Bantering Points: 10/4/17

The puck drops on the 2017-18 season tonight in Winnipeg, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, and San Jose as eight teams will hit the ice tonight and embark on another quest for the greatest trophy in sports. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Larry Brooks previews the 17-18 edition of the New York Rangers (NY Post)
• Brett Cyrgalis hears that Rick Nash has been helping Filip Chytil acclimate to the NHL (NY Post)
• Sean Hartnett notes that a renaissance of speed and youth has reshaped the Blueshirts five months after being eliminated from the playoffs (CBS)
• Dave Shapiro highlights Pavel Buchnevich as a player that must improve on last season's performance (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Brandon Cohen evaluates the options for utilizing Marc Staal (Blue Line Station)
• John Cavanagh predicts when Neal Pionk will earn a recall from the Hartford Wolfpack (Blue Line Station)
• Frank Curto wonders if Marc Staal will be able to keep his hold on a lineup spot throughout the season (Elite Sports NY)
• Jonathan Marrero sets expectations for the defensive pairing of Brady Skjei and Brendan Smith (Full Tilt)
• Kevin DeLury offers twelve thoughts ahead of the regular season (The Sports Daily)
• Matt Calamia chatted with Brandon Crawley about signing his first professional contract (Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• Chad Dedominics passes along word that Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill went off the deep end yesterday, handing forward Jack Eichel an eight year, $80 million contract extension (Die By The Blade)
• James O'Brien reports that Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson has been suspended four games for boarding St. Louis Blues forward Sammy Blais (NBC Sports)
• Chris Johnston writes that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul and Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa have been deemed eligible to be placed on long term injured reserve (Sportsnet)
• Travis Yost highlights ten players whose on-ice results looks a lot different than the average fan would think (TSN)
• Jared Clinton lists five things that can be gleaned from the pre-season (The Hockey News)/