1 2024 Thanksgiving Grievance Every NHL Team Should Have
We've made it to American Thanksgiving week, the quarter mark of the NHL season where we start to get a decent view of the playoff picture. This is also when some fatal flaws appear, and some do-overs teams wish they could apply appear in hindsight.
In the spirit of the holiday season, some teams aren't feeling so thankful. They'd rather speed up and get to Festivus and air their grievances.
Let's help them out with one Thanksgiving grievance every NHL team should have right now.
Anaheim Ducks
1 of 32
"Why are we wasting incredible goaltending on another lost year?"
The Ducks allow among the highest shots per game in the league, and yet goalie Lukas Dostal has held the No. 1 spot for Goals Saved Above Expected all season. Veteran John Gibson looks solid as well, racking up wins this month following his return from injury. Dostal and Gibson combine for the most deserved over-.900 tandem save percentage in the league.
It's a real shame about everything else.
Boston Bruins
2 of 32
"Can someone—anyone—fix our power play?"
It's startling to see a Bruins team with the league-worst power-play percentage after so many years of dominance, but it's here and it's miserable.
Maybe promoted head coach and self-proclaimed Xs and Os guy Joe Sacco has the answer, as Boston has scored two power-play goals in two games since he took over. We'll see.
Buffalo Sabres
3 of 32
"What do we have to do to get people to actually believe in us?"
Well, well, well, whaddaya know? The Sabres swept their California road trip without Tage Thompson and hover around a playoff spot in the precarious Atlantic Division. They're stringing together some convincing play that suggests they've got as good a chance as any other Eastern bubble team to punch a playoff ticket. It's a solid start, now they have to keep doing it. We've been burned too many times before.
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Calgary Flames
4 of 32
"We're already prepared to riot if Dustin Wolf gets the Calder Trophy snub."
In retrospect, the emergence of Wolf in net was absolutely the No. 1 reason the Flames had the start to the season that they did. He's earned more and more ice time and has elevated his play accordingly. He deserves a serious look at the Calder Trophy if he keeps it up.
Carolina Hurricanes
5 of 32
"Why is it always our goalies?"
The Hurricanes are off to one of the strongest starts in the league, but now Freddie Andersen is out for 8-12 weeks and Pyotr Kochetkov is in concussion protocol with no return timetable. Spencer Martin struggled early in net against the Dallas Stars, but the team pulled through, he got stronger, and they put up an impressive 6-4 regulation comeback effort Monday. Rally the troops...
Chicago Blackhawks
6 of 32
"Can we try putting Connor Bedard on a good line?"
Connor Bedard is experiencing a bit of a sophomore slump. Could it be due to the fact that coach Luke Richardson refuses to put him on a line with any of the folks they signed specifically for him? Tough to say.
Colorado Avalanche
7 of 32
"Do we gotta do this all by ourselves?"
The Avalanche have had a bizarre start to the season, with key players injured or missing and a disaster of a goaltending situation they've now solved (well, solved is a strong word). Don't forget that Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen barely wavered. They're all in the top 10 for points, and the Avalanche are building back up. It also seems like the entire team falls apart on a rare off night from MacKinnon and Makar, which isn't good!
Columbus Blue Jackets
8 of 32
"Stop totally writing us off."
The Blue Jackets have been inconsistent, sure, but that implies more good among the bad than they're getting credit for. It feels like a lot of talk regarding Columbus' hot start stops at "that was a feel good story," and that's kind of disrespectful to what they're doing. They're neck-and-neck with the Islanders and the Lightning in terms of Eastern Conference positioning.
They've been absolutely explosive offensively at times. They're riding a three-game win streak including wins over the Hurricanes, the Lightning, and that fateful 5-1 event over the Bruins. They've scored 24 goals in their past five games, and 17 in their past three. Sean Monahan's got seven goals and 20 points in 20 games.
At the very least, the Blue Jackets deserve our attention.
Dallas Stars
9 of 32
"We're taking 'as a team' to a whole other level."
The Dallas Stars are among the most defensively sound and all-around deep teams in the league. It clearly works for them, although you kinda wish a player would break out on an absolute offensive tear. I guess the Stars' youth saves that for the playoffs.
Detroit Red Wings
10 of 32
"We have to pick one?"
Frankly, the Red Wings haven't done much right except some power-play goals here and there to start the season. Their most egregious grievance might be five-on-five, where it seems like they can't sustain more than five seconds of zone time on any given evening.
Edmonton Oilers
11 of 32
"Wait, the offense is the problem?"
Don't get me wrong, the Oilers haven't been fantastic on defense to start the season, but no one is surprised. We expect the best offense in the league to make up for it, though, and that hasn't been the case so far. The snakebitten Oilers have been heating up and changing course, but they're still scoring just 2.91 goals per game—the 15th-worst clip leaguewide.
Florida Panthers
12 of 32
"Can everyone take a deep breath?"
The Panthers don't currently find themselves in the best stretch of hockey they've ever played, but they've banked enough early-season points—and the rest of the division is bad enough—that it really doesn't matter. They'll be fine, even if the Maple Leafs' four-game win streak allowed Toronto to overtake the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic.
Los Angeles Kings
13 of 32
"Can the league's bad teams get just a little worse?"
The Kings perpetually bother me, and their start to this season has helped me understand why. It looks like they pick and choose when to be one of the best teams in the league and when to back away from that pressure and opt for less effort. They show up for big games against playoff-caliber opponents and take nights off against teams they should handily beat.
The funniest part? I wrote this before the Kings lost 7-2 to the Sharks on Monday. It's been that bad, and it just got astronomically worse.
Minnesota Wild
14 of 32
"A little respect, please."
The Wild are different this year. They are everything they're supposed to be, and everything we've been afraid they might not become. They are fun to watch and poised to make a strong playoff run.
Montreal Canadiens
15 of 32
"You wrote us off before Patrik Laine even touched the ice?"
Look, the Canadiens are at the bottom of the Atlantic and it comes as no shock. They had a brutal start to the season, and it's not like they were supposed to be good to begin with. But they're looking tighter and more competitive recently just as Laine's gearing up to return. Maybe they can find some magic when he's back.
Nashville Predators
16 of 32
"Five-on-five is lava."
It seems like the Nashville Predators are playing "the floor is lava" this season, with the floor being five-on-five. The even-strength stats are worse than you can even imagine on a team that boasts Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, and Filip Forsberg. They've just got nothing in the tank, and it's tough to watch.
New Jersey Devils
17 of 32
"Can you give us a minute?"
The Devils looked unstoppable to start the season, then they looked super inconsistent, and now they look very good. This is where we thought they'd be after the offseason shakeup.
New York Islanders
18 of 32
"Will we ever be trusted to close out a game?"
If the Islanders are going to do one thing this season, they're going to allow a late goal that either sends them to overtime or causes them to lose the game entirely. I'm no coach, but that doesn't seem like the best strategy. The latest offense was a 4-2 collapse against the Red Wings on Monday, which is particularly egregious considering Detroit barely even starts games, let alone finishes them off.
New York Rangers
19 of 32
"If Kreider's getting traded, and Trouba's getting traded, then who's flying the plane?"
The Rangers were pretty openly shopping captain Jacob Trouba in the offseason to no avail, and now they're apparently cool with trading Chris Kreider. It sort of seems like they're just throwing things out there and seeing what sticks, which uh, I guess is an interesting strategy when it comes to your veteran leaders?
Ottawa Senators
20 of 32
"Wait, if the Bruins are unhappy with their goaltending, shouldn't we be thrilled?"
Both Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have struggled more significantly than usual to start this season, but the attention has been on Swayman for obvious reasons. Don't let that distract you from Ullmark's sub-.900 save percentage out in Ottawa. He's had his solid moments, but it hasn't been enough to stabilize the team as it fights for playoff positioning. He'll have to return to form for the Senators to have a real chance.
Philadelphia Flyers
21 of 32
"We could have seen this coming."
If you told me the Flyers were struggling this year, I'd ask how they handled the goaltending situation. The answer: Not well! With Sam Ersson out, you see how thin the depth chart there truly is. You're also seeing how electric the Matvei Michkov experience is becoming on the other end. Why didn't they just sign some league-average insurance goaltending and get a few more wins?
Pittsburgh Penguins
22 of 32
"How much time do you have?"
Do we know who invented the idea that a two-goal lead is the most dangerous lead in hockey? Whoever you are, wherever you are, you might be the only one enjoying this Penguins season.
San Jose Sharks
23 of 32
"Why couldn't Joe Thornton play forever?"
Jumbo Joe's No. 19 jersey retirement over the weekend was full of legendary stories and moments that really took us back to simpler times for the Sharks franchise. Things are slowly turning around now with Macklin Celebrini's rookie season underway.
Seattle Kraken
24 of 32
"Who knew a backup goalie could have this much of an impact?"
Look, Philipp Grubauer's 1-6-0 record isn't just on him—the team is mightily struggling to score and has been shut out three times this month. But you can't ignore that Seattle is 10-4-1 when Joey Daccord is in net.
St. Louis Blues
25 of 32
"We gotta realize our potential now?"
The Blues had a sneaky good roster headed into the season, and yes, some key injuries have derailed them. But they haven't consistently found the next gear it feels like they should be able to find. Enter head coach Jim Montgomery. We'll see if he can help. So far so good against the Rangers, with a strong offensive performance from the Blues and a 5-2 win for the first game in the Montgomery era.
Tampa Bay Lightning
26 of 32
"Can we catch a break?"
Just take a gander at the Lightning's schedule thus far and you'll see it's been the toughest slate in the league with a mixed bag of results to match. They've had some impressive wins and some baffling losses, so all eyes are on Tampa once it catches a breather. Maybe Monday's 8-2 win over the Avalanche is the momentum-swinger.
Toronto Maple Leafs
27 of 32
"Can we just once enjoy success without any drama?"
The Leafs might be the best team in the league right now, and if they were any other team, we'd be viewing it as a positive that they're on a roll without their superstar captain. This is the Leafs, though, so everyone had to get weird about Auston Matthews traveling to Germany for a procedure and question why everyone else has stepped up in the meantime.
Utah Hockey Club
28 of 32
"How much does a goal cost around here?"
The Utah Hockey Club is struggling on many fronts, none worse than scoring. Perhaps their 6-1 win over the Penguins was a turnaround statement after getting shut out by the Bruins, but their collapse to the Leafs wasn't particularly convincing. They're 3-6-1 in their last 10, with a -10 goal differential on the season.
Vancouver Canucks
29 of 32
"What are we?"
No one expected all sunshine and roses for the Canucks this season without Vezina-caliber goaltender Thatcher Demko and a few other heavy hitters. But regression from last season's wild PDO and euphoria hasn't been as brutal as some predicted. All-in-all, the Canucks have come back down to Earth, and here on this planet they're still a pretty good team.
Vegas Golden Knights
30 of 32
"What will the haters say now?"
Jack Eichel is off to the best start of his illustrious career. Tomas Hertl has been a power-play revelation. Mark Stone was crushing it pre-injury, putting a nail in the LTIR conspiracy coffin (Why would they purposely keep their most important player out of the lineup?).
The front office has made a litany of aggressive, controversial moves, and they've basically all worked. What now?
Washington Capitals
31 of 32
"Not OVI!!!"
Did the worst injury of Alexander Ovechkin's career really have to happen as he was leading the league in goals at 39 years old and on pace to smash the all-time goals record this season? Ovechkin is week-to-week, which isn't terrible in the grand scheme, but it stinks given the timing. Good thing the Capitals are the biggest surprise of a wagon this season with or without Ovechkin, with another convincing win over the Panthers driving that home Monday.
Winnipeg Jets
32 of 32
"With great power comes great responsibility."
The Jets are 7-3-0 in their last 10, which would be great for any other team. For the fastest team in NHL history to win 15 games, it's like the world is waiting for the other skate to drop. Alas, the Jets are fine and still own the best record in the league.
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