Special Edition: No pucks given

The NHL consists of 32 teams divided evenly between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. These conferences are further split into eight-team divisions — the Atlantic and Metropolitan in the East, and Central and Pacific in the West.

• This year’s major change comes in the form of a new identity for the league’s 2024 expansion team: the Utah Mammoth. After a season under the placeholder “Utah Hockey Club,” the franchise went full rebrand with a new name, bold look, and a rallying cry: Tusks Up.

Each team will play 82 games over the next six months, 41 home and 41 away, racking up points in the official standings: two for a win, one for an overtime loss, and zero for a regulation loss.

• When the dust settles and the ice is all carved up come spring, the top three teams in each division will punch a ticket to the postseason, joined by the two next-best teams from each conference as wild cards.

• That’s right, that’ll leave us with 16 teams battling for the hardest trophy to win in sports.

We’ll discuss a handful of teams below, but first let’s dig into the top headlines from around the rink.

🥇 The NHL is back in the Olympics for the first time in 12 years: Players will have extra motivation to lay it all out there as they’ll be contending for a chance to represent their country at the 2026 Winter Olympics. There’s nothing like an international best-on-best tournament — look no further than last season’s highly successful (and testy) Four Nations Face-Off.

🐀 The banged-up Florida Panthers’ three-peat hopes are on thin ice: A major North American men’s pro sports team hasn’t three-peated in over 20 years, and the reigning champs’ shot at history is threatened with forward Matthew Tkachuk (pronounced kuh-CHUHK) out until December after core muscle surgery and captain Aleksander Barkov out for the year due to a knee injury.

🔀 The end of an era: Forward Mitch Marner, the biggest offseason free agent, landed with the Vegas Golden Knights, marking the end of the “Core 4” era in Toronto. Seems like Vegas is once again all in on hoisting Lord Stanley after making the playoffs in all but one season since entering the league in 2017.

👀 The start of an age: Elite winger Kirill Kaprizov signed the biggest contract extension in league history this offseason, keeping him with the Minnesota Wild for eight more years. But, as you read, the biggest headline came one day before puck drop, when Connor McDavid inked a two-year, $12.5M average annual value extension ($5M less than Kaprizov) to stay in Edmonton. Tea.

8️⃣ Yes, Alex Ovechkin is still playing…and still chasing records: After breaking Wayne Gretzky’s once thought unbeatable all-time goals record last season, the 40-year-old’s not done yet. Entering his 21st NHL season, the Washington Capitals captain is a mere three goals away from becoming the first player to reach 900 career goals.

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🛢️ Edmonton Oilers: After coming heartbreakingly close in back-to-back Finals appearances, Edmonton looks more locked in than ever. The aforementioned McDavid and center Leon Draisaitl remain the engine, while the team doubled down by extending head coach Kris Knoblauch through 2029. Full speed ahead.

🌀 Carolina Hurricanes: With elite forward depth and one of the league’s most balanced rosters, the ’Canes are a favorite to hoist Lord Stanley. That said, their goaltending duo does raise some concerns. Frederik Andersen performs well but is injury-prone, while Pyotr Kochetkov (pronounced PYOH-tr kah-CHYET-kov) hasn’t done enough to secure the No. 1 job. Buckle up for a storm surge.

⛰️ Colorado Avalanche: Superstar Nathan MacKinnon returns after an impressive 116-point campaign, good for second-best in the NHL last season. And with captain Gabriel Landeskog finally healthy after missing the entire regular season due to knee complications, the Avs will once again be a Western Conference force.

✨ Vegas Golden Knights: Boosted by the aforementioned Marner joining the squad, the Golden Knights are a dark horse that shouldn’t be overlooked. Their defense is solid, their roster runs deep, and perhaps most importantly, their pregame show always gets the celebrity-filled home crowd hyped. What happens in Vegas…

⭐ Dallas Stars: The Stars were this close to a Stanley Cup Final appearance last season, falling short in the Western Conference Finals. With returning top talent in center Wyatt Johnston, left wing Jason Robertson, center Tyler Seguin, and captain Jamie Benn (who will be out for the start of the season), Dallas has the right mix of skill and experience to put together another top-notch performance.

Settle in for a thrilling fall, winter, and spring ahead: regular-season action runs from October through April, with a February break for the Olympics. Check out the full schedule, then don your jersey for tonight’s tripleheader starting at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada. Nothing like the good ol’ hockey game.