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On Sunday, the Montreal Canadiens will visit the Winnipeg Jets at Princess Auto Stadium for their fifth outdoor game. To date, the Habs are 2-2-0 outdoors, and while some fans and media have grown somewhat jaded because these events have become so frequent, the players haven’t. Speaking ahead of the Canadiens tilt with the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, Kaiden Guhle explained:

When I first moved to Edmonton, we lived in a house with a little lake behind it. My brother, myself and a couple of his buddies on his team when they were bantam, we’d just all go out there and mess around. We brought out a couple of nets; it was fun. It was always good to get outside and mess around at the outdoor rink. There’s one year we forgot to bring the net out, and the ice melted, and we lost the net in the water, so…[…] I’m excited. I’ve never played an outdoor game; I’ve always wanted to, and I’ve always thought we should have gotten one as an original six team, but it will be fun to get out there in Winnipeg. Hopefully it’s not too cold, but it will be fun. It will be a lot of atmosphere, a lot of family. I think the guys will have fun; I know my parents are coming, and they’re nice and close, so that will be fun.

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Veteran Chris Kreider took a different approach when asked how enjoyable outdoor games are: "They’re only enjoyable if you win. I mean, it’s like a dog-and-pony show, and if you lose, it's an even bigger letdown."

In other words, for him it’s a lot of fanfare around what they normally do, which is compete for two points.

As for Cole Caufield, he’s looking forward to the game, especially since he hasn't scored against the Jets yet. Something he put forward himself, and when he was asked if he kept track of that, he chuckled and said, " Of course! The sniper should be pumped on the day; then, as for what he’s going to do on Saturday night, since there won’t be a game, the Wisconsin native replied that the Milwaukee Brewers are playing in the World Series, so he may just go and watch that, before realizing that would be somewhat unrealistic with the travel time. Still, the baseball fan in Caufield looked very happy to follow his boyhood team on the biggest stage of them all.

After sending David Reinbacher and Owen Beck back to the Laval Rocket, one might wonder if that means Mike Matheson and Florian Xhekaj are nearing a return. Still, it could also be to let them suit up for the AHL outfit tonight and be called up again afterward. Time will tell, but the Canadiens won't take off on their road trip until Thursday afternoon, so they could still recall them after seeing a game of action. It will likely depend on what we see at practice tomorrow.

One thing’s for certain, though: Martin St-Louis will have a tough decision to make. Who to give the start to in net? Had Jakub Dobes played lights out on Tuesday night, I think he would have had it in the bag, but given how the game ended, the coach may reconsider. Expect to see Jacob Fowler in net on Friday night, and if the young netminder stands out, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get the Heritage Classic start. Interestingly, when the Habs had Carey Price in net for outdoor games, they lost both meetings. They dropped the first 4-0 to the Calgary Flames, and the second, in 2017, to the Ottawa Senators 3-0. Whoever is in net should have better offensive support than Price did.

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After several swings and misses over the summer and a start to the season that saw them lose nine straight, the pressure is on the Philadelphia Flyers to right the ship and improve the roster in line with the franchise's heightened expectations.

Since their season-opening nine-game skid, the Flyers have surprisingly won two straight, facing two tough opponents in the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche.

For a good chunk of the season thus far, the Flyers have been forced to play without one or multiple key veterans, a group of injured players that includes Rasmus Ristolainen, Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Cam York, and Tyson Foerster.

In the wake of the absences of Ristolainen, Tippett, Konecny, and Foerster, in particular, the Flyers have gotten strong early returns from prospects like Oliver Bonk, Alex Bump, Cole Knuble, while Matvei Michkov has continued to show that he's willing and capable of driving the bus for the team offensively.

The bottom line is that the above injured players haven't been badly missed, with the Flyers escaping their nightmarish slump without them and instead relying on greatly inexperienced youth to get the job done.

There are inherent risks to moving on from more experienced players, of course, but if the right deal presents itself, the Flyers could jettison some of their wingers in order to upgrade the roster elsewhere.

Flyers linked to Seattle's Matty Beniers

In a recent report for Daily Faceoff, NHL insider Anthony Di Marco reports that the Flyers are now pondering roster changes after flipping the switch these last two games, with the winger position, in particular, in need of some clearing out.

"According to a team source, something is eventually going to “have to give” with the Flyers’ crowd of wingers. It could very well lead to the team exploring trade avenues for more than one winger to try and find a top-six center," Di Marco wrote.

Di Marco noted that players like Konecny (NMC) and Tippett (10-team no-trade) have drawn a consistent level of trade interest, but their respective layers of trade protection make a deal more complicated.

Foerster, however, does not have trade protection, and according to Di Marco, might have to be the primary lure if the Flyers were to negotiate for one of their trade targets, Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken.

"One name DFO has heard the Flyers like is Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers, though there is no indication at this time that GM Jason Botterill wants to move the 2021-second-overall pick. Speaking with a Kraken source last week, DFO was told that the Kraken do like Foerster; though that isn’t a player the Flyers want to give up, it would be a 'conversation starter,' according to a team source," Di Marco said.

"Tippett along with a center prospect like Jett Luchanko, would be more of an appetizing package for a player like Beniers from a Flyers’ perspective, DFO was told."

It's long been no secret how much the Flyers covet Foerster, a soon-to-be-25-year-old winger who has scored 20 goals in each of the two full NHL seasons he's played, in addition to scoring 13 times in just 29 regular season games last year.

The Flyers rewarded the 2020 first-round pick with an eight-year, $56.8 million ($7.1 million AAV) extension in the offseason, but dating back to the start of the playoffs, Foerster has just two goals, his only two points, in his last 20 games.

Given his struggles, it would only make sense that the Flyers would consider flipping him for an upgrade down the middle in the form of Beniers.

How Beniers fits the Flyers

Beniers, 23, is the highest-paid player on the Kraken roster, with a $7.142 million cap hit through 2031, but the 2021 No. 2 overall pick hasn't quite reached his full potential at the NHL level just yet.

In four full NHL seasons, Beniers has scored 20 goals three times, but reached the 50-point threshold only twice, including his career-high 24 goals and 57 points as a rookie in 2022-23.

With players like Berkly Catton, prospect Jake O'Brien, and Shane Wright all in line for bigger opportunities, the Kraken have no real reason to hold onto Beniers if they are presented with a suitable offer.

Adding a stud winger entering or in their prime would be a nice boost for the Kraken, who will soon need to replace pending free agent Jared McCann, who is now 30 years old, and captain Jordan Eberle, who will be 38 years old when his contract expires in 2028.

With Trevor Zegras shifting to the wing yet again, Beniers would arrive in Philadelphia as the de facto No. 1 center, and his offensive responsibilities wouldn't be as great with the Flyers as they are with the Kraken with the amount of talent the Flyers have up front.

Beniers, a strong two-way center, owns a career 13.8% shooting percentage and is a smooth skater, but creating his own offense has been a challenge at this level.

Paired with someone like Michkov, the Michigan product can leverage his defensively responsible play and efficient scoring effectively.

This wouldn't be the first time the Flyers have been connected to Beniers, and if the circumstances surrounding the team persist, it certainly won't be the last.

At least on paper, a deal like this makes perfect sense for both teams.

The Minnesota Wild and the Edmonton Oilers met in a highly anticipated matchup between two heavyweights clicking on all cylinders.

On one side, Kirill Kaprizov has been unstoppable, leading the NHL in goals and scoring at a rate better than one goal per game. On the other side, Connor McDavid is setting NHL records left, right, and center, and arguably playing the best hockey of his career.

Tuesday's affair saw the Wild jump out to a 1-0 lead with a goal from Joel Eriksson Ek. The Oilers responded with three unanswered goals, two of which came from Leon Draisaitl on the power play. 

Down by two goals in the third period, Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman scored to tie the game at 3-3 and send it to overtime. A costly penalty in the overtime stanza allowed the Oilers to win the game, with McDavid posting three primary assists on the power play.

It was a hard loss to swallow, but the Wild played a strong game. Without the Oilers' power-play efficiency, the game likely would have gone very differently. According to MoneyPuck.com, the expected goals at 5-on-5 were 3.44 to 2.69 in favor of the Wild, but in all situations the Oilers had the advantage, 4.47 to 4.31.

Among the strong performers were Quinn Hughes and the Wild's top line of Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Boldy. Kaprizov had an expected goals percentage of 81.61 percent, Hughes 79.21 percent, Eriksson Ek 72.67 percent, and Boldy 72.6 percent at 5-on-5.

Meanwhile, the Oilers' top line hovered below 30 percent.

Kirill Kaprizov Joins Connor McDavid In Exclusive NHL Company With Historic Start To SeasonKirill Kaprizov scored his 11th goal in 10 games, joining Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak and Nikita Kucherov in exclusive NHL company while climbing another Wild franchise leaderboard.

This sort of play-controlling dominance from the Wild's top line has become the expectation night in and night out, no matter the opponent. Kaprizov has scored in seven of the 10 games, Boldy has five goals and nine points in 10 games, and Eriksson Ek has seven points while playing lockdown defense. 

MoneyPuck.com ranks the Wild's top line 8th in expected goals percentage at 72.2 percent, among lines that have played at least 25 minutes together. 

The Oilers may have won, but last night's effort was another piece of evidence that the Wild have the big guns to compete with any team in the NHL.

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Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said that while there’s still no set timeline for Mat Barzal to return from the left knee issues that have held up his start to the season, doctors “would be comfortable” for him to move to the next stage of his recovery. 

Though Darche never directly said the ball is in Barzal’s court regarding when that will happen, he did make clear that the inflammation that originally caused the Islanders to hold Barzal out of training camp has subsided. 

“Initially, there was some inflammation. We feel it’s controlled now. Now it’s getting him to feel comfortable to take the next step,” Darche said. “There’s no setbacks. Nothing happened, no procedure. Since training camp, nothing has come [up]. We feel we’re controlling the inflammation. It’s just how comfortable he feels.” 

Barzal has been skating on his own for a couple of weeks now and walked by a group of reporters at UBS Arena on Wednesday, briefly saying hello. Since he hasn’t practiced with the team, the Islanders are under no obligation to make him available to speak about his injury. 

Given the ongoing questions about the situation, though, they did have Darche speak on it Wednesday. 

“After two weeks [of skating], we feel the inflammation is down, but we’re still working on getting his strength back and how comfortable he feels,” Darche said. “He’s skating. Progress every day. Can I give you a definite timeline? No. We hope it’s sooner, but every day he’s starting to skate a little bit more, and we’re hoping to, at some point, get him with the team, and we’ll go from there.” 

Originally, the plan was for Barzal to resume skating around when the season started. That was pushed back by about a week, and since then things have stayed in place, with the Islanders declining to commit to a timeline for any next steps. 

When Barzal does come back, he will need to manage his left kneecap, which was broken two years ago and required surgery to repair. That’s nothing new — even while playing 81 games last year, he managed his knee throughout the season. Darche said the Islanders don’t believe anything about the way the injury was managed caused it to flare up again. 

He also said that, as of now, there are no conversations about an additional procedure. 

“If it doesn’t get better, you’re always looking at where we think he can be,” Darche said. “We don’t believe [that’s necessary] right now. But we’re progressing. I think it’s going in the right direction.” 

The next big question is whether Barzal will join the team on next week’s road trip in Dallas, Nashville and Minnesota, potentially allowing him to start practicing with the group. Practicing in a noncontact jersey would presumably be the next step before Barzal participates fully and, eventually, returns to games. 

The Islanders, currently without Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli in addition to Barzal, could sorely use his offensive ability, though they’ve withstood his absence quite well. Going into Thursday’s match at home against the Kings, they are 5-3-1 and playing stout defensive hockey under Pete DeBoer. 

Still, Barzal’s situation will hang over the club until it is resolved. 

“We both work together,” Darche said. “The doctors would be comfortable for him to ramp up whenever he’s ready. It’s not necessarily, ‘Oh it’s all him,’ or it’s all us [making the decision]. We’re trying to work together on this. 

“But, of course, he has a big say. It’s his body. He knows how he feels.” 

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Darche shot down a rumor originating from The Fourth Period that Scott Mayfield could soon ask for a trade if he continues to sit as the extra defensemen. 

“I can tell you right now, there’s no truth to any of those rumors,” Darche said. “I saw them this morning. His agent [Matt Keator] was here the last two days ’cause he had a player on the other team, he has a few players on our team. There’s none of that.”

Ben Jones is ready to make his season debut with the Calgary Flames, and he couldn’t have picked a much better time to get rolling.

The 27-year-old forward earned his call-up after a scorching start with the Calgary Wranglers, recording seven goals and nine points in seven games to open the American Hockey League season.

“For myself it was obviously nice to put some points up,” Jones told the media. “The team is off to a great start so that always helps.”

Jones received the call earlier this week, joining the Flames ahead of their game against the Minnesota Wild. The timing adds an interesting wrinkle, as Jones will be facing a familiar group of faces from his time in Minnesota.

He’s looking forward to the reunion, although there might be a few adjustments to make once the puck drops.

“It’ll be great to see a lot of those guys. It’s kind of funny to flip the switch, I gotta make sure I pass to the team in red, not the team in green,” he joked.

"You're always super excited."

Ben Jones speaks about getting called up and on his play with the @AHLWranglers this season. pic.twitter.com/WDyuUXxNj9

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 20, 2026

The opportunity comes with Flames captain Mikael Backlund currently sidelined with an upper-body injury, potentially opening the door for Jones to show what he can bring to Calgary’s lineup.

Acquired by the Flames in the offseason, Jones is no stranger to the organization. He was part of the Wranglers from the beginning, playing a key role during the club’s inaugural 2022-23 campaign.

Jones finished that season with 54 points and a plus-28 rating, helping Calgary capture the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s regular-season champions, along with the Pacific Division title.

Now in his 10th professional season, Jones brings a mix of AHL production and NHL experience to the Flames. He’s appeared in 56 career NHL games between the Vegas Golden Knights and Wild, giving him valuable experience at the level he’s looking to stick at.

His early-season production with the Wranglers has certainly helped his case. Seven goals in seven games is difficult to ignore, even if translating that scoring touch to the NHL comes with a different set of challenges.

For Jones, the immediate task is making the most of the opportunity in front of him. With Backlund unavailable, there’s a chance to earn the coaching staff’s trust, provide some depth down the middle and show that his strong start in the AHL can carry over.

The Flames have been looking for consistency early in the season, and a player arriving with confidence and a hot stick could provide a timely boost.

First, he’ll have to get used to seeing some familiar faces on the other side of the ice.

At least Jones has already identified the most important adjustment: making sure those passes go to the guys wearing red.