1
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Rangers
| After a career year in 2023-24, Artemi Panarin has picked up right where he left off. Panarin already has six goals and seven assists, and he has multiple points in four of the Rangers’ first six games. Panarin’s game has hit another level under Peter Laviolette, and he will thrust himself into the Hart Trophy discussion if he can improve on last year’s performance. | 1 | 5-0-1 |
2
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Jets
| The Jets’ third line of Mason Appleton, Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter is once again mopping the ice with opponents. That trio has controlled 54.5% of the expected goals share at five-on-five while outscoring teams 5-0 in those situations. Having that line in the bottom-six is a serious weapon that very few NHL teams have in their arsenal. | 5 | 6-0-0 |
3
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Stars
| Jake Oettinger just recently got a massive eight-year contract extension, and he is proving to be worth more than that $66 million at the moment. Despite the Stars’ defense being a little leaky to start the season, Oettinger has been spectacular. He leads the NHL with 6.43 goals saved above average, and his .879 high-danger save percentage is also stellar. | 2 | 5-2-0 |
4
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Devils
| The best news the Devils have gotten in the first nine games of this season is that Timo Meier is back. Meier wasn’t himself for much of last season, but he’s wasted no time finding a groove through the first nine games. He has six points in the last three, and his nine points are tied for the team lead. Getting peak Meier would go a long way toward helping New Jersey’s Cup chances. | 1 | 5-3-1 |
5
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Canucks
| There was some hand-wringing about Elias Pettersson’s effectiveness in the postseason last year, and he hasn’t done anything to dispel that with his slow start. Pettersson has just three assists in Vancouver’s first six games, and he has just nine shots on goal. Once the Canucks find a way to get their No. 1 center going, they should start flying up the standings and these rankings. | 6 | 3-1-2 |
6
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Lightning
| Andrei Vasilevskiy regained his dominant form in spurts after recovering from back surgery last season, but he hasn’t played at an elite level for a long stretch since the 2022-23 season. Now, Vasilevskiy is off to a slow start this year, allowing three or more goals in three of his first five starts and posting an .878 save percentage. | 7 | 4-2-0 |
7
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Wild
| Heading into the season, it seemed like the Wild were open to the idea of rotating three goalies this season. If Filip Gustavsson continues to play like he has in his first four starts, they can put that idea in the shredder. Gustavsson had an incredibly disappointing 2023-24 campaign, but he’s been sharp so far. His 7.72 goals saved above average are second in the NHL, and his .952 save percentage isn’t too shabby either. | 11 | 4-0-2 |
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Hockey Club
| One of the big question marks for Utah coming into the season was young center Barrett Hayton. The former No. 5 overall pick was injured for most of last season and entered 2024-25 looking for a bounce-back. So far, Hayton has looked like a future star with four goals and two assists in seven games. If Hayton can maintain this production — or something close to it — Utah will only entrench itself further at the top of my list of must-watch teams. | 1 | 4-2-1 |
9
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Hurricanes
| Through four games, the leading goal-scorer for the Hurricanes is … Shayne Ghostisbehere (4). Four more players are tied for second with two. The sample size is minuscule, and one big game from someone like Martin Necas or Andrei Svechnikov could get things going, but Carolina’s lack of high-end scoring up front has been glaring so far. | 1 | 3-2-0 |
10
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Golden Knights
| Prior to last night’s games, I had written up a blurb about Tomas Hertl’s slow start. Then he drops two goals and two assists against the Kings, and he now has seven points in seven games. Hertl’s five-on-five impacts still leave something to be desired, but it was good to see him all over the scoresheet on Tuesday night. | 5 | 4-2-1 |
11
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Avalanche
| Hello, Ross Colton. Last season, Colton proved to be a solid middle-six addition for the Avalanche, but he is scoring at a torrid pace. Colton has six goals in seven games, and he’s found a home in the bumper position on the Colorado power play. His three power play tallies this year already match last season’s total, and the Avs just need to keep feeding him in the slot until teams catch on. | 4 | 3-4-0 |
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Panthers
| For fans of other Atlantic Division teams hoping Sam Reinhart’s 57-goal season in 2023-24 was a fluke, you may be in for a rude awakening. Reinhart already has five goals in eight games, and his line featuring Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell has been a problem for opponents in the early going. Can Reinhart eclipse the 60-goal mark this season? | 8 | 4-3-1 |
13
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Maple Leafs
| Coming into the season, there was a lot of excitement about Joseph Woll between the pipes for the Maple Leafs. After he suffered a preseason injury, that excitement was dampened until Anthony Stolarz transformed into Dominik Hasek. In Woll’s absence, Stolarz has a .938 save percentage with 5.72 goals saved above average. Woll will return soon, but Stolarz has earned more starts. | 7 | 4-3-0 |
14
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Oilers
| One perplexing aspect of the Oilers’ slow start has been their power play, which scored at a 26.3% clip last season. This year, Edmonton has converted on just two of its first 19 opportunities with the man advantage. That comes out to 10.5%, which ranks 29th in the NHL. While a portion of that is due to poor puck luck, the Oilers have been pedestrian when it comes to creating dangerous scoring chances on the power play. There is too much offensive talent on the roster for the Oilers to let this continue. | 6 | 2-4-1 |
15
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Flames
| The Flames are banking on Dustin Wolf being the future in goal, and he’s been impeccable in his first three starts of the season. In games against the Flyers, Blackhawks and Penguins (quality of competition should be noted), Wolf has allowed just seven goals against on 110 shots faced. He’ll be an interesting player to watch as the season unfolds. | 6 | 5-0-1 |
16
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Capitals
| Alex Ovechkin broke through for his first goal of the season on Saturday, so the chase for Gretzky is officially on. That’s good news for the Caps, but so is the fact that they are now 4-1-0 to start the season, and they’re playing good hockey. Last season, Washington rode some puck luck to the postseason, but the process has matched the results through the first five games of 2024-25. | 6 | 4-1-0 |
17
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Senators
| Is the Sens’ young core finally taking the next step? The early signs of that are promising. Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Josh Norris have all combined for 13 goals in six games. Defenseman Jake Sanderson is tied for third on the team with seven points. Maybe it is all starting to come together in Ottawa, but this group still has 77 more games to prove it’s no fluke. | — | 4-2-0 |
18
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Bruins
| I don’t think it’s an overreaction to say that the Bruins have assembled the greatest line in hockey history. Boston’s fourth line of John Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke has been mowing down opponents. Those three have combined for seven goals and seven assists while outscoring opponents 8-0. How long can these three keep this up? I have no idea, but they are a blast to watch right now. | 6 | 3-3-1 |
19
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Predators
| Steven Stamkos scored his first goal as a Predator on Saturday, and the team got its first win of the season on Tuesday. Those are some positive signs for Nashville, but the team has still dug itself an early hole with a five-game losing streak out of the gate. The Predators still have work to do in order to avoid becoming one of the NHL’s biggest disappointments. | 5 | 1-5-0 |
20
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Kings
| The early returns on Brandt Clarke, the No. 8 overall pick in 2021, are encouraging for the Kings. The 21-year-old defenseman has four assists in seven games, and the underlying numbers at five-on-five have been solid too. With Drew Doughty out for the foreseeable future, some accelerated development from Clarke would give Los Angeles a big boost. | — | 3-2-2 |
21
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Red Wings
| Right now, the Red Wings are getting bludgeoned at five-on-five, and they’ve scored three or fewer goals in five of their first six games. Despite that lack of offense, Detroit is 3-3-0 because Alex Lyon has been saving his team’s bacon between the pipes. Lyon is coming off a shutout of the Islanders, and that boosted his save percentage to .955, which is 49 points higher than his career average. | 4 | 3-3-0 |
22
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Islanders
| After a 2023-24 season full of overtime heartbreak, including 16 losses beyond regulation, Islanders fans were probably hoping for a less stressful season. Thus far, the Isles have continued to display their love of drama. The team has already gone past regulation three times, going 1-2 in those games, but that’s what happens with a team built to play tight-checking and low-scoring games. | 6 | 2-2-2 |
23
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Kraken
| Matty Beniers hit a sophomore slump last season, and he’s off to another slow start this season. Through seven games, Beniers has only registered one assist, and that’s a discouraging sign for the 2023 Calder Trophy winner. Perhaps Beniers is still adjusting to new coach Dan Bylsma’s system, but Seattle needs him if it’s going to get back to the postseason. | — | 4-3-0 |
24
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Sabres
| The Sabres have looked better over their last few games, and at least some of that is due to the play of star forward Tage Thompson. After notching one point in Buffalo’s first three games, Thompson is now riding a five-game point streak with four goals and three assists in that span. He and Alex Tuch have come alive over the last week, which is music to the ears of Buffalo fans. | 2 | 3-4-1 |
25
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Blues
| Is Joel Hofer taking over the crease in St. Louis? It sure seems that way right now. Jordan Binnington has gotten off to a rough start, and the Blues are 1-3-0 with him between the pipes. Hofer, on the other hand, has a .932 save percentage and a 3-0-0 record. Coach Drew Bannister might want to consider riding Hofer, at least until he starts to cool off. | 1 | 4-3-0 |
26
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Ducks
| As a rookie last season, Leo Carlsson had his workload managed as he put on more weight and got adjusted to the speed and physicality of the NHL game. That plan might have worked out well because Carlsson has stood out as one of the Ducks’ best players through the first two weeks of the season. He has three goals in his last four games, and his five-on-five impacts are decent, especially relative to some of his other teammates. | 4 | 3-2-1 |
27
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Penguins
| Last Wednesday, Sidney Crosby tallied his 1,600th point on the same night that Evgeni Malkin notched his 500th goal. It was a memorable night for Penguins fans that ended with Crosby scoring in OT to beat the Sabres. For all the struggles Pittsburgh has had over the last couple years, those two have given the fan base its money’s worth. | 8 | 3-4-1 |
28
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Blue Jackets
| Kirill Marcheko was a legitimate bright spot for the Jackets last season, and he’s carried that over into this one. He’s off to an excellent start with three goals and five assists to this point, and he leads the team in both of those categories. The 2018 second-round pick has already become an important part of this lineup, and he’s someone the Blue Jackets can build around. | 3 | 3-3-0 |
29
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Canadiens
| Outside of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsk, where is the offense going to come from in Montreal? That’s still being sorted out, and Patrik Laine’s long-term injury certainly makes things more difficult. Perhaps Kirby Dach can return to his pre-injury form, but the forward group in Montreal lacks true playmakers outside the top line. | 1 | 2-4-1 |
30
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Blackhawks
| Despite some intriguing offseason additions, Chicago still has a long way to go before it becomes a real playoff contender. This start has made that clear, but the question now is how much longer the team waits before calling up players like Frank Nazar, the No. 13 overall pick in 2022 and another potential franchise cornerstone. | 1 | 2-4-1 |
31
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Flyers
| It’s not shocking to see the Flyers stumbling out of the gate after they overachieved so much last season. What is a little disappointing is the fact that key members of their young core have yet to get going. Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost have combined for one goal and four assists. Philadelphia is relying on that trio to push the franchise into the future. | 4 | 1-4-1 |
32
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Sharks
| I wondered if it could get any worse for the Sharks after last season, but they may actually be worse. San Jose has yet to pick up a win in its first seven games, and it has scored two or fewer goals in four of them. The Sharks need Macklin Celebrini back in the lineup soon in order to make them watchable again. | — | 0-5-2 |
