TSN’s Hockey Insiders on which first-year players to watch for the 10-game mark, Adam Lowry and the Jets, Dubas on the Pens’ surprising start/Crosby’s future, how the Caps hope to cover the loss of Dubois, Michkov’s slow start and the NHL’s hope for a record-setting crowd at Jerry World.

Gino Reda: With the Insiders, Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger. Just under a month into the NHL regular season, and there’s a key milestone that means some NHL teams have some big decisions to make, CJ.

Chris Johnston: Yeah, that would be the 10-game hurdle, which if you’re a teenage player in the NHL and you can be sent back to junior, it’s an important one to get across. It’s officially when the entry-level contract kicks in and for teams it is a decision that has to come and it isn’t to be taken lightly.

Take the Pittsburgh Penguins, for example, they’re not afraid to do this, they’ve done it with Ben Kindel already, and they have Harrison Brunicke, who at this point is at nine games and I can tell you that as of Tuesday, there’s still some internal discussions as to what’s next for him, nothing has been decided yet.

You can see also, Michael Misa in San Jose, Berkly Catton in Seattle, those players are approaching that 10-game mark and so for them these are a critical couple of days because you’re being evaluated each and every game to get there.

Should be noted, of course, just because you get there doesn’t mean you can’t still be sent to junior or the World Junior team, and all three of those players will be on Canada’s radar if they don’t last in the NHL.

Reda: Big news for Jets fans surrounding their captain on a couple of different fronts, Dregs?

Darren Dreger: Yeah, it’s such a great boost for the Winnipeg Jets and the city of Winnipeg to get their captain, Adam Lowry, back in the mix. It’s also been a priority for a long, long time by the organization to get Lowry locked up longer term.

We know that once Kyle Connor extended with the Jets last month that the contract focus very quickly shifted over to Lowry. Both the team and the player are super motivated to get something done. It’s not quite there yet, but it’s getting closer, and having him back on the ice there is a big step in that direction.

Reda: Pierre, back in September, you poured fuel on the fire of the Sidney Crosby trade rumours when Sid told you he gets why there’s all the talk, but has the Pens’ play now poured water on that fire, at least temporarily?

Pierre LeBrun: It sure has quieted down, and that was always the plan. In chatting with [Penguins general manager] Kyle Dubas, he says that he’s had very clear communications since the end of last season with Crosby and his agent about what the plan was here moving forward.

That plan is both the long-term view, which is to continue to make this team younger and the transition of the roster and overhaul, but also to be more competitive this year, so that Crosby’s last few years on his contract are played in an environment where they’re competitive and have a chance, and so far this year that’s exactly what’s happened, and as Crosby himself said in September, he gets why there’s white noise after they missed the playoffs in three straight years, but the opening month has quieted that noise for now.

Reda: On Monday the Capitals announced Pierre-Luc Dubois is going to miss an extended amount of time with a lower-body injury – where do they look to fill that hole, Dregs?

Dreger: Obviously there’s no quick fix for a loss like this, and I know Pierre-Luc Dubois is going through the second opinion process to make sure that his recovery path is headed in the right direction.

It’s believed that he’s not going to be out the entire season, but the Capitals have acknowledged he is going to miss a significant amount of time. The Capitals, of course, will explore the trade market, but they need to be careful when moving out current or future assets, being mindful of whenever the post-Alex Ovechkin era begins.

In the meantime, they’ll try to fill the hole internally – Connor McMichael is a natural centre, he’s already been flipped in to that role, and I expect that he’ll get a real long look by [Capitals coach] Spencer Carbery down the road as well.

Reda: Guys, Matvei Michkov led all rookies in goals last season, but [has] just one so far heading in to Tuesday’s action. What do the Flyers figure happened there, Pierre?

LeBrun: What we’re hearing is this: Michkov showed up to camp not in good enough shape to start his second NHL season. Obviously that’s disappointing for the organization, but to the player’s credit, he is putting in all the extra work right now to get back to where he needs to be, working with the Flyers’ assistant coaches and he’s been better of late.

The fact is, because of where he started the year, behind the eight ball, he wasn’t creating the kind of separation on the ice that he’s used to, he’s prone to turnovers, he was benched at times by head coach Rick Tocchet, so disappointment, but not the first second-year player to have a bit of a sophomore situation here in his second season.

The Flyers are confident he will be fine, but it’s certainly disappointing.

Reda: Speaking of disappointment, when the Dallas Cowboys make on-field news, we usually go to Cowboy lover Pierre, but this news surrounds the field itself, CJ?

Johnston: It does, and the NHL made a big splash on Monday Night Football of all places, announcing the 2027 Stadium Series game at the home of the Cowboys, AT&T Stadium.

What’s interesting about this one is, I think as the league goes through more and more outdoor games, it’s hard to differentiate them, make them stand out, but what’s interesting about this one is there’s a hope that they could get as many as 100,000 fans for that game.

The Dallas Stars set the bar pretty high at the Cotton Bowl in the Winter Classic in 2020, 85,000 fans, but there’s a chance this gets in to six figures and could even threaten the all-time NHL record which is 105,000 fans at Michigan Stadium in 2014.