Connor Bedard is on the verge of giving the Blackhawks exactly what they’ve been missing to open the season.
Chicago’s captain looks ready to return Tuesday against Pittsburgh after sitting out since April. Bedard is about three months removed from shoulder surgery in July, and he said he feels normal and comfortable with contact and battles. Coach Jeff Blashill said he is trending toward playing, and ESPN’s Emily Kaplan called it a huge boost for Chicago.
Bedard skated Monday on a line with Roman Kantserov and Patrick Kane, which is the kind of combination that immediately gets attention. Blashill said it isn’t simple to jump back into game action after an absence like this, but he also made it clear the shoulder is in a much better place now and that Bedard no longer has the restrictions he dealt with last year. For a Blackhawks team that has opened the year without its new captain, the timing matters.
In Toronto, the early signs suggest something else has changed: the Maple Leafs are moving with more pace.
The NHL EDGE tracking data backs up the eye test. Toronto is already ahead of where it was last season in every speed category, including 10 bursts over 22 mph, up from seven; 128 bursts between 20 and 22 mph, up from 117; and 638 bursts between 18 and 20 mph, up from 539. That extra gear shows up in the way the Leafs are playing - closing space faster, recovering more quickly after mistakes, and spending more time in the offensive zone.
The bigger picture is pretty straightforward. Speed gives a team more ways to pressure the puck and turn loose pucks into chances, and that can help build a different identity.
The caution, of course, is that it’s still a small sample, and skating faster doesn’t automatically mean smarter decisions or more wins. Still, after a season in which the Leafs sometimes looked too cautious, this version looks like one moving with a little more purpose.
Then there’s Philadelphia, where the start has been rough enough to fuel all kinds of speculation.
The Flyers are sitting at 0-5-2, and if that slide continues, changes could be coming. One name already floating around is Owen Tippett, who has six years left on his deal at $6.2 million per season. He’s become a player fans online are connecting to the Oilers, even as some Edmonton supporters push for bigger targets such as Travis Konecny or Matvei Michkov.
There’s also concern about how a long-term addition like Tippett might affect the McDavid re-signing. For now, though, it’s just talk.
Edmonton is tight against the cap, doesn’t have a lot of attractive trade pieces to move, and remains unbeaten in regulation while getting Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins and Savoie back soon. With the roster about to get healthier, Bowman should have a clearer read on what the Oilers actually need before anything real happens.
In Other News...
Flyers Hit A Franchise Low And The Frustration Keeps Growing
The early-season slide for the Flyers kept getting heavier in Seattle, where they came away with a 3-2 shootout loss that pushed their winless start to a franchise-record eight games. Philadelphia got another solid effort in net from Dan Vladar, who stopped 29 shots, but it was not enough to overcome a Kraken team that found ways to hang around and then finish.
Bobby McMann was central to the outcome for Seattle, with his goal in regulation helping force extra time and his shootout winner sealing it in the fifth round. Philipp Grubauer turned aside 24 shots for the Kraken, and the latest missed opportunity leaves the Flyers still searching for something to turn the mood after a stretch that has already become part of team history. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Blue Line Still Has A Problem As Injuries Keep Lingering
The Flyers blue line is still carrying a heavy injury load as they head into their meeting with the Detroit Red Wings, with the club again preparing to be without key defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Cameron York. Philadelphia has already spent plenty of time juggling its back end, and the latest availability report suggests the group is still far from full strength as it tries to steady itself on a night-to-night basis.
Ristolainens situation is particularly notable because he had recently returned to practice after missing the last five games with a hand injury, but there is still no indication he is ready to suit up. York remains in the same uncertain lane, leaving the Flyers with more questions than answers on defense while injuries continue to ripple around the league, including Buffalos absence of Rasmus Dahlin and other notable sidelined players. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Losses Are Raising A Trade Question Fans Wont Ignore
A rough start to the season has put the Flyers in an uncomfortable early spot, and it has already started to change the way the rest of the league looks at them. With Philadelphia struggling out of the gate, general manager Danny Briere is hearing from other teams more often than he probably expected this early, as rival front offices take a closer look at whether the Flyers might be willing to move help for the present in exchange for future value.
For a club trying to build around young talent, the line between available pieces and untouchable ones matters. The Flyers are believed to have a core of prospects and young players they are not eager to discuss, but that only makes the rest of the roster more interesting to the teams calling around. Among the names that naturally come up are veterans on the blue line, the kind of players contenders tend to want when the calendar turns and needs become more obvious. [Read more 🡒]