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It was a tense atmosphere from the onset at Little Caesars Arena during the Detroit Red Wings' home opener against the New York Rangers to begin the 2026-27 campaign. 

Injured former captain Dylan Larkin was heavily booed when he was introduced alongside the other scratches, while multiple audible "Sell the Team" chants broke out from frustrated fans following Detroit's turbulent offseason. 

It all culminated in a 2-0 shutout loss, marking the Red Wings' third consecutive home-opening defeat.

Final pic.twitter.com/6W84kGVXKU

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 3, 2026

The Red Wings were playing without Larkin, who was announced as officially unavailable for Friday's game as well as Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets; whether he can play on Tuesday remains to be seen.

Detroit also didn't have defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who is in the midst of a contract stalemate and is currently in his native Sweden. 

Meanwhile, the Rangers, who traveled from Manhattan to Detroit after playing Thursday evening, earned their second win in just over 24 hours.

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

Sean Durzi, whom the Rangers acquired from the Utah Mammoth in the Vincent Trocheck trade, connected on the power-play for the Rangers at 5:12 of the first period, whistling a one-timed shot through the pads of goaltender John Gibson for a 1-0 New York lead.

That would do it for the scoring until, with Gibson pulled for an extra attacker, Eeli Tolvanen hit the empty net with 1:16 left in the game. 

The Red Wings fired 22 shots at Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand, who was appearing in only his fourth career NHL contest; he picked up his first shutout.

Meanwhile, Gibson stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced. 

Dylan Larkin Receives Icy Reception From Red Wings Fans During Introductions Former Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was met with a hostile reception from fans at Little Caesars Arena during the pre-game introductions.

Detroit had several chances to find the back of the net, most notably in the first period when a shot from rookie Anton Johansson, making his NHL debut, hit the post after being deflected by Andrew Copp.

Newcomer Viktor Arvidsson also came close, attempting to redirect a centering pass out of the air from close range, only to be denied by Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand.

However, Detroit managed only two shots on goal during the game's final frame. 

Offense isn't going to be easy to come by for the Red Wings even if they had iced a full lineup, considering the combined 88 points lost due to the departures of both Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk. 

The Red Wings have no choice but to put this loss behind them and prepare for their next game, a Sunday matinee affair against the visiting Winnipeg Jets. 

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DETROIT — And on the Rangers’ third game in four nights, Dylan Garand pitched his first career shutout. 

The rookie netminder will be the Blueshirts’ backup goalie to start October after all following Joonas Korpisalo’s placement on injured reserve before their home opener. Just two practices later in Hartford, Garand was already on his way back to New York before he made his season debut and anchored a 2-0 win over the Red Wings on Friday night. 

Suddenly, the so-called competition for the spot behind Igor Shesterkin during preseason is irrelevant. 

Garand may not have officially won the No. 2 job out of camp, but the 24-year-old sure looked capable of changing that following a 22-save performance Friday night. 

“Definitely craziest week of my life, honestly,” said Garand, who became the first Rangers goalie since Henrik Lundqvist (2005-06) to earn at least one point in each of his first NHL games. “Cut on Sunday. Waivers Monday. No claim. Go down to Hartford, get an apartment. And then, you know, two practices and back up and playing on Friday. Crazy, crazy week.” 

The young goalie was particularly sharp in his season debut. He manned the net with the sort of laser focus that comes when there are people to prove wrong. 

After proclaiming his desire to never go back to the AHL at the end of last season, Garand was sequestered from the main NHL group during training camp. It quickly became clear the backup job was Korpisalo’s to lose from the moment the Rangers acquired him from Boston on July 1. 

“As good as I can,” Garand said of how he handled the demotion. “Proud of myself for the way I just kind of left it out there, and you know, it was out of my control. So I just focused on what I could control, I did that. Obviously, what happened, happened, and it is what it is. Just happy to be back here. It was a great win tonight.” 

Concerns over the possibility of Garand getting claimed may have been overblown, but they weren’t unwarranted. On the same waiver wire last weekend, the Jets claimed Clay Stevenson and the Devils picked up Remi Poirier — two of three young goalies who were taken off waivers this preseason. 

Had Garand been claimed, this Korpisalo injury could’ve been a devastating blow to the Rangers. 

Instead, the Rangers were fortunate to recall Garand just five days after cutting him. 

“It speaks volumes for his character,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s just a good person, first and foremost. He loves hockey. You can see it. I can see it every time I see him walk through the door. The way he works on his game. He’s a fierce competitor. He wants to play in the NHL. I understand that … he’s battling. He’s controlling what he can. It’s hard. Pro sports are competitive. Things don’t always go your way and you’ve got to be able to work your way through the ebbs and flows of a career. 

“The thing I love about Dylan is he controls those things that are within his power. He’s got a great attitude. His effort is always where it needs to be. I really have a lot of admiration for him for how he handles his circumstance.” 

Sullivan said he and Garand have had numerous conversations throughout the entire process, with the Rangers head coach assuring that the Canadian goaltender knows the organization believes in him. 

The belief Garand already has in himself, however, has been evident since he made his NHL debut late last season. 

Friday night only gave him even more validation.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Alex Tuch scored twice in his first game for Washington, Alex Ovechkin opened his 22nd NHL season with an assist and the Capitals beat the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Friday night.

Tuch joined the Capitals in an offseason trade after five seasons with Buffalo. The 41-year-old Ovechkin assisted on Tuch's opening goal in Washington's three-goal first period.

Cole Hutson, Jakob Chychrun and Ryan Leonard also scored for the Capitals, and Logan Thompson made 31 saves.

Sebastian Aho and Logan Stankoven scored for Carolina, and Brandon Bussi stopped 22 shots. The Hurricanes opened Tuesday night at home with a 1-0 overtime loss to Florida.

Tuch opened the scoring at 6:33 of the first period, beating Busso with a wrist shot. Hutson scored on a snap shot with 8:27 left in the period, and Tuch connected on a backhander with 5:37 to go.

Jakob Chychrun made it 4-0 on a power play at 1:36 of second.

Aho got one back for Carolina on a power play with 3:10 left in the second, and Leonard made it 5-1 eight seconds later. Stankoven scored midway through the third.

Up next

Capitals: At Tampa Bay on Saturday night.

Hurricanes: At Philadelphia on Saturday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Dylan Larkin was given an icy welcome from Red Wings fans on Friday.

Ahead of Detroit’s season opener against the Rangers, Larkin, who is out with an upper-body injury, was met with a barrage of boos from Red Wings fans as he showed up on the video board while being introduced at Little Caesars Arena.

The fans’ jeers stem from Larkin’s trade request from Detroit this summer after spending 11 seasons with the franchise.

Red Wings fans booed former captain Dylan Larkin as he was introduced with the scratches for Friday’s season opener against the New York Rangers.

The boos stem from Larkin's trade request earlier this summer, the first domino in what has been a tumultuous offseason for the… pic.twitter.com/WcczTh0DWO

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 2, 2026

Larkin, who has a full no-trade clause, revealed that he wanted to be dealt to the Golden Knights, the Panthers, or the Wild, the Detroit Free Press reported in June.

His trade request kicked off a drama-filled summer for the Red Wings, who saw franchise icon Steve Yzerman step down as general manager in July.

Larkin’s decision also comes after the Red Wings have failed to reach the postseason in ten straight seasons, something the star center has previously criticized management for.

Also, as of Friday, top defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains unsigned with the season already underway.

Larkin, a Michigan native, has been a staple for the Red Wings since being drafted by them in 2014.

Across 808 career games with Detroit, Larkin, 30, has racked up 276 goals and 367 assists, totaling to 643 points, 10th all-time for the Red Wings.

Detroit named him team captain during the 2020-21 season for his leadership, but that title was stripped from the club in September following his trade request.

“The Red Wings will begin the 2026-27 season without a captain being named,” the team said in a statement last month. “Any further discussions or decisions will be made once new hockey operations leadership is in place.”

Larkin has acknowledged the loss of his captaincy, telling reporters last month that he understands “why that decision was made.”

The three-time All-Star still has five seasons remaining on the eight-year, $69.6 million deal he signed back in 2023.

As if the start of the 2026-27 season couldn't be more glum for the Philadelphia Flyers, one of their top prospects is already set to miss time through an injury.

On Friday night, Sokolovskii's club, the OHL London Knights, announced that the 18-year-old defenseman will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

Sokolovskii is now the latest in a growing line of Flyers injuries, joining players like Denver Barkey, Nikita Grebenkin, and Helge Grans on the shelf.

So far, the Flyers' 2026 first-round pick has played in just one game for the Knights this season: a 7-4 win against the Owen Sound Attack on Sept. 25.

In that game against Owen Sound, Sokolovskii quickly got himself on the highlight reels, laying a devastating hit on Attack forward Lucian Bernat and sending his opponent's stick flying in the air in cartoonish fashion.

Of course, Sokolovskii would have to answer for that and fight Julian Brown, a 6-foot-4 fellow defenseman who he was teammates with last year on London before Brown joined Owen Sound.

Good to have you back, Maks!💥 Maksim Sokolovskii with the Finch Collision of the week! pic.twitter.com/wgzVguuJ9Y

— London Knights (@LondonKnights) September 28, 2026

Unfortunately for the Flyers and their new top prospect, Sokolovskii's season will get off to a bit of a slow start after he played in only 44 regular season games for the Knights last year, plus five playoff games.

The silver lining, on the other hand, is that the 6-foot-8 Russian blue liner looked pretty good in his lone OHL appearance this season, building on the growth that the Flyers saw from him over the course of the last season that vaulted him into the first-round conversation heading into the 2026 NHL Draft.

Sokolovskii was one of the more impressive, noticeable players throughout rookie camp and the early stages of development camp, so as long as the injury isn't a long-term deal, this bump in the road shouldn't end up hampering his development this season all that much, if at all.

The Ottawa Senators got some encouraging injury news on the eve of their 2026-27 NHL season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Defenceman Jake Sanderson is expected to play Saturday night, although his status won’t be completely certain until the Senators see how he feels on game day.

Sanderson has missed a number of practices throughout training camp with an undisclosed injury. He returned to make his preseason debut against the Montreal Canadiens last Saturday, helped set up one goal, but left the game and did not return.

Sanderson skated at practice on Friday and admitted it may take a little longer to get up to speed.

"Obviously, I've only played one period of preseason," Sanderson said. "I think, for me, I (need to) control what I can control, and that's my effort and my mindset, making sure I'm locked in."

Sanderson's expected return means rookie Hoyt Stanley has been returned to the Belleville Senators. Stanley was a surprise addition to Ottawa’s 23-man roster, largely because of injuries to Sanderson and Artem Zub.

Zub isn’t ready to return yet, but there was some encouraging news on that front as well. He is participating in practice again, although he remains in a yellow non-contact jersey.

There was also good news up front.

Warren Foegele will be in the lineup Saturday night after missing training camp following offseason surgery. After spending most of last season on the fourth line, he's expected to suit up tomorrow in a much better position to succeed alongside Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson.

Foegele says his mission is just to keep it simple. He's in the top six because newcomer Andre Burakovsky remains out. Like Sanderson, he also left last Saturday’s game against Montreal with an injury, but was back at practice Friday. Like Zub, Burakovsky was wearing a yellow non-contact jersey.

So while the Senators aren't completely healthy heading into opening night, their injury situation is beginning to look a lot better than it did just a few days ago.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

This story was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa Senators site. For more from THN Ottawa, click one of the headlines below:

Hoyt Stanley's Surprising Selection To Senators' 23 Man Roster
Thomas Chabot Named Captain Of The Ottawa Senators
Steve Staios Provides Latest Injury Updates, Weighs In On Yakemchuk Readiness

Detroit Red Wings star Dylan Larkin received a big reaction from fans as he appeared at Little Caesars Arena amid his trade request.

And it included a heavy layer of boos.

Larkin wasn't playing on Friday, Oct. 2 because of an upper body injury but he was introduced along with the other players who weren't dressed. He gave a wave to fans after the reaction.

Unlike Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who is suspended for not reporting, Larkin agreed to report to training camp. But he missed the early practices because he was hurt while training in the offseason.

The Red Wings placed him on the injured list retroactive to Aug. 15 and he will miss this weekend's games.

Dylan Larkin got BOO'D during the Wings home opener intros 😳 pic.twitter.com/x58up8q11S

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 2, 2026

Larkin made the trade request after the 2025-26 season, in which Detroit missed the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season. Efforts to trade him were complicated because Steve Yzerman stepped aside as general manager. Shawn Horcoff was named interim GM.

Larkin has five years left on his contract at an $8.7 million cap hit. The longtime captain lost his "C" and the Red Wings will start the season without a captain.

Red Wings fans chant, 'Sell the team'

Larkin wasn't the only person to hear it from fans.

Early in the first period, fans began chanting, "Sell the team."

We have a “sell the team” chant five minutes into the Red Wings season pic.twitter.com/QSC12ck1Uk

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 2, 2026

Dylan Larkin trade request update

The Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that Larkin has increased his list of teams where he'd accept a trade.

In addition to the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights, Larkin's list now includes the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals. 

Contributing: Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Red Wings' Dylan Larkin booed by fans after trade request

The Buffalo Sabres practiced at Key Bank Center on Friday after losing 6-3 in Columbus in the season opener on Thursday, and had defenseman Olen Zellweger on the ice for workouts for the first time since leaving the preseason game against the Blue Jackets late last month following a hit from blueliner Carson Soucy. 

The 22-year-old was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks over the summer for a second round pick, and skated alongside Owen Power, replacing righty Louis Crevier in the top four. Head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that Zellweger cleared concussion protocol and should be available to play in the home opener on Saturday against the defenseman he replaced as Power’s tandem partner, Bowen Byram, and the Chicago Blackhawks. 

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Crevier was shifted down to the bottom pairing, splitting time with Zach Metsa on the right side with lefty Matt Grzelcyk. Veteran Dennis Gilbert was sent back to Rochester, who open the 2026-27 AHL season against the Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies at Blue Cross Arena. 

In ex-Sabres news, Byram through two games with the Hawks is getting #1 defenseman ice time, averaging near 25 minutes, but has no points and is -4. This is less reflective of Byram as an individual, and more reflective of how dreadful Chicago is without Connor Bedard. 

Another former Sabre had an auspicious debut for his new club, the Edmonton Oilers. Goaltender Devon Levi, allowed seven goals on 22 shots in a wild 9-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. On Friday, Alex Tuch will make his Washington Capitals debut against the Carolina Hurricanes.  

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo 

The Chicago Blackhawks are 0-2-0 to start the season. They didn't just lose to the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth. They were blown out in both games by a combined score of 11-2. They didn't show any improvement from the first game to the second either. In fact, they got worse. 

Now, the Blackhawks can't lie down and let the season slip away before it even starts. They have a match on the East Coast against the Buffalo Sabres to close out the three-game road trip to start the season. After that, they are headed to Chicago for the home opener.

"I have tons of belief in these guys," head coach Jeff Blashill said following the Utah game. "This is two games, neither more nor less. Does that mean there is urgency? Yes. We have urgency to go play a good hockey game on Saturday. My focus is us getting better as a group. That doesn't change. We are super young; it can't be an excuse. These guys have to step up."

Ahead of that game in Buffalo, Blashill may be looking for something to spark the team. There are a handful of routes he can go, and one of these three would make the most sense and be the most realistic:

1. Insert Kevin Korchinski and/or Ethan Del Mastro

The Chicago Blackhawks have been lousy defensively, especially when they are skating around their own zone. Protecting the house is paramount to winning hockey games, and they have done a poor job of it over two games. 

The Blackhawks are never going to bench Bowen Byram or Alex Vlasic, who had the two worst nights of any defenders on the team against Utah. They are their two highest-paid blue-liners, so they will be relied on to figure out their game. 

However, Sam Rinzel is a second-year player with plenty of development left. He could be someone who takes a seat in favor of Kevin Korchinski or Ethan Del Mastro. Although Artyom Levshunov has had flashes in the first two games, he is a candidate to watch a game from the press box as well. 

Jeff Blashill was asked about the possibility of getting either Korchinski/Del Mastro into a game, and he left every door open.

"I’m not there. Probably," Jeff Blashill said when asked if he'd make a switch like that. "We’ll see. We consider everything, so we’ll look at it and see if we think the two other options are better than the options that played."

If those first two games aren't a reason to insert either Korchinski or Del Mastro, then why are they on the team? They were each solid in the preseason and earned their spots. Between that and the team's performance, why not now? 

2. Change pairings in general

Jeff Blashill can also change up the pairs, regardless of who else gets inserted in. Bowen Byram and Alex Vlasic played poorly enough on Thursday to warrant splitting them up to see if that creates a spark. He changes the forward lines with ease, but why not the defensive pairs more? 

If they get another game together to see if they can work through it, the logic is sound. However, they should be on short leashes based on their play. What was on display against both the Golden Knights and the Mammoth, but especially the Mammoth, is unacceptable in the NHL for any sustained period of time. 

3. Create forward lines and leave them be

In the same vein, the forward lines have been in the blender a lot since training camp started. That hasn't been a recipe for success in the NHL, especially for the Blackhawks so far this season. 

Everything will settle down when Connor Bedard, their best forward, returns. Until then, they have to find the right mix. It could come down to creating four balanced lines and leaving them be for a while. Injuries, like the one that Andrew Mangiapane is going through, can and will change things, but letting players develop chemistry is important. 

So far, Chicago's best line has been their fourth line. Cole Smith, Jordan Greenway, and Ryan Greene make up that line, and they have yet to be separated. They play well together and are clearly getting used to each other. It may be time to allow the top three lines to do so as well. 

Chicago has only scored two goals in two games. Greenway scored one of them, while Patrick Kane scored the other. For Greenway, it's a result of feeling good about his role on the team with that line. For Kane, his pure skill took over on one play. 

"I don’t think there’s any lack of belief in our group," Blashill said. "We’re 0-2; that’s the fact of it. We haven’t played our best. But it’s neither more nor less than that."

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive, and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

DETROIT — So, Dylan Garand will be the Rangers backup goalie in October after all. 

Among the last round of cuts from training camp less than a week ago, the rookie netminder was in Hartford for just two practices before he was summoned back to New York for the Blueshirts’ home opener at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night and his fourth NHL start Friday night in Detroit. 

Joonas Korpisalo was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed lower-body injury just a few hours before puck drop in Manhattan. The Rangers said he’s considered week to week. 

“Dylan and I have had a lot of conversations along the way,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I had a number of conversations with him when the decision was made to send him to Hartford. He knows that we believe in him. I don’t know that I have to say anything else. He’s a good, solid goalie. And we believe in him, and we know he’s going to make saves for us.” 

It’s crystal clear now that Korpisalo was slated for the No. 2 job since the Rangers acquired him from Boston on July 1. 

With a 24-year-old homegrown goalie in Garand pushing his way out of the pipeline, however, the Rangers called it a competition heading into training camp. Garand maximized his first NHL opportunity last season in the form of a 2-0-1 record and a .948 save percentage, but management believes he needs to be getting starter’s reps in Hartford to continue developing. 

That led to the Rangers putting Garand on waivers just a few days after the Canucks claimed 24-year-old goalie Leevi Meriläinen from the Senators. 

“I’m sure he was disappointed,” Sullivan said. “He’s a fierce competitor, and he wants to play in the NHL. That’s part of his personality that we love.” 

Concerns over the possibility of Garand getting claimed may have been overblown, but they weren’t unwarranted. On the same waiver wire last weekend, the Jets claimed Clay Stevenson and the Devils picked up Remi Poirier. 

It’s true, Garand’s sample size in the NHL isn’t quite big enough to take a flyer on, but young and untapped goalies were hot commodities this preseason. It sure worked out for Brandon Bussi and the 2026 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. 

Waiving Garand ultimately worked out for the Rangers too, but only because he cleared. 

Had Garand been claimed, this Korpisalo injury could’ve been a devastating blow to the Rangers. After Garand, the Rangers have a shallow pool of netminders in Spencer Martin (primarily an AHL journeyman) and Callum Tung (split last season between the ECHL and AHL). 

Whether you believe Garand should’ve been tabbed as the backup in the first place, Korpisalo came to New York on the heels of a volatile couple of seasons. He has finished with a save percentage above .900 just once in the past six seasons, when he split the 2022-23 campaign between the Blue Jackets and the Kings. 

Still, the Rangers naturally went with the bigger body of work than the unproven rookie. 

The NHL opportunity for Garand was always going to come at some point this season, especially given Igor Shesterkin’s injury history. 

It may be earlier than expected, but it’s here now. 

Garand said he never wanted to go back to the AHL, and Friday night was his first chance this season to make his case.

It would be foolish to condemn the Philadelphia Flyers two games into a young 2026-27 season, but in those two games, against divisional opponents looking to take charge, the Flyers looked completely unprepared, outmatched, and disinterested in it all.

Through two games, the Flyers have, according to Natural Stat Trick, allowed the most shot attempts in the NHL at 5-on-5 (125) and rank 18th in the league in expected goals generated (1.92), which is the fewest amongst all teams that have played two games thus far, and still ranks below 11 teams that have played only one game, including their two opponents: Pittsburgh and New Jersey.

Starting their season winless at 0-1-1, the Flyers have already dropped points to two divisional opponents, with the 7-0 loss in their home opener against Pittsburgh especially egregious.

The actual on-ice play aside, the most concerning part of it all is that nobody has an actual answer as to what is going on with the Flyers. Not head coach Rick Tocchet, not the leadership group, not Christian Dvorak, and not Joseph Woll.

"I'm not sure. If it keeps happening, I guess we got bigger issues, and so we need to clean it up. Need to get back to playing the way that we know we can, and we know that works," Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim said after the 3-2 overtime loss to the Devils on Thursday night.

"I'm not sure why we're kind of straying away from that when it's worked in the past."

Added Tocchet a short time later: "We got to really buckle down here, and the problem is we don't have much practice time, so we're going to have to do it on the fly here. ... I have no idea. We just talked as coaches, like, we'd have to maybe change some practices. We need more skill work. Unfortunately, we've only had five or six practices, but I don't know. I don't know, over the summer... but we are choppy with the puck."

Astute Flyers fans will recall that the reference to a lack of practice time was a common refrain repeated by Tocchet's predecessor, John Tortorella, throughout his rollercoaster tenure with the Flyers.

From Tortorella's time in Philadelphia, many things remain the same. The Flyers look most competitive when they have superb goaltending behind them, and they rely on a large volume of blocked shots and spontaneously manufactured offense to stay competitive.

Most of all, the power play is still the team's Achilles heel.

"Offensively, I think that some guys are squeezing it, too. And it's only our second game. I don't know why we're squeezing it," Tocchet added. "We got to relax if there's a play to be made."

On social media, it's become a bit of a source of consternation amongst fans how often Tocchet refers to players as "nervous" before or after games, and leading up to the season, Tocchet felt that his group was both anxious and excited to follow up their performance last season.

It's unflattering to the second-year coach, but also unflattering to a group of players - the veterans in particular - that's already been through this song and dance with Tortorella in 2023-24.

What happened to player development?

The one thing the Flyers have been able to hang their hats on in recent seasons is their player development, though that has stalled out in a major way at the beginning of the season.

Top prospect Porter Martone has been effectively benched in each of his first two regular season games of the year, and Alex Bump played just one shift in the third period against New Jersey and finished that game with a team-low 8:18 of ice time... in a game that went to overtime.

Meanwhile, Christian Dvorak, Tyson Foerster, and Trevor Zegras led the forwards in ice time; Dvorak made the turnover that sprung the Devils on Luke Hughes's game-tying goal halfway through the third period, and Zegras finished the game playing left wing next to Sean Couturier and Noel Acciari. He and Sanheim also combined for the turnover that led to Jack Hughes's game-winning goal in overtime.

But Martone, Bump, Matvei Michkov, and Carl Grundstrom finished the night as the bottom-four in ice time for the Flyers. The irony was that Martone was on the ice for the Flyers' first goal, and Grundstrom for the second.

Flyers' Joseph Woll Trade Looking Like Early Danny Briere MasterclassThe Philadelphia Flyers are looking clear winners of the Joseph Woll trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have no players left from their end of the deal.

I asked Tocchet his perspective behind those personnel changes, to which he responded, "I needed some lines here to somewhat control Jack. He was caving some of our lines, and so I just tried to get the best nine, I thought, for tonight."

Player development can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, though, and players like Bump, Michkov, and Martone will never be able to handle playing against elite players if they don't learn at some point.

The Flyers drafted Michkov and Martone to be those players themselves one day, but it's not going to happen with the process going the way it is.

Twenty-two-year-old David Jiricek has yet to play a game for the Flyers this season, and Tocchet had said on the record he told the player he has to get Jiricek in the lineup in one of these games.

Is Game 3 against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes an appropriate time to turn to a young defenseman carrying high expectations with your team winless to start the season? Probably not, and that's another lose-lose situation right there, whether Jiricek plays or not.

Again, it is far too early to pull the plug on the 2026-27 Flyers, but how they show up and perform against the Hurricanes on Saturday night will give us a better idea of where they're headed, playing a third division rival in four nights.

One of the few areas where the Buffalo Sabres did not excel last season was on the power play. In spite of a unit that has one of the best offensive blueliners in Rasmus Dahlin, and one of the most consistent scorers in the NHL in Tage Thompson, the Sabres finished last season 21st in the league on the man advantage. 

In spite of some changes to the unit’s personnel, Buffalo continued to struggle on the power play in the season opening 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, as the Sabres went 0-for-4 on the night, including a full two-minute two-man advantage.  

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“We had our opportunities.  I mean,.... just after the one expired, (Konsta) Heleinus   scored,  but (we had) a big opportunity with the five-on-three that we missed an   opportunity," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. " I thought some of  the puck decisions, five-on-four, we did have a couple good looks.  Five- on- three, there were a couple times that I just thought,  we deferred to the play that wasn't  there.  I thought our whole game, we tried to be a little bit too fancy." 

The special teams struggles were also apparent on the penalty kill, where the club finished in the top five of the NHL last season. Columbus scored twice on the man advantage in three opportunities, something that Ruff blamed on some new personnel getting utilized on the short-handed units. 

The Sabres will hope to get a win against the Chicago Blackhawks in the home opener on Saturday. The Hawks have opened the season with two lopsided losses against Vegas and Utah without star center Connor Bedard, and have allowed 11 goals, while scoring only twice.  

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Regardless of the outside noise and uncertainty surrounding the organization, the Detroit Red Wings still have business to take care of.

Detroit will host the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena on Friday evening, officially opening its 101st NHL season. However, the Red Wings will be without two key pieces of their lineup.

Forward Dylan Larkin will miss Detroit's first two games while recovering from an off-ice training injury, while unsigned RFA defenseman Simon Edvinsson has returned to his native Sweden amid a contract stalemate.

But the NHL schedule doesn't stop for injuries or contract disputes.

Despite the challenges they're facing, the Red Wings will enter the season with the pride that comes with being the winningest American-based NHL franchise and an Original Six club.

"We're the Detroit Red Wings, and that means something," said head coach Todd McLellan, who has his name on the Stanley Cup as a Red Wings assistant coach in 2008. "We are an Original Six team; we have a lot of stuff going on around us, but we're still the Detroit Red Wings.

And if it doesn't mean anything to me, or to the players in the locker room, or the trainers, or anyone else in the organization, then shame on them. They shouldn't be part of it."

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Pride can only go so far, as the Red Wings cannot rest on laurels. 

They currently own the NHL's longest postseason drought at 10 years, which is also the longest in franchise history.

Despite having several top-notch talents, questions remain about whether this is finally the group that can get over the hump, especially after three straight March collapses. Larkin's situation remains unresolved, as is Edvinsson's.

Additionally, the Red Wings' executive leadership situation remains unsettled.

However, with a full regular season ahead, Detroit has no choice but to move forward and hope to recapture some of the magic that makes being a part of the Red Wings so special.

"We've got work to do; we know who we are, we know what we have to do, and things we have to overcome," McLellan said. "But we are the Detroit Red Wings, and that means something. 

And we're going to approach it that way all year." 

Younger generations of Red Wings fans have yet to experience the championship-level success the franchise once enjoyed.

With one eye on the past and the other on the future, it's up to the current crop of Red Wings to pull the club out of its prolonged slump and back into the NHL's upper echelon.

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After just a single game at the NHL level to start the season, Nashville Predators General Manager Chris MacFarland announced that Ryan Ufko has been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League on Friday.

"I thought his play tapered a little bit," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette told Brooks Bratten, the Preds' team reporter. "We're hoping for a little better effort last night from him, and he got overwhelmed a little bit in that hockey game. And I think we’ve got some things to figure out on the backend, and we don't really want him sitting out. We want him playing.”

Ufko, a 23-year-old defenseman out of Smithtown, New York, was Nashville's 115th overall pick at the 2021 NHL Draft. He's currently starting his third fully professional season, and although he's made appearances at the NHL level sporadically, he's been a regular in Milwaukee for the past two seasons.

The Admirals are set to start their season tomorrow night as they visit the Rockford IceHogs.

LAS VEGAS - The day has finally come for the Ducks to kick-off their 2026-27 season. It begins with a rematch against one of their opponents from last season's playoff run, the Vegas Golden Knights. Despite losing the series, the Ducks had the most success out of any of the Golden Knight's playoff opponents, taking the series to six games.

"It's gonna be a fast five minutes (to start)," Leo Carlsson said. "It's always loud in Vegas. Just play a simple game in the beginning, and then it's going to open up. They're an older and heavy team, we've known that since last year."

"It's always an exciting game, the first night," Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. "I think that when we finished (training) camp there, we had a little maybe tough ending. But I thought we had a real good week and a couple good days here going into the game. These guys want to play for keeps. I really liked the pace of our practices. We want to play with some speed, we want to play with some energy, we like the enthusiasm in our team. A lot of new faces, a lot of new players. At the same time, we've got some guys that we're excited to see how they're going to do this year, and I think they should be getting better. That's what we're looking forward to as well."

The Ducks' lineup will feature a pair of NHL debutants. Judd Caulfield, who had an impressive training camp, will skate alongside Jeff Malott and Tim Washe on the fourth line. Caulfield has appeared in over 200 AHL games and was utilized heavily by former San Diego Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane last season. Defenseman Noah Warren will be paired with Tyson Hinds on the third defensive pair. Injuries to Drew Helleson and Ian Moore have opened up opportunities for players like Warren and Travis Mitchell (who will be making his Ducks debut) to crack the lineup.

"I'm just extremely excited and blessed to have this opportunity," Caulfield said. "It's something I've been dreaming about my whole life and the time's finally come. Just super pumped to get out there and super excited for the game."

"Really excited," Warren said. "It's a dream come true to play the first NHL game, so really excited. Try not to think about it too much tonight, but we'll see what happens."

"He's a big body, gets in the way. I think that gives us some size back there. I just think that he's evolving from this year to last year. We've got a couple of right D who aren't playing, so it's a chance for him to get into the game and we feel that he should be fine out there."

- Joel Quenneville on Noah Warren

"He's had a real good camp. He gives us some size, physicality. He looks like he's improved his quickness and his pace to his game. Just an up-and-down winger that plays hard. Took advantage of an opportunity based on his performance. I think last couple years down there (in the AHL), he's just gotten better and better."

- Joel Quenneville on Judd Caulfield

Tristan Luneau, who signed a six-year contract extension with the Ducks on Thursday, will get the first crack at filling the spot next to Jackson LaCombe on the top defensive pair. Despite having played just 14 NHL games since being drafted in 2022, the Ducks are trying to get ahead of the curve by tying down one of their pending RFAs before his breakout has even occurred.

"We think a lot of him. There's a lot of upside to his game. Could push for more ice time in more offensive situations. Defensively, he's a work in progress, like our whole D corps is, kind of as a collective, as a group. We saw him last year at the end of the year. Played a real nice game for us against Nashville. It's a great opportunity, good for him. Now, we've just got to complement one another and make sure our young D, we've got to get better on the job."

After a preseason where it seemed that he would get an opportunity in the top-6, 2026 15th overall pick Nikita Klepov will have to wait to make his NHL debut. Quenneville said that Klepov has a "great feel" for the game offensively and that watching a few games from the press box will help him intake some of the situations that he will be in when he eventually gets into the lineup.

"I would say there's some balance to that thought process, exactly like that."

- Joel Quenneville on whether Nikita Klepov could be on a game management plan similar to Leo Carlsson's rookie season

Tustin native Trevor Connelly netted his first NHL goal for the Golden Knights on Tuesday in his NHL debut. He, among others, will be responsible for replacing the production of Pavel Dorofeyev, who was traded to the New York Rangers during the offseason. Dorofeyev's timely goalscoring was instrumental in helping the Golden Knights beat the Ducks in the playoffs.

Projected Ducks Lines

A.J. Greer - Leo Carlsson - Cutter Gauthier
Beckett Sennecke - Mikael Granlund - Alex Killorn
Nikita Nesterenko - Ryan Poehling - Frank Vatrano
Jeff Malott - Tim Washe - Judd Caulfield

Jackson LaCombe - Tristan Luneau
Pavel Mintyukov - Travis Mitchell
Tyson Hinds - Noah Warren

Lukáš Dostál (confirmed)

Projected Golden Knights Lines

Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone
Brett Howden - William Karlsson - Mitch Marner
Trevor Connelly - Tomáš Hertl - Victor Olofsson
Braeden Bowman - Nic Dowd - Marc Gatcomb

Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Parker Wotherspoon - Rasmus Andersson
Jérémy Lauzon - Noah Hanifin

Carter Hart (confirmed)

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