Dallas Stars (0-0-0) at Winnipeg Jets (0-0-0)
Venue: Canada Life Centre
Date: Tonight – Thursday, October 9
Time: 7:00 pm CST
How To Watch: Victory+ (away) / TSN3 (home)
Radio: 1310 The Ticket (away) / 680 CJOB (home)

Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster

PlayNow Manitoba Betting Lines:
Dallas Stars +1.5 ML -115
Winnipeg Jets -1.5 ML +100
O/U 5.5
Betting odds subject to change before puck drop

Dallas Stars News & Notes:

The Dallas Stars are entering a new season and are looking to push forward from their Western Conference Final exit against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2025 Postseason. They’ve made a few roster moves by signing Ben Kraws and Remi Poirier to one and two-year deals, respectively. They also added Adam Erne on a one-year contract for depth. All contracts are two-way deals.

On the injury and roster note front, Stars captain Jamie Benn is still on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He will not be available to Dallas until a later date. Oskar Back was absent from a recent preseason game due to an undisclosed injury, putting question marks on his availability early on.

Esa Lindell was named Finland’s Male Hockey Player of the Year, which is a nice personal accolade for the Stars’ defenseman. Other notes for Dallas are the future of the franchise’s arena, as the team considers a move from the American Airlines Center elsewhere once their lease is up in 2031.

Dallas squares up against a division rival in Winnipeg, a matchup that both teams are all too familiar with. In the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Dallas got the upper hand by eliminating Winnipeg in six games, with Thomas Harley scoring the overtime winner in game six.

Winnipeg Jets News & Notes:

The Winnipeg Jets enter the 2025-26 season as the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners. The Jets also locked up their superstar forward, Kyle Connor, to an eight-year contract extension that is the richest in franchise history.

Winnipeg was plagued with injuries before the 2025-26 campaign even began, as Dylan Samberg, Cole Perfett, Adam Lowry, and Jonathan Toews either went for an offseason surgery, got injured in preseason and are out week-to-week, or tweaked something and are day-to-day.

There’s an opportunity for younger players like Nikita Chibrikov to cement themselves into a more prominent role with the Jets, as he’s still up with the team. Toews’ uncertain return could also see Parker Ford and/or Brad Lambert make the opening night lineup if Toews is not available. Defensively, Luke Schenn, Haydn Fleury, and Colin Miller will all be fighting to fill a top-four role with Samberg’s absence.

Dallas Stars Projected Lines

Sam Steel – Roope Hintz – Mikko Rantanen
Jason Robertson – Wyatt Johnston – Mavrik Bourque
Colin Blackwell – Matt Duchene – Tyler Seguin
Adam Erne – Radek Faksa – Nathan Bastian

Esa Lindell – Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley – Nils Lundkvist
Lian Bischel – Ilya Lyubushkin

Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith

Get Your Dallas Hockey Merchandise Here: Dallas Hockey

Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines

Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Gabriel Vilardi
Gustav Nyquist – Jonathan Toews – Nikita Chibrikov
Nino Niederreiter – Vladislav Namesntikov – Alex Iafallo
Cole Koepke – Morgan Barron – Tanner Pearson

Josh Morrissey – Dylan DeMelo
Haydn Fleury – Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley – Luke Schenn

Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie

Get Your Winnipeg Hockey Merchandise Here: Winnipeg Hockey

Players To Watch:

Dallas Stars

Thomas Harley will be looking to build momentum on his series-winner back in the 2025 Western Conference Semifinals against Winnipeg. If he can be effective against Winnipeg, there should be no question that he can have a strong season overall by kicking it off with a strong start in Winnipeg.

Mikko Rantanen is one of the Dallas Stars’ superstar players. Getting off to the races in game one of the 2025-26 NHL regular season will be a massive thing for him if he wants to cement himself as the guy in Dallas.

Winnipeg Jets

Nikita Chibrikov is making his 2025-26 season debut on the Winnipeg Jets’ opening night roster and lineup. It’s a big moment for the Jets’ 50th overall draft selection back in 2021 as he looks to make himself a full-time NHLer.

Cole Koepke was an intriguing signing by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2025 offseason, and now he makes his 2025-26 season debut after a strong training camp in Winnipeg. Koepke played the majority of the 2024-25 season with the Boston Bruins, and his NHL experience will be incredibly valuable to the Jets as they look to have a big season.

Next game

Dallas Stars – October 11 at Colorado Avalanche
Winnipeg Jets – October 11 vs Los Angeles Kings

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