Thursday’s eight-game NHL card brings captain debuts, season openers and a quick rematch in Vancouver. No injury absences or scratches were specified, but several clubs have major personnel storylines at puck drop.
- Macklin Celebrini will wear the captain’s “C” for the first time when the San Jose Sharks meet the Florida Panthers at SAP Center. Named captain Sept. 25, the 20-year-old is the youngest current NHL captain and the youngest in Sharks history. The 2024 first-overall pick posted 45 goals and 70 assists last season, finishing fourth in the League with 115 points.
- Celebrini is entering his third NHL season after San Jose missed the playoffs in each of the past six years. The Sharks have not reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2019.
- Jack Hughes opens his eighth NHL campaign as the New Jersey Devils host Philadelphia. The 25-year-old has 428 points in 429 career games and can become the fastest player to 500 points in Devils history. He paced New Jersey last season with 77 points in 61 games.
- Hughes arrives after scoring the overtime winner for the United States in the 2026 Winter Olympics gold-medal game.
- Philadelphia comes into Newark after a 7-0 season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
- Vincent Trocheck makes his Utah Mammoth debut against the Chicago Blackhawks. The 33-year-old forward, acquired from the New York Rangers on July 1, joins fellow U.S. Olympic gold medalist Clayton Keller in Utah.
- Keller, Utah’s captain, produced 26 goals and 62 assists for 88 points in all 82 games last season. Dylan Guenther can become only the fourth NHL player to score in a franchise’s first three season openers.
- The Mammoth reached the playoffs in their second Utah season before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round of the Western Conference bracket.
- Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard heads to Vancouver after a huge opening-night performance: three goals and two assists in Tuesday’s 6-5 overtime defeat. No NHL defenseman had previously recorded five points in a season opener, and no blue-liner had scored three opening-night goals since Mark Howe did so for Hartford in 1980-81.
- Bouchard led NHL defensemen in scoring last season with 95 points, including 21 goals, over 82 games.
- Tampa Bay winger Nikita Kucherov can stretch his season-opening multigoal-game run to four against the New York Rangers. He has scored seven goals across his last three openers: two last season against Ottawa, three against Carolina in 2024-25, and two against Nashville in 2023-24.
- Kucherov, last season’s Hart Trophy winner, finished second in NHL scoring with 130 points in 76 games. Another multigoal opener would make him the first Lightning player to begin four straight seasons that way.
What Thursday’s games mean
Florida at San Jose is a first look at Celebrini carrying the captaincy while trying to pull the Sharks toward meaningful spring hockey. Philadelphia-New Jersey gives Hughes a chance to start his push toward the franchise’s 500-point mark against a Flyers club looking to settle down after a lopsided opening defeat.
Utah’s home opener against Chicago introduces Trocheck to the Mammoth lineup and gives Guenther a shot at a rare opening-night scoring mark. Edmonton and Vancouver renew their home-and-home set with Bouchard coming off one of the most productive season openers ever posted by a defenseman.
Thursday’s full schedule:
- Philadelphia Flyers at New Jersey Devils, 7 p.m. ET — Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+
- Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers, 7 p.m. ET — The Spot, MSG, TVAS
- Buffalo Sabres at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7 p.m. ET — CBJHN, CBJNHL, MSG-B
- Minnesota Wild at Nashville Predators, 8 p.m. ET — Wild+, MINNHL, SCRIPPS
- Seattle Kraken at Calgary Flames, 9 p.m. ET — SNW, KONG, Prime Video
- Chicago Blackhawks at Utah Mammoth, 9:30 p.m. ET — Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+
- Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks, 10 p.m. ET — SN1, SNP
- Florida Panthers at San Jose Sharks, 10 p.m. ET — SCRIPPS, NBCSCA, TVAS
