Just three months separate this quiet stretch of the NHL off-season from the start of the 2025-26 campaign. And the early wave of summer business has set us up for some intriguing storylines come October.
Mitch Marner’s time with the club he idolized as a boy has come to an end. Jonathan Toews will make his return to NHL ice with his own hometown team. And a number of other big-league stars are set to debut in new sweaters, eventually navigating tense reunions with their former clubs.
With the NHL’s 2025-26 schedule released Wednesday, here’s a look at a few noteworthy games to circle on the calendar:
Mitch Marner returns to Toronto as a Vegas Golden Knight: Jan. 23
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Core Four era is over, and the Vegas Golden Knights’ Marner era is just beginning. The longtime Leaf will make his debut with his new club on Oct. 8, at home against Los Angeles — an extra twist of the knife for the Kings, who hoped to start their season with Marner wearing their own colours.
The star winger is set to play his former Maple Leafs teammates for the first time on Jan. 15, in Vegas. Not long after, on Jan. 23, he’ll make his way to Toronto for what’s sure to be an emotional return to Scotiabank Arena.
Jonathan Toews debuts with his hometown Winnipeg Jets in NHL return: Oct. 9
It’s been two years since Toews suited up for an NHL game. After a lengthy absence recovering from long COVID and chronic inflammatory response syndrome — during which it seemed the former Selke and Conn Smythe trophy winner’s career might be through — Toews is set to return to the big leagues with his hometown Winnipeg Jets.
His first game in Jets colours is expected to come on Oct. 9, at home in front of the Winnipeg faithful, against the Dallas Stars. He’ll play his first game against his former club on Oct. 30, in Winnipeg, before heading south for his first game back in Chicago, this time as a visitor, on Jan 19.
Nikolaj Ehlers returns to Winnipeg with the Carolina Hurricanes: Nov. 21
The addition of Captain Serious won’t be the only notable personnel change for the Jets — they’ll also be without Ehlers, who signed with the Carolina Hurricanes this summer after a decade in Winnipeg. After beginning the summer as the star of the league’s free-agency window, all eyes will be on how Ehlers fits into the Canes’ offence, and whether he can find a new level in a new environment.
We’ll get our first look at that new union on Oct. 9, when the Canes opens their season at home against the New Jersey Devils. A month later, on Nov. 21, Ehlers returns to Winnipeg to suit up against his former club, in front of the fans who cheered him on for the past decade.
Canadiens newcomers Noah Dobson, Zack Bolduc debut in classic rivalry tilt: Oct. 8
The Montreal Canadiens made waves this summer by swinging a deal to bring in star defenceman Dobson, who begins a new eight-year deal in Habs colours after a sterling half-decade with the New York Islanders. Also joining the Habs this season is Trois-Rivières, Que., product Bolduc, fresh off a breakout season in St. Louis.
The pair’s debut in Montreal colours will be a memorable one — a season-opening meeting with the rival Maple Leafs on the road in Toronto, with the Habs looking for redemption after dropping three of four meetings with the blue-and-white last season.
Philly’s Trevor Zegras returns to Anaheim with something to prove: March 18
After an early-career rise to stardom followed by a tense couple years in Anaheim, Zegras saw his time with the Ducks come to an end in June, the club trading him to the Philadelphia Flyers in a move that would’ve seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. Now, he’ll join former Ducks teammate Jamie Drysdale and former U.S. NTDP mate Cam York in Philly, as the Flyers kick off a new era under head coach Rick Tocchet.
Zegras will play his first game in a Flyers sweater on Oct. 9, meeting the defending champs on the road in Florida. He’ll face his former club for the first time on Jan. 6, and take the ice back in Anaheim as a visitor on March 18, surely with something to prove to the team that traded him away.
J.T. Miller goes back to Vancouver for first time since trade to Rangers: Oct. 28
Speaking of returning with something to prove, veteran Miller has yet to play a game in Vancouver since the January trade that sent him back to the New York Rangers. The 32-year-old played one game against the Canucks last season post-trade — a 5-3 Rangers win at Madison Square Garden, in which he collected a goal and an assist.
On Oct. 28, he’ll return to Rogers Arena for his first game back in front of the Canucks faithful. Former head coach Rick Tocchet will make his own return a couple months later, on Dec. 30.
Stanley Cup champion Brad Marchand goes back to Boston: Oct. 21
It may have gotten lost amid the fireworks of Marchand’s run in Florida — which has so far brought a Cup-winning trek, some colourful social-media celebrations and a hefty contract extension — but the former Boston Bruins captain has yet to face off against his former club as a member of the Cats.
The thrill of his Cats tenure might feel a bit bittersweet that night, when Marchand returns for an emotional reunion with the Boston faithful on Oct. 21.
No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer plays his first NHL game: Oct. 9
The New York Islanders ushered in a new era of their own last month when they added defenceman Schaefer with the first-overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft. Fresh off a sterling season as an alternate captain for the OHL’s Erie Otters, Schaefer will look to crack the big club in 2025-26.
Should he make the team out of camp, the teenager could play his first NHL game on Oct. 9, and it would be a memorable one — on the road in Pittsburgh, against Sidney Crosby’s Penguins.
Oilers look for redemption in Cup Final rematch with Panthers: Nov. 22
The Edmonton Oilers will have a young rookie debut of their own to look forward to, the club having added Michigan State standout Isaac Howard earlier this month. The 21-year-old joins what is set to be a new-look Oilers offence, Edmonton’s front office having shaken up its roster in the wake of a second-straight Stanley Cup Final heartbreaker.
Edmonton will get another crack at redemption against the Panthers a couple months into the campaign, meeting the Cats on the road on Nov. 22.
