Daily Nuggets: Golden Knights Season Predictions; McExtended

Good morning, folks. The Vegas Golden Knights will practice today– one final tune-up before Opening Night. If you’re excited for the Golden Knights to kick off the season, you’re not alone. I spoke with some of the players yesterday, and I’ll have a fun piece coming later today. And because I’m bold– or, rather, foolish– I tried my hand at a few preseason predictions. One of them might even pan out!

Elsewhere in the Daily Nuggets, Connor McDavid put Oilers fans out of their misery and re-signed in Edmonton. He took an insane discount, and the Oilers handed some of that money out immediately after extending their Captain. John Tortorella is returning to television, and the Boston Bruins are honoring a franchise legend.

Hockey is back. The regular season is upon us. Enjoy it.

Golden Knights News

The Golden Knights kick off the 2025-26 season tomorrow at home against the Los Angeles Kings. To tide you over, you can laugh at my preseason predictions. From Mitch Marner’s production to a surprise Olympian, here are five predictions for the 2025-26 Vegas Golden Knights.

All fantasy hockey general managers know that the league is won in the later rounds of the draft. This year, the Golden Knights boast four of the best sleepers and draft steals in the league.

NHL News, Rumors, & National Hockey Now

The Athletic ($): Connor McDavid is McExtended. He re-signed with the Edmonton Oilers for two years at a shockingly low AAV of $12.5 million. Signing this early eliminates outside noise for the team, but it also puts a tremendous amount of pressure on management. The message is clear: don’t screw this up.

No, this contract doesn’t reset the market, nor does it mean that Eichel will take a similar deal. It also doesn’t mean that Kirill Kaprizov wants to win any less. This just means that Connor McDavid wants to win, and he wants to win in Edmonton. 

ESPN: Greg Wyshynski knocked it out of the park with this list of winners and losers of the McDavid signing. He’s right– now, the Canadian media can focus all their attention on getting Sidney Crosby out of Pittsburgh, as God intended.

Sportsnet: It was a busy day up in Oil Country. Immediately after announcing the McDavid deal, the Edmonton Oilers announced a seven-year, $49 million extension for Jake Walman.

Philly Hockey Now: Welcome back, John Tortorella! The former Flyers bench boss is returning to the ESPN broadcast team this season.

Florida Hockey Now: Ooh, shiny. On Monday, the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers received their rings, and they might be even better than last year’s.

Boston Hockey Now: Later this season, the Bruins will immortalize one of their best players in franchise history. On January 15th, 2026, they’ll raise Zdeno Chara’s number to the rafters and retire 33.

Detroit Hockey Now: Look out– it’s time for the Yzerplan to take effect. The Red Wings announced their opening night roster on Monday, and three surprise rookies are looking to help the team back to the promised land.