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Ovechkin Day-to-Day

Alex Ovechkin missed Monday’s practice with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. He hasn’t played yet this preseason, and Capitals coach Spencer Carbery isn’t ready to say whether he’ll appear in an exhibition game.

RIELLY BACK WITH TORONTO

Morgan Rielly returned to the Maple Leafs’ main practice group Monday after a virus kept him out of Saturday’s preseason opener. He said he expects to be available for Toronto’s remaining preseason games.

DUCHENE STILL WAITING TO SKATE

Matt Duchene hasn’t participated in Stars camp yet while undergoing maintenance, but Dallas expects him to begin skating this week. Colin Blackwell is also dealing with a lower-body injury and is out against St. Louis tonight.

Roster Cuts Have Started

Teams are beginning to trim training-camp rosters. Vegas cut 15 players Monday, leaving 51 in camp, while Nashville reduced its roster to 54.

Central Division

COLORADO — The window is still wide open
The Avalanche finished 55–16–11 and first in the Central last season before reaching the Western Conference Final. They also allowed the fewest goals in the NHL, with Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood sharing the Jennings Trophy. The question isn’t whether Colorado has talent; it’s whether this group can turn another dominant regular season into another Cup run. 

DALLAS — Eventually, “close” has to become something else
The Stars finished 50–20–12, second in the division, but went out in the first round after reaching the Western Conference Final in each of the previous three seasons. Jason Robertson is coming off 96 points, and most of the core is back. Dallas isn’t rebuilding anything—they’re trying to finally finish the job. 

MINNESOTA — Keep Quinn Hughes
The Wild reached the second round last season after finishing 46–24–12, and Quinn Hughes was a huge part of it after arriving in Minnesota. Now he’s entering the final year of his contract and can become a UFA next summer. So Minnesota has a hockey season and a potentially season-long Hughes contract story happening simultaneously. 

CHICAGO — Bedard is already out
Connor Bedard is expected to miss the beginning of the season and remain out until November following left-shoulder surgery. Chicago did bring Patrick Kane back and added Bowen Byram, but beginning the year without its leading scorer immediately tests whether this roster actually has more depth than last year’s group.

Atlantic Division

Buffalo has something to defend now. The Sabres finished first in the Atlantic at 50–23–9 last season and finally ended their 14-season playoff drought. Now they’re trying to follow that up without Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram, both moved during the offseason. 

Montreal has to prove the run wasn’t a one-off. The Canadiens finished third in the division and reached the Eastern Conference Final. Suzuki–Caufield–Slafkovsky gives them a legitimate top line; the question entering this season is whether there’s enough scoring depth behind it. 

Florida is trying to get healthy—and get back in. After back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025, injuries helped derail the Panthers last season and they missed the playoffs. They’ve now added Brady Tkachuk, while Brad Marchand is already expected to miss the beginning of this season following offseason surgery. 

Toronto looks damn near remodeled. The Leafs finished last in the Atlantic at 32–36–14, then added No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna and signed Sergei Bobrovsky as their new No. 1 goalie. Their first regular-season test is Montreal on opening night.

Metropolitan Division

WASHINGTON — Loaded up for another run
After missing the playoffs last season, Washington went hard in the offseason, adding Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner to a group that still has Alex Ovechkin for his 22nd NHL season. The talent is there; now the Capitals have to figure out how all those pieces fit together. 

NEW JERSEY — The goal crease is the question
The Devils missed the playoffs at 42–37–3 and traded Jacob Markstrom to Florida. Jake Allen, Nico Daws and David Rittich now make up the goaltending group, while keeping Jack Hughes healthy remains critical to getting New Jersey back into the postseason. 

NEW YORK ISLANDERS — Sorokin needs some help
The Islanders were still sitting third in the Metro as late as April 4 last season before ultimately missing the playoffs. Their power play finished 30th in the NHL, and improving the team in front of Ilya Sorokin is one of the biggest jobs facing Peter DeBoer in his first full season behind the bench. 

NEW YORK RANGERS — A whole lot of new faces
After finishing last in the Metro at 34–39–9, the Rangers could open this season with seven offseason acquisitions in the lineup, including Pavel Dorofeyev, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Sean Durzi. With the shortened camp, getting that remodeled roster to click quickly is the first challenge.

Pacific Division

EDMONTON — New coach, same mission
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are still driving the Oilers, but Mike Babcock takes over behind the bench after Edmonton’s first-round exit last season. Goaltending is again one of the major questions, with Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi carrying things while Frederik Andersen works back from injury. 

LOS ANGELES — Life after Kopitar
Anze Kopitar’s retirement leaves the Kings replacing their longtime No. 1 center and captain while Peter Laviolette takes over as coach. Los Angeles has made the playoffs five straight seasons—but hasn’t won a playoff series since its 2014 Stanley Cup championship. 

SAN JOSE — Celebrini has company now
Macklin Celebrini exploded for 115 points last season, but San Jose still missed the playoffs. The Sharks added veterans Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse to a young roster that got more than half its goals from players 23 or younger last season. Now comes the question of whether that young core can turn production into a playoff push. 

ANAHEIM — The kids aren’t just prospects anymore
This is the young-team card I’d use for Anaheim. Beckett Sennecke’s preseason hat trick already gave us an early glimpse of why this group is interesting, and the Ducks are coming off last season’s playoff breakthrough. Instead of treating the young core as something that’s coming eventually, this season is about what they can do now.