In this week’s debut edition, DFO’s Hunter Crowther and Scott Maxwell break down how the league is shaking out after seven days of hockey. Shocking no one, the Florida Panthers have landed atop the rankings after a strong 3-0-0 start.

Despite missing Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers are looking strong as ever to kick off their season. Hunter placed them squarely at 1st on his list, while Scott had them at 3rd, wanting to see how they react in facing tougher competition.

With a limited sample size, the Edmonton Oilers landed 3rd on the list, ranked 2nd by Hunter and 4th by Scott. Here’s what the two had to say about the Oilers:

Scott: Stuart Skinner couldn’t wait one whole game before making things interesting this season, huh? The Oilers netminder had a rollercoaster performance in the season opener, resulting in a blown 3-1 lead and a shootout loss to the Flames. Calvin Pickard got the start on Saturday, and the Oilers were less chaotic as a result with a 3-1 win. The Oilers net drama will continue to be an interesting saga, especially with Connor Ingram in the fold, and I can’t wait to see what becomes of it. Connor McDavid may have been extended for two seasons, but the Oilers still have to give him a goalie.
Hunter: Beyond the analysis and in-depth conversation and long-term planning after McDavid’s extension, it was gut-bustingly hilarious that it was bad goaltending that cost the Oilers their first game of the season. At this point, Edmonton should trade the next 10 first-round picks and promise 10,000 season ticket purchases for the Jets in exchange for Hellebuyck.

The Dallas Stars were ranked 2nd on the list, while the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche followed Edmonton in 4th and 5th, respectively. The list rounds out with the Buffalo Sabres, the New York Islanders, and the Chicago Blackhawks landing 30th to 32nd, respectively.

Canadiens lock up Hutson, management team long-term

Meanwhile, in Montreal, the future looks brighter by the day. On Monday, the Canadiens announced the signing of defenceman Lane Hutson to an eight-year extension, carrying an AAV of $8.85 million. After his record-breaking rookie campaign won him the Calder Trophy, it’s a shockingly low figure compared to other blueline contracts signed in the past few weeks, but it continues to show the deep buy-in across Montreal’s roster.

Hutson is now locked in long-term alongside a Habs core that includes Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Noah Dobson, and Kaiden Guhle–all signed through at least 2030. With the cap increasing in the coming years, it leaves room to sign extensions down the line for Ivan Demidov and Jacob Fowler, who have two and three years remaining on their entry-level contracts, respectively. Of course, in the event that they both play up to their high potential.

With that business dealt with, the Habs kept the good times rolling on Tuesday, signing general manager Kent Hughes and hockey operations executive Jeff Gorton to multi-year extensions. Gorton was also promoted to president of hockey operations.

Set to host the Seattle Kraken for their home opener Tuesday night, there are a few extra reasons for fans to celebrate, with just one question mark remaining. How soon can they turn all this potential into a major playoff push?

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