Winners and Losers From the Opening Month of the 2025-26 NHL Season
We've made it through the first month of the 2025-26 NHL season, and whew, has it been a whirlwind.
Connor McDavid's extension with a modest $12.5 million AAV was starting to look more fairly priced with his slow start to the season, but he's exploded since and now ties Macklin Celebrini for the league lead in points. Here's our surprised face.
Meanwhile, the entire Penguins roster seems to have taken offense to the idea of a re-tool. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby look like they never left their prime; a few new faces have helped out, and life looks good in Pittsburgh for now.
The "kids" -- rookies and under-25s alike -- seem more than alright, an abundance of one-goal games has made every night appointment viewing, and the (in)famous NHL parity has reached new heights.
Here are the winners and losers from the opening month of the 2025-26 NHL season.
Losers: Connor McDavid Doubters
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Have we not learned our lesson?
The season is long, and Connor McDavid likes to play with his food early on. Lather, rinse, repeat, and suddenly the slow start has turned to a tie for the league lead in points.
It took quite some time for McDavid to get going early on, but once he spoiled the Mammoth's seven-game win streak with his first two-goal performance of the season Oct. 28, he had arrived.
He's now surpassing a point per game clip and tied with Macklin Celebrini for the league lead in points with four goals and 21 points in 15 games. The Oilers still have a ton of work to do, sitting fifth in the Pacific with a 6-5-4 record, and this two-game skid has worsened that. For the first time in franchise history, Edmonton has lost four games when leading by multiple goals within the first 15 games of a season.
Worry about the Oilers and their wear and tear. Do not worry about Connor McDavid.
Winners: Surprise Packages
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This has been one of the closest standings months to start the season in NHL history -- more on that later. One of the primary causes of this parity has been the emergence of several unexpected teams.
We were under the impression that the Penguins would start some sort of immediate tank for Gavin McKenna, but Evgeni Malkin said no with 19 points in 14 games -- so did Sidney Crosby, with nine goals and 17 points in 14 games. The Penguins, their elders, and a few new faces are sitting in second in the Metro with an 8-4-2 record and tons of gusto.
We expected the Canadiens to follow up their return to the playoffs with more of the same exciting style of play and a few improvements, but their consistency and their newfound goaltending answer in Jakub Dobes have exceeded expectations. They've catapulted to No. 1 in the Atlantic at 9-3-1.
The Ducks were clear about their intentions to make the playoffs headed into the season, but how about first in the Pacific at 8-3-1, with a Jacob Trouba that loves to score and a Cutter Gauthier who looks headed for superstardom?
There are always some surprises before things even out around American Thanksgiving, but the surprise packages rarely look this convincing.
Winners: Young Studs
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Macklin Celebrini has been on an absolute tear ever since he and Sharks teammate Will Smith found TikTok fame in New York City.
Celebrini became the fifth-fastest player (tied) in NHL history to reach 20 points in a season as a teenager Wednesday night, taking the league lead with eight goals and 21 points in 14 games. He also holds a plus-4 rating, an accomplishment given that he averages more than 20 minutes per game on a rebuilding team.
He's not the only youngin' making waves one month in. Islanders rookie and No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer could not have had a better start to his career. The 18-year-old Calder Trophy frontrunner leads all NHL defensemen in goals with five, and ranks third overall in points with 11 in 13 games. He's averaging more than 21 minutes per night on a middling Islanders team, and he's reached the plus-25-minute mark at times.
Meanwhile, Lane Hutson's sophomore campaign is picking up right where the reigning Calder Trophy winner left off with 13 points in 13 games and a crucial role in Montreal's continued success.
Leo Carlsson of the Ducks and Logan Cooley of the Mammoth are playing integral roles in each of their teams' great starts. Connor Bedard netted his first career hat trick in the Blackhawks' best start since he joined the team. Ivan Demidov looks exactly as advertised in his first full season.
The kids are definitely all right and it's fun for the league to see.
Losers: Goalies That Are Struggling
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What's that law from that guy? Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, right?
So there can't be all this scoring, all these young, fast, emerging talents, all these relevant teams without someone paying the price. Yep, folks, the goaltenders are paying the price.
Even veterans like Jordan Binnington are having tons of early trouble this season -- his latest 6-1 loss to the Capitals has him at -6.1 goals saved above expected, No. 68 out of 71 active goalies. That No. 71 is typically sturdy Linus Ullmark, who has -8.1 goals saved above expected on the season. Gulp.
Sergei Bobrovsky, Dustin Wolf, and Anthony Stolarz are among the names who have struggled to start the season, where they'd normally hold up at least slightly better than what we are seeing. Heck, even Ilya Sorokin is in the negatives with -1.0 goals saved above expected, which isn't awful compared to the rest of these names but indicates a generally tough start to the season for solid, consistent goalies.
Is it all the parity? Is it the kids? Do we need to revolutionize off-season goaltending training? We'll find out as the season progresses. For now, keep an eye on your goalie.
Winner: Parity
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If the first month of NHL play confused you a bit, you're not alone. If it's felt like you haven't figured out which teams are "good" yet, there's a reason: We're facing almost historic parity.
Through 217 games this first month of the season, 105 have been decided by one goal. That's the fourth-most one-goal games through the first month of the season in NHL history. The games are close on a micro level, and this has obviously led to the same deal in the standings.
The entire Metropolitan Division is separated by just four standings points. The Devils and the Penguins are tied at 18, the Hurricanes are next up at 16, then the Capitals and Flyers at 15, and the Islanders, Blue Jackets, and Rangers tie for last at 14.
You can look at it one of two ways: Every game already matters in early November. Yay, meaningful hockey! Or maybe nothing matters until teams really start to separate.
One thing's for sure: It's going to be a big season for those of us who are team "abolish the loser point."
