Top to Bottom: The Overachievers and Underachievers After One Month

It’s been one month. At this point, we can, in most cases, start to see patterns unfolding that indicate whether teams are good or bad based largely on their underlying numbers. Still, though, one month isn’t an entire season. While we can start to get a decent picture of what’s going on, there are teams who haven’t yet hit their stride, are struggling to adapt to new rosters or coaches, or are simply overachieving based on a hot goalie or strong performances due to a favourable schedule. Let’s see who, after one month, is as good or as bad as their place in the standings indicates. 

The Coyotes are a young, interesting, rebuilding team who took some strides towards the finish line last summer. Because of that, there was some hype that they could potentially surprise in a relatively weak division ripe for overachievers. Was it legitimate? Probably not. There’s a tremendous amount of young skill on this roster, but the transition from junior to the NHL isn’t always automatic. Like Max Domi and Anthony Duclair did last year, Jakob Chychrun has grabbed the opportunity and ran, while Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak, on the other hand, have had a terrible time. There’s going to be a lot of growing pains with this team, which is to be expected. 

It really hasn’t been the season the Calgary Flames expected. I don’t think anyone figured they would be Cup contenders this year, but nobody expected them to be sitting in the basement one month in. If there’s a team to give a little more time before making a judgement, it’s probably them. They had some significant turnover in terms of roster composition from this year to last, their best player wasn’t around during training camp, and they have a new coach with different systems to learn. On the other hand, though, while those excuses make some sense, it’s certainly a little worrying that Dougie Hamilton ranks fifth on the team among defencemen in ice time, behind both Dennis Wideman and Deryk Engelland. 

Coming into the season, the Jets were a prime choice for a rebound. They weren’t as bad last year as their record indicated, as poor goaltending and issues with discipline and special teams resulted in a disappointing finish. Regardless, they were rewarded at the draft with an elite talent in Patrik Laine, who’s already been a major difference maker. Their goaltending still leaves a lot to be desired, but, so far, their dynamic offence has been able to compensate for it. Also, they’ve managed to be successful even without Jacob Trouba in the lineup, and now that he’s signed, it should add another boost to the team moving forward. 

The Sharks, like the Blues, represent the opposite of a PDO-bubble team. They have a poor shooting percentage, a tremendous amount of skill, as we know, and their goaltending at even strength hasn’t been as strong as you’d expect it to be. Eventually they’ll balance out and hit their stride. That said, one thing to be concerned about with this group is the usually-overly-hyped phenomenon of the Stanley Cup Final hangover. Going on a deep playoff run doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to struggle the following season, but the Sharks are an old team, so they could be more prone to fatigue issues later on in the season than other teams. 

The Capitals are right where you’d expect them to be after one month. They’ve only lost five games, and four of them came against playoff teams. Beyond that, they’ve only been outshot twice, which certainly bodes well for future success. They’re the league’s best team at producing goals and sixth at keeping the puck out of the next at even strength, but so far, their special teams have left a lot to be desired. But hell, if that’s the only qualm against your team, you’re doing well.