NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 29, 2026
Oilers captain Connor McDavid sets a league record, the Avalanche’s Brent Burns moves up among the all-time scoring defensemen, Quinn Hughes’ contract talks with the Wild show no progress, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Connor McDavid collected two assists to set the league’s season-opening assist streak record (13 games) as the Edmonton Oilers blanked the Calgary Flames 4-0.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (NHL Images)
Tristan Jarry turned in a 24-save shutout, Mathieu Joseph scored the winning goal, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had two assists for the Oilers (9-2-2), who moved into first place in the Western Conference with 20 points. Devin Cooley and Dustin Wolf combined for 28 saves for the 5-7-0 Flames as their four-game win streak ended.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid became the third player in NHL history to collect at least 25 assists in a calendar month multiple times, joining Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky (14 times) and Mario Lemieux (3 times).
Wolf replaced Cooley after the latter left the game following a collision with Oilers forward Colton Dach late in the first period. There was no postgame update regarding his status.
Oilers winger Zach Hyman missed this game after going on injured reserve with a stiff neck.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns collected two assists in a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils, moving up to 10th on the all-time list of leading scorers among defensemen with 950 regular-season points. Nazem Kadri and Jaden Schwartz each had a goal and an assist for the 7-5-1 Avalanche. Connor Brown tallied both goals for the Devils (8-5-0).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Burns needs nine more points to overtake Hall of Famer Larry Robinson for ninth place. He also played his 1,020th consecutive regular-season game. He needs 45 more to break Phil Kessel’s Ironman record.
Speaking of Avalanche blueliners, Josh Manson left this game in the first period with a lower-body injury. Head coach Jared Bednar expects Manson to “miss some time.”
Washington Capitals forwards Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou each scored twice to lead their club over the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2. Dylan Strome collected three assists for the 7-4-0 Capitals, who’ve won four of their last five games. Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov scored for the 3-8-4 Flyers, who are winless in their last three games (0-2-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson stopped 23 shots in his first game since Oct. 20. He’d been on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
The Seattle Kraken blew a two-goal lead, but a last-minute goal from Brandon Montour gave them a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Chandler Stephenson, Matty Beniers, and Mackie Samoskevich each had two points for the Kraken (8-4-1). Maple Leafs rookie Gavin McKenna scored twice for his first multi-goal NHL game while captain Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists for the 7-6-2 Maple Leafs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Maple Leafs announced winger Kirill Marchenko is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
HEADLINES
THE SCORE: Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin said he hasn’t discussed a contract extension with Quinn Hughes and his agent “in a long time.”
Hughes, 27, is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July. The lack of progress in contract negotiations has sparked speculation about his future with the Wild.
“To be honest with you, there’s nothing really to talk about right now,” Guerin said. “What am I gonna do? Go, ‘Please, please, please, please?’”
Guerin said his focus is on his team and winning games. He felt that Hughes “needs to wrap his head around a couple of things, and I don’t think anything’s changed”.
The Wild GM also said the Wild are a better team with Hughes, who is taking his time reaching a decision about his future. He stated that he hasn’t decided what he’ll do if the superstar defenseman remains unsigned deeper into the season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Guerin has said he’d give Hughes the time and space he needs to reach a decision. The blueliner recently said he’s happy playing with the Wild, hinting that he could be inching toward signing an extension.
Some observers believe Hughes’ footdragging suggests he has no intention of signing, while others haven’t closed the door on an extension. Nevertheless, the longer Hughes remains unsigned, the more speculation about his future.
TSN: The Columbus Blue Jackets placed defenseman Carson Soucy on waivers.
TRIBLIVE.COM: The Pittsburgh Penguins assigned forward Justin Brazeau to Wilkes-Barre-Scranton/Scranton for conditioning.
DAILY FACEOFF: Dallas Stars Kyle Capobianco will miss at least a week with a lower-body injury.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs announced his son, Charlie Jacobs, will take over as team governor, effective immediately.
The Quinn Hughes “foot dragging” reminds me of the Taveras season-long episode with the Isles.
You wonder what needs to happen for him to make a decision. You want to stay with the Wild or you don’t – make up your mind.
At least Helle knew he wanted to move on.
I love bill guerin. His quote made me laugh out loud this morning
As painful as it will be he gotta move him if he doesn’t sign or will set wild back a lot
The Atlantic Division is set up for an unbelievable run to see who makes the playoffs. 6 points separate last place Detroit with 1st place Boston.Some very good teams are not going to make the playoffs the way they are structured now!
And the only Division where every team in it is above .500 … with .542 being the lowest number.
I find the ESPN scoreboard (link below) to be a great place to check out the box score of the games played each day … but I do often wonder at their listing of the 3 stars of each game. Are those THEIR choices or are they reflecting the 3 stars as chosen by the local media?
As mundane as that is, and likely right at the bottom of the elements of a game worth discussing, it does often bring up the issue of “homerism.” Take the Leafs-Kraken game, for example, won by Seattle with the winning goal by Montour in a 5-4 final coming with just 3 seconds left in the game.
OK, so he gets 1st star of the game for those heroics and his +3 in a close. high-scoring game where neither goalie was at his best – 21 total shots on Grubauer and 17 on Bobrosvsky. So, I suppose that 1st star is to be expected. But they also chose Stephenson (1g 1a) and Mahura (1g 0a) as 2 and 3, while ignoring McKenna’s 2g 1a.
Ya, I know – other aspects are considered such as checking prowess, scoring chances, etc. But still, it smacks of “homerism” and Lord knows we get enough of that with some broadcasting crews, after-game panels.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/scoreboard
As for the result … that has to be a bitter pill to swallow for the Leafs and their fans after having Matthews tie it up just 57 seconds before to complete a come-back from a 4-2 deficit.