Juiciest NHL storylines to follow this hockey season

Fear not, fellow hockey freaks, the NHL’s regular season fires back up on Tuesday with a nice three-game slate to ease us back into the swing of things.

Though Tuesday’s schedule is thin, the intrigue is not — especially during the middle contest when fans will have their first chance to catch phenom Connor Bedard in regular-season NHL action as the Chicago Blackhawks travel to Pittsburgh to take on Sidney Crosby and the revamped Penguins.

It’s a fascinating way to kick off the campaign, with Bedard and the Penguins surely to be among the NHL’s juiciest stories to follow in 2023-24. Here’s the headlines we’ll be keeping an extra close eye on this season.

Connor Bedard’s NHL transition and where his rookie season will rank

No single person has generated more buzz this offseason than Connor Bedard – aside from maybe Mike Babcock, for obviously much less wholesome reasons.

If you’re reading this article, you are already well aware of who Bedard is and the potential impact he could have on the game, but he’s about to hit the mainstream in a major market with the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks and it will be fascinating to watch what kind of impact he has right out of the gate with all eyes on him.

Will the 18-year-old crack 30 goals? 80 points? Are those expectations too high considering the lack of offensive talent he’ll be surrounded by in Chicago? Or is he already so good he’ll be able to shred the league apart anyway?

Connor McDavid (1.07), Mathew Barzal (1.01), Artemi Panarin (0.96), Elias Pettersson (0.96) and Kirill Kaprizov (0.92) have posted the most productive rookie campaigns points-per-game wise over the last decade and a half. Other memorable freshman seasons since the first lockout include Auston Matthews’ 40-goal campaign in 2016-17, and Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin’s legendary rookie battle in 2005-06.

Can Dubas, Crosby and an aging core deliver another Cup run to Pittsburgh?

Speaking of Sid, the Penguins captain turned the clock back last season, playing in all 82 games, reaching the 30-goal plateau for the 11th time in his career, and hitting his second-highest point total in a campaign since 2013-14. Will he have enough left in him this coming season to drag the Penguins to another Cup final or title?

Former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas was brought in as president of hockey ops almost immediately after he parted ways with Toronto before hilariously naming himself as general manager after a weeks-long search. Dubas put his stamp on the franchise with a few big offseason moves, including the trade acquisitions of 2022-23 Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson and winger Reilly Smith, plus a big free agent splash in blueliner Ryan Graves to play significant roles.

But with lingering question marks like goaltending and how similar-style players like Karlsson and Kris Letang will co-exist, along with an aging core of stars including Letang, Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins could totally miss the playoffs or win the Stanley Cup in 2023-24, with neither result being all that surprising.

All eyes on Patrick Kane as homecoming seems likely, but not guaranteed

Though anything is far from a guarantee, of course, there appears to be a good chance of highly-coveted UFA Patrick Kane returning home to Buffalo to play out the next phase of his NHL career with the upstart Sabres.

Buffalo, which has shown tremendous interest in signing Kane, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, conveniently has around $8.7 million in cap space to get something done with the former Blackhawks star. Kane, who was born and raised in Buffalo, is coming off a bit of a down season but is just one year removed from a 93-point campaign. The 34-year-old also has a Calder, Hart, Conn Smythe and three Stanley Cups to his name.

The Sabres, of course, won’t be the only squad vying for Kane’s services, so it will be intriguing to see if another team can come out of the shadows and pry Kane away from an expected homecoming. Kane, who is recovering from offseason hip surgery, is expected to start speaking with teams and narrowing down his list of potential suitors by mid-to-late October.

A potential shift of power in the Atlantic Division

Those Sabres are at the forefront of a potential changing of the guard in what has been the NHL’s strongest division over the past half-decade or so. The Bruins, coming off a record-setting regular season, choked out of the playoffs in the first round before losing franchise staples Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to retirement.

The Lightning — who have been the class of the division with two Cups to their name since 2020 — took a step back in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs and is dealing with the long-term loss of their star netminder and a contract negotiation surrounding their captain that has leaked into the public sphere.

Barring a major disaster, the Maple Leafs should win this division’s regular-season title, but the Sabres and Ottawa Senators each have a legit chance to jump into the Atlantic’s top-three. Could one, or both, of these teams make the playoffs, and will Tampa, Boston, or both be on the outside looking in?

William Nylander’s contract negotiation with Maple Leafs

Aside from a division race on the ice, the Maple Leafs and general manager Brad Treliving will also have to trudge through negotiations with the star winger (maybe center?) William Nylander off of it, as the team wasn’t able to lock up the 27-year-old on a long-term deal – or any deal – this summer.

Nylander now enters the season on an expiring contract betting on himself, something Toronto’s GM is all too familiar with fresh off losing Johnny Gaudreau for nothing last offseason after failing to either extend or trade the homegrown star. It’s unlikely Treliving would let history repeat itself, but it would also be almost unfathomable to trade a talent like Nylander during the season if the Leafs are in the midst of a division or Presidents’ Trophy hunt.

It’s a wild and unenviable conundrum for Treliving, and one general managers and fans from across the league will be keeping close tabs as Nylander would surely draw immense interest if he was made available.

Expansion: Which cities, if any, will land new NHL franchises?

If following real teams and players who are actually in the league right now doesn’t quite quench your thirst, may I offer you some hypothetical banter over franchises that don’t even exist yet?

With the recent on- and off-ice successes of the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken – along with the absurd amount of revenue leagues can generate with expansion teams these days, fans and media members alike are generally expecting the league to add a couple more teams sooner rather than later.

Houston and Atlanta appear to be the frontrunners to land the NHL’s next franchises at this point, with Salt Lake City, Portland, Quebec City, San Diego and Toronto (second team) reportedly in the mix as well.

Alex Ovechkin continues chasing Gretzky’s goal record

The most fascinating record-chase we’ve probably ever seen in the NHL (with no disrespect to Phil Kessel hunting down iron-man status) continues in 2023-24 as Ovi sits just 72 tallies back of Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record. That’s an average of 36 goals per year over the next two seasons

Ovechkin won’t catch Gretzky this year, but just how close can he get himself to the most iconic individual record in the sport by season’s end?

Canada’s never-ending Stanley Cup drought

From aptitude to ineptitude, maybe the most perplexing mark in hockey is the fact no Canadian-based team has won the Stanley Cup since Montreal won it all back in 1993 – a drought that hit 30 years this past season.

Canada’s squads make up 22% of the league, so should theoretically win it every five years, which would equal 5-6 Cups over the past three decades. Instead, for a variety of factors, the nation that produces by far the most NHLers of any other country hasn’t seen a Cup parade on home soil since the year Bettman became commissioner. A truly sad state of affairs with not a whole lot of hope in sight outside of the Oilers and Leafs.

Will this finally be the year? Probably not!