NHL Trade Talk Recap: Oilers, Maple Leafs & Goals Galore

In today’s NHL Trade Talk Recap for October 3, 2026, there’s lots to unpack from the first week of the season. The league’s wide open right now with huge scoring games. One hockey insider is stuck on repeat with the same tired McDavid take. And Toronto’s old “cautionary tale” contracts might actually be aging into a genuine advantage.

Why Is Every Game Turning Into a Blowout? Blame the Shortened Preseason

The NHL’s early season has turned into an absolute scoring explosion. There have been 9-7 games, 8-4 blowouts, at least one lopsided result every single night. Turns out Canucks coach Manny Malhotra might’ve nailed the actual reason, pointing out that teams are basically still in preseason mode, except the games now count. The league cut exhibition games from seven or eight to just four, giving teams far less time to install systems, build chemistry, and iron out mistakes before the real season started.

Add in a noticeable spike in early-season injuries, likely from players and coaches cramming a normal month of prep into a fraction of the time, and you’ve got a perfect storm of sloppy structure, wide-open hockey, and chaos everywhere. It’s genuinely fun to watch if you like high-scoring games, but it’s also clearly a side effect of a shorter runway, and the league will probably have to figure out how teams adjust their training camps going forward if this shortened preseason format sticks around.

The NHL’s Early-Season Chaos Has One Big Cause — And No One’s Talking About It

Sid Seixeiro’s “McDavid Is Leaving” Take Is Getting Old Fast

Sid Seixeiro’s at it again. After just two games this season, he declared that Connor McDavid is definitely leaving Edmonton, blaming years of defensive and goaltending mismanagement and insisting nobody can debate him. The problem is he’s been saying basically the same thing for years. McDavid himself has never once suggested he’s unhappy or wants out. If anything, McDavid’s actually done the opposite every time the Oilers hit a rough patch. He stays invested and even helped push for bringing in Babcock this summer.

Fans pretty quickly saw through what Seixeiro was doing, with plenty calling it obvious rage bait designed to stir up engagement rather than a serious take. Two games into a brand-new coaching era isn’t exactly a reasonable sample size to declare a superstar’s future settled, and as long as Edmonton stays competitive enough to give McDavid a real shot at a Cup, most people around the team don’t see him going anywhere anytime soon.

Seixeiro Back at it With Another Obnoxious McDavid Take, Oilers Fans Not Biting

The Maple Leafs’ “Curse” Contracts Might Actually Be a Secret Weapon Now

For years, Toronto’s big-money contracts to its core four were the league’s cautionary tale, locked in as the cap stayed frozen and leaving them with zero flexibility. But as the cap is set to explode toward a projected $127.5 million by 2028-29, those same deals are starting to look like a genuine advantage. According to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, Toronto already has six forwards, both goalies, and their top four defencemen locked up for a combined $71 million by then, leaving $56.5 million to deal with Matthews and fill out the rest of the roster.

What’s really interesting is how Chayka avoided the trap plenty of other GMs fell into this summer. He didn’t get stuck overspending as teams such as Anaheim or San Jose did. And most of Toronto’s existing deals, even the ones signed before he arrived, are aging well. He’s even said he’s comfortable sitting out big, speculative long-term bets for now, knowing some will age great and others won’t. The irony is hard to miss. The team that got crushed hardest by the flat cap might end up being one of the best-positioned teams in the league once the money starts flowing again.

The Maple Leafs’ Cap Nightmare Just Took an Unexpected Turn

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