Evan Bouchard is the first defenceman to record five points in a season opener in NHL history.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win the game.
Despite being the biggest favourite on the board at -300 at FanDuel, the Edmonton Oilers suffered a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Mike Babcock’s debut.
As TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button told Jay Onrait after the game, “you’re delusional if you think you are going to play like this and compete for a Stanley Cup.”
Babcock told reporters after the game his team has some “serious work to do.”
Bad news for anybody who bet the Oilers to win it all at +950 at FanDuel.
The good news is that Bouchard to win the Norris Trophy was cut from +800 to +650 as the third choice at FanDuel.
Connor McDavid didn’t register a single shot on goal, Edmonton’s defensive structure still has plenty of room for improvement under Babcock, and the goaltending couldn’t be much worse after Tristan Jarry gave up six goals on 23 shots in the loss to Vancouver.
The Oilers, which ranked 29th in the NHL with an .883 save percentage last season, could turn to 24-year-old Devon Levi for the rematch against the Canucks on Thursday night.
Slow starts have been a consistent issue in Edmonton.
With four of their next five games on the road, it will be interesting to see how the Oilers respond.
My single biggest takeaway from NHL Opening Night: Edmonton doesn’t have the goaltending to win the Stanley Cup, regardless of coach or captain.
Meanwhile, despite being the favourite to finish with the worst record in the NHL at FanDuel, the Canucks were ready for the moment as a +245 underdog in Edmonton.
The same is true for the Montreal Canadiens, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and the Vegas Golden Knights.
What else stood out the most from NHL Opening Night?
Let’s break it all down in this Morning Coffee column for Wednesday September 30th, 2026.
Habs Shine, Leafs Stumble, Plus A FanDuel Best Bet For Wednesday Night
In Tuesday’s column, I highlighted that the 2026-27 Toronto Maple Leafs are a work in progress.
That was clear in a 3-2 loss to the rival Canadiens.
Kirill Marchenko, Darren Raddysh, and Sergei Bobrovsky all flashed their potential but also had some tougher moments in their Maple Leafs debuts.
Raddysh even cashed my favourite bet of the night.
William Nylander scored the first goal of the season just 48 seconds into the first period, then added a second with less than five minutes to go in the final frame.
Unfortunately for Leafs Nation, Jakub Dobes slammed the door shut with 26 saves in between, while Toronto’s favourite Hab Josh Anderson, Zack Bolduc, and Alexandre Carrier all scored for the Canadiens.
Calder Trophy favourite Gavin McKenna registered one shot on goal and was a minus-two in his NHL debut.
Montreal to make the playoffs at -140 was one of my best bets for the 2026-27 NHL season.
The Canadiens are -188 to make and +146 to miss the playoffs at FanDuel this morning.
Montreal to win the Atlantic Division was cut from +650 to +550 at FanDuel overnight.
Meanwhile, after hovering around a pick’em to make the playoffs at FanDuel all offseason, the Maple Leafs are now -106 to make and -120 to miss the postseason.
Toronto won’t have to wait for a shot at redemption.
The Maple Leafs are -126 to beat the visiting New York Islanders tonight.
Elsewhere around the NHL, the Stanley Cup favourite opened with a win over the defending Stanley Cup champions when the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in overtime.
Brady Tkachuk registered one shot on goal and was on the ice for Gustav Forsling’s overtime winner.
Interestingly, Jacob Markstrom needed only 15 saves to register the shutout in his Panthers debut.
Florida remains the Stanley Cup favourite at +650.
Carolina and the Colorado Avalanche are right behind them at +750 to win it all at FanDuel.
Then there’s the defending Western Conference champion Golden Knights, which opened with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Jack Eichel scored and registered three points while Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb combined for four assists in a dominant victory on home ice.
With Connor Bedard sidelined after undergoing shoulder surgery, it might be worth keeping an eye on the Blackhawks to finish with the worst record at +700, even if Showtime has returned.
My model circled Vancouver as the obvious favourite in that market heading into the season and one OT win didn’t change that, but the Blackhawks have a tough couple of weeks ahead and could struggle early on.
Finally, the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers were scoreless until the third period, when Fraser Minten scored the opener at the 16:14 mark.
The Bruins scored three goals in a span of 1:15 to extend their win streak in home openers to 11 in a row.
Jeremy Swayman stopped all 24 shots he faced to record the first season opener shutout for Boston since 1979.
Swayman is still +1400 to win the Vezina as the seventh choice in that market at FanDuel.
The Bruins to make the playoffs was cut from +300 to +230 at FanDuel overnight, and they will likely need a Vezina-calibre season from Swayman to get in.
Turning the page this morning, we’ve got three games on the board in the NHL tonight.
For my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll go with a Same Game Parlay that features Cale Makar to record 1+ point and the Colorado Avalanche to win outright at -120 at FanDuel.
I’ll also sprinkle on Makar anytime goal at +320.
The Avalanche have had a long time to think about getting swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals.
Now they are healthy again and set to host an opponent they have dominated in recent years.
Colorado has won nine of its last 10 games played against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Avalanche went 26-9-6 on home ice last season.
Makar registered 79 points in 75 regular season games, including four points in three games against the Kings.
Now that he is fully healthy heading into the season, I’ll bank on the Norris Trophy favourite picking up where he left off with at least a point in an Avalanche win.
Hopefully, we can pick up where we left off last night with a FanDuel Best Bet winner.
Have a great day, everyone!
