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Are we really a little over 1/4 of the way through the season already? 2022 has absolutely flown by, and with is, so has the NHL season. Today, I'd like to discuss with you who I think the biggest surprises in the league are. The good and the bad, as we rapidly approach the Christmas break.
Note: these entries are in no particular order.
Seattle Kraken forward, Andre Burakovsky (Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)
The Good:
Seattle Kraken
If you're someone who's just starting to get into hockey within the last few years, congratulations. You couldn't have picked a better time. There is an over abundance of talent in the NHL right now, and all I need to back that claim is the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken. We all know the story of the Golden Knights and their success since their inaugural season in 2017.
Obviously, Seattle didn't make it to the Stanley Cup in their first year as a franchise. However, it is only their second year in the NHL and they're currently sitting in second place in the Pacific Division, and showing no signs of slowing down.
That means that the last two expansion teams in the NHL have been playoff contenders within their first two seasons in the league. Admittedly, the Western Conference is significantly weaker than the Eastern Conference (with the exception of Colorado and Vegas) but still, Seattle has two very impressive wins over the Avalanche and Knights so far this year.
New Jersey Devils
I know this might not come as a surprise to a lot of people, since many of you picked the Devils to be pesky this year. But I don't think in any of our wildest imaginations we would've thought that they'd go on a 13 game heater and catch the Boston Bruins for the league lead in points with 36.
Jack Hughes is a stud, Jesper Bratt is slept on immensely and has been for years, goalie Vitek Vanecek is putting up numbers that no one thought possible for him. Congrats, New Jersey. For the first time in a long time, you have a team that could go on to make some real noise in the East this year.
Winnipeg Jets
Help me out here, Jets fans. Did we think this team would be as good as they are this year? They had a down year last year - missing the playoffs after making them for four straight years - but I felt like they had such an underwhelming 2021-22 season that I never thought they'd bounce back and answer like the way they have this year.
At the end of the day though, I'm not 100% surprised. I mean, look at their roster. Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Morrissey, and Connor Hellebuyck... those are some premier names, don't you agree?
Boston Bruins
Boston's success isn't a surprise, the only reason I'm going to quickly mention them here is because of how well they held it together and kept the team in a good spot during Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy's absence early in the season.
New York Islanders
The Islanders are a team that was chosen by many to win the Stanley Cup last year, and they flat out stunk. After their abysmal 2021-22 season, firing head coach Barry Trotz, and whiffing on every major free-agent they were linked to in the offseason, all signs pointed toward mediocrity for a while. However, they're finding ways to win this year. The boring, pesky Islanders that we knew in 2020 and 2021 are back for now.
The Bad:
New York Rangers
I'm not going too deep into this because if I get started I'll never stop. There is so much wrong with the gutless New York Rangers right now. I could spend all day tearing this team limb from limb. Heads need to start rolling soon. There are very very few bright spots on this team this year, which is horrible to have to say given how many stars this roster features. Leadership and accountability are non-existent, the stars aren't performing like their contracts say they should, the fanbase continues to put false confidence in the young kids who have yet to perform the way they were advertised to... so far, it's hasn't been a good year to be a fan of the Rangers.
Edmonton Oilers
Oilers fans, before you start having an aneurysm over me putting your team here, yeah, they had a very impressive comeback against the Rangers on Saturday. However, I'll refer you to the above segment where I wrote about New York. It's the Rangers. Aside from that, you employ the two best players in the world and Jack Campbell has not been the guy that we all thought he would be when you signed him in free-agency.
I'll be honest, I bet on the Oilers to win the Western Conference this year. Yeah, they've disappointed, but they were in the same position at this point in time last year that they are in right now, and they went on the make an appearance in the Western Conference Final. There's still time and hope, yes, but as of right now, they stink.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers are hurting right now. Their defensive core was already putrid enough before losing Aaron Ekblad to a lower body injury for a few weeks. He's back now, but the Panthers still struggle, despite having one of the more stacked rosters in the league featuring Aleksander Barkov, Matt Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Ekblad and a goalie tandem of Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight.
This is also the team that won the 2021-22 President's Trophy as the best team in the NHL last season, making this year that much more of a disappointment.
Calgary Flames
The two teams that were in the spotlight most this offseason due to their blockbuster trade were the aforementioned Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames, and both teams struggle despite losing and gaining some superstars. Jonathan Huberdeau has been bad, and I mean really bad. After putting up 115 points last season and finishing fifth in Hart Trophy voting as league MVP, he's only been able to score 10 points in 18 games played this year.
The superstar who signed an 8-year, $84 million contract extension with the Calgary Flames this offseason has all but fallen into obscurity so far this season. He's also half the reason my fantasy hockey team is tanking as hard as it is. Thanks for nothing, Jon.
Minnesota Wild
The Wild are grouped in with teams like the Rangers, Edmonton, Florida and Calgary when it comes to being right there on the cusp of greatness, but ultimately struggling to stay relevant one quarter of the way through the season. Kirill Kaprizov has been his usual superstar self, but a horrid start to the season for goaltender Marc-Andre Fluery, and top prospect Marco Rossi being sent down to the AHL after a disappointing start, mixed with other short comings that the team is facing right now has Minnesota's back against the wall.