For the better part of two decades, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins were the most feared opponents in the NHL.
Somewhere along the way, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers took that mantle. Now, 2026 No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna and the Toronto Maple Leafs are coming for it.
All three players — the superstars of NHL past, present and future, if you will — play in Utah over the next week.
Preview: Utah Mammoth vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
McKenna and the Maple Leafs come first with a visit to the Delta Center on Tuesday.
The group dismantled the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, becoming the first team to beat the Avs by multiple goals this season. McKenna scored his fourth point of the season in that one, giving him a total of four in his first six NHL games.
That’s not bad at all.
Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick, had high praise for his new teammate after the game in Denver.
“He’s elite,” Matthews said. “Super skilled and smart. ... I mean, he just has such a good IQ and can see the play developing before it happens and an easy guy to read off of.”
GAVIN MCKENNA SNIPES HOME HIS FIRST NHL GOAL 🔥😱#Leafspic.twitter.com/8PkHCzMa8S
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 7, 2026
Also worth mentioning is John Tavares, the 2009 No. 1 overall pick, who returns to Toronto’s lineup on Tuesday. His wife, Aryne, gave birth to the couple’s fourth child, Tucker, shortly after the team’s Thursday loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Tavares flew back to Toronto but did not make it in time for the birth.
“Just really special to get a couple days with them, settle back into a new reality and enjoy all the firsts and how special it is,” Tavares said after the Leafs’ practice in Heber City on Monday.
Preview: Utah Mammoth vs. Edmonton Oilers
The Mammoth will see the Oilers twice this week: on the road Thursday and at home Saturday.
In the last meeting between the two teams, an overtime thriller in April, Utah recorded its first-ever win against Edmonton. Of course, that was the day they debuted the “Zammoth,” so no matter how many superstars the Oilers dressed, they were never destined to escape with a win.
Utah hopes to pile up a couple more wins this week.
At the time of writing, Edmonton has the two top point scorers in the NHL: McDavid and defenseman Evan Bouchard, who respectively have 13 and 12 points in five games. Bouchard is also tied with four others for the league lead in goals — including Utah’s Nick Schmaltz.
The Oilers are the only remaining team to have not suffered a regulation loss this year. That’s a stark change from the previous two seasons. In both 2024–25 and 2025–26, the Oilers started the season rough and were out of the playoffs at American Thanksgiving.
New head coach Mike Babcock surely has something to do with that.
EVAN BOUCHARD!!! 💣
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 30, 2026
THE FIRST HAT TRICK BY A DEFENCEMAN IN A SEASON OPENER SINCE 1980 🤯 pic.twitter.com/UI75XZ5Jwx
Preview: Utah Mammoth vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
After shocking the hockey world by making the playoffs last spring, the Penguins seem determined to prove it wasn’t a fluke. They currently hold the third spot in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins have buttered their bread with perfect depth acquisitions over the last few seasons. They don’t always go after the biggest names, but they find guys who fit their systems.
Last year, it was Anthony Mantha, Justin Brazeau and Parker Wotherspoon, among others. This year, Kaedan Korczak, Declan Carlile and Nick Robertson seem to be those guys.
Crosby, who’s playing in his 22nd NHL season, has gotten off to a slow start by his standards: zero goals and two assists through six games with a -4 rating. To this point in his career, he has never finished a season with fewer points than games played.
His lifelong co-pilot Evgeni Malkin has been as solid as you could ever ask a 40-year-old to be. Malkin has three goals and five points through six games.
That’s not unusual in the dynamic of the Penguins. Throughout the last two-plus decades, any time Crosby or Malkin is not at his best, the other steps up his game. It’s a major reason the team has made the playoffs 17 of the last 20 seasons.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Monday is set to be Malkin’s first-ever game at the Delta Center. He was injured when the Penguins played there in 2025 and he was suspended during their early 2026 visit.
