Top 5 best and top 5 worst NHL teams following October

The five worst teams in the NHL have all stood out big time to this point.

28th. Columbus Blue Jackets

For being the team that landed the best free agent in the summer, they are off to a horrid start this season. At 3-7-0, it is hard to say that they have been anything other than a bad hockey team. They don’t have a fully loaded roster anymore and their youth is showing a little bit.

Johnny Hockey is nice to have but the rest of the team needs to show up. They better start stringing together some wins soon otherwise they are going to be buried in the Metropolitan Division.

29th. Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks are awful. Before the start of the season, this looked like the team that could be a surprise in the Pacific Division. They have some great stars on both forward and defense and they got J.T. Miller to agree to a huge contract that will keep him there for a long time.

So far, they have not proven to be worthy of that kind of commitment. At 2-5-2, they blew a lot of games in which they had multi-goal leads. That is not a good sign for a team that thought they might be okay. They have the talent to crawl out of this but it doesn’t feel likely right now.

30th: San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are a very interesting NHL team. They are 3-8-0 but have put on some decent performances against other good teams in the league. They aren’t winning a lot of games because they simply aren’t a talented enough team.

Erik Karlsson is a little bit overpaid at this point but he is still an outstanding offensive defenseman. He also is surrounded by other good players like Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture, and Timo Meier but it isn’t eneogh.

They have some pieces to trade away before the NHL’s trade deadline so we will see if they do. Other teams in the league would love to have some fo these guys. San Jose would like to get a rebuild going but they haven’t really started yet.

31. Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks have Trevor Zegras who is one of thee most spectacular players in the league. He has already scored some slick goals that will be ono the highlight reels all season long. Howevere, the supporting cast is very young and inexperienced.

Over the next few years, Anaheim might be on the rise but it doesn’t seem like that is going to be the case this year. Developing these young kids, including Zegras, is one of the biggest keys to their success in the future.

32. Arizona Coyotes

The Arizona Coyotes are one of the worst franchises in the NHL. They are currently playing their home games at a college rink because of building issues. They need to get that worked out and be smarter with their decision making.

The vibes are great surrounding their little trip to college (Arizona State) but they need to start winning. There are good players there that are just being wasted. We have seen the Yotes be good in the past so it isn’t like it is impossible. Hopefully, it comes sooner than later.

Honorable mentions:

• Montreal Canadiens
• Chicago Blackhawks
• Seattle Kraken

These three teams, along with a few others, were expected to be amongst the worst in the league. However, they have all gotten off to a bit better of a start than some would have anticipated.

Don’t be surprised if all three of them fall off a cliff and make this list as soon as by the end of November. With that in mind, the five teams mentioned have all been terrible so they are well deserving of being behind these three honorable mentions. We’ll see who climbs out of it.