The North American portion of the 2024-25 season begins Tuesday, the first steps of a nine-month thrill ride that will end with the coronation of the 2025 Stanley Cup champion.
Along the way, there will be thrills and spills and highlights almost beyond the ability to imagine.
It all has to begin somewhere and that somewhere is with a tripleheader on national television across North America on the networks of ESPN and Sportsnet.
The action starts in the Pacific Northwest when the Seattle Kraken host the St Louis Blues at Climate Pledge Arena (4:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN360, TVAS) in what will be a historic night for Seattle assistant coach Jessica Campbell, who will become the first woman to serve in a behind-the-bench coaching capacity in NHL history.
Dan Bylsma, who won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009 as a rookie head coach, also is new as Kraken head coach.
Next, the Florida Panthers will celebrate their 2024 Stanley Cup victory for the final time, raising their championship banner before a game against the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS).
The Panthers defeated the Bruins in six games in the Eastern Conference Second Round during their march to their first championship and the Bruins will be looking for a measure of revenge.
Jeremy Swayman, the goalie for the Bruins in that series, could play Tuesday after he signed an eight-year, $66 million contract ($8.25 million average annual value) on Sunday. If not, Joonas Korpisalo, who was with the Ottawa Senators last season, could be the starter.
The tripleheader wraps up with more history when the Utah Hockey Club makes its debut with a home game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Delta Center (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS).
The excitement is rabid in Utah for the new hockey team, and Delta Center is expected to provide quite the home-ice advantage.
The Blackhawks are led by Connor Bedard, the winner of the Calder Trophy last season as NHL rookie of the year.
So much could happen Tuesday, so we asked a panel of NHL.com writers and editors to pick out what they are most looking forward to during the three games. Here are their answers:
It's Utah time
It's been a whirlwind in Utah. From the moment Ryan and Ashley Smith bought the Arizona Coyotes back in April to Tuesday, when the Utah Hockey Club will make its official entry into the NHL, so many things have had to happen. The players have found new homes in a new city. The general manager has executed some blockbuster trades, notably the acquisitions of defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino. The rink has been readied. The tickets have been bought. All that's left is for the players to take the ice for their debut at Delta Center. It's a team full of young talent that has the potential to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs -- or at least contend for them -- and a team that should bring plenty of excitement to its new city. I can't wait to see what Utah has in store this season, starting against the Blackhawks on Tuesday. -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer
'Disco Dan' grooving into Seattle
Dan Bylsma brings his upbeat attitude, offensive attack and Stanley Cup Playoff experience to the Kraken this season, seven seasons removed from his last NHL head coaching job. Coaching Seattle's American Hockey League team, Coachella Valley, to the Calder Cup Finals the past two seasons proved Bylsma knows winning hockey and how to get his team to score goals, something the Kraken struggled to do last season. Coachella Valley led the AHL with 252 goals in 2023-24, and the season before they were third with 257. Some of those players will graduate to Seattle along with Bylsma, including 20-year-old forward Shane Wright, who showed how much his game has matured by scoring three goals in four preseason games. The Kraken are two seasons removed from finishing fifth in the NHL at 3.52 goals per game and making the playoffs. Can Bylsma get them back after last season's team was 29th at 2.61 goals per game? With much of the core group back from last season, it will be interesting to watch. -- Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor
Florida to raise 1st Stanley Cup banner
The Panthers spent the offseason celebrating their first Stanley Cup championship after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24. Before the Panthers begin the new season and their bid to repeat, they'll raise their first Stanley Cup banner to the Amerant Bank Arena rafters. The pregame ceremony will give them a final chance to reflect on their long road to this point, which included losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. They'll also get to show off the Stanley Cup again, this time with each of their names engraved on it. Then they'll try to channel all the emotion that comes with the banner raising into trying to defeat the Bruins, a team they beat in the Stanley Cup Playoffs each of the past two seasons. -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer
United States-born captains go head-to-head
History will be made when the Blackhawks play Utah as two American players will serve their first game as captain for their respective franchises. There have been nine previous instances when at least one U.S.-born player was making his debut as captain, but it didn't occur against another U.S.-born player making his debut as captain for the other team, according to NHL Stats and Information. Clayton Keller, born in Chesterfield, Missouri, was named Utah's first captain Oct. 4. The 26-year-old forward was an alternate captain for the Arizona Coyotes the past two seasons. He'll be opposed by Buffalo-born Nick Foligno, who was named Blackhawks captain Sept. 18. The 36-year-old forward was captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2015-21 and was an alternate captain for Chicago last season. -- Mike G. Morreale, senior draft writer
Campbell's shining moment
It will be the start of something special not just for the Kraken, but for the NHL and women in sports when Seattle plays St. Louis. Campbell, an assistant on Kraken coach Dan Bylsma's staff, will become the first woman to be a full-time assistant coach in the League. I'll be at the game Tuesday and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Kraken power play looks under Campbell's direction. Sure, it's going to be a small sample, one game in what I hope is a long career for Campbell. But it will be an exciting moment nevertheless. On a personal note, I've been in this business for nearly 30 years, and I'm encouraged by the women who are making big strides in sports. Campbell is the latest. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer
Goalie begins 4 Nations 'tryout'
Jordan Binnington was solid for the Blues last season, going 28-21-5 with a 2.84 goals-against average (12th best in the NHL, minimum 50 games) and .913 save percentage (tied for fifth), but the Blues missed the playoffs for the second straight season. Though getting them back into the postseason is the No. 1 goal, Binnington also will be playing for something else: a spot on Team Canada for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. As NHL.com writer Mike Zeisberger pointed out in his Zizing 'Em Up column Monday, the race for Canada's No. 1 goalie spot is wide open, so all eyes will be on Binnington on Tuesday against the Kraken, and until late November when the rosters are announced. -- Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief
Bedard starts his 2nd season
The focus Tuesday rightly will be on Utah. A new franchise is playing its first game and it deserves the spotlight. But after all the pomp and circumstance of Utah getting going, and there will be a big show in Salt Lake City, my eyes will be on Connor Bedard. The Chicago Blackhawks center is starting his second season in the shadow of Utah's first, but one of my biggest questions going into the season is what will Bedard do next? He had 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 68 games as an 18-year-old rookie last season. Can he be a point-per-game player this season at 19? Can he be better? Can he get to 100 points like Connor McDavid did in his second season? He knows the grind. He knows the NHL now. Bedard could take off this season. He is an NHL star. But he has so much to prove still. I'll be watching him Tuesday. Does he take the spotlight away from Utah? Good chance he does. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer
Broberg, Holloway to make Blues debuts
Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway are starting a new chapter with the St. Louis Blues after playing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final with the Edmonton Oilers last season. The two restricted free agents each signed an offer sheet by St. Louis on Aug. 13, which Edmonton decided not to match. Broberg, a 23-year-old defenseman, signed a two-year $9.16-million contract ($4.58 million average annual value) and Holloway, a 23-year-old forward, signed a two-year $4.58 million contract ($2.29 million AAV). Once considered a big part of Edmonton's future, the pair now will look to help St. Louis return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022. There will be plenty of interest among Oilers fans as to how well they play with the Blues this season as the question lingers whether Edmonton should have matched the offer sheets instead of taking a second- and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft as compensation. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer
Lindholm, Zadorov in spotlight for new-look Bruins
One of the keys to being a successful organization is to identify what the holes in your roster are and immediately address them. Exhibit A: the Bruins. Last season, Boston's Achilles' heel was up the middle after veteran centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired. As such, the top item on the offseason shopping list was a No. 1 center, a need that was addressed with the signing of 29-year-old Elias Lindholm to a seven-year $54.25 million contract ($7.75 million average annual value) on July 1. On the same day, they signed defenseman Nikita Zadorov to a six-year, $30 million contract ($5 million AAV), bringing some teeth to a lineup that always is open to increase its physicality. Each will make his Bruins regular-season debut in the season opener against the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers. How long will it take for Lindholm, who has 557 points (218 goals, 339 assists) in 818 regular-season games for the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes, to develop chemistry with star forward and likely linemate David Pastrnak? How long will it take Zadorov to inflict his rough-and-ready style against a Panthers team that has no shortage of grit itself? We'll find out when the puck is dropped in South Florida. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer
