NHL Morning Skate: Face-Off Edition for September 29, 2026

September 29, 2026

* The puck drops tonight on a 2026-27 NHL season that will see all teams compete in an expanded 84-game schedule – with the additional two games per team against divisional opponents resulting in more rivalry games with important standings points on the line.

* The last four Stanley Cup champions will all be featured as part of ESPN’s opening night tripleheader that begins with the reigning champion Hurricanes (2026) hoisting their championship banner to the rafters opposite the team that won the previous two seasons, the Panthers (2024 & 2025). The Golden Knights, winners in 2023 and finalists in 2026, are also in action to open the franchise’s 10th season.

* An all-Canadian doubleheader drops the puck on Sportsnet’s season beginning with an Original Six matchup between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs which will see the NHL debut of No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna as well as the Canucks visiting the Oilers with both teams looking to take a step forward with new coaches behind the bench.

LAST FOUR STANLEY CUP WINNERS OPEN ESPN SLATE

There will be champions all over ESPN’s opening night broadcast, a tripleheader that includes each of the last four Stanley Cup winners beginning with the Hurricanes and Panthers – with Florida aiming to return to the postseason after missing in 2025-26 following three consecutive Final appearances. The Bruins visit the Rangers in an Original Six showdown in the second contest, with Team USA gold medal winners on each side (NYR: J.T. Miller; BOS: Charlie McAvoy & Jeremy Swayman). The broadcast closes with three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane starting his second tenure with the Blackhawks when they visit the Golden Knights, Stanley Cup winners in 2023 and finalists in 2026.

* Following a season in which they finished first in the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division before a dominant 16-3 postseason run to the Stanley Cup, the Hurricanes begin a quest to join their opening night opponent, the Panthers, as well as the Penguins (2016 & 2017) and Lightning (2020 & 2021) as the only teams since 2000 to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

* After getting a taste of winning gold together with Team USA at the Olympics, Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk will play as NHL teammates for the first time – among the most anticipated debuts of 2026-27 – following a blockbuster trade with Ottawa that united the siblings in South Florida. The Tkachuks are set to become the fifth brothers to play together in a game for the Panthers and 17th set of U.S.-born siblings to play together in the NHL.

* There is plenty of recent playoff history between the two longtime Eastern Conference contenders. Florida eliminated Carolina in the Conference Finals in both 2023 (4-0 W) & 2025 (4-1 W). In the 2023 series, Matthew Tkachuk scored OT winners in each of the first two games in Carolina (including a 4OT capper in Game 1) and then added the series-clinching goal in Game 4. Tkachuk (6-6—12 in 9 GP) and Aleksander Barkov (5-7—12 in 9 GP), who will return after missing the entire 2025-26 season due to injury, tied for the most playoff points by Panthers players across the two series.

* A pair of opening night milestones will take center stage during ESPN’s tripleheader, including the middle contest when Mike Sullivan will coach his 1,000th game when he guides the Rangers into Boston – the first franchise he coached in the NHL. The Bruins (10-0-0 since 2016-17) are one of three teams this season, along with the Maple Leafs (also tonight) and Ducks (Oct. 4 vs. FLA), that can tie the NHL record for longest winning streak in home openers (MTL: 11-0-0 from 1953-54 to 1963-64).

* The Golden Knights, meanwhile, will drop the puck on the 10th season in franchise history – “Season X” – with the hopes of returning to the Final for the fourth time overall and second consecutive campaign. Vegas will do so under the guidance of new head coach Ryan Craig, the franchise’s fifth head coach and first without previous NHL experience. Vegas is 7-1-1 in home openers (click here for more on season openers and home openers).

DEBUTS ON DISPLAY FOR SPORTSNET’S OPENING BROADCAST

Sportsnet opens with a doubleheader in Canada with debuts to keep an eye on across both games and plenty of star power including six players in action who are among the group of 16 active players with a 50-goal season: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman in Edmonton; Cole Caufield and Chris Kreider in Montreal; and Auston Matthews in Toronto.

* Three of the four teams will have a new head coach behind the bench: Jim Hiller in Toronto, Mike Babcock in Edmonton and Manny Malhotra in Vancouver. In Montreal, Martin St. Louis is now the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the NHL as he aims to help the Canadiens build on their Conference Finals appearance after signing a multi-year extension. St. Louis enters the campaign 37 wins from becoming the sixth coach to earn 200 wins with the franchise.

* New Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka turned over a significant portion of the Toronto roster entering his first season at the helm with a double-digit number of new faces in pursuit of a return to the postseason after missing in 2025-26 halted a nine-season run of qualifying. While two-time Stanley Cup champion and Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky and high-scoring defenseman Darren Raddysh were among the notable Toronto adds, winning the NHL Draft Lottery and landing Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 pick makes for another intriguing storyline entering the season.

ICYMI: The Maple Leafs acquired forward Kirill Marchenko on the eve of opening night in a six player deal that also saw forward Matthew Knies head to the Blue Jackets.

* McKenna will be able to lean on a pair of fellow No. 1 picks: Auston Matthews returns as captain one season after breaking Sundin’s franchise goals record and 20 points from becoming the fourth player to record 800 with the club; and John Tavares, who has 253-311—564 with Toronto (597 GP) and can match the career totals he had during his tenure with the Islanders (272-349—621 in 669 GP). McKenna is living with Tavares this season to ease his transition into the NHL.

* Montreal returns most of the same cast that helped the team advance three-rounds deep in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but did add veteran scorer Chris Kreider to a potent offense that ranked sixth in goals for during the 2025-26 regular season. A one-time 50-goal scorer (52 in 2021-22 w/ NYR), Kreider becomes the third of 12 U.S.-born 50-goal scorers to play part of their career with the Canadiens in addition to new teammate Cole Caufield, who became the first Canadiens player in 36 years to reach the benchmark in 2025-26, and John LeClair, who won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993 but notched all three of his 50-goal campaigns with the Flyers following his tenure in Montreal.

* Malhotra steps behind the bench with already established deep ties to a Canucks team he played 159 games for from 2010-11 to 2012-13; coached their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, to a Calder Cup championship in 2024-25; and that drafted his son, Caleb Malhotra, third overall in 2026.

* Vancouver added veteran players who also have ties to British Columbia to help stabilize a returning roster: forward Brendan Gallagher, who grew up in B.C. and played junior hockey for the Vancouver Giants, as well as defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup champion Luke Schenn, who played his junior hockey in Kelowna, B.C. Schenn will join Nolan Baumgartner as the only players to have three separate stints with the Canucks franchise.

* The Oilers are hoping a new coach with championship experience will help boost them deeper in the playoffs and return to the form that saw them reach the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back seasons from 2024 to 2025. On the journey to a postseason berth, it should be a milestone year for Connor McDavid (409-811—1,220 in 794 GP), who will be the third-fastest skater to 1,300 career points, behind Wayne Gretzky (539 GP) and Mario Lemieux (633 GP) should he reach the milestone this season (Marcel Dionne currently ranks third at 946 GP).

SEASON-OPENING INFO FROM #NHLSTATS

A robust rollout of information heading into opening night has been released as part of #NHLStats’ Season-Opening Information Packet including:

* #NHLStats Packs: 2026-27 Schedule, Season Preview, Season Openers and Gavin McKenna, Trends of Recent No. 1 Picks

* Approaching Milestones and Records: Brent Burns, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane among those highlighted

* Offseason Summary & Team Storylines: Key storylines and stats for all 32 teams

* Dates of Interest, Captains History, Multiple Generations of Talent Entering Season and more

NHL IN FOCUS: THE NEW STYLE

NHL.com spotlights Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini, Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer and Canadiens forward Cole Caufield in the first edition of “NHL In Focus,” a six-part series featuring players in editorial-style photo shoots and profiles away from the rink.