+ More games = early premiere
The NHL starts late Tuesday night - and we’re not even in October yet. That is a little over a week earlier than last year, as the league is expanding by two games per team, from 82 to 84. With 32 teams in the league, that means a total of 1,344 regular-season games before the final round on April 11. The top 16 teams advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin on April 14 and run through June 20.
+ Premiere night
Reigning champion Carolina is first up against 2024 and 2025 champion Florida. The match starts at 23:00 Swedish time. Other matches (night of Wednesday): Toronto-Montreal, Boston-New York Rangers, Edmonton-Vancouver, Vegas-Chicago.
+ Swedish legends will lift classic clubs
Sundin, Sedin and Sedin. Will they be able to lift Toronto and Vancouver, respectively?
The three World Cup and Olympic gold medalists will take on leadership roles at the teams where they were former stars. Mats Sundin will be a senior advisor to Toronto's new general manager, John Chayka. The legendary Canadian club missed the playoffs last year and reshuffled its management. Toronto, with William Nylander as one of the stars, has not won the Stanley Cup since 1967.
Twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin have worked for the Vancouver Canucks in recent years - but are now being promoted and sharing the presidency of hockey operations. The Canucks were the worst in the entire NHL last year and missed the playoffs the year before that as well.
+ Do Swedish super talents become instant successes?
Ivar Stenberg, San Jose, Anton Frondell, Chicago, Viggo Björck, Winnipeg - all three in Tre Kronor's World Cup team this spring - and Victor Eklund, New York Islanders, are all newcomers to the NHL and are mentioned among the most exciting young players.
Frondell and Eklund played a few NHL games at the end of last season - but are considered rookies this season as well.
The biggest focus is on former Frölunda forward Stenberg, 18, who was drafted second overall this summer. He is expected to play a big role for the young San Jose Sharks, where he could be a teammate of star Macklin Celebrini, 20.
+ The legend's verdict
Former star Mark Messier, a six-time Stanley Cup champion, criticizes his old club Edmonton's decision to hire Mike Babcock as their new coach.
"I'm completely shocked that they took him after everything I've heard from very good and respected people about how they have been treated," Messier, an expert commentator for ESPN, said last week.
Babcock has been accused of bullying and ostracizing many players, including former Detroit star Johan Franzén, who called Babcock a "terrible person, the worst I've ever met" in an interview with Expressen.
Now Babcock will lead, among others, superstar Connor McDavid.
+ Storm of criticism against Ovechkin
Washington star Alexander Ovechkin's support for Russian President Vladimir Putin has long gone relatively unnoticed in North America. But after a commercial ahead of the Russian Duma elections, in which Ovechkin ran for Putin's United Russia party, criticism has grown against the NHL's all-time leading scorer.
The Hockey News columnist Adam Proteau writes: “It’s time Ovechkin was held accountable for what he does as a popular hockey player, using his platform to support an aggressive war. He can’t both say he’s just a hockey player and not a politician - while appearing in political advertisements. He can’t claim he wants peace and still support his president’s senseless war. He can no longer hide in the hockey bubble.”
+ Television
New for this season is that Disney+ will broadcast 160 regular-season games plus 20 playoff games. The remaining games will be broadcast on Viaplay, which secured NHL rights through the 2030-2031 season this spring.
