The 2021-22 National Hockey League season is just over a month old and we have seen some things that were to be expected and a few early surprises as well.
The dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers are still lighting up the league and Alex Ovechkin is still the league’s best goal scoring threat. Adam Fox scores points better than most forwards. The Toronto Maple Leafs are winning regular season games and the Arizona Coyotes look lost on the ice.
All of these things were to be expected because they happen every year.
Some things have been quite surprising as well. Did anyone think the Chicago Blackhawks would be THIS bad? Are the Florida Panthers the best team in the Eastern Conference? Will Freddie Andersen ever let in a goal? Sergei Bobrovsky is back!
We aren’t quite at the point in the season where things are getting set into stone. Even the top teams in the standings right now could fall back into the pack and the teams at the bottom end could find a resurgence and be fighting for a playoff spot in a couple of months.
Okay, except for the Coyotes.
But who is for real and who isn’t? Everyone has played at least a dozen games so we can start to get a better read on teams. It is still a little early to be predicting playoff opponents but some trends are emerging that are not good for certain teams.
These three teams have gotten off to good starts and are in a playoff spot right now, but will regress and drop in the standings in the near future and ultimately miss the postseason.