Revenge Tour: 10 can’t-miss games on NHL’s 2024-25 schedule

The Nashville Predators kicked off the 2024 off-season with fireworks, putting the league on notice with a spending spree that shook up the franchise’s fortunes. But aside from the Preds faithful, it wasn’t Nashville’s altered-contender trajectory that piqued the hockey world’s interest on July 1 — it was what was left behind in the wake of those blockbuster signings.

After nearly two decades in Tampa, Steven Stamkos — one of the most iconic figures in Lightning history — has swapped Bolts blue for Predators gold. After a couple Stanley Cup runs, and a banner hung, Jonathan Marchessault — an original misfit — has left Vegas for Nashville, too. Which sets us up for a couple must-watch tilts when 2024-25 comes around. 

Past the games that really matter, the jostling down the season’s home stretch, the real test that comes when the playoffs arrive, there’s something oddly intriguing about the type of homecoming games Stamkos and Marchessault will wade into when they return to their former rinks — the so-called ‘revenge games.’ It’s not just about the fan appreciation — it’s the bigger picture. Spurned stars, in sweaters that don’t look quite right, hungry to show their former club the error of letting them walk out the door.

With the 2024-25 schedule here, let’s take a look at a few must-watch revenge-tour tilts to mark down on your calendars.

Steven Stamkos returns to Tampa Bay in Predators gold (Oct. 28)

Stamkos’s first game back at Amalie Arena will be intriguing, facing off against the team he debuted for as a No. 1 pick back in 2008, the team he won a Rocket Richard Trophy for a season later, the team he hung two banners for while becoming one of the most respected captains in the game. It’s sure to be a bizarre sight, No. 91 gliding past Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov in white-and-gold road colours. You have to imagine the veteran sniper will be looking to put one past old pal Andrei Vasilevskiy, to show GM Julien BriseBois that he might not have been so expendable after all.

We won’t have to wait long to see the matchup, with the Preds heading to Tampa in the season’s opening month, on Oct. 28. Stamkos will face off against them again a month later, when the Bolts visit Nashville in Nov. 29. Ex-teammate Mikhail Sergachev will get his own Tampa Bay homecoming a few months later, when the recently traded Utah defender’s newly minted franchise takes the ice at Amalie Arena on March 27.

Jonathan Marchessault returns to Vegas to build belief (April 12)

It might not be quite the same level — particularly given Vegas’s recent track record of shipping out former franchise mainstays to remain ruthlessly competitive — but in the wake of Marchessault’s comments about how his Golden Knights tenure came to an end, his own homecoming promises to bring some fireworks of its own.

Asked this week about his conversations with the Golden Knights brass before leaving the club he won a Conn Smythe with just two seasons ago, Marchessault made clear he’d wanted to stick around, but Vegas has other ideas. “They just didn’t believe in me for the remainder of my career, I guess,” the veteran said of his conversation with president George McPhee and general manager Kelly McCrimmon before he was sent packing. He’ll make his return to T-Mobile Arena on April 12, to make them believe.

Canucks’ Jake DeBrusk returns to Boston with distractions in the rear-view (Nov. 26)

Canada’s NHL contingent made a few marquee moves of its own on July 1 — one of the biggest splashes was surely the Vancouver Canucks’ bringing in long-time Boston Bruin Jake DeBrusk. For Vancouver, the fit was clear, and hopes are high that the 27-year-old can mesh with Elias Pettersson and hit a new level in this second chapter of his career.

For DeBrusk, the move closes the door on a somewhat tumultuous seven years in Boston, a stretch that seemed to bring, in even measure, memorable post-season performances and unending trade rumours. For the first time in his career, the Edmonton native has some security, a chance to see how good he can be without the threat of a move hanging over him. On Nov. 26, he’ll play his first game at TD Garden as a visitor, perhaps looking to show the B’s front office they should’ve given him the same chance.

A month later, on Dec. 14, the Bruins make their way to Vancouver, which, incidentally, will mark a few returns on the other side, with Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov both jumping to the Canucks-Bruins rivalry’s American contingent this summer.

Oilers’ Jeff Skinner faces Buffalo with an eye on redemption (Jan. 25)

The most successful Canadian club of 2023-24 loaded up this month in hopes of running it back and earning another shot at the Cup in 2025. Most intriguing of the Edmonton Oilers’ additions was Jeff Skinner — while the dynamic scorer’s talent is well-established, his career has been a roller-coaster, winding through eight years in Carolina and six in Buffalo, all of which amounted to exactly zero playoff appearances.

It’s hard to fault the smooth-skating Skinner too much for that lack of success, given six 30-goal efforts he’s stitched together, a few of his finest coming in the back half of his career, including a 35-goal, 82-point campaign just two seasons ago. That didn’t stop the Buffalo Sabres from buying out the remaining three years of the 32-year-old’s contract last month. On Jan. 25, likely alongside Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman on what could be a deadly line, Skinner will get his first chance to face the Sabres and redeem himself. He’ll make his first return to Buffalo a couple months later, on March 10.

Devils’ Sheldon Keefe returns to Toronto with a new crew of young stars (Jan. 16)

Out east, the most interesting Canadian homecoming might be on the bench, not the ice. After half a decade in Toronto that brought plenty of regular-season success, and even more post-season pain, head coach Sheldon Keefe parted ways with the Maple Leafs this summer, before opening a new chapter with the New Jersey Devils. Away from the Toronto fishbowl, and armed with a young, talented team led by another all-world American pivot, Jack Hughes, how far could Keefe and his new club go?

It won’t take long for the ex-Leafs coach to send his new squad out against his old one — as soon as the Devils return from their overseas Global Series games, they’ll make their home debut against Toronto on Oct. 10. The Leafs will come to town again on Dec. 10. And soon after that, on Jan. 16, Keefe will return to Scotiabank Arena for his first game in front of the Maple Leafs faithful as Devils coach — a match that could bring extra intrigue, depending on where each club sits in the standings by that point.

A few other former Leafs, T.J. Brodie and Tyler Bertuzzi — who both signed with the Chicago Blackhawks this summer — will return to Scotiabank Arena a month before Keefe, on Dec. 2.

Senators’ Linus Ullmark returns to Boston as a No. 1 at last (Nov. 9)

The Ottawa Senators split up one of the game’s most dominant goalie tandems, and one of its most joyful brotherhoods, when they acquired Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins last month. After sharing the B’s cage with Jeremy Swayman for the past three seasons — and earning a Vezina Trophy along the way — Ullmark found himself the odd man out as Swayman eventually took centre stage during the 2024 post-season. When the playoffs came to an end, the Bruins cemented that decision, sending Ullmark to Ottawa in exchange for a package that included Joonas Korpisalo, who will back up the B’s newly crowned starter, Swayman.

Given the depth of the bond between the former teammates, there’s surely no ill will between Ullmark and Swayman themselves. But after having been finally granted a No. 1 role himself, it’s fair to assume Ullmark will be looking to show out when he makes his return to Boston in early November, his first chance to send a message to the Bruins about the cost of breaking up the band.

Capitals’ Pierre-Luc Dubois returns to L.A., looking to prove his worth (March 13)

If there’s anyone in the league hunting for redemption harder than Skinner, it might be Pierre-Luc Dubois. The 26-year-old was humbled this off-season, traded to Washington by Los Angeles only a year after the Kings gave up a four-piece package to acquire him from Winnipeg, a move that was followed by an eight-year, $68-million extension. After just one season on L.A.’s books, GM Rob Blake elected to move on from the polarizing pivot, moving him to the Caps in exchange for netminder Darcy Kuemper.

Set to suit up for his fourth team after just seven years in the league, the 2016 third-overall pick will surely be looking for a bounce-back season in 2024-25, after a disappointing California debut that saw him put up career-worst numbers in Kings colours. With a shot at lining up alongside Alex Ovechkin as the Great 8 closes in on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, Dubois will return to Los Angeles on March 13, surely looking to make Blake and Co. regret their decision to bail. His first matchup against the Kings will come a few months prior, on Dec. 22 in D.C.

Blue Jackets’ Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau give Calgary a reminder of past eras (Dec. 3)

Both Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau have played against the Calgary Flames a handful of times since moving on from the club two years ago. But for the Flames faithful, 2024-25’s return figures to have a different feel, given the news of Monahan signing a five-year, $27.5-million deal in Columbus, reuniting with former Calgary linemate Gaudreau.

For those who watched the duo’s near-decade-long run from the Saddledome stands, who remember the daily chatter about "Johnny and Mony" around town, it’ll be an odd sight — Nos. 13 and 23 dashing around the Dome, together, in Blue Jackets sweaters — a strange, brief reminder of an era that brought plenty of excitement and hope to Calgary, before the chapter came to a close. That return comes Dec. 3, a few days after the pair plays their first game against the Flames together, in Columbus on Nov. 29.

Oilers, Panthers reunite for Stanley Cup Final rematch (Dec. 16)

Another pair of former Flames, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, will have a noted return of their own in December, when their Florida Panthers return to Edmonton on Dec. 16 to meet the Oilers — the first meeting between the two clubs since their white-knuckle Stanley Cup Final matchup came to a chaotic close. A couple months later, on Feb. 27, the Oilers will travel to Sunrise, Florida for the first time since their Game 7 downfall, taking the ice at Amerant Bank Arena with the Cats’ new championship banner looming above. 

A key member of that Cup-winning Panthers squad, veteran defender Brandon Montour, will make his own return to Amerant Bank Arena a week prior, when his new club — the Seattle Kraken — roll into town on Feb. 22.

Bonus: A pair of long-awaited big-league debuts 

Beyond the free-agency-fueled intrigue, a few other notable games will begin the NHL’s 2024-25 season: a pair of debuts that will each usher in a new era for hockey south of the border. 

In Utah, the league’s newest franchise will begin its inaugural season on Oct. 8, taking the ice under the Delta Center lights, decked out in the new sweaters. They’ll meet Connor Bedard’s Chicago Blackhawks for Game 1 in franchise history, as the reigning Calder Trophy winner looks to build on his sterling rookie season in Year 2. 

Speaking of star rookies, a couple days later we could witness the big-league debut of Macklin Celebrini, the San Jose Shark’s new talisman, tabbed with the first-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Although he is yet to declare his intentions, all signs point to the Hobey Baker-winning Boston University standout taking the ice at the SAP Center for his first real game in teal on Oct. 10, the hopes of the Sharks faithful on his back.