The NHL season is nearly here, with 10 teams in action on Tuesday's first slate of regular-season games. It's time to recap a busy off-season and preview the biggest storylines to follow on opening night.
The 2026-27 NHL season is finally upon us, and Tuesday will open with a five-game schedule filled with intriguing storylines to kick off what should be an incredible year of hockey.
With a flurry of trades and free-agent deals throughout the summer, along with a new class of rookies breaking into the league, there was a ton of change that is worth revisiting ahead of the first slate of games.
Let's recap a few of the biggest storylines from the off-season that will get you caught up ahead of puck drop.
Tkachuk Brothers Unite In Raleigh
Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes - 5 p.m. ET
The Florida Panthers shocked the hockey world when they managed to acquire former Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk back in June.
The surprise didn’t come from the 26-year-old’s trade destination, where he’ll suit up alongside his brother and podcast co-host Matthew Tkachuk. But managing to acquire him with two seasons left on his deal was certainly unexpected.
Brady is joining a much deeper roster in Florida where he won’t be relied on as heavily to drive offense. The potential of a former 37-goal scorer to slot in as a complimentary winger on a team that just recently won back-to-back Stanley Cups should be terrifying for the rest of the Atlantic Division.
Of course, Tkachuk's addition is just one of many impactful changes for the Panthers to keep an eye on during opening night. Captain Alexander Barkov returns to the lineup, Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid make up the new tandem between the pipes and Radko Gudas has made his way back to the Sunshine State on a long-term deal.
GM Bill Zito has mortgaged his team’s draft capital (no first-round picks until 2030) and is firmly in the hunt for a third championship. There’s no better way to measure their status as contenders than taking on the defending Cup champions in the first game of the season.
Gavin McKenna's NHL Debut
Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs - 7 p.m. ET
The Toronto Maple Leafs were handed a lifeline at the draft lottery when they landed the first-overall pick and eventually selected Gavin McKenna.
Coming off a disappointing season that saw the franchise miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the 18-year-old headlines a long list of new additions — on the ice, behind the bench, and in the front office — that the Maple Leafs hope can change their fortunes immediately.
It may be unfair to give a youngster this much responsibility all at once, but the Maple Leafs are counting on a Calder Trophy-level campaign from the Whitehorse native.
McKenna will be thrown right into the fire, likely suiting up in a top-six role right away alongside William Nylander and new landlord John Tavares against one of the team's storied rivals in the Montreal Canadiens.
The Habs are coming off an Eastern Conference Final appearance and look poised for another deep playoff run with a roster of dynamic young talent and new veteran reinforcements like Chris Kreider.
The New Faces In NYC
New York Rangers at Boston Bruins - 8 p.m. ET
The New York Rangers have seen some significant roster turnover since the second half of the 2025-26 season, losing Artemi Panarin in February and parting ways with Vincent Trocheck in the off-season.
GM Chris Drury went out and acquired former Vegas Golden Knights sniper Pavel Dorofeyev and signed middle-six winger Oliver Bjorkstrand to try and reignite the Rangers’ offense after finishing 23rd in goals-for last season.
On the back end, the Blueshirts retained Sean Durzi in their trade with the Utah Mammoth for Trocheck, while also landing Marcus Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2030 first-round pick.
That’s a lot of change in Manhattan, and Tuesday’s contest against the Boston Bruins will be the first real chance to see if Mike Sullivan can organize his new squad in a way that could spark a bounce-back season.
Babcock's Return To The NHL
Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers - 10 p.m. ET
The Edmonton Oilers brought in Mike Babcock as head coach despite a long controversial history that kept the 63-year-old out of the NHL for over three years. It’s also been nearly seven years since he coached a regular-season game in the league.
This was a decision that was led by the Oilers' star players, and it will follow them throughout the season. Every winning streak, losing streak and individual performance (good or bad) will be viewed in some capacity through the lens of this choice, whether they like it or not. That starts on Tuesday.
Game 1 also marks the beginning of Connor McDavid's two-year extension. Babcock is entering a high-pressure environment with championship expectations, and the microscope will be honed in on every move he — and GM Stan Bowman — makes as this organization enters a pivotal moment in its competitive trajectory.
On the other side of this opening night matchup are the Canucks, who are heading in a drastically different direction than the Oilers. But they'll also have a new bench boss at the helm in Manny Malhotra.
Leading a young squad with little-to-no competitive aspirations can be difficult, but there are important developmental steps that he’ll need to work towards with the team’s foundational pieces of the future like Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi.
High Expectations For Bowen Byram
Chicago Blackhawks at Vegas Golden Knights - 10:30 p.m. ET
There likely wasn’t a trade that raised more eyebrows among hockey fans throughout the off-season than the one that sent defenseman Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Sabres retained the fourth-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, ultimately selecting defenseman Daxon Rudolph. While this deal may hurt the Sabres’ defense in the short-term, it was Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson that came under fire for paying a huge price while gambling on a relatively unproven blueliner that was due for a new contract a year later.
With no negotiating leverage at all, the Blackhawks later agreed to a six-year, $75-million extension with Byram.
There’s plenty of time for the 25-year-old to grow into a No. 1 defenseman, and a rising salary cap should take some of the sticker shock away from fans in Chicago, but there will be pressure for him to make significant strides before this large commitment kicks in.
Byram has his first shot to show he can handle a larger role against the Golden Knights on Tuesday, where he’ll hope to build on his impressive pre-season debut that included a hat trick against the Minnesota Wild.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.
See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
