Kristen ShiltonOct 16, 2025, 07:00 AM ETCloseKristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.Follow on X
Matty Beniers notches goal on the power play (0:28)Matty Beniers notches goal on the power play (0:28)
Consider New York an early-season enigma. And it’s not the only group drawing all manner of overreaction from around the hockey world.
That’s our time-honored sporting tradition though, to build up and tear down teams after only a few outings in a months-long season. The 2025-26 NHL campaign is only in its second week, and there are things to discuss — such as, what clubs are overachieving early? Which ones are cringe-inducing off the bat? And of course, what’s going on in the mushy middle?
It’s a short shelf life for observations of a tiny sample size. Get the takes while they’re hot in a quick spin around the league to highlight a few teams in each category — starting with the happy ones.
What has happened: Boston jumped out to a 3-0-0 record — matching the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers for the best statistical start of the season. Not bad for a Bruins team that finished with 76 points last season, missed the playoffs and generally wasn’t saddled with high expectations going into this new season. Boston is wearing its underdog status with pride.
Jeremy Swayman vastly underperformed after a combative contract negotiation bled into the preseason. Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm suffered injuries that cratered Boston’s blue-line prospects, and by March there wasn’t much GM Don Sweeney could do but send players elsewhere — including Brad Marchand to the aforementioned Panthers.
Somehow the lower expectations heading into 2025-26 have been freeing. Boston has benefitted from a light schedule thus far, topping the Chicago Blackhawks and Sabres out of the gate, but hey, you play who’s on the schedule. The Bruins are fifth in goals against, giving up just 2.25 per game, and that’s with Lindholm being out with an injury again.
David Pastrnak is averaging over a point per game, an excellent sign for Boston’s offense. And Swayman is 2-0, with a .966 save percentage. Even though the Bruins fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday for their first defeat of the season, it wasn’t an altogether bad effort. Just an indication that if Boston wants to stay on track, they’ll need to not be too self-satisfied by what they have achieved.
What has happened: Seattle went from bringing up the Pacific Division’s rear last season to scrambling its way up the standings with a strong push into this new campaign. That has included already topping one key divisional opponent — the Vegas Golden Knights — and doing so without a singular superstar in the mix. Intriguing!
Why it happened: The Kraken have cracked down defensively. Seattle is tied for sixth-fewest goals against per game (2.33) and it’s averaging fewer than 30 shots on goal per game. Even when the Kraken are making errors, it’s in wildly entertaining games like their overtime thriller in Montreal that ended with Seattle’s first loss of the season.
Seattle wasn’t meant to be a head-turner this season, but its slow and steady approach could yield more positive dividends.
Will it continue? The Kraken’s lack of elite talent may eventually catch up to them as other squads get their defensive games in order. Seattle has an uphill battle given who’s in their division — hello, Edmonton! — and the Kraken will need to keep proving themselves against tougher competition. The same could be said for other teams, though. Consider the Kraken to be an underdog who will at least contemplate making additions instead of subtractions prior to the trade deadline.
Why it happened: Don’t let that third period against Toronto define your opinion of the Predators. They were tied 2-2 with the Maple Leafs going into the third period on the second half of a back-to-back with No. 2 netminder Justus Annunen making his first start of the season. Nashville showed resiliency coming back from a 2-0 deficit and grinded to the finish line.
What has been working for the Predators is spreading the wealth offensively. Ryan O’Reilly is a commanding top-line center (with two goals in four games), while Erik Haula and Jonathan Marchessault (both with a pair of markers) are clicking on their third unit.
The real revelation though is goaltender Juuse Saros. He’s off to a 2-0-1 start with a .947 SV%. Saros has been Nashville’s savior in years past, and it has hurt them to rely too heavily on his contributions. If Nashville can supplement its goaltending with solid defense — led by the often-impeccable Roman Josi — and even more offensive firepower — Stamkos and Filip Forsberg are still coming along — then the Predators can stay on the right side of surprise this time.
Will it continue? Nashville can’t afford to be one-dimensional. Saros can’t carry them to the point that they are winning one-goal games every time out. And at some point, the power play will have to get rolling (5.9% isn’t going to cut it).
What Nashville is showing so far is character. The Predators have got some juice. How far does it take them? Possibly to a wild-card playoff spot — the Central Division is a beast, after all — and that’s more likely to happen if the Preds dedicate as strongly on the defensive side as they do offensively.
This team is having a whole lot of fun (and not just because they passed out some incredible Wild Wing-inspired masks to fans this week). Anaheim seems to have found new life under first-year head coach Joel Quenneville.
To splash a little water on the party, Anaheim is also allowing the sixth-most goals per game, and it isn’t exactly a defensive powerhouse yet, despite some seasoned veterans such as Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba on the blue line. The team’s 2-1-0 record to open the season is something to note as the Ducks perhaps begin sprinting toward daylight at the end of their rebuild.
What has happened: The Sabres weren’t necessarily counted among the elite Stanley Cup contenders heading into this season. But it took Buffalo fans all of three games to start “Fire Adams!” chants and wear paper bag adornments on their heads. So, aside from an out-of-character outburst on Wednesday night, not much good is going on right now.
Regardless, Buffalo still has most of its top players available, and they aren’t doing nearly enough. The Sabres were outscored 10-2 in their opening 0-3-0 skid (to average a league-worst 0.67 goals per game). Their power play went 0-for-11 in that span. Alex Lyon has stepped up in net with Luukonen out, but he can’t make up for the Sabres’ lack of offense.
Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch have one goal apiece; Jason Zucker is the real standout, with three (!). and Rasmus Dahlin has tossed in a trio of assists. However, most of that output came in Wednesday’s game against Ottawa, where Buffalo showed signs of life against a team depleted by the loss of captain Brady Tkachuk.
Can that momentum translate against other clubs? We shall see. The Sabres haven’t shown they necessarily have the depth to account for their injured parties and it’s an indictment on Adams’ management (hence those jerseys flying onto the ice). Buffalo doesn’t have the defensive details to hold its opponents at bay without further goal support. And it has put them behind the eight ball early.
Will it continue? The Sabres aren’t hurting for talent; they’re starved for execution. Benson returned for Wednesday’s game and that was a boost Buffalo needed. One bad week (or two) won’t define a season for Thompson, Tuch or Dahlin. It’s really whether the Sabres can command confidence through their struggles that might determine success from here.
What has happened: The Canucks’ sputtering stars have led to a lackluster start that has fallen well below the level their talent should be capable of achieving. As it is, Vancouver is 1-2-0 to hold a share of the Pacific Division basement.
Vancouver’s power play has yet to convert too, and that has left the team to languish with the league’s 24th-ranked offense (averaging 2.67 goals per game). The Canucks are fortunate to have an all-world defenseman in Quinn Hughes and a possible Team USA Olympian goaltender in Thatcher Demko, who is 1-1-0, with a .944 SV%. Until Vancouver’s offense generates a spark, the defensive efforts won’t be enough to carry the Canucks up the standings.
Will it continue? It’s fair to say there are growing pains for plenty of teams with a new coach. Adam Foote took over this season, and he’s still putting his mark on this group. Vancouver has the raw material. The Canucks’ fourth line has been particularly solid. Vancouver needs more of that work ethic from the rest of its skaters.
Self-inflicted wounds and giving up response goals have hurt the Canucks as well. It’s their details more than anything that aren’t sharp. Scoring breeds confidence though, and if Vancouver can light the lamp a little more — and serve up fewer odd-man opportunities the other way to torpedo its progress — there will be brighter days ahead here.
If we’re going to call out the Canucks for top-line chemistry issues, it’s only fair to note they are not the only Pacific Division club dealing with those difficulties.
The Golden Knights acquired Mitch Marner in a trade with Toronto then signed him to a massive eight-year, $96 million extension, with the intention that Marner would ride shotgun with Jack Eichel to dominate offensively. That hasn’t happened — yet.
Eichel and Marner worked together throughout the preseason but after three games, coach Bruce Cassidy had to separate his stars — as least temporarily. Those two are pass-first players (and excellent ones at that), but someone must do the scoring, and it can’t be on Ivan Barbashev alone to get that job done when they’re a trio.
Cassidy must find some way to get Marner and Eichel to click. Vegas starting 1-2-0 probably wasn’t what GM Kelly McCrimmon was envisioning when he went after the star winger. The good news is that Vegas has endless potential; all that’s required is tapping into it.