One Month In: McDavid, Surprises and the NHL's Biggest Questions
Updated October 27, 2026
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Updated October 27, 2026
We're barely a month into the 2026–27 NHL season, and Connor McDavid is apparently trying to break records that have stood for more than four decades.
Boston looks like a legitimate contender again, the Minnesota Wild are leading the Central Division, and Connor Hellebuyck has somehow ended up in New Jersey before Halloween.
Meanwhile, Vancouver is already giving its fans plenty of reasons to look forward to the 2027 NHL Draft.
Most teams have played around a dozen games, which is hardly enough to rewrite our preseason predictions. But we've seen enough to identify a few surprises, confirm some suspicions, and question whether certain teams are quite as good – or bad – as we thought.
Here are 15 things that have stood out during the opening month of NHL hockey.
There are very few players in NHL history who can make you question whether everyone on the ice is playing the same sport. Connor McDavid is one of them.
Through 12 games, the Edmonton Oilers captain has eight goals and 26 assists for 34 points. That's an absurd 2.83 points per game, which would translate to approximately 238 points over the NHL's new 84-game schedule.
For context, Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL record for reaching 100 points in the fewest games, accomplishing the feat in just 34 appearances during the 1983–84 season.
At his current pace, McDavid would reach 100 points around his 36th game. That's how close he is to one of Gretzky's most ridiculous records.
Gretzky's single-season record stands at 215 points. McDavid's personal best is 153.
Obviously, nobody seriously expects him to finish with 238 points. But the fact that we're even discussing McDavid alongside Gretzky's most absurd records tells you everything about his opening month.
Edmonton still has defensive problems, but when McDavid plays like this, the Oilers don't necessarily need to be the better team for 60 minutes.
They just need to give him enough opportunities to ruin somebody's evening.
I thought the Boston Bruins were being underrated before the season. Apparently, I didn't rate them highly enough myself.
In our Atlantic Division preview, we had Boston finishing fifth, although we also identified the Bruins as one of the division's most underrated teams.
Four weeks later, Boston leads the Atlantic at 9-2-1, with 48 goals scored, just 26 conceded, and a remarkable +22 goal differential.
David Pastrnak remains the obvious offensive centerpiece, but JJ Peterka has added another dimension to the attack, while Jeremy Swayman looks much more like the goaltender Boston needs him to be.
The Bruins won 45 games last season and collected 100 points. Yet somehow, they entered another campaign with plenty of people expecting them to fall away.
I'm not ready to hand them the Atlantic Division title in October. But the Bruins aren't going anywhere quietly. We probably should have learned that by now.
McDavid has understandably attracted most of the attention, but there's another fascinating scoring race developing.
Kirill Kaprizov leads the NHL with 13 goals in 13 games, while Leon Draisaitl has scored 12 times in 12 appearances.
Both are operating at a goal-per-game pace. That's extraordinary, although their current shooting percentages suggest we're going to see some regression eventually.
Still, there's a difference between expecting regression and dismissing what we're watching.
The Wild have started 8-3-2 and sit atop the Central Division, with Quinn Hughes providing another elite offensive weapon from the blue line.
I had Minnesota finishing third in our Central Division preview, mainly because of concerns about secondary scoring.
Those concerns haven't completely disappeared, but when Kaprizov is scoring every night, they're considerably easier to ignore.
Two teams I had outside the playoff picture have made me reconsider things.
The Rangers are 7-6-1 and currently sit second in the Metropolitan Division, which is a rather different outlook from the eighth-place finish I predicted in our Metropolitan Division preview.
Alexis Lafrenière has been excellent, but losing Igor Shesterkin for the season changes everything. New York has also lost three straight, and its 1-5-1 road record doesn't inspire much confidence.
Seattle might be the more interesting case.
The Kraken are 7-4-1 and third in the Pacific Division, having scored 45 goals in 12 games. That's 3.75 per game for a team that averaged just 2.73 last season.
The problem? They've also conceded 42 goals.
I had Seattle finishing sixth in our Pacific Division preview, largely because of concerns about its offense.
The Kraken have certainly made that prediction look questionable, but I'm not convinced either team has done enough to establish itself as a genuine playoff contender.
I had Vancouver finishing last in the Pacific Division.
Not exactly the boldest prediction I've ever made, but at least that one looks reasonably safe.
The Canucks are 2-10-1, have conceded 60 goals in 13 games, and have just five points. That's extraordinarily poor, even by rebuilding standards.
And Vancouver isn't alone.
Los Angeles is 3-5-2 despite loading up on veterans, including Mats Zuccarello, Erik Haula and Corey Perry. Calgary has recovered somewhat, but the Flames remain below .500.
Chicago is 3-8-0 with 43 goals conceded.
That's four Western Conference teams with a combined 13 wins from 45 games.
We knew there would be some bad teams this season, but the gap between the Western Conference contenders and the bottom of the standings is already looking substantial.
At least Vancouver and Chicago should have another excellent opportunity to improve through the draft. Something tells me they'll need it.
Winning the Stanley Cup is supposed to make the following season more difficult.
There's the shorter summer, the celebrations, the additional attention, and the challenge of motivating a group that has already reached the top.
Apparently, nobody remembered to explain any of that to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The defending champions have opened 9-2-2, collected 20 points, and outscored their opponents 51-33.
In fairness, Carolina was the one team I felt particularly confident about when putting together the Metropolitan Division predictions.
The Hurricanes finished eight points clear of everyone else last season, returned most of their championship roster, and remained the obvious choice to win the division again.
So far, absolutely nothing has changed my mind.
Of all the developments I expected during the opening month, Connor Hellebuyck wearing a New Jersey Devils jersey wasn't particularly high on the list.
Yet here we are.
On October 23, New Jersey acquired the three-time Vezina Trophy winner from Winnipeg in one of the most significant goaltending trades in recent memory.
The price wasn't cheap. The Jets received Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws, prospect Alexander Command, and two draft picks.
In our Metropolitan preview, goaltending was one of the biggest reasons I had New Jersey finishing fifth rather than challenging Carolina at the top.
That concern has now changed rather dramatically.
Hellebuyck struggled last season, finishing with a .895 save percentage, and hasn't played an NHL game this season. But if he returns to anything resembling his best form, the Devils suddenly have the kind of goaltending capable of changing an entire playoff race.
New Jersey is 7-4-0. It might just have made the biggest move of the season before November.
One of the more overlooked stories heading into the season was just how much the Anaheim Ducks lost during the summer.
Remember, this is a team that finished with 92 points last season, eliminated Edmonton in the first round, and reached the Western Conference semifinals.
You'd normally expect a young team coming off that kind of breakthrough to build on its success.
Instead, Anaheim lost Chris Kreider, Mason McTavish, John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas and Olen Zellweger.
That's six significant departures, including four defensemen.
The Ducks also entered the season without Troy Terry following hip surgery, leaving an already inexperienced roster with another problem to solve.
Anaheim is currently 5-6-0, with 32 goals scored and 37 conceded. Considering the turnover, I don't think the record is especially surprising.
Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke are legitimate building blocks, but this is a much thinner roster than the one that eliminated Edmonton in April.
Remember how exciting Montreal and Buffalo were last season?
The Sabres won the Atlantic Division with 109 points, ending their 14-year playoff drought, while the Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference Final after eliminating Buffalo in a dramatic seven-game series.
Now comes the difficult part. Doing it again.
Montreal has started reasonably well at 6-3-2, although its 36-36 goal differential suggests there's room for improvement.
Buffalo is having a considerably tougher time.
The Sabres are 4-4-3, have conceded 41 goals in 11 games, and are already sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.
I had Buffalo finishing fourth in our preseason preview, mainly because the departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram left some significant holes.
I still think there's enough talent here to turn things around. But after finally escaping the NHL's basement, the last thing Buffalo needs is another season spent chasing everyone else.
This one is becoming increasingly interesting, particularly if Pittsburgh continues to struggle.
Sidney Crosby is 39. Kris Letang is 39. Evgeni Malkin is 40.
The three have played together for 21 consecutive seasons, won three Stanley Cups, and formed one of the most successful cores in modern NHL history.
But how much longer can this continue?
Malkin signed a one-year extension during the summer, Crosby is approaching the end of his current contract, and Letang isn't getting any younger.
The Penguins returned to the playoffs last season after a three-year absence, but they're currently 5-6-1 and already looking like a team facing another difficult road to the postseason.
In our Metropolitan preview, I had Pittsburgh finishing sixth. Not because Crosby has suddenly stopped being brilliant, but because the supporting cast and the age of the core are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Here's what worries me.
If Pittsburgh falls out of playoff contention early, what happens next? Does Malkin decide he's had enough? Does the organization finally acknowledge that the current group has reached the end of the road?
Nobody wants to see this trio finish its time together playing meaningless hockey in March.
But we might be watching the last season of Crosby, Malkin and Letang together. And unlike some of the more predictable farewell tours around the league, we don't actually know how this one ends.
I had San Jose finishing third in the Pacific Division before the season.
That was probably one of my more aggressive predictions, but the Sharks have given me little reason to abandon it.
They're 6-5-1, with Macklin Celebrini leading a young core that looks increasingly comfortable competing against established NHL teams.
And this isn't just about Celebrini anymore.
Will Smith, Michael Misa and the next generation of San Jose prospects give the organization considerably more offensive talent than it had a few years ago.
There are still defensive problems, and goaltending remains a concern. But the Sharks no longer look like a team waiting several years for something good to happen.
The future might arrive sooner than expected.
Someone should probably wrap the entire Florida Panthers roster in bubble wrap.
Aleksander Barkov missed all of last season with a serious knee injury. He returned for two games before suffering another injury that will keep him sidelined for an estimated six to eight weeks.
Brad Marchand also went down almost immediately after returning from offseason surgery and is expected to miss approximately six weeks.
The Panthers have started 6-4-2, which isn't disastrous considering the circumstances.
I had Florida winning the Atlantic Division in our preseason preview, and I still believe the roster is good enough.
But at some point, the injuries have to stop. Otherwise, we're going to spend another season talking about how good Florida could have been if everyone had stayed healthy.
Colorado was our No. 1 team in the 2026–27 Stanley Cup favorites rankings and my pick to win the Central Division.
Four weeks later, the Avalanche are 6-5-1, sitting behind Minnesota, Utah and Dallas.
That's not exactly the dominant opening month I expected.
Nathan MacKinnon remains one of the best players in hockey, and Colorado has scored an impressive 49 goals in 12 games.
The problem is at the other end, where the Avalanche have already conceded 40.
I don't think Colorado's position in the standings is particularly concerning yet. There's far too much talent on this roster to panic after a dozen games.
But if the Avalanche want to return to the top of the Central, they need to stop making life quite so difficult for themselves.
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Utah is another team that's making our preseason predictions look increasingly interesting.
I had the Mammoth finishing fourth in the Central Division, identifying them as one of the more underrated teams in the conference.
They're currently 8-4-0 and sitting second in the Central, behind Minnesota.
Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther form an exciting offensive core, while the additions of Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee have given Utah more experience.
The Mammoth also made the playoffs last season, so this isn't exactly a team coming out of nowhere.
But they're beginning to look like a genuine threat to the established powers in the Central.
Losing Connor Hellebuyck would be disastrous for most NHL teams.
But I actually think Stuart Skinner is considerably better than people give him credit for.
The former Edmonton goaltender has spent several years being criticized for his inconsistency, particularly during the playoffs. Yet he's also gained experience during two Stanley Cup Final runs and has demonstrated that he can handle high-pressure hockey.
He's started this season reasonably well, recording a .911 save percentage and 2.60 goals-against average through eight appearances.
That's a significant improvement from his .888 save percentage last season.
Winnipeg is only 4-4-3, and the Jets certainly have problems beyond goaltending.
But I wouldn't automatically assume the Hellebuyck trade means the organization is heading for another disappointing season.
Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey are still excellent players, and Dawson Mercer gives Winnipeg another useful offensive piece.
Skinner isn't Hellebuyck. Very few goaltenders are.
But he's also not the liability some people seem to think he is. I wouldn't be surprised if this opportunity brings out the best in him.
Probably less than we think.
McDavid won't score nearly three points per game all season, Vancouver will eventually win another hockey game, and the standings will look considerably different by Christmas.
But some early impressions are worth taking seriously.
Carolina remains the team to beat in the Metropolitan Division. Boston has more depth than many expected, and Minnesota's top-end talent is proving capable of carrying the Wild a long way.
At the other end, Vancouver's problems aren't going to disappear, and Los Angeles looks increasingly like a team whose best years are behind it.
I'm particularly interested in seeing what happens with New Jersey, Seattle and Pittsburgh over the coming months.
The Devils have just made a move that could transform their season. The Kraken are showing signs of becoming the team their young core was supposed to develop into.
And Pittsburgh? We might be watching the final chapter of something special.
Then there's McDavid.
I don't expect him to break Gretzky's single-season points record. But I wouldn't be remotely surprised if we're still talking about the Great One's fastest-to-100 record a few weeks from now.
And that's not something I imagined writing in October.
