NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Five storylines to watch when the NHL season kicks off on Tuesday:
OVECHKIN’S FAREWELL?
The NHL’s record goalscorer Alexander Ovechkin signed a one-year contract to stay with the Washington Capitals this season, which some fans predict may be his last. The 41-year-old Russian has repeatedly danced around the issue, most recently at his team’s pre-season media day, where he cheekily told reporters: “I’m focusing right now on training camp – I have to make the team!”
MCDAVID UNDER PRESSURE
The prodigious Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid has two years left on his contract as he chases an elusive Stanley Cup at the height of his powers. The 29-year-old has come heartbreakingly close to ending a longstanding Canadian drought for the NHL’s top prize, losing in the championship series to the Florida Panthers in 2024 and 2025.
HURRICANES REACHING TOP SPEED?
The Carolina Hurricanes are chasing rare back-to-back titles with oddsmakers putting them about even with the Panthers to lift the trophy in June. They will start the season without forward Seth Jarvis, after he underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, relying on the stability of two-way centre Sebastian Aho.
TURBULENCE FOR JETS
The Winnipeg Jets generated all the wrong kind of buzz ahead of the season, as their talismanic goaltender Connor Hellebuyck publicly requested a trade last month and was suspended by the team last week for failing to report to training camp.
Multiple teams have surfaced in the NHL rumour mill as potential landing places for Hellebuyck, who played the hero in the United States’ gold medal win over Canada at the Milano Cortina Games, a worrying sign for fans after the team finished second-to-last in their division last season.
TKACHUK BROTHERS JOIN FORCES, AGAIN
The Panthers acquired Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, 27, in a blockbuster trade in the offseason, seeing him join brother Matthew, 28, on the perennial powerhouse team.
The pair worked nicely together on and off the ice in Milano Cortina, bringing extra chemistry to the eventual Olympic champions United States as they combined for the team’s opening goal of the Games.
“We don’t want to be just attached at the hip and just be us two everywhere,” Brady told reporters ahead of the season. “We’re still our own individual people and for myself it’s just getting to know every single person in this organization. I mean, of course, we’re always going to gravitate toward each other.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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