 21 points in his last 21 games.

Top executive: Panthers GM Dale Tallon has to be considered for executive of the year for the way his Florida team is coming together. Funny thing, after his playing career, he never intended to become a GM. “It was by accident I got into this business,” Tallon said. “I was broadcasting. I had a golf business. Then (late Blackhawks owner) Bill Wirtz asked me my opinion. Felt it wasn’t working.” So he joined the Blackhawks front office, putting the skeleton of today’s team together before moving to Florida. “It wasn’t a plan. I was pretty happy. I had a nice life. Golf pro, broadcasting, playing the celebrity tour. I had a nice life with no stress. Then bang.”

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Doan look now: Shane Doan appears to be undergoing a revival in Arizona. The 39-year-old leads the Coyotes with 19 goals. Last year he only had 14 in a full season. “I thought I was better than that,” Doan told the Arizona Republic. “This year, I’ve been able to contribute. It’s been good. Last year was tough. The team really started to struggle, and it was disheartening and I kind of let it affect me so much more than I ever should have let it affect me.” Doan is the all-time leading goal scorer in franchise history after passing Dale Hawerchuk.

Trade fodder: The Bruins can go either way at the trade deadline, with pending UFA Loui Eriksson able to fetch a big return if they want to be sellers. But they’re doing better than anticipated and already have 10 picks in the summer draft, including two firsts and two seconds . . . If the Canadiens decide to join the sellers at the trade deadline, Alex Galchenyuk could be available. The Habs are worried his game is regressing, but would still want a lot for the former third overall pick . . . The Carolina Hurricanes have to decide whether they’ll go for it or not. They have pending UFAs Eric Staal, Cam Ward and Kris Versteeg.