Brady Tkachuk’s first week in Florida came with plenty of noise, and the Panthers winger turned it into the loudest statement in the NHL.
Tkachuk was named the league’s First Star for the week ending Oct. 18 after piling up 6-4-10 in four games, a run that included back-to-back natural hat tricks and helped Florida win three times. He opened the week with an assist, his first point with the Panthers, in a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 12, then caught fire immediately after.
The 27-year-old followed with 3-1-4 in a 7-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 13, then delivered again two nights later against the Vancouver Canucks. In that 3-2 comeback win on Oct. 15, he scored three times, including the tying goal with 12.8 seconds left in regulation and his 13th career overtime winner. He added two assists in Florida’s 8-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 17 as the Panthers became the first team in League history to record a natural hat trick in three straight games.
Tkachuk also carved out a place in franchise history by becoming the third Panthers player to post hat tricks in back-to-back games, joining Noel Acciari and Pavel Bure. He was also the first NHL player to do it since Auston Matthews in February 2024. Through nine games, Tkachuk has 6-4-10, and his career line now stands at 219-254-473 in 581 games.
Connor McDavid took Second Star honors after another monster week for Edmonton, finishing with 3-7-10 in three games as the Oilers went 2-1-0. He turned in a 1-3-4 night, his 50th career four-point performance, while playing in his 800th career game in a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 13.
McDavid then picked up an assist in a 4-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Oct. 15 before finishing with 2-3-5 in a 6-2 win over Utah on Oct. 17.
That was his 16th career five-point effort. The 29-year-old has now found the scoresheet in each of Edmonton’s first eight games, and he leads the league with 6-17-23 in 2026-27.
His 23 points are the most by any NHL player through eight games since Mario Lemieux’s 10-17-27 start in 1995-96.
Kirill Kaprizov rounded out the league’s Three Stars as the Third Star after producing 4-3-7 in four games to push Minnesota to a 3-1-0 week and into first place in the Central Division.
Kaprizov picked up an assist in a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 12, scored twice in a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 13, and then had 1-2-3 in a 5-4 win against the St. Louis Blues on Oct.
- He closed the week with his 36th career game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct.
- Through nine games, Kaprizov leads the NHL with 10 goals and ranks fifth with 15 points, at 10-5-15.
In Other News...
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Kirill Kaprizov kept doing what he has done all season, giving the Wild the kind of early lift that changes the mood around a building. His power-play goal in Minnesotas 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets was another reminder that the offense can look far more dangerous when he is on the ice, and it helped push the Wild to 6-2-1 in a start that has already created plenty of optimism.
What makes Kaprizovs opening stretch stand out is not just the production, but the pace of it. He reached 10 regular-season goals in a hurry, a mark that has him sitting alone at the top of the league in that category this season and giving Wild fans a reason to believe this hot start might be something more than a brief burst. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Goalie Situation Just Took A More Concerning Turn
The Wild got Kirill Kaprizov back in the lineup for the visit from Columbus after he missed practice because of illness, but the good news stopped there. Captain Jared Spurgeon was moved to injured reserve, and the bigger concern for Minnesota is still in net, where Filip Gustavsson remains out with a hip injury and the team is continuing to lean on Jesper Wallstedt in goal.
That has left the Wild with a much thinner margin for error as they move deeper into the schedule, especially with more roster shuffling likely ahead of the upcoming road trip. Calvin Pickard is handling backup duties for now, and Minnesota is also bracing for the possibility that several regulars, including Nick Foligno, Marcus Foligno and Olli Maatta, may not make the trip. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Hold The Upper Hand In Dylan Larkin Trade Drama
A new layer of speculation has been added to the Dylan Larkin conversation, and it has put the Minnesota Wild back in the mix as a team worth watching. The broader discussion is less about Detroits motives than about what a deal could mean for a contender trying to thread the needle on cap space while staying aggressive in the market for top-end talent.
For Minnesota, the appeal is obvious enough: Larkin would be the kind of move that could change the tone of an offseason and alter the clubs leverage in other negotiations. The wrinkle is that any pursuit would have to fit into a tight financial picture, and the situation is still being framed more by outside chatter than by anything concrete from the teams involved. [Read more 🡒]