Greg Wyshynski, ESPNDec 2, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN's senior NHL writer.
The first quarter of the 2024-25 NHL season is in the books, having produced a few juggernaut teams counterbalanced by preseason favorites who have cratered early on -- including the Boston Bruins, who fired coach Jim Montgomery after 20 games.
What can the best and worst from the first chunk of the schedule tell us about what's yet to come this season?
Here are my NHL awards and superlatives for the first quarter of the season, from outstanding achievements to bitter disappointments to some unfathomable goalie gaffes.
Best team: Winnipeg Jets
The Jets aren't lapping the field. The Minnesota Wild have caught up to them in the Presidents' Trophy race. Teams like the Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils are right in their rearview mirror. By the end of the quarter, Winnipeg was a lot like these other hot starters: Banking points early to decrease the pressure later in the season.
What separates the Jets from that pack is their utter dominance in banking those points. Through 24 games, Winnipeg was second in goals per game behind Washington, second in goals against per game and team save percentage behind Minnesota, with the second best power play behind New Jersey.
We went deep inside the numbers recently to figure out how Winnipeg became this early-season steamroller. Connor Hellebuyck is the most obvious advantage, not only in having the world's best goaltender in the crease, but in what that does from a confidence perspective for everything else they've done. "Everybody knows if you don't have goaltending, it makes for a long year. So Helly gives us that foundation," head coach Scott Arniel said.
When Rick Bowness retired, Arniel moved up from associate coach and unlocked something in this group. Of course, it helps to have a receptive group. Back-to-back first-round exists -- including one courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche last spring that left them motivated by their humiliation -- can open a player's mind to new possibilities.
If the Jets continue to play like this, their five-game playoff dismissal last postseason will also be the thing that keeps their egos in check. "It's why we're not over the top, living the high life right now, because we know what happened last year," Arniel said.
Most disappointing team: Nashville Predators
There are a few smoldering piles of disaster that could have captured this dishonor.
The Edmonton Oilers lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final and offered up an encore of disastrous goaltending and curious underperformance from key skaters. The Pittsburgh Penguins earned more questions about their core's future than points in the standings. The Detroit Red Wings appear unable to make the leap to playoff contention even if you spotted them a trampoline. The Bruins are outside a playoff spot, playing poorly enough to encourage the panic-firing of coach Jim Montgomery by management.
But the Predators are a special kind of terrible.
This was a 99-point playoff team that augmented a talented roster with three stunning free-agent coups: Forward Jonathan Marchessault, a former Conn Smythe winner jettisoned by the Golden Knights; defenseman Brady Skjei of the Hurricanes; and most significantly Steven Stamkos, goal-scoring superstar from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But there's an alchemy to building a championship-caliber team, and the Predators have failed that chemistry test. That infusion of offense talent somehow led to a massive regression, to the point where Nashville was last in the NHL in goals per game (2.32) and in expected goals at 5-on-5.
Even as Nashville has picked up a few points in the standings, things are getting uglier. Stamkos, who had one goal in his first 10 games with Nashville and only seven goals in 24 games so far, recently called out his teammates' effort during this offensive drought. "If you're not scoring, what else are you doing out there? What else can you do to help your team win? I've just felt like, for whatever reason, in these stretches, we tend to go the other way," he said to a collective yikes from outside observers.
But there's still hope in NashVegas. After all, this was a team that made the playoffs on the strength of 18 straight games without a regulation loss. All they need to do is rebook U2 at Sphere and then not attend their concert as a form of penance. Easy stuff.
Most valuable player: Kirill Kaprizov
Minnesota coach John Hynes was recently asked what has driven Kirill Kaprizov to the best start of his five-year NHL career. "He loves the game," he said. "He's the first guy on, last guy off. Great practice player, unbelievable physical condition, coachable. Willing to get better and learn how he can do things better."
Those kinds of players are always easy to celebrate, but in Kaprizov's case that work ethic is attached to a player with 174 goals in his first 300 NHL games. Kirill The Thrill has been the rocket fuel for the Wild's torrid start, playing well in all facets of the game as he lead the league in points.
Through 24 games, there was a 14-point gap between him and the next highest Minnesota scorer, Matt Boldy. That stat shouldn't the sole harbinger of an MVP candidate ... but it's a very solid plank in his platform. He's been delightfully dominant.
Least valuable player: Connor Ingram
It brings us no joy to report that Connor Ingram, last season's winner of the Masterton Trophy and general feel-good story with the Arizona Coyotes, landed in Salt Lake City with a thud. Through 13 games, Ingram was last in the NHL in goals saved above expected (minus-10.9, per Stathletes) and cost his team a league-worst 1.4 wins according to Evolving Hockey. His .871 save percentage was the worst among goalies with at least 13 appearances.
Again, he's a likeable guy with an incredible backstory who just happened to be the worst goalie in the NHL statistically at the quarter mark. He's been out recently with an upper-body injury. Here's to Ingram turning his season around with the Hockey Club.
Best goal: Evan Bouchard
This goal by the Oilers defenseman had both the wizardry, and the distance traveled.
Bouchard collected the puck deep inside his own zone and then turns on the afterburners through the neutral zone to leave most of the Ottawa Senators in his wake. Thomas Chabot futilely attempt to defend him and gets toyed with, until Bouchard unleashes a pinpoint shot to complete this goal of the year candidate:
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Evan Bouchard submits his goal-of-the-year contender for Oilers
Evan Bouchard goes end-to-end before putting his shot in the top corner for an incredible solo goal for the Oilers.
Worst goal: Brayden Point
It's hard to imagine there's another hat trick in NHL history that was completed this absurdly. Brayden Point's third goal in a recent game against the Capitals was scored when goalie Charlie Lindgren put the puck into his own net.
OK, that description doesn't do it justice. That happens all the time, with goalies accidentally nudging the puck over the line with their skates or misplaying the puck on a shot. Lindgren took the puck on his backhand, attempted to play it to the end boards and emphatically deposited this thing dead center into his net.
Point was the last Lightning player to have touched the puck before Lindgren was revealed as a possible double-agent, and was credited with the goal:
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This Charlie Lindgren own goal needs to be seen to be believed
Under no pressure, Charlie Lindgren somehow puts the puck into his own net to gift the Lightning a 4-3 lead over the Capitals.
Weirdest goal: Leon Draisaitl
Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has been celebrated in many road arenas during his final tour in the NHL. But in a recent game in Edmonton, he decided to give Oilers star Leon Draisaitl the gift of a goal at the end of the season's most bizarre sequence.
Draisaitl sent the puck from the opposite blue line and then watched it travel through the legs of a teammate and a Minnesota defender. The bounding puck found its way to Fleury, who tried to knock it away quickly with his paddle. Instead, the puck was already rolling through his five-hole before his stick was in motion. Fleury tumbled into his own net with the puck, having given up one of the biggest clunkers of his career.
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Marc-Andre Fleury concedes a shocker of a goal
Marc-Andre Fleury goes to make the easy pad save, but the puck sneaks past the pads and crawls into the goal.
"It was dumb. I should have just make sure I stopped it first," Fleury said after the game, who shared that his Minnesota teammates made him feel better about the gaffe by joking about it. Eventually winning the game 5-3 helped ease the embarrassment, too.
Most remorseless decision
St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong does cold and calculated better than anyone. Whether it's letting a beloved veteran walk over contract conditions or cutting bait on a season because the team isn't playing to playoff standards, warm and fuzzies have no home in the St. Louis front office.
Just ask Drew Bannister, who was given 22 games as head coach before the Blues dumped him for Jim Montgomery, five days after the Bruins had fired him. Bannister got his first NHL head coaching job after 54 games as interim coach last season. "Having a full training camp and two-year term to put his stamp on this team, we're looking forward to that," Armstrong said six months ago.
In fairness, Armstrong also said the team conducted a search before committing to Bannister: "You're just looking, like: 'Is there any better out there? Is there something different that we're missing?"
There was something better out there. Problem was he was the Bruins coach.
And so Armstrong became the hockey embodiment of the Distracted Boyfriend meme. He made it clear that the only reason Bannister was out was because Monty was available, giving the former Blues assistant a five-year contract. Again, he's a general manager that's never met a callous decision he couldn't make. And many times, they've worked out.
Worst coaching move
While Luke Richardson's decision to make Taylor Hall a healthy scratch without nary a hint to the former league MVP that it was a possibility -- something Richardson acknowledged should have happened -- he wasn't the coach that submitted the wrong starting lineup before the game to earn a minor penalty.
That would be Predators coach Andrew Brunette, who submitted a lineup with Steven Stamkos in the starting lineup but started the game with Filip Forsberg in his spot. Seattle Kraken coach Dan Bylsma's staff noticed the error. Just 43 seconds into the game, the Kraken notified the referees of a violation of NHL Rule 7, which states "no change in the starting line-up of either team as indicated in the submitted line-up, or in the playing line-up on the ice, can be made unless reviewed and approved by the referee prior to the start of the game."
Brunette told TNT that the No. 1 was accidentally added to Forsberg's No. 9 to make Stamkos's No. 91. This did not make things better.
Nashville killed off the Seattle power play, but lost the game 3-0. In what's been an embarrassing season for the Predators, this was downright comical.
Best trade condition
The Wild saved David Jiricek from a life of driving between Columbus and AHL Cleveland in perpetuity by trading for the 21-year-old Blue Jackets defenseman on Nov. 30. Among the draft picks changing sides in the deal was the Wild's 2025 first-round pick.
Wild GM Bill Guerin doesn't just hand out first-round picks like food samples at Costco, so he made this a conditional pick: If Minnesota's first-round pick in the 2025 draft is one of the first five selections, the Wild will retain the pick, and transfer its 2026 first-round selection to the Blue Jackets.
Yes, that's right: a team that was 16-4-4 on the night of the trade and tied for first overall in the NHL via points percentage wanted to ensure this Jiricek trade didn't muck up their lottery odds if the bottom falls out on the season. You have to respect that level of underlying dread for an NHL franchise.
Biggest trend: Even-strength scoring
Scoring is actually down a tick from last season after 386 games, with 3.08 goals per game per team. That's despite average save percentage hitting .900, which would be its lowest point since the 1995-96 season.
Where scoring is way up: even-strength play. The NHL reported that through the first quarter of the season, 77.6% of all goals were scored at evens. That's the highest such rate in 51 seasons! One must go all the way back to 1972-73 (79%) to find the previous high mark.
This even-strength surge makes up for the fact that while power-play conversion rates remain quite high -- tracking to be the fourth straight season over 20% -- power play opportunities are down slightly. But again, it's early.
Worst trend: Dismissing the Champs
In ESPN's preseason predictions for the 2024-25 season, 11 experts picked the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup, followed by the Stars (8), Bruins (1), Maple Leafs (1) and Rangers (1). That the Toronto Maple Leafs had more support as a potential champion than the Florida Panthers speaks volumes about the respect the reigning champions still don't seem to garner.
Maybe it's the idea that a team won't make the Stanley Cup Final in three consecutive seasons, even though a team that plays in the Panthers' home state just did that. Maybe the personnel losses, including standout defenseman Brandon Montour, were seen as too deleterious. Maybe we saw those videos of Cup celebrations at the Elbo Room and wondered if these guys would ever be steady on skates again.
Yet here's Florida, chugging along at a .620 points percentage in the Atlantic. Sam Reinhart is having an MVP season (18 goals, 16 assists). Aleksander Barkov made up for missed time to injury with 24 points in 17 games. Matthew Tkachuk is nearly a point-per-game player for an offense that's been in the top five.
They're not perfect, ranking 25th in goals against per game thanks to below-replacement goaltending by Sergei Bobrovsky. But he's the best example of "it's all about the postseason," which might be the mantra for a team that's gone Super Saiyan in consecutive postseasons.
Anyway, the point here is that the defending champion doesn't always get their flowers because the odds are long on a repeat. Despite, you know, it happening twice in the last decade.
Worst interruption: Alex Ovechkin
What a time to be alive during Alex Ovechkin's first 18 games of this season.
The Capitals star scored 15 goals for the fastest offensive start of his 20-year NHL career, shattering or threatening records for a 39-year-old player in the process. He was scoring goals in a variety of ways. He looked faster and more impactful than he did last season, and especially last postseason. Ovechkin moved to within 27 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time career mark (894) and in the process dramatically moved up his timeline for claiming the goal-scoring throne.
And then he broke his fibula. Scoreus interruptus.
The hockey world now waits to see if Ovechkin can continue his mastery on the other side of that injury. When he does return, Ovechkin will find a Capitals team that's just kept rolling in his absence to the top of the Metro Division. That's something Ovechkin wanted most during his goal-record chase: To play relevant, important hockey with a playoff-bound team. Not every star veteran can be so lucky. (Glances at Pittsburgh.)
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Ovechkin's 2nd goal of the night gets him to 868
Alex Ovechkin nets his second goal of the game to put the Capitals up 4-1 over the Utah HC, and moves within 26 goals of tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.
Most important document: "The Memo"
The New York Rangers were in a playoff spot at American Thanksgiving, and have a .587 points percentage through 23 games. But playing good isn't playing great, and the latter is what a team needs to do when it's chasing its first Stanley Cup since 1994.
GM Chris Drury decided to light a fire under his team by sending a memo to 31 other general managers letting them know that the Rangers were open for business on the trade market. He mentioned two players by name: Defenseman Jacob Trouba, which was no surprise given the team tried to trade him in the offseason; and winger Chris Kreider, who was a surprise given his 13 seasons with the franchise and 127 goals over the previous three seasons.
Whether Drury was seeking deals -- difficult, considering six members of his group of veterans have trade protection -- or looking to have that memo hit the media as a message to his team, the Rangers have yet to turn their play around, with a shakeup still looming.
Between "The Memo" and "The Letter" back in 2018, the Rangers have produced the most landscape-shifting documents by a New Yorker since Alexander Hamilton.
Worst tanking job: Calgary Flames
In fairness, GM Craig Conroy said this wasn't going to be a rebuild but a retool for the Flames ... even if a rebuild might have been the most effective path back to championship contention. For better or worse, he got what he was after with this Flames team. Calgary has a 25% chance of making the playoff cut and is in a wild-card spot in the West as of Dec. 1.
Their offense remains without much pop, ranking 28th in goals per game average and with no player with more than 15 points after 25 games. But Dustin Wolf has been a revelation in goal, with a .918 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against average, saving 3.5 goals above expected per Stathletes while playing himself into Calder Trophy contention. Hot goalies, forever the antidote to tanking.
Best bounce-back: Martin Necas
For two seasons, Necas had been the subject of trade rumors and questions about his offensive output, which tumbled from a career-high 71 points in 2022-23 to 53 points (and a minus-9) last season for the Carolina Hurricanes. He avoided arbitration with a two-year bridge deal worth $6.5 million annually against the cap.
GM Eric Tulsky didn't really need any more evidence of his genius, but we can add "got one of the league's best scorers at a discounted rate" to the list.
Necas, 26, has 37 points in 24 games, easily the best scoring pace of his career to lead the Hurricanes to near the top of the conference. Necas always had this kind of season in him. Carolina fans are relieved to finally see it happen -- and happen in Raleigh.
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Martin Necas scores power-play goal vs. Stars
Martin Necas scores power-play goal vs. Stars
Worst regression: Connor Bedard
Is this a sophomore jinx, or the reality of playing for the current incarnation of the Chicago Blackhawks? Whatever the case, Bedard has been ineffective and frustrated in his second NHL campaign after winning the Calder Trophy last season.
He has four goals in 23 games after potting 22 goals in 68 games last season, and 17 points overall. Bedard's defensive numbers have improved year over year, which was by design: Coach Luke Richardson moved him to the wing and had him playing with more defensively oriented linemates this season. But they need him to be Connor Bedard, not Connor Brown. Beyond his stat line, Bedard has clearly shown frustration about the way his season has played out, and what could be year-over-year regression for the Blackhawks.
Memo to Connor: Patience is a virtue in a total rebuild. Crosby had Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury with him the first time his Penguins made the postseason. Ovechkin had Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green as teammates when he made the playoffs for the first time. Granted, those examples were from when Bedard was around three years old, and our bones just turned into dust writing that.
Overwhelming offseason goalie acquisition: Anthony Stolarz
After posting impressive numbers as a backup goalie with Anaheim and Florida, with whom he won the Stanley Cup, Stolarz signed in Toronto as the latest attempted solution to their goaltending issues.
Through 13 games, he's looked the part: 7-4-2, .921 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average. Stathletes has him with 3.6 goals saved above average. All that for $2.5 million against the salary cap.
Underwhelming offseason goalie acquisition: Jacob Markstrom
The Devils hit on most of their offseason additions. Brenden Dillon and Brett Pesce added veteran presence to their blue line. Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter have produced more offense than expected from depth forwards. But the centerpiece of their offseason resurrection plans hasn't actualized quite yet.
Jacob Markstrom is 11-6-1 on the season. His .902 save percentage is just over league average. But his underlying numbers are rough: minus 6.6 goals saved above expected (Stathletes), underwater in save percentage above expected (MoneyPuck) and hasn't added a win to the Devils in the standings (Evolving Hockey).
Again, it's a little unfair when the bar is set at "positional savior" after poor goaltending subverted the Devils last season. There's still plenty of time to find his footing in New Jersey, but at this point backup Jake Allen has had the better season among Devils goalies.
Best future star: Macklin Celebrini
The first NHL Awards Watch of the season made it clear that the only thing keeping some voters from crowing Celebrini as the top rookie this season was the number of games he had played. He's appeared in only 15 games through Saturday's action but had scored eight goals and six assists in those games. Eventually, the sample size concern will give way to acknowledgment that Celebrini is a special player.
It couldn't have come at a better time for the Sharks. Seeing Joe Thornton honored the other day conjured memories of this franchise's glory years as a Stanley Cup contender, back when the Shark Tank would vibrate from the volume of its fans. San Jose might not create much chaos in the standings this season, but thanks to Celebrini, Will Smith and other players in the franchise's next wave, the Sharks are fun again.
It's been a while since San Jose gave the East Coast a reason to stay up late for home games. Celebrini is that reason.
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Macklin Celebrini lights the lamp for Sharks
Macklin Celebrini lights the lamp for Sharks
What's next? Biggest storylines for next quarter of the season
1. Can the Bruins stabilize?
While Jim Montgomery appears to have the Blues pointed in the right direction, can the team that fired him find its footing under interim coach Joe Sacco? Results are mixed in the early going, but it's clear GM Don Sweeney believes this roster can succeed based on the timing of the firing. Any turnaround needs goalie Jeremy Swayman to be at his best, and he's finally finding his form after a disastrous first six weeks of the season.
2. The 4 Nations Face-Off Fallout.
This week, we'll learn who made the cut for the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland for the first 4 Nations Face-Off tournament this February. There will be some surprises and some snubs. How will players react to missing the cut, especially with 2026 Olympic roster spots potentially on the line? Or, more to the point: How many young scorers will try and light up the Minnesota Wild because Team USA GM Bill Guerin left them off the national team roster?
3. Who is the best in the West?
As mentioned, the Jets aren't alone at the top of the Western Conference, with the Wild and Golden Knights both within a reasonable distance of the lead. Vegas has gotten an MVP performance from Jack Eichel so far this season. Speaking of MVPs: Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid could power the Avalanche and Oilers back up the standings before the midpoint of the season. Are the Los Angeles Kings for real after a solid start? Can Dallas start playing like the Stanley Cup champ many expect them to become? What's the Blues ceiling with Montgomery behind the bench?
The West is going to be wild.
