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Around the NHL: Marner starting to feel at home in Vegas, Quenneville returns to Chicago for 1st time
Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner.
Photo credit: Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Jeremy Tingly
Oct 20, 2025, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 20, 2025, 08:48 EDT
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The 2025-26 NHL season enters it’s third week of action and there’s been plenty of storylines to follow early on. The Vegas Golden Knights continue to steamroll in the Western Conference, as Jack Eichel is on a mission to start the new year, leading all players with 15 points in six games. Through the opening weeks, the Carolina Hurricanes are the only undefeated team in the league, starting the year 5-0-0, but the big surprise has been the 5-1-0 Detroit Red Wings.
Here’s the very latest from around the NHL:

Mitch Marner starting to open up with Golden Knights teammates

Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner is off to a great start with his new team, as the Vegas Golden Knights winger has posted eight points in his first six games in Vegas. Marner scored his first and second goals of the season against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, and after the game was a guest on Hockey Night in Canada’s After Hours. Even with it being a few months since Marner’s big decision, you can tell it surely wasn’t an easy one.
“There were a couple sleepless nights,” Marner said after scoring twice against the Flames. “Super tough. It was not an easy decision at all … Tried to make the best move that we thought was going to best for our family going forward.”
Marner will go down as one of the greatest Maple Leafs of all time, but also one that left the fan base wanting more. He started his Golden Knights tenure playing alongside Jack Eichel on the top line, however for the game against the Flames, was moved down to the second line with Tomas Hertl, as head coach Bruce Cassidy tried to balance out his firepower. While it’s only been six games in, Marner is starting to feel like he’s exactly where he belongs.
“The guys in this locker room have been awesome,” Marner told Scott Oake. “Starting to really feel at home here in the last couple days and week really. I’m liking how it’s going, and just got to keep growing. I’m starting to really open up and just do my part as well.”
On the flip side for Leafs Nation, Nicolas Roy has been one of the pleasant surprises so far this season, and has given the Maple Leafs a right-handed centre they desperately needed. Roy’s taken some key faceoffs for Toronto, played a hard-nosed two-way game, and has collected two points in his first six games with the Leafs.

Joel Quenneville returns to Chicago for 1st time since being banned

Anaheim Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville returned to Chicago for the first time on Sunday since the details of a sexual assault scandal involving the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks team were published in 2021.
The veteran bench boss is in his first season behind the bench for the Ducks and has his new up-and-coming team off to a decent start to the season. Once the details dropped regarding the scandal, the 67-year-old Quenneville was forced to resign as coach of the Florida Panthers, and was banned from the NHL for almost three years.
“I’m grateful to be back in the game,” Quenneville said before the Ducks faced the Blackhawks on Sunday. “I’m excited about being back in here in Chicago. The memories we had were all very positive here. I’m just happy to be back in that building and hear the crowd being excited, and the crowds look like they’ve been good so far this year.”
“I know that applying those lessons now, I think the two takeaways were one, applying those lessons, making sure it doesn’t happen under our watch is one of them, and making sure the players’ health and safety is priority No. 1.”
The Ducks lost 2-1 in overtime, and move to 2-2-1 on the season.

Quick hits from around the NHL

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to a tough 1-3-2 record, as goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has posted a .886 save percentage and 3.50 goals against average in his first four appearances this season.
  • The Edmonton Oilers are also struggling to start the new season, going 2-3-1 through their first six games and have only scored 15 goals in those contests. Connor McDavid has yet to score this year, and has registered seven assists in six games.
  • Montreal Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle is expected to miss four-to-six weeks due to a lower-body injury.
  • Seattle Kraken forward Freddy Gaudreau will also miss four-to-six weeks thanks to a upper-body injury.
  • Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar will be out for several weeks due to a foot injury.
  • Evgeni Malkin has turned back the clock, as the Pittsburgh Penguins legend has nine points through his first six games.
  • Colorado Avalanche backup goaltender Scott Wedgewood is the talk of the town, as he’s filled in for the injured Mackenzie Blackwood, and gone 5-0-1 in his first six starts, to the tune of a .938 save percentage.
  • 38-year-old Cam Talbot is on fire with the Red Wings, going 3-0-0 to start the year, and there’s already some controversy brewing in Motown as newly acquired John Gibson has a .873 save percentage in his first three appearances.

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