Red Light newsletter 🏒 | This is The Athletic’s hockey newsletter. Sign up here to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.Good morning to everyone except the Dallas Stars, who are officially this year’s Ultimate Losers. They’ll go down in history as being the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that won the Stanley Cup. Missed it by that much.☀️ No time for restIt’s perfectly OK to admit you’re already in offseason mode. Maybe you’ve been there for a while.The Final can be weird. It’s sort of like being at a wedding ceremony, waiting for the couple to get to the “I do.” That’s the important part, sure. It’s the reason you’re all there, and you’re happy to see them enjoy their big day. But also … move it along so we can get to the reception, right?The reception has arrived. And like all good parties, we’re not quite sure what the future holds. Things could be about to get crazy. Or maybe we’re getting hyped up for what will turn out to be a total dud. Only one way to find out.Let’s get you caught up on what you need to know about the NHL’s four offseason pillars.1. The draftBelieve it or not, we’re already just 10 days away from the first round on June 26. We dropped a new staff mock draft yesterday, to go with Scott Wheeler’s mock from last week. Corey Pronman has your scoop on what scouts and execs are thinking. Maybe more interesting, Pronman also dropped his own rankings, and they don’t have Gavin McKenna first … or even in the top three.That No. 1 pick sounds like it’s still in flux, even as most assume the Leafs will indeed end up taking McKenna. (He tops Wheeler’s rankings, by the way.) This is also the time of year when we have to at least nod towards the possibility of Toronto trading the pick, even though we haven’t seen the first pick moved since the pre-cap years.Speaking of blockbusters …2. The trade marketThis is where most of the insiders seem to think the real action will be this summer. There are indeed some big names on the trade board, starting with the whole Dylan Larkin mess. Other players expected to be moved include Vincent Trochek (with some landing spots here), Darnell Nurse (which could depend on salary retention), and Morgan Rielly (a situation Jonas Siegel has more on).There’s time to revisit past names on the block, including Robert Thomas and Elias Pettersson. And of course, far bigger names like Auston Matthews, Connor Hellebuyck, Brady Tkachuk and Jason Robertson could all show up in rumors, even if the most likely scenario is that all of them stay put.The bigger question is just how wild the trading frenzy might get. In the NHL, it’s rarely a bad bet to assume most GMs will revert to playing it safe, meaning we won’t see as many blockbusters as we’d like. Then again, after watching a Stanley Cup Final between two teams known for their aggressive moves, maybe patience is running thin around the league.One thing we do know: Just about everyone will have cap room to work with. At least until …3. Free agencyRemember all that star power on the trade board? The free agency version is … not that.In fact, let’s just say it: This could be one of the weakest UFA crops ever when the window opens July 1. Alex Tuch is the biggest name, and he’s going to get a mint somewhere. Darren Raddysh, who you had definitely heard of before this season, is the top blueliner. Sergei Bobrovsky is a Cup-winning goalie, albeit one who’ll turn 38 before opening night. John Carlson and Rasmus Andersson could help teams. And there are other veteran names such as Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Anders Lee and even Corey Perry.After that, there’s … uh, Ryan Shea? Andrew Peeke? Nick Jensen? Yeah, it’s rough. But with almost everyone having money to spend, it could get weird.