Teen prodigy Connor Bedard will make his NHL debut and the Stanley Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights will hoist a championship banner when the NHL opens its 106th season on Tuesday.
Vegas will play host to Seattle while Bedard’s Chicago Blackhawks will visit Pittsburgh and Nashville travels to Tampa Bay in opening-night clashes.
Bedard, an 18-year-old Canadian center, led his national team to world junior crowns in 2022 and 2023 and is the highest-touted prospect since Edmonton’s Connor McDavid was drafted first in 2015.
Bedard is expected to quickly adjust to the NHL level and spark the revival of a Blackhawks team that won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015 but has missed the playoffs in five of the past six seasons.
“He just feels comfortable with that puck, like skating in traffic. He’s going to have no trouble playing with bigger guys in this league and stronger guys,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said.
“He has got that special quality that he seems to find what he needs to do at the right time.”
The Golden Knights, meanwhile, will celebrate winning the crown after only making their debut in 2017, having defeated Florida in five games to capture the Cup.
While Vegas will again contend for the title behind top scorers Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault, there will be plenty of rivals looking to dethrone them.
McDavid was last season’s NHL Most Valuable Player, his third time winning the Hart Trophy, with 64 goals and 89 assists over 82 games for the Oilers, who fell to Vegas in the second round of the playoffs.
The Colorado Avalanche, the 2022 champions, Dallas Stars and Edmonton are seen as the top contenders in the Western Conference while Eastern Conference favorites include the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs, who haven’t won the Cup since 1967, the longest drought in the league.
The Leafs rewarded star Auston Matthews with a four-year contract extension that gave him a record NHL average salary of $13.25 million.
The Boston Bruins set NHL records with 65 wins and 135 points last season, but were upset by Florida in the first round of the playoffs and lost captain Patrice Bergeron and center David Krejci to retirement, leaving 61-goal scorer David Pasternak to spark a revamp.
Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit have rebuilt as well in hopes of cracking long Eastern Conference playoff droughts, Buffalo’s lasting since 2011.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin will continue to narrow his gap on NHL legend Wayne Gretzky for the most career goals in league history. The Russian star enters the season with 822 goals, 72 shy of matching Gretzky’s 894, which likely means he won’t have a chance to eclipse the mark until next season.
NHL outdoor games will be played at Edmonton on October 29, at Seattle on January 1, 2024, and in suburban New York on February 17-18 while the NHL All-Star Game is set for February 3 in Toronto.
