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Rukkr Original NHL · WPG By The Beat Guy Oct 3, 2026

Connor Scored. The Rest of the Roster Is Still a Question Mark.

Kyle Connor extended his record for opening-night goals on Saturday, adding another chapter to a career-long habit of showing up when the calendar turns. It's a genuine milestone, the kind of thing that earns a mention in the franchise's history books.

It also landed against the backdrop of a team that opened the season with Hellebuyck suspended, a goaltending depth chart assembled largely from waiver claims and AHL call-ups, and a blue line that lost Logan Stanley to the Islanders days before puck drop. Connor scoring is the good news. Everything around it is the story.

The goaltending situation remains unresolved in any meaningful sense. Domenic DiVincentiis and Stuart Skinner are listed at the top of the depth chart, with Clay Stevenson — claimed off Washington's waiver wire last week — filling out the back end. That's a workable group on paper, but none of it was the plan when the summer began. The plan was Hellebuyck. The Jets are still waiting to see how that ends.

Connor's record is worth noting. So is the fact that the team around him went 36-51 last season and is allowing goals at a rate that has only worsened. He can keep scoring on opening nights. At some point, the Jets need the rest of the lineup to make those goals count.

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