The NHL’s first week has already turned into a nightly scoring circus, and the shortened preseason looks like the biggest reason why. Games are swinging into 9-7 and 8-4 territory, and there’s been at least one lopsided result every night. Canucks coach Manny Malhotra may have put his finger on it best: teams are basically still in preseason mode, only now the games count.
That matters because the league trimmed exhibition games from seven or eight down to four. That leaves a lot less time to build chemistry, install systems, and clean up mistakes before opening night arrives.
The result has been loose structure and a lot of chaos. Early injuries are part of the picture too, with players and coaches trying to cram a normal month of preparation into a much smaller window.
It’s entertaining if you like offense, but it also feels like the natural byproduct of a compressed ramp-up, and it’s something the league may have to sort out if this format sticks.
Meanwhile, Sid Seixeiro is back on the same old Connor McDavid script. After just two games, he said McDavid is definitely leaving Edmonton, pointing to years of defensive and goaltending mismanagement and insisting nobody can argue with him.
The problem is that he’s been making the same case for years. McDavid has never said he’s unhappy or wants out, and when the Oilers have stumbled, he’s usually done the opposite of drifting away.
He’s stayed invested, and he even helped push for bringing in Babcock this summer.
That’s why plenty of fans saw Seixeiro’s latest shot for what it was: obvious rage bait. Two games into a new coaching era is a flimsy place to declare a superstar’s future settled, and unless Edmonton stops being competitive enough to give McDavid a real chance at a Cup, the sense around the team is that he’s not going anywhere soon.
And then there’s Toronto, where the old story about the Maple Leafs’ massive core contracts is starting to flip. For years, those deals were treated like a warning label - big money, little flexibility, and a flat cap that made everything worse. Now the cap is projected to climb to $127.5 million by 2028-29, and those same contracts suddenly look like an edge.
According to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, Toronto already has six forwards, both goalies, and its top four defencemen locked up for a combined $71 million by then. That would leave $56.5 million to deal with Matthews and fill out the rest of the roster. The bigger picture is that the Leafs may be entering the cap boom in a far stronger spot than they were during the freeze.
That also ties into how Chayka handled this summer. He avoided the kind of expensive, speculative long-term bets that caught other general managers, including the ones in Anaheim and San Jose, in awkward spots.
Most of Toronto’s current contracts - even some signed before he arrived - are aging well, and he’s said he’s comfortable waiting instead of forcing big moves. The twist is hard to ignore: the team that got burned hardest by the flat cap could wind up among the league’s best-positioned clubs when the money finally starts flowing.
In Other News...
Oilers Roster Crunch Could Force A Move Sooner Than Expected
Edmontons early-season roster picture has already started to look a little crowded on the blue line and a little thin up front. With several forwards banged up, the Oilers are reportedly weighing their options for a roster move that would bring in more help at forward, even if the injuries themselves are not expected to linger.
Sportsnets Elliotte Friedman said during a game broadcast that the club is exploring a lateral trade to rebalance the group, and the pressure point is clear: Edmonton has a pile of defensemen who could be exposed to waivers if the team keeps carrying them all. The situation does not sound like a long-term crisis, but it could still force the Oilers into making a move sooner than they would prefer. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Finally Found A Different Way To Win Against Seattle
For a team that has often needed a little flash to separate itself from Seattle, Wednesdays 3-1 win at Rogers Place looked a bit different. Owen Michaels got the Oilers on the board, Leon Draisaitl kept the pressure on, and Edmonton leaned into a physical, penalty-filled game that felt more like a grind than a showcase. Devon Levi handled his end cleanly enough, turning aside 19 shots as the Oilers improved to 2-0-1 and kept their strong home run against the Kraken rolling.
The part Edmonton will likely like most is that it did not have to chase the game the way it sometimes has against Seattle. The Oilers stayed patient through a tight third period, with Draisaitl and Connor McDavid eventually supplying the separation and finishing touch when the margin was still there to be claimed. It was the kind of result teams talk about wanting in the fall, a different route to the same two points, even if there was still plenty of bite in the game along the way. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Already Face One Roster Question Despite Hot Start
The early-season vibes around the Oilers have been strong enough to keep the focus on the ice, but the front office is already weighing whether the roster needs a little balancing. General manager Stan Bowman is reportedly looking into a lateral swap that would move a defenseman out and bring a forward back, a reflection of how the lineup is built right now: plenty of blue-line depth, a thinner look up front, and a few injuries giving the forward group a leaner margin for error.
For now, it sounds more like a monitoring exercise than an urgent push. Edmonton does not have any long-term forward absences to force its hand, and no specific trade targets have surfaced, which leaves Bowman with the luxury of patience even while he explores the market. The Oilers can live with the roster as constructed in the short term, but the early read suggests this is one of those situations worth watching before it becomes a bigger issue later. [Read more 🡒]