Sometimes teams have slow starts, and other times, players just start slowly. It could be a case where the player was battling some injuries early in the season, but it’s always a little concerning when you are last in your hockey pool after almost two weeks, like me.<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n
Frank Vatrano<\/a> (5-0-0-0) \u2013 (81-21-24-25 in 2024-25)<\/p>\n He has seen his ice time go from 17-18 minutes per game the past three seasons to 12:51 after five games. His power play time is also down from 51.8% in 2023-24 and 54.2% in 2024-25 to 1.9% in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Jackson LaCombe<\/a> (5-0-1-1) \u2013 (75-14-29-43)<\/p>\n While the offense hasn’t been there for LaCombe over the first five games, the opportunity has. He’s averaged 25:23 per game while being the quarterback on the first unit of the power play at 69.8%. He should start to produce at a 40-point pace sooner or later.<\/p>\n Ryan Poehling<\/a> (5-0-0-0) \u2013 (68-12-19-31)<\/p>\n I thought Poehling might come into the Ducks as their third-line center, but he’s averaged 9:05 per night and is clearly on the fourth line at this time.<\/p>\n Pavel Mintyukov<\/a> (5-0-1-1) \u2013 (68-5-14-19)<\/p>\n Mintyukov came into the NHL as a rookie in 2023-24 and had 28 points in 63 games while averaging 18:51 per game. He has gone a little back since then and is averaging just 13:37 per game in 2025-26 with no power play time. He has gone from a potential 40-50 point defender who might put up 100 hits and 100 blocks to a defender struggling to be a regular.<\/p>\n Calgary Flames<\/p>\n The Flames are struggling as a team after six games, with Mackenzie Weegar<\/a> a team-worst minus eight, with Joel Hanley and Matt Coronato<\/a> next at minus seven in plus minus. Others struggling are Morgan Frost<\/a> (6-1-1-2), Connor Zary<\/a> (6-1-0-1), Joel Farabee<\/a> (6-0-2-2) and Yegor Sharangovich<\/a> (6-0-1-1). As a team, they should come around slightly.<\/p>\n Zayne Parekh<\/a> (4-0-0-0) (rookie)<\/p>\n Parekh has averaged 17:36 in his four games he has dressed and he has been held without a point while being minus-three. He has seen 33.5% of the time on the power play. The Flames need some offense, so expect him to get some better opportunities sooner than later.<\/p>\n Dustin Wolf<\/a> (1-4-0, 85.4%) \u2013 (29-16-8, 91.0)<\/p>\n Wolf has a negative GSAA (goals saved above average) of 7.47 in five games after being positive 12.74 for all of 2024-25. Wolf is too good a goalie not to rebound.<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n The Blackhawks are producing quite well across the board and don’t really have any slow starts on their roster.<\/p>\n Artyom Levshunov<\/a> (6-0-2-2) (18-0-6-6)<\/p>\n Levshunov has averaged 15:20 after six games in 2025-26 and is being sheltered a little to begin this campaign. He is seeing 40.8% of the time on the power play.<\/p>\n Colorado Avalanche<\/p>\n Gabriel Landeskog<\/a> (6-0-2-2) (injured)<\/p>\n We all should have been a little wary of how much and to what level Landeskog would play in 2025-26 after missing three full seasons due to injury.<\/p>\n They might ramp him up as the season progresses, but right now, he is averaging 14:21 per game. When he was last a regular in 2021-22 he played over 20 minutes per game. Those days are gone.<\/p>\n Brock Nelson<\/a> (6-1-1-2) (80-26-30-56)<\/p>\n Nelson hasn’t produced much yet, but is averaging 19:43 per game while being on the power play 69.8% of the time. The points should come on this roster for him.<\/p>\n Valeri Nichushkin<\/a> (6-2-1-3) (43-21-13-34)<\/p>\n Nichushkin has seen his ice time cut to 16:04 and his power play time go from 67.5% to 24.9% since 2024-25. He might have trouble getting back to 0.8 points per game unless his ice time gets back to 2024-25 levels.<\/p>\n Brent Burns<\/a> looks like he has pushed Josh Manson<\/a> to the third pairing. Manson is averaging 16:57 while Burns is at 20:09.<\/p>\n Dallas Stars<\/p>\n Matt Duchene<\/a> (4-1-1-2) (82-30-52-82)<\/p>\n Duchene missed one game after a high hit but appears to be back healthy. Hopefully, that explains his low ice time after four games of 14:27 after averaging around 17 minutes in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n Connor McDavid<\/a> (6-0-7-7) \u2013 (67-26-74-100)<\/p>\n We’re not used to McDavid having no goals after the first six games of any season. Could he have reached his peak and be on the way down the other side at almost 29 years of age? That could be partly true, but the more likely scenario is that he starts producing at a much higher pace the remainder of 2025-26.<\/p>\n Leon Draisaitl<\/a> (6-4-1-5) \u2013 (71-52-54-106)<\/p>\n Draisaitl has just two even-strength points after his first six games (0.3\/g) compared to 73 ES points in 71 games (1.02\/g) in 2024-25. Once Draisaitl sorts that out closer to a point per game, his production should start ramping up.<\/p>\n Evan Bouchard<\/a> (6-0-0-0) \u2013 (82-14-53-67)<\/p>\n Bouchard has been held pointless, but there is nothing to suggest that after six games that anything has changed as far as his deployment. He might be facing tougher opponents at even strength early on, as his offensive zone starts have been around 50% compared to 60% in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Kings<\/p>\n Alex Laferriere<\/a> (6-0-0-0) \u2013 (77-19-23-42)<\/p>\n He has seen his ice time down to 14:34 in his first six games from 16:32 in 2024-25. He will need to get back some ice time to match his production of last year.<\/p>\n Warren Foegele<\/a> (6-1-0-1) \u2013 (82-24-22-46)<\/p>\n Much like Laferriere above, Foegele has averaged 14:47 compared to 16:10 and has struggled to produce as of yet. Surprisingly, the two haven’t played much together at even strength.<\/p>\n Brian Dumoulin<\/a> (6-0-0-0) (80-3-19-22)<\/p>\n Dumoulin is minus-five after six games, all while being paired with Cody Ceci<\/a> in the first two games. The good news is that he is now paired with Drew Doughty<\/a>.<\/p>\n Darcy Kuemper<\/a> (0-2-1, 86.8%) \u2013 (31-11-7, 92.2%)<\/p>\n Kuemper might have been nursing an injury, as he missed a few games, but he should be back for the Kings\u2019 road trip this week. He’s a goalie and 35 years old so there is no guarantee he will have his form from 2024-25, but as long as he is healthy, he will be the starter.<\/p>\n Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n Brock Faber<\/a> (6-0-0-0) \u2013 (78-10-19-29)<\/p>\n Faber is still playing a lot as he averages 23:20 per game, but he is not getting power-play time (1.6%) so far. He was at 45.8% in 2023-24 and 52.1% in 2024-25. Zeev Buium<\/a> has replaced him entirely as the quarterback.<\/p>\n Filip Gustavsson<\/a> (1-3-0, 88.8%) \u2013 (31-19-6, 91.4%)<\/p>\n Gustavsson has been a bit of a roller coaster in his career with a save percentage year in year out. Since his rookie year in 2020-21, he’s had 93.3, 89.2, 93.1, 89.9 and 91.4. Hopefully, he’s not on pace for an off-season. He could be feeling the pressure of Jesper Wallstedt<\/a> breathing down his neck as the backup right now.<\/p>\n Nashville Predators<\/p>\n Steven Stamkos<\/a> (6-1-1-2) \u2013 (82-27-25-52)<\/p>\n This is probably not the start that the Predators or Stamkos wanted from him in 2025-26 after a disappointing inaugural 2024-25. He’s getting the same deployment as 2024-25, but his shots on goal are still at around 2.2\/g rather than his usual 3\/g that he has had most of his career.<\/p>\n Filip Forsberg<\/a> (6-1-2-3) \u2013 (82-31-45-76)<\/p>\n Everything looks similar to 2024-25 and 2023-24 for Forsberg as far as ice time and deployment, so look for his production to improve as the season goes.<\/p>\n San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n William Eklund<\/a> (5-1-1-2) \u2013 (77-17-41-58)<\/p>\n Eklund has produced just one ES point in his first five games and is minus-six. He was playing with Tyler Toffoli<\/a> and Alex Wennberg<\/a> for five of those goals against.<\/p>\n He is on the power play 58.4% of the time and has averaged 18:19 per game. Both are similar to 2024-25.<\/p>\n Yaroslav Askarov<\/a> (0-1-1, 83.1) \u2013 (4-6-2, 89.6)<\/p>\n Askarov didn’t take advantage of his chance to wrestle away the 1A starting role after five games. He’s had two really bad starts in his only two starts. This will be a tough team to play in goal for in the near future and put up anything close to good numbers, but Askarov needs to be better than Alex Nedeljkovic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n Eeli Tolvanen<\/a> (5-0-1-1) \u2013 (81-23-12-35)<\/p>\n Tolvanen is seeing more power-play time after five games (36.5%) than he did in 81 games (16.6%) in 2024-25. Hopefully, that will translate to a few more goals and assists if it continues. He should be fine.<\/p>\n Ryan Winterton had an excellent first game with five hits and three shots on goal. He then put up just five hits with no shots on goal over his next four games.<\/p>\n St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n Robert Thomas<\/a> (5-1-1-2) \u2013 (70-21-60-81)<\/p>\n Thomas has just one assist at ES in five games and one power play goal. It looks like he has been playing with Jake Neighbours<\/a> and Pavel Buchnevich<\/a> for the most part, so the points should start coming.<\/p>\n Cam Fowler<\/a> (5-0-1-1) \u2013 (68-9-31-40)<\/p>\n Fowler has been on the power play 53.9% in five games and he has yet to get a point on the power play. He had a good run in the second half with St. Louis and the playoffs on the power play in 2024-25, but he might not be an ideal quarterback on the first unit, long-term.<\/p>\n Dylan Holloway<\/a> (5-1-0-1) (77-26-37-63)<\/p>\n Holloway has struggled to follow up his breakout in 2024-25 after five games. His ice time is up to 19:15 from 16:49 and his power play time is at 52.5% compared to 42.0%, so the opportunity is there for the time being to grow on the production from last year.<\/p>\n Logan Mailloux<\/a> (4-0-0-0) \u2013 (7-2-2-4)<\/p>\n I think a few people might have jumped the gun with how ready Mailloux was to be a regular in the NHL and do well after he was traded from Montreal for Zachary Bolduc<\/a> in the off-season. He is a minus-seven after his first four games in 2025-26, where he has averaged just 12:48 per game. He probably just needs to get over the early expectations and early-season jitters. He might need some games in the AHL to reset before that.<\/p>\n Utah Mammoth<\/p>\n Mikhail Sergachev<\/a> (6-0-0-0) \u2013 (77-15-38-53)<\/p>\n The power play time has gone down from 71.1% in 2024-25 to 62.0% in 2025-26, which was to be expected with the return of Sean Durzi<\/a> (he’s played just two games so far and is back on injured reserve). Sergachev is still logging over 25 minutes per game, so he should see some uptick in production soon enough.<\/p>\n Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n Elias Pettersson<\/a> (6-1-2-3) \u2013 (64-15-30-45)<\/p>\n It’s not the statistical start that Pettersson or the Canucks would have liked for him but the signs are there that he’s a better player than in 2024-25. The deployment is the same as 2024-25 but we’d like to see more shots on goal or he’s going to struggle to get 20-25 goals.<\/p>\n He has 12 blocked shots after six games, so there is much more to his game than points, but he still needs to earn even close to the $11.6 million AAV.<\/p>\n Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n Reilly Smith<\/a> (6-1-0-1) \u2013 (79-13-27-40)<\/p>\n Smith has seen his icetime go from 15:26 to 13:26 and his power play time go from 24.0% to 13.3%. As a result, he might struggle to duplicate the 40 points he had in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Shea Theodore<\/a> (6-0-1-1) \u2013 (67-7-50-57)<\/p>\n The five-forward deployment is not helping Theodore in 2025-26 on the power play. His time has gone from 72.1% to 19.1% and the great starts that other members of the Golden Knights have experienced have excluded Theodore so far. As long as the power play produces, Theodore will struggle to produce points with the man advantage.<\/p>\n Adin Hill<\/a> (1-0-2, 88.2) \u2013 (32-13-5, 90.6)<\/p>\n Hill should pile up the wins in Vegas to the tune of 25-35 in 2025-26 if healthy. This roster might outscore any defensive or goaltending issues that they have. Hill missed a game with a lower-body injury but seems to be ok now.<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n Winnipeg has followed up their President’s Trophy in 2024-25 with an impressive four wins in their first five games of 2025-26.<\/p>\n Outside of Josh Morrissey<\/a> being pointless in five games, there isn’t anyone that has had a slow start on this roster. Morrissey is still playing the same minutes and playing well, so his points will come.<\/p>\n Thanks very much for reading. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter<\/a> @gampbler15.<\/p>\n