In the first week-plus of NHL action, there is only so much to learn. Samples are small, with teams only approaching the six-percent mark of an 82-game season. But where is the fun in that?<\/p>\n
The first month of the season is the prime time to spot trends and spew half-baked takes. So, let\u2019s add to the drama of the early goings of the 2025-26 season and look at 10 way-too-early takes developing around the league.<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay\u2019s lack of speed on the blue line could be a problem<\/p>\n
An aging, slowing blue line is one of the biggest reasons the Tampa Bay Lightning have suffered three consecutive first-round playoff defeats. The lackluster puck-moving from Tampa Bay\u2019s D was exposed by the Panthers\u2019 ferocious forecheck last spring in the playoffs. Three games into the 2025-26 regular season, Tampa\u2019s lack of foot speed on the backend has also been an Achilles heel in defending the rush.<\/p>\n
The Bolts completely left Andrei Vasilevskiy out to dry in their season-opener against the Senators, surrendering a constant barrage of dangerous rush chances. Tampa Bay was also outshot 17-2 at one point during its loss to the Devils. By our count, the Lightning have already given up eight rush goals against this year (an average of two per game).<\/p>\n
SHANE PINTO GIVES THE SENATORS THE LEAD WITH LESS THAN TWO MINUTES TO GO \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/Fk2CdJGE2s<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 10, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Tampa\u2019s defensemen have been beaten in multiple ways in transition \u2013 they\u2019ve been caught out of position pinching, they\u2019ve been beaten with speed wide, and their slot passing coverage has been poor. Victor Hedman appears to have possibly lost a step, depth defenders like Darren Raddysh and Emil Lilleberg have been exposed defensively, not to mention that Erik Cernak and Ryan McDonagh aren\u2019t exactly fleet of foot, either.<\/p>\n The Lightning are so skilled up front that we aren\u2019t worried about their odds of making the playoffs. However, their blue line clearly needs an upgrade if they have designs on a deep postseason run.<\/p>\n The Ducks could become one of the NHL\u2019s most entertaining offensive teams<\/p>\n The Anaheim Ducks already feel like a completely different team under new head coach Joel Quenneville. Anaheim looks significantly faster, more dynamic, and creative offensively, especially through the neutral zone and attacking off the rush. Simply put, the Ducks are fun as heck to watch.<\/p>\n Through three games, they rank third-best in the NHL at generating five-on-five shot attempts and fifth-best at expected goals for per 60.<\/p>\n NHL’s 5v5 Offensive xG Leaders<\/p>\n On top of that, the Ducks\u2019 power-play, which ranked 32nd in the NHL last year, is clicking at 36.4 percent in the early going. Both power-play units\u2019 passing is slick and decisive, and the arrival of Chris Kreider, an elite net-front finisher, has been a game-changer, as he\u2019s already scored three power-play goals individually.<\/p>\n Anaheim\u2019s top young players appear poised for monster breakout years \u2013 Leo Carlsson is up to five points in three games, Mason McTavish has four points, Cutter Gauthier has scored three goals, and 19-year-old rookie Beckett Sennecke, the No. 3 pick in 2024, has two goals and two assists.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t been all perfect \u2013 the Ducks are chaotic and messy in their own zone, especially defending the slot and net-front area. The club\u2019s early offensive success should be taken with a grain of salt, too, because two of their games were against the Sharks and Penguins.<\/p>\n However, fast, high-event hockey suits this team\u2019s high-end offensive skill very well. And if they can keep this up, they could emerge as a dark horse to contend for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n Demidov-Schaefer Calder race is going to be exciting<\/p>\n Last year, we were spoiled with a battle between high-end rookies at each position: Macklin Celebrini, Dustin Wolf, and Lane Hutson. After Ivan Demidov debuted for Montreal last spring, it looked like the Canadiens could be in for back-to-back rookie of the year trophies.<\/p>\n Demidov\u2019s debut was highly anticipated, not just in Montreal, but around the league. He quickly showed that he was worth the hype last spring, and is already building off that in the early goings of this season with his electrifying offensive ability and poise.<\/p>\n Rarement entendu le Centre Bell fort de m\u00eame<\/p>\n DAWG STARTS WITH A D#GoHabsGo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/u9icaGw4cs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Canadiens Montr\u00e9al (@CanadiensMTL) October 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to see why Demidov is the favorite for the Calder Trophy; 77 percent of our writers picked him in our early-season voting.<\/p>\n But he isn\u2019t the only rookie to keep an eye on. Zeev Buium, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Sam Rinzel are adding a real spark to the Central Division, but Matthew Schaefer is demanding the rest of the league\u2019s attention, too. He is already logging big minutes on Long Island, and showing why he was drafted No. 1 with his pace and offensive vision. If Schaefer can keep shining despite his surroundings, he should give Demidov some competition for the Calder Trophy this year \u2014 and that should make for yet another captivating rookie race.<\/p>\n The Canucks already look a bit shaky<\/p>\n It\u2019s obviously far too early to panic, but there is already some angst in Vancouver about the Canucks\u2019 uninspiring start. More concerning than the club\u2019s 1-2-0 record is the fact that they\u2019ve only played one good period of hockey through three games.<\/p>\n Vancouver would have been blown out against Edmonton on Saturday if it weren\u2019t for Thatcher Demko\u2019s heroics to maintain a respectable 3-1 scoreline. The Canucks again looked like they were in disarray on Thanksgiving Monday against the Blues, dropping a 5-2 game where they were outclassed in every phase of the game. Vancouver\u2019s season-opening win wasn\u2019t as dominant as the 5-1 final score indicated, either. The Canucks were out-attempted and out-chanced through the first two periods; it was only the final 20 minutes where the floodgates opened as they took advantage of a tired, running-out-of-gas Flames team that had played a long shootout game against Edmonton the night before.<\/p>\n The Canucks have been turning pucks over at an alarming rate, it\u2019s been very difficult to manufacture scoring chances offensively, and Elias Pettersson has just one point and three shots in three games.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t all doom and gloom \u2013 Demko looks like an elite goaltender again, and it\u2019s only a matter of time before Quinn Hughes begins singlehandedly taking over games again \u2014 but Vancouver doesn\u2019t have a ton of margin for error ahead of its upcoming five-game road trip.<\/p>\n Kirill Marchenko is the real deal<\/p>\n Kirill Marchenko emerged as a difference-maker in Columbus last year, with 31 goals and 74 points. He was a consistent scoring threat, whose offense helped fuel the Blue Jackets\u2019 surprising playoff push.<\/p>\n Whenever a player exceeds expectations, the question becomes whether it\u2019s real and sustainable. Some signs added some doubt, like the gap between Marchenko\u2019s expected (53 percent) and actual goal (66 percent) rate. While falling somewhere in between could be reasonable for this year, it\u2019s not like the player has a strong track record to lean on, either. His xG rate was around 44 percent in his two prior seasons, and his micro-stats profile wasn\u2019t eye-catching, either. A player can grow year-to-year, but that significant of a jump isn\u2019t always sustainable.<\/p>\n Still, even if last year\u2019s leap was high, Marchenko is proving in the early goings of this season that he can perform at a true top-line level. With four goals in three games, and a 53 percent xG rate at five-on-five, he is picking up where he left off last season. While no one should expect him to score at a 109-goal pace, or convert on 24 percent of his shots all season, he should still be an elite difference-maker in Columbus this year.<\/p>\n L.A.\u2019s blue line makeover is backfiring<\/p>\n Armed with cap space and consistent regular-season success, the Kings appeared to be one or two good offseason moves away from breaking through as potential Stanley Cup contenders in the West. Instead, they moved in the wrong direction, signing Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin for a combined $8.5 million. Those acquisitions were almost universally panned, and so far, the critics have been proven right.<\/p>\n The Kings (1-2-1) have been badly outshot, controlled less than 40 percent of expected goals, and been outscored 5-0 already during Ceci and Dumoulin\u2019s five-on-five shifts. They\u2019ve been unable to move the puck out of their own zone, and Ceci\u2019s defensive coverage has been an issue.<\/p>\n Hopefully, Brandt Clarke\u2019s promising start can translate into a big breakout year to help offset things. A new-look pair with elite shutdown defender Mikey Anderson carrying Ceci was better last game too, but the Kings must be feeling nervous about the early returns on their backend renovation.<\/p>\n Martin Necas is about to get the bag<\/p>\n With Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, and Kyle Connor recently re-signing with their respective teams, the 2026 free-agent market already looks a lot thinner on star talent. That\u2019s excellent leverage for Martin Necas, who\u2019s entering the final year of a $6.5 million AAV contract, and it\u2019s supercharged even further with the electric start he\u2019s had to the season.<\/p>\n Necas already has eight points in four games, after scoring a career-high 83 points last year. The 26-year-old Czech probably deserved to score more points with the Avs, last year too \u2013 he and MacKinnon controlled a dominant 66 percent of five-on-five scoring chances together, but they scored on less than 9 percent of their shots. They deserved to have more pucks go in, which would have meant even higher production.<\/p>\n The Avs\u2019 five-man trio with MacKinnon, Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews has looked unstoppable through the first few games.<\/p>\n Necas, a naturally speedy, gifted puck carrier, has shown an impressive ability to adapt to MacKinnon, who\u2019s also a puck-dominant player. As an example, watch how intelligently Necas finds quiet ice to get open in the slot when the opposition is focused on MacKinnon\u2019s puck-carrying. MacKinnon finds an open Necas, who rips a nasty shot to score.<\/p>\n Call it a connection. pic.twitter.com\/MNaVIW58c5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Colorado better be ready to back up the Brink\u2019s truck for Necas this summer.<\/p>\n It\u2019s getting late early in Buffalo<\/p>\n Losing 4-0 on home ice to open the season was bad enough. But the real kicker was losing Josh Norris to a non-contact injury for a significant amount of time. Then came back to back 3-1 losses.<\/p>\n While the Sabres finally earned two points against the Senators, those first three losses were enough to shake any confidence heading into the season.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the final result raising red flags, either. The Sabres looked disjointed on both ends of the ice in their opening matchups. Through their first three games, they mustered a 40.8 percent xG rate, and were outscored 7-2 at five-on-five. The power play, which was a real weakness last year, doesn\u2019t look any more dynamic either, with the team struggling to generate dangerous chances (and any scoring) in its first few opportunities.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, it\u2019s only four games with some key injury situations to navigate (Owen Power missed the first game, Zach Benson and Michael Kesselring have yet to debut this season, and Mattias Samuelsson is now sidelined, along with Norris). It\u2019s impossible to get mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture after four games.<\/p>\n But the chances of turning such a bleak start around already feel fragile. This isn\u2019t a battle-tested team that thrives in the face of adversity. It\u2019s a group facing a 14-year playoff drought that doesn\u2019t seem any closer to ending.<\/p>\n The Rangers could struggle to score this year<\/p>\n It would be dramatic to make a season-wide declaration about New York\u2019s scoring ability after just three home games \u2014 especially after outscoring opponents 10-1 on the road. It isn\u2019t for a lack of trying; the Rangers are spending time in the offensive zone, driving to the slot to generate dangerous chances, and creating looks off the cycle.<\/p>\n The Rangers are the first team in NHL history to be shutout in their first 3 home games. Hockey is a crazy game sometimes\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/UUTErtaESI<\/a><\/p>\n