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NHL Notebook: Connor closing in on extension with Jets, Silovs blanks Miller’s Rangers on NHL opening night
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Photo credit: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Oct 7, 2025, 23:48 EDTUpdated: Oct 7, 2025, 23:55 EDT
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Welcome back to NHL Notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we deliver you news and notes from around the National Hockey League — oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens!
After 112 days of no hockey – and even more torturous, 174 days of no Canucks hockey – tonight was the official start of the 2025-26 NHL season.
We had a triple header, with the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, welcoming Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks to Amerant Arena in South Florida. Three former Canucks faced off on opening night in a match between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers, with a Western Conference clash against the Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings rounding out the night.
While all of that was going on, we heard reports of yet another superstar trying to extend with his team before the start of the season.
Let’s get into the news.

Kyle Connor and the Winnipeg Jets closing in on an extension

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Winnipeg Jets and superstar winger Kyle Connor are inching closer toward a lengthy contract extension.
Connor, 28, is in the final year of his seven-year, $50 million contract ($7.14 million annually), signed in September 2019. Over the first six years of that contract, Connor has produced at a 70+ point-per-game pace, topping out in 2024-25 with 97 points in 82 games. He helped the Jets win their first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history.
Friedman later added that the number is expected to be in the 12s in terms of average annual value. With his production and the salary cap projected over the next few seasons, this would be a fantastic number for the Jets to lock in their top offensive contributor for years to come.

Arturs Silovs shuts out the New York Rangers in JT Miller’s debut as Captain

A trio of Canucks faced off against each other in Madison Square Garden on opening night, as JT Miller and Carson Soucy took on Arturs Silovs.
This marked Silovs’ Penguins debut, as well as Miller’s debut as Rangers captain. And let’s just say it was a fantastic night for one former Canuck and one to forget for the other.
Heading into the season, the Penguins were the only team actively trying to get worse. However, starting a brand new goalie and two rookies making their NHL debuts breathed new life into this veteran Pittsburgh core. Justin Brazeau opened the scoring with just 30 seconds left in the opening frame – 39-year-old Evgeni Malkin assisted on the goal.
The Rangers had a little bit of pushback in the second period, outshooting the Penguins 13-7. However, Miller was nowhere to be found. At this point of the game, Miller had zero shots on goal and only one attempt, while Silovs had 20 stops through two periods.
Trailing by just one goal, you would expect a strong push from the Rangers. However, they didn’t really test Silovs much further. Throughout the final 20 minutes, Silovs faced just five shots on goal and walked away with the 25-save shutout in his Penguins debut. On the other hand, the Rangers captain finished with a minus-2 rating, zero shots on goal, one hit and one block in 18:18 minutes of average ice time.
Silovs gets the last laugh in this one against his former Canucks teammate. But these two will see a lot more of each other now as Metropolitan Division rivals, where Miller will have an opportunity to seek his revenge after this shutout defeat in his captain’s debut.
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