storyline-stacked Season startS WITH TRIPLEHEADER ON ESPN
Simply over 110 days after claiming their second straight Stanley Cup and sooner or later shy of the primary anniversary of their solely different banner-raising night time, the Panthers will commemorate one other title earlier than internet hosting the opening sport of the 2025-26 common season.
* A snapshot of what awaits within the NHL’s 108th marketing campaign: thrilling finishes (2024-25 noticed a document 560 comeback wins), high-scoring and high-skill (4 straight seasons averaging 6.0 objectives per sport & with an Artwork Ross Trophy winner securing 120+ factors) in addition to spirited competitors in each League and worldwide play (NHL gamers will return from the Olympic Winter Video games Milano Cortina 2026 & proceed their pursuit of the most-revered trophy in all of sports activities).
* With gamers from as many as 20 nations anticipated to be on opening-day rosters, NHL video games shall be broadcast reside in almost 200 nations and territories this season. Click on right here for a information on methods to watch and stream video games all over the world.
* It was an eventful regular-season eve involving star gamers across the League highlighted by Connor McDavid signing a two-year contract with the Oilers, J.T. Miller being an everyday observe participant forward of his first sport as Rangers captain and No. 1 decide Matthew Schaefer studying that he shall be a member of the Islanders’ opening-day roster.
FLORIDA TO RAISE STANLEY CUP BANNER, BEGIN THREE-PEAT HUNT VERSUS CHICAGOSam Reinhart and the Panthers will increase their second straight Stanley Cup banner and begin the hunt to change into the sixth crew in NHL historical past with three consecutive championships (and first in additional than 40 years) after they host Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks – one among three golf equipment beginning Centennial 12 months celebrations in 2025-26.
* Reinhart is one among 21 present Florida gamers that had been a part of its Cup-winning roster final season, with that group together with Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand and Niko Mikkola who all signed long-term contracts after capturing the championship. Marchand was within the constructing because the Bruins’ captain for the Panthers’ first banner-raising night time final 12 months.
* Reinhart, who was featured within the 2025 Stanley Cup Championship Movie, skated with Crew Canada alongside Bennett and Marchand through the 4 Nations Face-Off and is ready to signify his nation once more on the Olympic Winter Video games Milano Cortina 2026. Bennett, Ekblad, Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe will vie for a roster spot after being invited to Crew Canada’s orientation camp, as will Bedard who enters his third season as a centerpiece for Chicago.
* Bedard, 20, was the second-youngest participant in attendance at Crew Canada’s camp behind 19-year-old fellow No. 1 decide and North Vancouver native Macklin Celebrini. The final time NHL gamers had been within the Olympics (2014), there have been 5 gamers age 20 or youthful who participated together with Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in addition to fellow NHLers Zemgus Girgensons, Olli Määttä and Valeri Nichushkin (additionally Luka Gracnar).
Crosby commences 21ST SEASON, RANGERS START CENTENNIAL YEARSidney Crosby is ready to embark on his twenty first season and twentieth with longtime teammates Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin when the Penguins go to new captain J.T. Miller and the Rangers. Crosby, Letang and Malkin contested components of 10 campaigns underneath Pittsburgh’s former head coach Mike Sullivan, who was employed by New York this offseason and changed by Dan Muse behind the Penguins’ bench.
* Crosby, Letang and Malkin are the highest-scoring trio of teammates with a single franchise in NHL historical past, combining for 3,703 regular-season factors over the previous 19 campaigns. They performed 11 seasons alongside Marc-Andre Fleury, who the trio reunited with and bid farewell to when Fleury manned Pittsburgh’s crease throughout a preseason interval on Sept. 27.
* Crosby begins the season needing 37 factors to cross Mario Lemieux (1,723) for essentially the most in franchise historical past and for eighth place on the League’s all-time checklist. Crosby, who is ready to tie Steve Yzerman because the longest-tenured captain in NHL historical past, additionally wants two assists to leapfrog Yzerman (1,063) for the ninth most all-time.
* Miller leads the Rangers into their Centennial 12 months celebrations after being named the twenty ninth captain in franchise historical past. Miller, who started his second stint with New York simply earlier than taking part in in opposition to Crosby on the 4 Nations Face-Off, attended Crew USA’s orientation camp for the Olympic Winter Video games Milano Cortina 2026 alongside teammates Adam Fox and Vincent Trocheck. Sullivan was named Crew USA’s head coach and Rangers assistant David Quinn will serve in the identical capability for the People.
KOPITAR EMBARKS ON FINAL SEASON, LANDESKOG SET FOR ANOTHER RETURN
Gabriel Landeskog, who made his long-awaited return to Colorado’s lineup in Sport 3 of the 2025 First Spherical, will play his first regular-season contest in additional than 1,300 days when the Avalanche conflict with Anze Kopitar and the Kings. The sport will mark the beginning of the twentieth and last marketing campaign for Kopitar, who introduced that he’ll retire on the finish of the season.
* Landeskog shall be joined by adorned teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in addition to new Colorado defenseman Brent Burns, who wants three contests to achieve 1,500 in his profession and 75 to change into the second participant in NHL historical past with a 1,000-game “Ironman” streak. Burns additionally requires 4 objectives to cross Nicklas Lidstrom (264) for eighth place on the League’s all-time checklist amongst defensemen and 6 factors to leapfrog Bobby Orr (915) for the eleventh most by a blueliner in NHL historical past.
* Kopitar can even attain the 1,500-game milestone this season and wishes 30 factors to dethrone Marcel Dionne (1,307) atop the Kings’ all-time checklist. Kopitar’s 26 profession factors in campaign-opening video games are the fifth most in League historical past behind Jaromir Jagr, two former Avalanche skaters and one other Kings captain.
#NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES RETURNS FOR THREE-GAME OPENING NIGHT
Tuesday’s version of #NHLStats: Stay Updates options extra notes forward of opening night time, together with Cale Makar (2024-25 & 2021-22) and Brent Burns (2016-17) primed to change into the second set of James Norris Memorial Trophy winners to play at the very least one sport along with the Avalanche/Nordiques (additionally Rob Blake & Ray Bourque in 2000-01). Burns was additionally a part of the final occasion for any crew.
SEASON-OPENING QUICK CLICKS
* 2025-26 NHL Season-Opening Info from #NHLStats* Approaching Milestones* Season Openers* Season Preview
* #NHLStats for NHL Gamers Heading to Olympic Winter Video games Milano Cortina 2026
SECOND SEASON OF FACEOFF: INSIDE THE NHL NOW STREAMING ON PRIME VIDEO
Season 2 of FACEOFF: Contained in the NHL premiered completely on Prime Video in additional than 240 nations and territories worldwide. All six episodes of the critically-acclaimed docuseries continued to provide unprecedented entry to the NHL’s largest groups and most-compelling characters:
* Episode 1: Olympic-bound brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk* Episode 2: Meredith Gaudreau and her late husband’s teammates Sean Monahan, Zach Werenski* Episode 3: Veterans Sidney Crosby and Anze Kopitar with younger star Quinton Byfield* Episode 4: William Nylander and Brendan Shanahan’s “Shanaplan”
* Episode 5: Seth Jarvis and the Hurricanes hoping for extra success* Episode 6: Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand dealing with Zach Hyman’s Oilers in 2025 Remaining
QUICK CLICKS
* Milestones Inside Attain This Week* Chris Pronger, Christine Simpson be part of ‘Prime Monday Evening Hockey’ crew* NHL Community’s signature programming returns for 2025-26 season* Zdeno Chara to have No. 33 retired by Bruins on Jan. 15* Panthers obtain Stanley Cup rings in championship celebration
-(1).jpeg?w=120&resize=120,86&ssl=1 "'He was value maintaining' – Aakash Chopra questions RCB for releasing South African star forward of IPL 2026")
