The race to build the teams has increased a notch, particularly in the Elite League where most teams have made some additions.
In a busy week, Giants and Devils have led the way by making bulk announcements to whet the appetite while one or two movers also caught the eye.
Here are the moves made at the time of writing.
Elite League
In Belfast, coach Adam Keefe announced another three to his team for the new season with announcement that Mark Garside and Ben Lake were returning, but they were bringing in American defenceman Jeff Baum.
Cardiff Devils really gave their fans something to enjoy when they announced EIGHT signings in the space of 48 hours. First of all, Josh Batch and Mark Richardson were revealed to be back, plus the return of Ben Davies in Devils colours after eight years away.
Then, the owners, in a live video, confirmed a host of new faces, such as netminder Mac Carruth and forwards Trevor Cox, Josh Lammon, Brandon McNally and Cole Sanford.
Guildford Flames also continued to strengthen when they brought in Alex Yuill then followed that up with a surprise switch for GB forward Robert Lachowicz, who leaves Nottingham Panthers after 14 years.
Panthers themselves brought in 25-year-old defenceman JC Brassard from EIHL side Tulsa Oilers while Dundee Stars also shored up their blue line options with Brett Orr.
Manchester Storm also got off and running with their recruitment by bringing back netminder Matt Ginn after his season away with Kansas City Mavericks with Adam Brady following him to Ryan Finnerty’s side.
Storm also announced Linden Springer was coming out of retirement to return to the club, after spending the 2019/20 season at Glasgow Clan.
NIHL National League
It was relatively quiet in the National League, but there were announcements for Austin Mitchell-King, who returned to Telford Tigers after his brief stint with Coventry Blaze in the Elite Series.
Milton Keynes Lightning also bid forward Rio Grinell-Parke a fond farewell as he made the move to Raiders for the new season.
NIHL 1
There were four players coming in and three leaving since we last posted as the teams in NIHL 1 prepared their teams as well.
Coming in at Blackburn Hawks were defenceman Matthew Wainwright and forward James Parsons, while Bristol Pitbulls welcomed Hungarian-born forward Tamas Elias.
Daniel Silar said goodbye to Billingham Stars and joined Pirati Chomutov while Chelmsford Chieftains were the most active in the past few days.
Defensive pair James Dimond has moved on while Dale Buckland has announced his retirement, but the Chieftains brought in netminder Michael Gray.
