October 18, 2026, brought three very different NHL stories, but they all carried the same theme: early-season numbers are already forcing a few uncomfortable truths. Winnipeg is finding a way to keep moving without Connor Hellebuyck.
A pair of Canadian goalies are stacking up strong starts. And Connor McDavid is on a pace that has the sport blinking twice.
Start with Winnipeg, where Hellebuyck’s trade request and holdout were supposed to put the Jets in a bind. Instead, the situation has not cracked open the way he likely expected.
Elliotte Friedman has been working through the details as well, with chatter that Hellebuyck wants to head back to the U.S. after the Olympics and may have lost some belief in Winnipeg’s Cup chances. But the Jets are holding together without him, and that matters.
Stuart Skinner and Clay Stevenson are not Hellebuyck, but they have given Winnipeg enough in goal to keep the pressure from building the way it might have in a more chaotic situation. That leaves Hellebuyck in a tricky spot.
Winnipeg can still trade him, and he can still return, but time is not automatically swinging the leverage his way. He may want a change, and that part is understandable.
The risk is that standing firm does not always produce the result a player wants.
The early goalie leaderboard has also turned into a very Canadian affair. Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark is sitting near the top of the Goals Saved Above Expected chart at +6.8.
Winnipeg’s Stuart Skinner is right there as well at +2.3. Vancouver has its own interesting case in Leevi Meriläinen, the waiver pickup from Ottawa in September, who is just outside the top 15 at +2.5 while Thatcher Demko remains out with a hip injury.
Meriläinen’s night against Florida on October 16 tells the story pretty well. He made 36 saves, but the Canucks still came away with a 3-2 overtime loss.
That’s the kind of performance that reminds you a goalie’s numbers and a team’s result can point in different directions. The sample is still small, and these standings will shift, but Vancouver has to like getting this kind of start from a waiver claim.
Then there is McDavid, who has launched himself into territory that has not been seen in more than three decades. He scored twice and added three assists in Edmonton’s 6-2 win over Utah, giving him 23 points in eight games. The last player to reach 20 points that quickly was Mario Lemieux, 31 years ago.
The pace is outrageous on its own. Over 84 games, it would project to 242 points, which is the kind of number that immediately puts Gretzky’s record of 215 into the conversation.
Mike Babcock was impressed not just by the production, but by the way McDavid is getting there. He played under 20 minutes, is a plus-19, and, in Babcock’s words, “seems to enjoy it.”
Edmonton got more than just McDavid’s brilliance in the win. Zach Hyman scored in his return, Trent Frederic won a fight, and the Oilers moved to 6-1-1. They are also perfect on the road, with Nugent-Hopkins, Dickinson and Savoie still to come back.
In Other News...
Jets Suddenly Face A Bigger Josh Morrissey Problem Than Expected
The Jets blue line took another hit on Wednesday, and the ripple effect reached down to their forward group as well. Winnipeg called up Brayden Yager from the Manitoba Moose while placing Josh Morrissey on injured reserve retroactive to the October 7 injury, a move that confirms the defensemans recovery has gone beyond the original day-to-day outlook. Morrisseys wrist injury is now expected to cost him more time than first thought, even if surgery is not considered necessary.
Yagers promotion gives Winnipeg a chance to reward a player who has started this AHL season on a strong note and is arriving earlier than he did last year. For a team already trying to manage one of its most important defensemen being out longer than expected, the timing of that recall matters, especially with the Jets needing to keep the rest of the roster moving while Morrissey works back. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Prospects Are Driving Wins Even When The Moose Make It Messy
The Manitoba Moose kept rolling with a 4-3 overtime win against the Stars, pushing their early-season mark to 5-1-0 in a game that had plenty of the usual AHL chaos. For Winnipeg, the encouraging part was the list of names making an impact: Jets prospects Nikita Chibrikov, Colby Barlow and Brayden Yager all found the net, while Elias Salomonsson was back in game action for the first time since shoulder surgery last April.
It was not a clean night, though, and Thomas Milic had to fight through some messy moments in goal to keep the Moose in position to finish it off. A teammates miscue helped turn into the tying goal for the Stars, but Winnipegs development group still found a way to leave with two points, another reminder that the organizations prospect pipeline is producing real results even when the game itself gets bumpy. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Decision On Walker Duehr Just Raised A Bigger Roster Question
Walker Duehrs path with the Jets has already taken an early turn, with Winnipeg placing the forward on waivers as the club continues sorting through its forward depth. Duehr arrived with some familiarity as a player who has spent much of his career moving between the NHL and AHL, and his spot in the organization looked more secure when he recently signed a two-year extension that runs through 2027-28.
The move also comes after a delayed start to his season, as he opened on injured reserve following a preseason lower-body injury. For a player whose value has often been tied to versatility and organizational depth, the waiver decision only adds another layer to how Winnipeg is managing its roster decisions, especially with more questions than answers still hanging over where he fits once he is fully available. [Read more 🡒]