Friday night is the scariest night of the year. It\u2019s the one night where everyone huddles up and lets cold shivers race up and down our spines.<\/p>\n
Yes, it\u2019s Oct. 31 \u2014 the last night for NHL teams to get within four points of a playoff spot before Elliotte Friedman\u2019s fabled Curse of November 1st kicks in and all but officially starts eliminating also-rans from the playoff race.<\/p>\n
Oh, it\u2019s also Halloween, if you\u2019re into that sort of thing.<\/p>\n
Either way, it\u2019s time for our annual roster of the NHL\u2019s scariest starts, relative to expectations. As always, we do the full roster plus an extra goalie, with a limit of one player per team. That means 11 teams will get away unscathed, which will somehow upset their fans even though it\u2019s mostly a good thing. That\u2019s OK, this time of year doesn\u2019t have to make sense. The bones are the skeletons\u2019 money, in their world bones equal dollars.<\/p>\n
Where were we? Right, it\u2019s scary season. Time to yell \u201cboo!\u201d<\/p>\n
GoaliesJordan Binnington and\/or Joel Hofer, Blues<\/p>\n
OK, one pick in and we\u2019re already cheating a bit. But trying to choose between Binnington and Hofer is like picking which of your kids you like best, only the complete opposite. Binnington\u2019s the veteran starter, and he\u2019s been bad. Hofer\u2019s the young backup pushing for a bigger role, and he\u2019s been awful. Which of those is scarier? It\u2019s hard to say, unless you\u2019re a Canadian thinking about who might be starting in the Olympics.<\/p>\n
Yaroslav Askarov, Sharks<\/p>\n
Macklin Celebrini aside, one of the key reasons everyone seems to feel so good about the Sharks\u2019 rebuild is that they seem to have their goaltender of the future locked down. That\u2019s often the hardest part of the process, but the Sharks took care of it with last year\u2019s deal with Nashville \u2026 or so we all assumed. Askarov was just OK in limited NHL action last year, but this was the year for him to show his stuff. The early returns aren\u2019t great, although it\u2019s only been six games, so let\u2019s stay frosty.<\/p>\n
Ilya Sorokin, Islanders<\/p>\n
If there was one key to the Islanders\u2019 push back into contention, it was Sorokin playing well enough to get traded to the Oilers for an absolute ransom steal games. It hasn\u2019t happened so far, and it contributed to his goalie coach losing his job. Jesse Granger dug into what\u2019s going on and whether the coaching change might help<\/a>. (Meanwhile, tro keep Islander fans from yelling at me: Matthew Schaefer is good.)<\/p>\n DefenseRasmus Dahlin, Sabres<\/p>\n A lot of us had him penciled in as a dark horse Norris candidate, and the only real question was whether a guy this good could really be a dark horse for anything. But ten games in, he\u2019s had his ups and downs. He hasn\u2019t scored yet, only two of his seven assists have been primaries, and while his underlying numbers are better than his -8 looks, they\u2019re still underwater. You can certainly understand him having a slow start this year<\/a>, but the Sabres need him to find his A-game soon.<\/p>\n Evan Bouchard, Oilers<\/p>\n I had been trying to talk myself into having the guts to pick Connor McDavid before he tripled his goal total on Tuesday, but even I\u2019m not crazy enough to tempt the hockey gods that way. So instead, let\u2019s go with a pick that\u2019s only slightly less likely to hold up well in Bouchard, who had just four points to go with a -9 rating before popping off with three assists against Utah. The story was always that his offense would be enough to counter some occasionally shaky defense, but it hasn\u2019t been there consistently this year, which isn\u2019t ideal when a $10.5-million extension has just kicked in. The good news: His underlying numbers are some of the best on the team, which suggests there\u2019s some bad puck luck in play here.<\/p>\n Moritz Seider, Red Wings<\/p>\n Like Bouchard, the defensive numbers have been just fine, even bordering on excellent. The disappointment here is on the offensive side, where Seider has just three assists to show for the year. Worse, he\u2019s been held off the scoresheet entirely at even strength. On one hand, that\u2019s a rare bit of bad news for a Wings team that\u2019s off to a strong start. On the other, you wonder how good this team might be when the puck starts inevitably going in with Seider on the ice.<\/p>\n Brock Faber, Wild<\/p>\n Young players hit rough patches in the NHL all the time, and that\u2019s especially true for defensemen who\u2019ve just turned 23. So we\u2019ll just say it\u2019s been a rough start for Faber, who only got his first primary points of the season this week while struggling defensively at times. He hasn\u2019t been good enough, and he knows it<\/a>. The problem is that the Wild\u2019s rough start means that patience feels like a luxury right now, even if it\u2019s the only stance you can take with a kid with this much talent.<\/p>\n Cody Ceci, Kings<\/p>\n He\u2019s getting caved in defensively and doesn\u2019t help much at the other end. Was anyone expecting significantly better results? OK, I see Ken Holland waving his hand in the back, but anyone else? There can\u2019t be many. And that includes most Kings fans, who are just happy I went with the cheap crowd-pleaser instead of putting Drew Doughty here.<\/p>\n Jordan Spence, Senators<\/p>\n Linus Ullmark is the obvious pick in Ottawa, but our crease is already crowded on this roster, so let\u2019s go with a bit of a weird one. On paper, the numbers look fine for Spence, who has four points in four games in Ottawa to go with decent defensive numbers. The scary stat is the one that usually comes first: Games played, where Spence has only suited up four times amidst a stream of healthy scratches. He\u2019s made a few high-profile mistakes in his limited appearances, as you might expect for a young blueliner settling into a new team. They traded two picks for him over the summer, so you\u2019d assume they saw something, but so far, it\u2019s fair to wonder how he fits with this roster<\/a> going forward.<\/p>\n ForwardsAuston Matthews, Maple Leafs<\/p>\n A 37-goal pace wouldn\u2019t seem all that scary for most players, but it\u2019s supposed to be the floor for the three-time Rocket winner. Instead, his five-goal output might actually be flattering, with two of those coming into empty nets. And he only has one power-play point, contributing to one of several early-season problems in Toronto. It\u2019s early, and maybe even a little reductive, but so far it seems like he misses Mitch Marner a lot more than the other way around.<\/p>\n Andrei Svechnikov, Hurricanes<\/p>\n This was supposed to be his big breakout year, which is why he landed on our annual all-intrigue team<\/a>. Instead, he somehow went pointless through eight games before finally getting on the board on Tuesday, which should be just about impossible when you\u2019re getting top-nine minutes on a team as good as Carolina. And worse, his own coach says that he \u201cdisappears a little bit\u201d\u2026 in a soundbite where he\u2019s trying to defend him<\/a>.<\/p>\n Roope Hintz, Stars<\/p>\n You can certainly live with a point-a-game, but we do have to point out that Hintz has yet to beat a goaltender this year; his only goal was into an empty net. He\u2019ll be fine, but with the Stars already losing a bit of ground in the Central slugfest, they\u2019d like it to happen soon.<\/p>\n Steven Stamkos, Predators<\/p>\n It just isn\u2019t clicking in Nashville, to the point where trade rumblings have started in earnest. You can understand why the transition from the Lightning to the Predators<\/a> was tough on him last year, but one goal through his first 11 games isn\u2019t the rebound anyone was hoping for.<\/p>\n Matvei Michkov<\/p>\n We all knew that Michkov would be a tough fit with John Tortorella, but he\u2019s now onto his second NHL coach and the results are going in the wrong direction. Through nine games, Michkov has just one goal, and his inconsistent play has seen him occasionally benched (again). He\u2019s still only 20 and this is part of a process, and the Flyers say they\u2019re not worried<\/a>. But let\u2019s not sell it short: This is supposed to be the foundation of the rebuild, so they\u2019ll need to see progress soon.<\/p>\n Brandon Hagel, Lightning<\/p>\n He came into the year having scored over 90 goals in his three full years with the Lightning, going from an underrated up-and-comer in Chicago to a guy who\u2019s assumed to have a spot on Team Canada. But this year, he\u2019s only got two goals through the first ten games. One caveat: His expected numbers are still very good, so this could turn around quickly once a few more bounces start going his way.<\/p>\n Sam Bennett, Panthers<\/p>\n One goal. One assist. No goaltenders \u201caccidentally\u201d injured. It hasn\u2019t been a very productive season so far for the reigning Conn Smythe winner in year one of his new $64-million deal. \u00a0Of course, none of that will matter when he\u2019s driving play in tough minutes during the playoffs \u2026 assuming the Panthers can get there.<\/p>\n Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re, Rangers<\/p>\n This was supposed to be his breakout season, for about the fifth year in a row. Instead, he seems to be taking a step backward, held to just one goal through 11 games \u2013 and that one came way back on Oct. 9. The 2020 draft was weird and at some point we should probably stop dumping \u201cfirst pick\u201d pressure on Lafreni\u00e8re. And yes, the lack of goals is largely due to a 3.7 percent shooting percentage that we know won\u2019t last. But on a team that\u2019s trying to reload in real time, they can\u2019t afford to see a 24-year-old take the confidence hit that would come with another offensive regression<\/a>.<\/p>\n Conor Zary, Flames<\/p>\n I\u2019m honestly not sure if there\u2019s a single player on the Flames that you couldn\u2019t put on this roster, from Dustin Wolf on out. Maybe Blake Coleman? But we\u2019ll go with Zary, considered the team\u2019s best prospect among skaters but so far is stuck at just a goal and two points through 11 games. If the rebuild is coming in Calgary \u2014 and it absolutely should be \u2014 then they need the few young pieces who are already here to prove they belong.<\/p>\n Mason Marchment, Kraken<\/p>\n There haven\u2019t been too many disappointments in Seattle so far, but Marchment might qualify after coming over from Dallas as the big offseason addition \u2013 he scored 23 minutes into the season opener, and has been held off the board ever since.<\/p>\n Evander Kane, Canucks<\/p>\n You could understand why the Canucks decided to roll the dice on a local guy on the last year of his deal, given that he scored between 22 and 30 goals in each of his last five full seasons. But so far, he\u2019s still looking for his first goal as a Canuck despite getting top-six minutes.<\/p>\n Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals<\/p>\n One year ago, Ovechkin was stuck at two goals when I wrote him into that year\u2019s Scary Starts piece. Then he scored twice the night before the post went live, and once in each of the next four games on the way to shattering Wayne Gretzky\u2019s record with ease, and Capitals fans never stopped making fun of me all season long. Rightfully so, if we\u2019re being honest. This year, he\u2019s once again stuck at just two goals and has yet to find the net on the power play. Have I been bribed by the Capitals to include him here again to get him going? I will not be taking questions on this topic at this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friday night is the scariest night of the year. 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