.jpg?w=1280 "NHL Report Card Grades")
Report Cards for Every NHL Team 1 Month Into the 2025-26 Season
Believe it or not, the 2025-26 NHL regular season is already more than a month old, and teams are approaching the 15-game mark of the campaign.
We are at a point where good teams are starting to establish themselves, while bad teams are losing ground. So, now might be a good time to hand out some more early-season grades.
Grades are based not only on a team's record, but also on the process behind the record and the expectations teams had at the start of the season. Is your team winning with flaws? Losing but capable of a turnaround? Doing more or less than expected? All of that goes into it.
So let's hand out some early-season report cards.
Anaheim Ducks
1 of 32
Grade: A
Things are coming together for the Ducks.
If you look under the hood and dig a little, you can see some potential red flags in the team's defensive performance. Nobody is allowing more expected goals per 60 minutes during 5-on-5 play than the Ducks, and there is a sizable gap between them and the next-worst team. It's a concern.
What's not a concern, though, is the young talent on offense. They are the highest-scoring team in the league, averaging more than four goals per game, and have already scored seven goals in four different games. Leo Carlsson is turning into the star Anaheim hoped he would be, and Cutter Gauthier can not stop scoring goals at the moment.
There might be some regression that takes place here at some point, but the young talent is legit, and the Ducks have built themselves a nice cushion in the standings for when the regression does hit. The playoffs are within reach thanks to this start.
Boston Bruins
2 of 32
Grade: C
The Bruins have been a wild ride so far with extensive streaks at both ends of the spectrum.
They won three in a row to open the season, followed by losing six in a row, and then followed that by winning six out of seven games.
The current result is a team that's in the lower half of the league standings, hovering around the .500 mark. That seems about right for what the roster is (top-heavy with questionable depth), how they defend (poorly), and the way their goaltending has been (not great).
Buffalo Sabres
3 of 32
Grade: C
Say this for the Sabres: They have been very competitive.
After losing three consecutive games to open the season, they earned at least one point in nine of the 10 that followed. They have been horrible in overtime, which has cost them a couple of potential points, but they are in pretty much every game.
It has been a better-than-expected start for a franchise that has known nothing but losing for a decade and a half, and was only expected to keep losing this season.
But is there enough here to not only sustain a competitive start, but also build on it?
Calgary Flames
4 of 32
Grade: F
The offense remains a major concern, but that should not be a surprise. The Flames were the worst offensive team in the NHL a year ago and did little to address it this offseason.
The bigger concern this season is that starting goalie Dustin Wolf has played horribly. He has started 13 of the team's 15 games and has managed only an .895 save percentage.
He was fantastic as a rookie and helped mask many roster flaws, not only keeping the team in the playoff race until the end of the regular season but also earning himself a big contract extension heading into this season.
So far, he has not duplicated that level of play, and it is playing a big role in the Flames having one of the NHL's worst records.
No offense plus bad goaltending equals a bad time.
Carolina Hurricanes
5 of 32
Grade: B
It is mostly business as usual for the Hurricanes.
They control most games territorially, and from a scoring chance perspective, they wear teams down and win a lot of games with a revolving door of goalies who don't always wow you, but make enough saves to win.
They do all of this while still possessing the same lingering questions that always seem to follow them around. Specifically, is that revolving door of goalies good enough, and are there enough difference-makers at forward to push them over the top when they have to play the best of the best deeper in the playoffs?
Early indications are they still do not.
But they do still have $10 million in salary-cap space and a lot of draft picks to deal from. Stay tuned.
Chicago Blackhawks
6 of 32
Grade: C
This is the best start the Blackhawks have had in years, and the most encouraging part of it is the fact that Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar are leading it.
They are the players who will make the Blackhawks relevant again, and they need both to take big steps forward in their development this season.
The other big positive is that starting goalie Spencer Knight has been fantastic, entering play on Thursday with a .919 save percentage in his first 10 starts this season.
The concern with the Blackhawks is that there still is not much around those three guys that leads you to believe the playoffs are a realistic goal this season. They still give up a lot of chances on the back end, and their success will largely depend on Knight's ability to keep playing like an All-Star.
Colorado Avalanche
7 of 32
Grade: A
They are on top of the league standings despite getting only average to below-average goaltending on most nights.
They are the top expected goals team in the league, have just one loss in regulation, have an MVP candidate in Nathan MacKinnon, and a Norris contender in Cale Makar.
Scoring depth might still need to be addressed before the trade deadline, and goaltending could be a potential concern, but the first month of the season has gone as well as the Avalanche could have hoped.
Columbus Blue Jackets
8 of 32
Grade: C-
An underwhelming offseason that seemed like a big missed opportunity has led to a somewhat underwhelming start to the regular season.
The biggest disappointment is Adam Fantilli's lack of production, while the team as a whole has not performed well defensively.
The Blue Jackets have been one of the NHL's worst teams when it comes to preventing expected goals and high-danger chances, and are putting a ton of pressure on their goalies to bail them out.
For the most part, Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves have mostly done that.
What happens if that does not continue? The Blue Jackets might have a real concern at that point.
Dallas Stars
9 of 32
Grade: B
The Stars are winning games and collecting points, but I am not sure they are totally happy with the way they are playing, and I am not sure they have played up to their full potential just yet.
The offense still has not consistently been there.
After scoring 15 goals in their first three games, the Stars managed just 21 goals in the 10 games that followed (only 2.1 per game).
The good news: Mikko Rantanen has been fantastic, and everything they are paying him is working out offensively.
Detroit Red Wings
10 of 32
Grade: B
The Red Wings are off to their best start in nearly a decade, and certainly their best start in the Steve Yzerman era. What is most impressive about that 9-5-0 start is they are doing it while getting some below-average goaltending.
Dylan Larkin has been outstanding, while a lot of the young talent is progressing nicely, including 20-year-old Emmitt Finnie with eight points in his first 14 games.
They are on the positive side of most of possession metrics, but the offense has been very average overall. They could use a little more scoring depth and better play from their goalies, but it's an encouraging start for a team that needs to show progress.
Edmonton Oilers
11 of 32
Grade: C-
It remains incredible that this team has played in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, given the roster flaws that persist every year.
They have big question marks with Darnell Nurse playing such a big role on defense (and struggling the way he has), while the goaltending is again a huge concern.
But one of the biggest concerns has been on offense, where the Oilers are averaging just 2.03 goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey. That is one of the lowest marks in the league.
There is still plenty of time to turn that around, but the disappointing offense, combined with the below-average goaltending, has resulted in a sluggish, slow start that leaves the Oilers closer to the bottom of the league standings than the top entering play on Friday.
Florida Panthers
12 of 32
Grade: C
On one hand, the Panthers have not looked like the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions that they are.
On the other hand, they are playing without their two best players right now, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.
We know Tkachuk will be back at some point this season, but Barkov is likely to miss the entire campaign. That is a lot of talent to replace, and nobody really has the depth to make up for losing two of the best players in the league.
The Panthers still have a good process and are near the top of the league in expected goal share during 5-on-5 play, but without Barkov and Tkachuk, it is hard to turn that territorial edge into consistent results.
Los Angeles Kings
13 of 32
Grade: C
It is still difficult to fully comprehend what the Kings were doing this offseason and why they felt Corey Perry, Brian Dumoulin, and Cody Ceci would be the players to get them over the top in the Western Conference.
They have been especially bad on home ice, winning just one of their first seven games in Los Angeles.
Overall, it's been a very mediocre team to open the season.
The offense has not been anything special, the defense looks worse than it did a year ago, and the goaltending has been average on its best day and below average on most days. They are still not where they need to be.
Minnesota Wild
14 of 32
Grade: D
There is not much to like about the Wild's start to the season. They have won just five of their first 15 games, have struggled defensively, and are not yet getting strong goaltending.
Kirill Kaprizov has been great offensively, but few other players on the roster are matching his level.
It's still early, and the Wild have not yet played like it.
There should have been reasonably high expectations coming into this season, given how good they looked in the first half of the 2024-25 season when they were fully healthy. They have not yet rediscovered that level of play this season.
Montreal Canadiens
15 of 32
Grade: A
Not only are the Canadiens off to a great start with one of the league's best records, but they have a sensational long-term outlook.
Their young core, led by Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky, has been great, and all of them are locked into long-term deals that should end up being wildly team-friendly under a rapidly increasing salary cap. That comes in handy when you are trying to add players around that core.
They were already able to take advantage of that this offseason with the additions of defenseman Noah Dobson and forward Zac Bolduc.
Rookie forward Ivan Demidov is also rapidly becoming a star and could end up being one of the most dangerous offensive players in that core group of talent.
The Canadiens took a big step forward in 2024-25, and they look poised to take another this season.
Nashville Predators
16 of 32
Grade: D
What is this team's identity? What are they doing this season? What are they hoping to accomplish with any of this?
They are not contenders. They are not rebuilding. They are not particularly good offensively. They are not really strong defensively. Their goaltending has been below average.
They are stuck in no-man's land in terms of their overall approach and do not do anything well on the ice.
They might be best served if Barry Trotz hired himself as head coach, fired himself as general manager, and allowed another team builder to assemble the roster.
New Jersey Devils
17 of 32
Grade: A-
Having a healthy Jack Hughes completely changes the outlook and feel of this team. The problem has been finding a way to keep him healthy.
Right now he is, and Hughes is playing at an MVP-level for a Devils team that enters the weekend with one of the NHL's best records at 10-4-0.
They have not been great defensively, but high-end talent can help cover that up.
You could tell going into the playoffs a year ago that the Devils didn't have a chance, given the injury situation, especially as it related to Hughes.
Even with some flaws on this year's roster that need to be worked out, the presence of Hughes changes the vibe around everything.
New York Islanders
18 of 32
Grade: C
There are a lot of things to not like about this Islanders team and season.
Ilya Sorokin is again not looking like the goalie the Islanders need him to be (and are paying him to be). After being one of the NHL's best goalies the first three years of his career, he has settled into being a middle-of-the-pack netminder (or worse) the past two-and-a-quarter years. They are not going to win with him playing at that level.
It is also still a team lacking star power at forward and consistent offense. They still have a lot of players on the wrong side of 30.
But for all of those concerns there are also a lot of things to like here.
The biggest is that the farm system and prospect pool have dramatically improved over the past year, and No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer is one of the main reasons. He has also been one of the biggest bright spots on this year's team, and already looks like a potential superstar and the future of the Islanders' defense.
New York Rangers
19 of 32
Grade: D-
If you want to be optimistic as a Rangers fan, you can try to convince yourself that the team is just unlucky, and their strong underlying numbers could eventually lead to more goals (and more wins). The process is there, but the results are not.
The problem with that thought process is that Mike Sullivan's recent Pittsburgh teams fell into the same trap of strong underlying numbers with no results to show for them. Is it a system flaw? Is it a sign that he is a good tactical coach and has no finishers to turn chances into offense? Maybe a little of both?
Whatever the case, the Rangers have been a major disappointment through the first month, have yet to win a game at home, and enter Friday tied with Buffalo for the worst record (by points percentage) in the Eastern Conference.
That is not what they expected when they traded what became the No. 12 overall pick in the 2025 draft for J.T. Miller and hired Sullivan.
The even more concerning thing is they are a .500 team through 14 games despite getting mostly outstanding goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick. This team just has a lot of problems right now around them.
Ottawa Senators
20 of 32
Grade: C
The biggest issue with the Senators this season is that their goalies cannot make a save.
Ottawa is allowing just 2.17 expected goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play (second-best in the NHL). It has been pretty solid offensively, scoring 3.43 goals per game (ninth-best in the NHL) despite not having its best player, Brady Tkachuk, for most of the season.
All of that is promising, but they are only 6-5-3 through their first 14 games due to the goalies' struggles.
At some point, Linus Ullmark is going to play better. When he does, the Senators should start winning more games, given the way the rest of the roster is playing.
It's a good team. It just needs somebody to stop the puck every once in a while.
Philadelphia Flyers
21 of 32
Grade: B
The two most promising developments for the Flyers are Trevor Zegras looking like he might still have top-line potential, and Dan Vladar coming in as a free agent and providing much-needed stability in net.
The Flyers were a better team than their record indicated a year ago, and would have shown that with better goaltending. Vladar has given them that goalie boost this season, helping them win 8 of their first 14 games.
The offense is still lacking when you get beyond Zegras and Travis Konency, and they desperately need second-year forward Matvei Michkov to get back on track offensively, but it has been a promising start in the standings overall.
The questions are whether Vladar can keep this up over a full season and if they can find a way to scrape out just a little more offense from the rest of the roster after Zegras and Konecny.
Pittsburgh Penguins
22 of 32
Grade: B
The 2025-26 season began with Pittsburgh Penguins fans thinking about Gavin McKenna. A month into the season, they might be starting to think about the playoffs.
The Penguins are 9-4-2 and off to one of their best starts in franchise history, and there are a lot of reasons for their quick start.
Future Hall of Famers (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson) are still playing well, while there has also been an infusion of young talent led by 18-year-old rookie Ben Kindel. All of that, combined with a new system from first-year head coach Dan Muse and some better-than-expected goaltending, has allowed the Penguins to exceed almost every expectation that existed for them.
They still have some major flaws and concerns defensively, and trusting their goaltending to maintain this level of play over a full season may be expecting too much, but they have given themselves a nice cushion with the points they have collected.
San Jose Sharks
23 of 32
Grade: C
The San Jose Sharks opened the season on a six-game losing streak, and they were in the middle of a stretch that had seen them win just seven games over their previous 45 games dating back to the second half of the 2024-25 season.
Since then, they have won five of their next eight games, and they have some serious young talent that makes it easy to dream of better days ahead.
Macklin Celebrini is the best young player in hockey, combining top-line, elite scoring with a Sidney Crosby-like level of competitiveness and drive. He is still only 19, and it is kind of scary how good he already is.
The Sharks' top-three scorers (with Will Smith and William Eklund joining Celebrini) are all age 23 or younger, while Michael Misa (the No. 2 overall pick in 2025) and top defense prospect Sam Dickinson are also on the roster and getting their first taste of NHL action.
They are still probably a year or two away from the playoffs, but you see some hope building here.
Seattle Kraken
24 of 32
Grade: C
The record is fine, but the whole thing seems like a house of cards that could topple over at any time.
The Kraken are one of the worst offensive teams in hockey, and they get out-chanced at a rate that places them near the bottom of the league. Goaltending was one of the things helping to balance all of that out and keep them in games, but even that is starting to level off a little.
The lack of offense is going to hold this team back, and it is hard to see where improvement will come from with this current roster.
St. Louis Blues
25 of 32
Grade: D
The vibes in St. Louis seem especially rancid this season. The goalies have been horrendous and have undone anything positive the skaters have done, while Jordan Kyrou found himself as a healthy scratch on Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Blues are no strangers to slow starts, and they do have a tendency to play their way out of it. They certainly did it a year ago, following a coaching change and a big in-season trade for Cam Fowler.
A coaching change is probably not in the cards this season, but roster moves are always on the table, especially if somebody like Kyrou is getting scratched early in the season.
It would be helpful if their goalies, especially Jordan Binnington, would start doing something productive. In fact, nothing would help more than that.
Tampa Bay Lightning
26 of 32
Grade: B-
The Lightning lost six of their first seven games and had a hard time producing offense during that stretch. They have since turned it on and are starting to put the puck in the back of the net a little more frequently.
The top half of the roster is still really good, even as they get older, but depth will be a concern.
As good as the top of the roster is, most of them haven't even played their best hockey yet this season. Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, Brayden Point, and Andrei Vasilevskiy all have another level they can still reach.
Toronto Maple Leafs
27 of 32
Grade: B
William Nylander and John Tavares are cooking offensively for the Maple Leafs to open the season, and they haven't really missed Mitch Marner's offensive production as much as originally feared.
They need more from their goalies, and they still have to prove that this early offensive production can carry over to the playoffs.
Especially as it relates to the top players on the lineup.
It gets tiring to say, and it probably gets tiring for Maple Leafs fans to keep hearing it, but we know this team can produce in the regular season and win games from October to early April. All anybody cares about is whether they are going to do those things in mid-April and May.
Utah Mammoth
28 of 32
Grade: A
The Mammoth look like a playoff team early in the season, and it's a lot of their young forwards driving that early success.
Logan Cooley looks like he will be a star and is now signed long-term, while Dylan Guenther keeps getting better, and JJ Peterka has been an outstanding addition to the young core.
What makes the Mammoth's early start even more impressive is that they are winning games despite having some early concerns in net. They are only 27th in the NHL in 5-on-5 save percentage as a team, but have been able to outscore that concern.
Give them league-average goaltending, and they are going to be difficult to beat on most nights.
Vancouver Canucks
29 of 32
Grade: D
The Canucks' best chance for success this season was always going to be center Elias Pettersson returning to his All-Star form offensively and defenseman Quinn Hughes having another Norris-caliber season.
So far, neither has happened.
Both players have been ... fine ... but not quite difference-makers, and the team as a whole has simply been bad defensively. Very bad. Overall, this is just a very grim long-term outlook. Pettersson is struggling to return to form, Hughes' long-term outlook is up in the air, and the depth of the roster just isn't good enough to make up for Pettersson and/or Hughes not carrying the team.
Vegas Golden Knights
30 of 32
Grade: B
Jack Eichel is playing at an MVP level, Mitch Marner is on a 95-point pace, and the Golden Knights have mostly been locking teams down defensively. Mark Stone's injury is unfortunate, given his start to the season, but they should also be used to that by now.
The addition of Marner raised the expectations, and Vegas should be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
It has mostly played like it so far.
Washington Capitals
31 of 32
Grade: C
Special teams are sabotaging the Capitals' chances this season, and that is especially true when it comes to the power play. That group has not only failed to make an impact but has also actively stolen their momentum in many games.
We are not used to seeing that from a Capitals team, but Alex Ovechkin has especially struggled on that unit. Is this the year he finally starts to slow down a little?
From a bigger-picture perspective, it should be a major concern when you have a goalie who leads the league in save percentage (as the Capitals do with Logan Thompson) and the team is not regularly winning.
Winnipeg Jets
32 of 32
Grade: B
The Winnipeg Jets are a fascinating team. Their underlying numbers and defensive metrics are mostly terrible in 5-on-5 play, yet their record is among the best in the NHL.
The reason for the success despite ugly defensive metrics: They have the best goalie in hockey (Connor Hellebuyck) and a strong backup in Eric Comrie, who has been equally great. They also have high-end talent at the top of the lineup with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor both playing well.
High-end forward talent and elite goaltending can mask many problems and take a team a long way. But will it take a team all the way? That is the question Winnipeg still has to answer.
