The first week of the 2026-27 NHL season has already run from a 64:55 scoreless grind to a 16-goal track meet, with Igor Shesterkin adding a goaltender’s empty-net strike to the mix. Around the League, the early read is speed and skill on one hand, loose execution on the other.
Quick scan
- Florida and Carolina needed 64:55 to produce the first goal of the season.
- Edmonton outlasted Vancouver 9-7 on Oct. 1 in a 16-goal game.
- Shesterkin became the 18th NHL goalie to score in New York’s 5-1 win against Tampa Bay.
- The League has 21 goaltender goals from 18 different netminders; Martin Brodeur leads with three.
- Winnipeg hosts Montreal in the Heritage Classic on Oct. 25, with an alumni game set for Oct. 24.
Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell sees a messy opening stretch, with timing still catching up after camp. Ottawa’s Steve Staios offered a similar view, saying teams commonly need their first five to 10 games to settle into their structure.
Utah Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong, meanwhile, pointed to the next wave of talent. In his view, younger players are arriving stronger, quicker and more polished because of the work they put in before reaching an NHL camp.
The shortened camp calendar remains part of the discussion. Some clubs played regular-season games only two weeks after camps opened, and the NHL has expanded its schedule to 84 games.
Staios said the shorter runway may leave players healthier for the regular season, though he cautioned that the real effect will take time to measure. Injury prevention remains central as teams absorb two additional games.
Waddell noted that veterans who wanted three preseason appearances no longer had that option, while professional tryout players also have less time to earn a job. Conditioning is not the issue, he said; modern players generally report to camp already in shape.
Armstrong would like more coordination between clubs on exhibition schedules. Too often, he said, the home side dresses veterans while the visitor brings prospects, rather than creating a useful top-player-against-top-player test.
Each club is also now required to have an emergency backup goalie available both at home and on the road. Waddell’s choice in Columbus is Reid Robertson, the team’s manager of travel and logistics.
Waddell has lived the emergency-goalie experience from the front office. As Carolina’s GM, he watched David Ayres, a Zamboni driver, enter against Toronto on Feb. 22, 2020, after both Hurricanes goaltenders were injured. Toronto scored on Ayres’ first shot faced, but Carolina held on to win.
Armstrong sees another practical benefit: an EBUG can take net time in practice, allowing the regular goalies to get the specific work they need. Ottawa turned to Bradley Mitchell, a dressing-room attendant and practice goalie who already knows the Senators’ room.
Contract values are moving just as quickly as the early-season pace. Philadelphia’s five-year, $90 million offer sheet to Anaheim forward Leo Carlsson in July helped accelerate an already rising market.
Armstrong described the aftermath as a rush to capitalize on the new salary levels, warning that contenders cannot simply hand out premium money across the roster. Waddell believes clubs had already begun to lock up young players earlier, and expects seven- and eight-year deals to become less common.
For Staios, the shift changes long-term roster forecasts. A projected Year 2 or Year 3 cap picture can look different when comparable contracts jump suddenly.
The result may be a thinner unrestricted free-agent pool. Waddell said quality has been reduced as more teams secure younger core players before they can reach the market. Armstrong cited Utah’s extension for Nick Schmaltz as an example of a club using a rising cap to retain an important veteran.
Staios said the cap era has been trending this way for years, with clubs in different markets adapting in their own ways. The expectation now is that more key players will be signed before free agency arrives.
Shesterkin joins the goalie-goal file
Shesterkin’s goal against Tampa Bay was not just an opening-week novelty. It pushed the NHL total to 21 goals scored by goaltenders, produced by 18 players.
Brodeur, now an adviser in hockey operations with the New Jersey Devils, remains the benchmark. His three goals are the most by any NHL goalie, and his ability to move pucks helped inspire the 2005 restriction commonly called the Brodeur rule: the trapezoid behind the net.
Brodeur called Shesterkin the leading puck-handler among today’s NHL goalies. He was particularly impressed by the way Shesterkin collected the puck off the end boards and sent it the length of the ice in one motion.
Brodeur also placed Marty Turco and Mike Smith among the strongest puck-moving goalies he has watched. Turco, during his Dallas years, and Smith both operated almost like an extra defenseman, Brodeur said.
Ron Hextall was the major influence on Brodeur’s own game. Brodeur’s father, Denis, a sports photographer who worked with the Montreal Canadiens among other assignments, came home from a Flyers game with a message: Hextall was functioning like a third defenseman, and his son should study that part of the position.
Brodeur took it seriously, practicing with orange pucks and following Hextall closely. By junior hockey, he was confident enough to fire passes to teammates during line changes, taking advantage of rinks where benches were on opposite sides.
Hextall remains the only NHL goalie to score by shooting the puck into the net in both the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs. He first did it against Boston on Dec. 8, 1987, then scored in Philadelphia’s 8-5 playoff win at Washington on April 11, 1989.
For young goalies, Brodeur’s checklist begins with reading the ice before touching the puck. A netminder must know where teammates and opponents are positioned, he said, because hesitation behind the net is where mistakes begin.
He also stressed the value of ending defensive-zone pressure. When a goalie can retrieve a dump-in and move it quickly, the team spends less time pinned in its own end.
The third piece is intent. A goalie who wants to play the puck cannot be fearful, while communication with defensemen is essential. Brodeur said his long familiarity with Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and Brian Rafalski made those exchanges instinctive in New Jersey.
The trapezoid limited Brodeur’s range, but he found a tradeoff he liked when the center red line was removed at the same time. It opened passing lanes for goaltenders to find teammates near the attacking blue line.
Heritage Classic buzz building in Winnipeg
The Jets will host the Montreal Canadiens in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic on Sunday, Oct. 25, at Princess Auto Stadium. Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele said the city’s energy around the game has been building.
The alumni game on Saturday, Oct. 24, is drawing its own attention, especially with Dustin Byfuglien expected to take part. The former Jets fan favorite retired in 2020, but his connection with Winnipeg remains strong.
Whitehorse gets its NHL moment
Ottawa’s 3-2 win over Toronto at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday finished without a point from Senators forward Dylan Cozens or Maple Leafs rookie Gavin McKenna. The larger story was still on the ice.
Cozens and McKenna are two of only four NHL players from Whitehorse, Yukon, a community of roughly 31,000 people located about 945 miles north of Edmonton. Together, players from the city have appeared in 457 NHL games.
Cozens accounts for 446 of those appearances. Peter Sturgeon played six games with the Colorado Rockies from 1979 through 1981, Bryon Baltimore appeared twice for Edmonton in 1979-80, and McKenna has three games in his rookie season.
McKenna, the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft, gives Whitehorse another visible path to the game’s top level. Cozens said seeing a player from their hometown selected first overall and wearing a Maple Leafs sweater carries real meaning for northern kids.
The 25-year-old Cozens said he hopes their presence gives players in small and remote communities confidence that they can still be noticed if they keep working. Selected seventh overall by Buffalo in 2019, the player known as “The Workhorse from Whitehorse” has 272 points, including 110 goals and 162 assists, in 446 NHL games.
