With the NHL now two weeks into the season, we’ve already seen a lot of excitement in the league. Teams are beginning to establish themselves as contenders, players are getting their legs under them, and storylines have been emerging early in the year. Which teams have started off hot? Who stumbled out of the gates? And which players have caught my eye as the cream of the crop?
Jack Hughes is a Hart Trophy Candidate
The New Jersey Devils have a lot of offensive weapons between Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Tyler Toffoili just to name a few. But the best offensive threat on this team, and arguably in the league to this point, is Jack Hughes. Through five games he’s tallied four goals, ten assists and league high fourteen points, with all fourteen points being primary. He’s been the catalyst to a power play that's clicking at an unbelievable 44% (11-for-25) to start the year. But where he’s impressed me the most is his ability to turn defense into offense. His ability to take the puck off his opponent or force a mistake in the defensive zone has been a huge factor in his early success. This level or production isn’t realistic to expect to keep up, but I’m not going to rule out 115 points or a Hart trophy should the Devils have another great season.
Detroit Red Wings are a Pleasant Surprise
In my inaugural power rankings for the season, I had Detroit as a lower level team at 24th in the league. But through sheer offensive firepower they’ve been a top 10 team in the league with a record of 5-1-1 to start the year. The Red Wings have scored at least four goals in six of their seven games, led in points by captain Dylan Larkin who also has fourteen points. However if anybody can rival the start to the season of the aforementioned Jack Hughes, it may just be Alex Debrincat. The Michigan native has nine goals and four assists to start the year with his new team. Being on his third team in three seasons, Debrincat was somewhat of a wild card as the talent is evident, but being in a third system could have caused regression. Surpassing expectations, he has flourished for his childhood team. The combination of Ville Husso and James Reimer in net has been a breath of fresh air in comparison to last season. I don’t know if we can expect this type of production from Detroit all season, but watch out for them in the wild card hunt.
Three Undefeated Teams Remain
Honorable mention to the Dallas Stars as they remain unbeaten in regulation, but there are three teams who have yet to drop a point this year. Colorado Avalanche (6-0-0) and Vegas Golden Knights (7-0-0) are not necessarily a surprise as I do think they are the two most complete teams in the Western Conference. On any given night either team can beat you in a multitude of ways and have the depth to have many different players factor in to their success. Boston (6-0-0) on the other hand does surprise me. I anticipated a drop off this year due to how much they lost in the offseason, but they picked up right where they left off last regular season. They have yet to give up more than two goals in any game this season and their next man up mentality has been apparent. Matthew Poitras has looked very good in his first few NHL games tallying three goals and an assist while Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have been stellar in their appearances in net. Boston is a team that just finds a way to be top tier regardless of the adversity they face.
Pacific Division is the Weakest in NHL
It’s tough to say this after two weeks, but I look at the Pacific Division compared to the rest of the league and can’t help but think that after Vegas, I don’t see any real threat in that division. Edmonton has a high powered offense, but also has given up well over four goals per game. San Jose is the worst team in the league (shocker) and will be the worst team all season. Seattle has regressed from last year and was 1:22 away from starting the year 1-5-1. Anaheim doesn’t have the experience or goaltending to make a legitimate push at the playoffs. Calgary has had an offensive power outage this season averaging 2.42 goals per game. The only other bright spots in this division are Vancouver and Los Angeles. The Canucks are second in the division despite starting the year with a home game followed by an immediate five game road trip. On top of that, they have only given up more than three goals in one game this year. The Kings are offensively sound but are also the only team with a winning record that doesn’t have at least an .880 save percentage from their goaltending. This division is a joke and I fully expect the Western Conference to be represented by five Central Division teams in the playoffs.
NHL Once Again Shoots Itself in the Foot
If there’s anything the NHL and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman do well, it’s that they get in their own way. A LOT. Earlier this year, Bettman announced the NHL will no longer be allowing players to participate in social causes. One of the memos sent to each team said restrictions cover “on-ice activity” and “players should be encouraged to express themselves off the ice” as reported by ESPN. This included but was not limited to, Pride Nights, Military Appreciation Nights, and Hockey Fights Cancer Nights among other social causes. Some of this may go back to last season where Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov chose not to participate in pride night citing his religious beliefs as a Russian Orthodox. While this caused a bit of a situation for the NHL, and some may not agree with that decision, he had the ability to make that choice. The shortsightedness of Bettman to take away that choice, while also preaching the moniker “hockey is for everybody” is beyond hypocritical. Players voiced their frustrations and one, Travis Dermott of the Arizona Coyotes, taped his stick with pride tape to voice his displeasure with the situation. The NHL quickly changed their position on this matter, releasing a statement saying players can use stick tape to support their social causes, but this was a PR disaster from the start. It does not hurt anybody to support social causes, and the fans just got another reason to boo Gary Bettman.
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