Jets, Capitals lead early-season surprises

Last ranked: 32

The Sharks are winless no longer, but the team made unfortunate NHL history by becoming the first club to lose nine consecutive games to begin consecutive seasons. This is clearly just the beginning of a long season in San Jose.

Last ranked: 28

The good news for Chicago is that Connor Bedard has gotten off to a near point per game pace. The bad news? Pretty much everything else. Though again, this Blackhawks team is still rebuilding so they at least seem to be right on track there.

Last ranked: 27

The blowout losses are a concern if you’re Montreal, as Sam Montembeault has taken a step back in net so far this season. Things probably stabilize somewhat going forward, but with Montembeault yet to crest over a .903 save percentage in his career, you have to wonder if he’ll be their guy long term.

Last ranked: 30

Lukáš Dostál has been keeping the Ducks afloat with some stellar performances in goal. That being said, the Ducks are one of the NHL’s worst offensive teams through the first few weeks so adjust your expectations of them accordingly.

Last ranked: 21

One has to wonder how long Mike Sullivan lasts with the Penguins playing this poorly. A six-game losing streak on the back of horrific defense and goaltending has completely erased a great start for this team offensively. If this continues, expect a shakeup in Pittsburgh before the month is out.

Last ranked: 23

Matvei Michkov is leading the NHL’s rookies in goals so far in the early goings, which is great. The rest? Not so much, as the Flyers have one of the worst combined save percentages in the league through 11 games. Yikes.

Last ranked: 8

This is about as bad of a start as you could get if you’re the Bruins and Thursday’s 8-2 blowout loss likely won’t go unanswered if we had to guess. Boston has been shut out twice in its last six games and have looked hapless on offense for most of the season. Sure, the Atlantic Division is middling at the moment and the Bruins could be back in it quickly, but their problems stretch far below the surface right now.

Last ranked: 17

The concerns around Ilya Sorokin’s health after returning from back surgery have been unfounded so far this season, with the goaltender posting a .932 save percentage in five games played. Why have the Islanders dropped so far then? Their offense continues to be anemic and has been shut out three times in 10 games. Something has to change with this Islanders offense.

Last ranked: 16

The Red Wings have some quality wins under their belt so far, but it’s fair to say that we expected more from them. Steve Yzerman is already making tweaks to the roster after a few weeks, looking to invigorate the team from a middling start. It’s still early, but this is not what we were hoping for from this Red Wings team with high aspirations.

Last ranked: 24

Utah started the season strong at 4-1-1, but have since gone 1-3-1 to end October. There are some sparks of life on this team — Dylan Guenther, anyone? — but the bones of this team are still made from the Arizona Coyotes and we definitely shouldn’t forget that.

Last ranked: 21

Since going 4-2-0 to start the season, the Blues have lost four of their last five, including an 8-1 drubbing from the Senators. We nearly got another Jordan Binnington blowup in the game too, which tells you all you need to know about the state of this Blues team so far.

Last ranked: 31

The Blue Jackets have played quite above expectations to start the season. Dean Evason’s systems are meshing well with this Columbus team, and it’s resulted in an offense that’s exploded for six goals against Toronto and Edmonton and a solid defensive effort through nine games. I still don’t think the Blue Jackets are a playoff contender, but they might be better than we thought this season.

Last ranked: 25

The Kraken have been quite streaky to start off the 2024-25 campaign, with winning and losing streaks of three games each in October. Seattle will have to find consistency in the second month of the season if it wants to take advantage of some stumbles by playoff-caliber teams.

Last ranked: 11

It’s been a weird start to the season, eh? The Predators went winless in their first five games before collecting points in four of their last five to put out the fires a bit. There are signs of life in this Nashville team, but a loss to the Oilers on Thursday has them sinking back into old habits once more.

Last ranked: 29

After a blistering 5-0-1 start that shocked many across the NHL, the Flames have fallen back to earth after losing four straight to end the month. So far, Calgary has outplayed all expectations to begin the 2024-25 season so they deserve some credit, but I’m still not convinced this is a team ready to compete for a playoff spot.

Last ranked: 2

While it may not be as dire as last season’s start, the Oilers have some work to do. Connor McDavid’s injury will put him out for a few weeks as Edmonton looks to get out of another hole they’ve dug for themselves. The Oilers are extremely snakebitten right now and aren’t getting any help in net either, making for a real disappointing start to the season.

Last ranked: 20

The Sabres had a rough go of things to start October and seemed a bit weary from their travels across Europe at the beginning of the season. Since, the team has won three of their last four games and Tage Thompson’s offense is starting to come online again. Buffalo is still a team in the NHL’s murky middle, but you have to respect them bouncing back in the way they have the last few weeks.

Last ranked: 15

It really says something that the Kings are 6-3-2 and yet are second in the Pacific Division. The team is staying above water without Drew Doughty, but the cracks are very visible in this team. Quinton Byfield doesn’t have a goal through 11 games and Kevin Fiala got benched for missing a team meeting.

Last ranked: 26

I’m sure no one expected the Senators to have an explosive offense this year, right? Through nine games this season, Ottawa is a top team in goals scored, with four players having over five goals each on the year thus far. While the Senators are just barely above .500 as the calendar turns to November, it’s a good sign things are clicking offensively for Ottawa.

Last ranked: 5

Another streaky team to start the season has been the Avalanche, who began with four straight losses then won five games before finishing the month with two more losses. Unfortunately for Avalanche fans, they’ve seen this script before, as injuries have done a number on the team’s roster so far. It’s a rough start, but the talent on Colorado’s roster should be enough to keep them competitive.

Last ranked: 6

The Canucks have done well to keep their heads above water without Thatcher Demko, but Wednesday’s 6-0 loss to the Devils shows this team likely can’t hold on forever without their star goaltender. Kevin Lankinen at least has performed well in relief and he should be able to transition nicely to a backup role once Demko returns from injury, hopefully later this month.

Last ranked: 10

We’re just a few weeks into the season and the Maple Leafs are already driving their fans nuts. The NHL season is 82 games long for every team, but Toronto fans live and die by each game’s results. Is it a healthy approach? Not in the slightest, but because the Maple Leafs have gotten off to a good — but not great — start, the mood has been changing daily in Toronto. Two straight wins to end October at least ends things on a high note.

Last ranked: 7

The Devils put up two big wins at the end of October and sit first in the Metropolitan Division, but by points percentage, they’re fourth. A weird quirk of having the most games played of any NHL team this season. Offensively, the Devils are firing on all cylinders, but the goaltending tandem of Jacob Markström and Jake Allen — both over 34! — has left much to be desired after the first month.

Last ranked: 4

The Rangers have lost two of their last three, but it doesn’t seem to be a cause for concern yet as they were close losses to the Panthers and Capitals. Newly-inked forward Alexis Lafrenière continues to take steps forward in this role with his team, as he has eight points in nine games so far for the Rangers.

Last ranked: 13

These new-look Lightning have acclimated well to Jake Guentzel’s presence, with the Lightning boasting one of the top offenses in the NHL as November begins. Despite a slight dip in mid-October, this Lightning roster is still one of the hardest to play against with just how overwhelming their attack is. Andrei Vasilevskiy also seems to have more pep in his step this season after barely holding onto a .900 save percentage last year.

Last ranked: 19

It’s fair to say the Capitals have been quite the surprise so far. Tom Wilson — yes, that Tom Wilson — is leading Washington in goals while Alex Ovechkin sits at five in the early goings. As it stands, this run hasn’t seemed like a fluke, as the Capitals are one of the top teams in terms of fewest goals allowed and are seeing far fewer shots against than the average team.

Last ranked: 18

The Wild went seven straight games to start the 2024-25 season without dropping a game in regulation. Eventually they succumbed to the Flyers, but what a start for Minnesota and Kirill Kaprizov, who has 18 points (!) to begin the campaign. Is this the year the Wild finally shake out of the NHL’s murky middle and actually win a playoff round or two?

Last ranked: 9

Another year, another strong regular season performance for the Hurricanes. Rod Brind’Amour has the Hurricanes playing their usual stout defensive style and it is, once again, frustrating teams across the NHL. Offense may be on the thin side here — and Frederik Andersen is hurt once again — but so far, so good for Carolina.

Last ranked: 12

The Golden Knights have yet to lose on home ice this season, but have gone winless on the road. That being said, Vegas’ offense has been a buzzsaw so far, putting up a NHL-best goals total spearheaded by Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev. Vegas will have to get better on the road if they want to have long-term success, yet this is a great start nonetheless.

Last ranked: 1

The reigning Stanley Cup champions had a bit of a swoon in the middle of the month, but recovered nicely with a three-game winning streak to end October. Even if the Panthers haven’t been operating at their max — which hasn’t been helped due to missing Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov for chunks of the year — Florida is still playing toe-to-toe with the NHL’s best.

Last ranked: 3

Jake Oettinger is the early-season Vezina favorite as November arrives. The Stars already had one of the NHL’s most balanced rosters, yet Oettinger has no doubt been the team’s MVP in the early goings. I’d like to see the Stars’ offense produce a bit more, but overall you can’t complain too much about this start.

Last ranked: 14

I almost didn’t want to believe it, but the Jets are the NHL’s best team coming out of October. Sure, the Jets’ recent playoff history isn’t the most inspiring thing, but credit where it’s due, Winnipeg is legit right now. Connor Hellebuyck is doing Connor Hellebuyck things and five players have over 10 points on the season already. Impressive stuff all around.