Happy Fall 2025 everyone, hope you are all doing well and had a wonderful warm summer. We are making a return to Season 7 Episode 1 tonight, of Two Guys & Hockey Talk, where we dive into the stories around the world of hockey. It’s been a fairly quiet summer, but given that we are in September, we are starting to see things pick up, as players return to their respective clubs and begin training for the upcoming 2025/26 season. Therefore, some of the news that has been taking place over the past few months and things that we will be exploring this season are:
- New CBA Rules are Incoming – It sounds like the NHL is fast-tracking parts of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, including a revamped playoff salary cap system for the 2026 post season, stricter salary retention rules, and limitations on LTIR and cap maneuvering. These changes could greatly affect several teams, like when they are making trade moves or managing contracts mid-season and how they construct their rosters. Could we see less movement or different types of contracts given out, and how will this play out on the ice? This remains to be seen.
- Outdoor Hockey in Sunny Florida – For the first time ever, Florida will host both of the outdoor NHL events with the Winter Classic at Miami’s LoanDepot Park on January 2, 2026, and the Stadium Series at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium on February 1, 2026. It’s a bold step for hockey in non-traditional markets, and to grow the game in the south. Florida is coming off back to back Stanley Cup wins as Tampa tries to come back and continue its dominance in the league.
- Historic Centennials for Iconic Clubs – History is important in the league and for the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers, they will each celebrate their 100th NHL season in the league. All 3 teams are great clubs at different levels of success and fans should expect nostalgic tributes, special jerseys, fan appreciation nights and franchise legends making appearances throughout the year. We will be watching closely.
- Connor McDavid’s Future – After back to back runs to the Stanley Cup finals, and going into his final $12.5 million, there are several rumours swirling that Connor McDavid might depart from Edmonton, with the Maple Leafs seen as potential suitors if he hits free agency. The Oilers organizaiton maintain he’s staying and will be willing to give him anything he wants, but if he enters the season without a contract, it will be a talking point all season until ink hits paper. Connor McDavid is the best in the game, has been invited to Team Canada’s camp and looks at having a stellar year. But we wonder what his new contract will look like, after his fellow teammate Leon Draisaitl signed his 8-year, $14 million dollar contract last season.
- Mitch Marner’s Fresh Start – Speaking of players with a new home, Mitch Marner, who signed with Vegast to a long term deal (8-years, $12 million dollar) will have a chance to make a big impact with his new club. He will be visiting his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 23 and it promises to be an emotionally charged night for fans and players alike (could there be cheers or boos?). This comes after a sit down interview with Mark Masters, where Marner revealed some of the concerns he had with the fan base and how things played out in the last year of his contract. How will Marner do with his new club, how will he perform and what will Toronto look like without one of their core 4 star wingers? We shall have to wait and see.
- Sophomore to Watch – Every year, there are players that have breakout seasons as they try to make an impact in the NHL for their respective clubs. But if you are a betting person, and you are looking to invest, perhaps looking at second-year players like Cutter Gauthier, Zack Bolduc, Marco Kasper, Will Smith, and Mackie Samoskevich are poised for breakout seasons and could become vital to their teams’ fortunes if they push for a playoff birth. Will they be more dynamic and electric?
- The New Anaheim Ducks – Is it a Make-or-Break season for the Duck? It could be with the massive changes such as Joel Quenneville taking over as the head coach, and goaltender Lukas Dostal taking over the #1 role as the goalie (after Gibson was traded to Detroit), and Pat Verbeek looks to have them make the post-season to end a seven-year playoff drought. They will also be without Trevor Zegras, but still have to work on signing Mason McTavish to a long term deal as the young guys step up and try to have a big year, on top of veterans like Chris Kreider and Radko Gukas stepping up in a big way.
- The Devils’ Defensive Identity – We know the New Jersey Devils are a young fast team with some great talent on it, but management bringing in newly-hired assistant coach Brad Shaw, is a move to mold the Devils into a tougher, more consistent playoff team by harnessing the potential of young stars like Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. The goal is to make them into a Stanley Cup champion as the team takes the next step and continues to push for a playoff berth in the Metropolitan Division.
- The 2026 Olympics – We know the regular season kicks off on October 7, but that it will be interrupted by a midseason Olympics break in February 2026, which will tighten things and push more games to be played in a shorter period, making it a busy time for the league. This is before the NHL changes the 82-game schedule to 84 games in 2026–27 (but with a shorter pre-season). Who will take Gold? Canada? USA? Sweden? All we know is that it will be some great hockey, given what we witnessed at the 4-Nations Tournament which will be expanded to 8 teams the next go around.
- Hockey at every Level – But Evan and I aren’t all just about the NHL. We will be monitoring hockey at all levels, the KHL, PWHL, CHL, AHL, WHL, NCAA and all the other leagues to see the stories emerging there, with players, contracts, coaching changes, and changes to how the game is played. There will be prospects, rookies, and moves, and so please tune so that we can give you the latest and the greatest. We are excited for another full season of Two Guys and we hope you tune in, comment and share your thoughts as we talk about all things hockey. Let’s have a heck of a season again.
Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Then remember to tune in each week to get all the latest news in the world of hockey as we start up Season 7 of the Podcast each Wednesday night, where we dive into some of these great topics, interview many in the game and so much more. For more hockey news, different takes or if you want to chat about anything hockey give me a follow @hockey_two & @revinev on X and give us a follow (subscription) on YouTube, and check out our website for articles that we share regularly at https://twoguysandhockeytalk.com/.
– Pawel ‘The Cat’
