NHL hockey is back, baybeeeee! The mornings are a little chillier, pumpkin season is in full effect, and the ice is chilled inside your favorite team's arena. Being on the west coast, it is nice to wake up on Saturday morning and have the first game start at 10am and the last one start at 7pm or 7:30pm. A full 12 hours of hockey, what more could someone want?

In the meantime, we've had training camps start and a preseason game or two for each of your favorite teams, so let's see what some of the coaches are showing us!

Chicago Blackhawks – The Blackhawks opened camp with a line of Andre Burakovsky, Connor Bedard, and Ryan Donato, but since then they have put Bedard in a blender and given him a number of different linemates. Lukas Reichel has been up there, along with Oliver Moore, and Colton Dach. Maybe the plan is to start the season with the two veterans (Burakovsky and Donato) and they are trying some other young guns to see if they can create a spark for the future. General Manager Kyle Davidson has said this training camp is a "prove it" camp for Reichel, so he needs to take advantage of skating with Bedard. We could see the German winger finally break out if that is the case, or he could be wearing a different sweater this time next year.

Carolina Hurricanes – After Mitch Marner, Nikolaj Ehlers was probably the most wanted free agent this past summer. He got paid to become a Hurricane and they are going to make sure he earns his money. He has been lining up with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis for the start of training camp which is very exciting because his usage at even strength while he was in Winnipeg is what was holding him back (along with the injuries), no offense to Vlad Namestinikov.

Ehlers' 82-game pace for the last three years is 68 points, but his average time-on-ice is less than 16 minutes! Playing in Carolina with two other big game players, he could climb up to a full point-per-game pace this year.

Nashville Predators – After unloading the Brinks truck at Bridgestone Arena in 2024 for guys like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, the Predators were pretty quiet this past summer because too much change did not suit them well. However, one (semi) new face they will have in the lineup this year is Matthew Wood. The power winger played in six games after his college season was finished to get his feet wet, but he could be in line for some big minutes this Fall. He leads the preseason with five points in two games and looks to be building some chemistry with Stamkos.

Another Predator to keep an eye on is 2025 first rounder Brady Martin. He scored two goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning and is making a case to at least have a nine-game tryout. Of course, there is a world in which they keep him the entire season, but it would be best to have the 18-year-old play the majority of his games in the OHL.

New Jersey Devils – Evgenii Dadonov recorded a respectable season last year with the Dallas Stars. He scored 20 goals and had 20 assists while averaging 13 minutes per game. The Russian winger signed with the Devils during the offseason, and he has been lined up with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt for the first week of training camp. If Hughes can stay healthy, the two playmakers on the wings could help Hughes get back to that 40-goal plateau and give you a late round sleeper in Dadonov.

Philadelphia Flyers – Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras, and Travis Konecny were a line at training camp recently. In the two preseason games and early on in camp, the coaching staff has put Michkov and Zegras together, but rotating in a prospect to play with them (Nikita Grebenkin, Alex Bump). However, once the games start meaning something, I think it will be Konecny who gets that top line spot to help balance out the group on the defensive side of the puck. Two players like Michkov and Zegras on a line would be very fun to watch if they are able to hit it off and find some chemistry.

Vegas Golden Knights – With the line rushes we saw for the Golden Knights against the LA Kings on 9/23, it looks like we'll see Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel, and Mitch Marner try to work together. I'm a big fan of Eichel scoring goals this season with the addition of Marner to this team. Eichel likes to shoot the puck a lot (he has averaged over 3 shots-per-game for basically his entire career) so if I were a betting man, I'd say he could hit the 40-goal mark and record triple-digit points. Do proceed with caution though; being an Olympic year, he is going to play a lot of hockey, and he does tend to get hurt. Maybe Vegas tries the "load management" route with him this year, but if he plays 80 games, he will hit career highs.

This would leave Mark Stone as the odd man out on Eichel's line. He averaged over a point-per-game last season and has been on that pace for his entire tenure in Vegas. If he does line up with William Karlsson and Reilly Smith, that will be their matchup line defensively and we'll see his point total take a hit.

We do not have any noticeable cuts from training camp yet, but one fun storyline has come from Carolina, where goaltender Cayden Primeau selected the number his dad, Keith, wore for the club almost 30 years ago. For all of your goalie news, make sure to check out GoaliePost! It is a great site for starting goaltenders and ramblings.