NHL Quarter Mark Shockers: Which Teams Are Surpassing Expectations—and Which Are Crashing Hard?

We’ve just crossed the first big milestone of the 2025-26 NHL season—thanksgiving’s come and gone, and suddenly, the blur of early games starts to snap into focus. Sure, it’s still early days, but enough puck has dropped to start sizing up who’s soaring, who’s sputtering, and who’s somewhere painfully stuck in between. And what better moment to dust off the proverbial red pen, right? This week, The Athletic rounded up their NHL insiders to dish out some candid grades based on expectations set before the season tipped off. Some of these marks will make you grin and nod — maybe even toss your phone to your folks or fire off a quick note to your favorite GM. Others? Well, you might wanna keep those tucked away. Ready for a rollercoaster of surprises and a few disappointments? Buckle up. LEARN MORE.

Last week, the 2025-26 NHL season passed its quarter point. It’s still early, but with one of the big demarcation points on the league’s calendar, U.S. Thanksgiving, behind us, we are starting to get an idea of what each team is and isn’t.

What better time to break out our red pens and hand out some grades? That’s exactly what The Athletic did this week when it asked its NHL staff to assign a grade to every team with expectations in mind. You’ll definitely want to show some of these to your parents (or general managers). Others … maybe not.

Anaheim Ducks: A+

You could quibble about the scoring chances the Ducks give up, but they’re playing an exciting brand of hockey and succeeding at it. Leading the division at this point was not expected. It helps to have an ace such as Lukáš Dostál covering up mistakes, but he’s out for a bit with an injury. They’re never out of the game and have high-performing veterans augmenting a starry young core leading the way. — Eric Stephens

Boston Bruins: B+

The Bruins were the NHL’s fifth-worst team last year. They didn’t add much in the offseason. Charlie McAvoy, Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson have missed time with injuries. But they are in the playoff fight while building culture, improving defense and converting on the power play. — Fluto Shinzawa

Buffalo Sabres: C

The Sabres are once again near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, and inconsistency has been their biggest issue. But their grade is boosted by the fact that they’ve stayed somewhat competitive despite being in the top five in man-games lost this season. We’ll be able to give a better assessment of this team once their roster is healthier. — Matthew Fairburn

Calgary Flames: D+

Perhaps our season-ending grade for the Flames last season was a bit harsh, considering they overachieved and nearly made the playoffs. This should be a fairer grade this time around, as the team’s lack of goal-scoring touch, combined with their youth underachieving (Matthew Coronato excluded) and muddied message around their retool/rebuild, has contributed to a tough start to their season. — Julian McKenzie

Carolina Hurricanes: A-

The Hurricanes have been without arguably their best player, defenseman Jaccob Slavin, for all but 37 minutes, riddled with other injuries, and have the league’s 29th-best power play and No. 21 penalty kill. Carolina still sits near the top of the Eastern Conference — with room to improve. The fact that the Hurricanes also have significant cap space to make additions should scare the rest of the league. — Cory Lavalette

Strong starts by Connor Bedard and Spencer Knight have given the Blackhawks an early boost. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

Chicago Blackhawks: A-

The Blackhawks have been one of the most surprising teams through the opening quarter. From Connor Bedard’s third-year jump to Spencer Knight’s high level of consistency to Jeff Blashill’s influence in his first year as coach, the Blackhawks have had a lot of “ifs” go their way and have fared much better than anyone expected. The preseason assumption was that they would be competing for the bottom. Twenty-some games isn’t a season and the Blackhawks might go through some growing pains being as young as they are, but their start should give fans some optimism for the present and future. — Scott Powers

Colorado Avalanche: A+

This was an easy grade. The Avalanche have earned points in all but one of their games, which is pretty ridiculous this far into the season. They’ve out-scored their opposition by nearly triple the amount of the second-best team in points differential, and are just as dominant in the underlying metrics. Colorado’s 59 percent expected goal share as of Wednesday not only led the league, but it was nearly 4 percentage points clear of the field. The Avs have been the clear-cut best team in hockey. — Jesse Granger

Columbus Blue Jackets: C

The Blue Jackets were one of the best stories in the NHL last season, and their late push and near-miss at a playoff spot (2 points) had many thinking (hoping?) they’d be ready to launch from the start of this season. It hasn’t gone that way. The Jackets aren’t out of it by any stretch, but a string of blown late leads has cost them valuable points, and it’s been demoralizing, too. Forwards Kent Johnson and Sean Monahan have failed to match last season’s production, leaving Columbus with one consistent scoring line. That’s one way to live — but a hard way to thrive — in today’s NHL. — Aaron Portzline

Dallas Stars: A-

After an early four-game stumble, the Stars are still within spitting distance of the mighty Avalanche in the Central Division and league standings. Jason Robertson is playing his way onto Team USA, Mikko Rantanen is living up to his contract, and Wyatt Johnston is taking the leap into superstardom. And they’re doing this all despite a pedestrian start in goal from Jake Oettinger. You can call that a concern, or you can say it’s a sign of just how good this team will be when Oettinger gets back on track. I lean toward the latter. — Mark Lazerus

Detroit Red Wings: B-

On many nights, the Red Wings have deserved higher than this. Until this week, they sat atop the Atlantic Division, largely on the back of some fantastic starts by their star players. But they’ve still left a lot to be desired, particularly defensively, where they’ve made life far too easy for their opponents with turnovers and miscues. The parity of the Eastern Conference means they’re very much in the mix. But if they can’t rein in the mistakes and find depth scoring, it’ll be hard to stay there. — Max Bultman

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s Oilers are off to a rough start to the season. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)

Edmonton Oilers: D

The Oilers have 10 victories. Just five of them have come in regulation. Only once have they won by multiple goals without the aid of empty-netters. They’ve allowed the most goals in the league. They get some leniency here because 16 of their 25 games have come away from Edmonton and they’ve had injuries to key players Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jake Walman. Otherwise, it’s been a disastrous start. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman

Florida Panthers: B

Yes, the Panthers are in the East’s mushy middle and, no, it hasn’t always been pretty. But they’re missing arguably their two most important players in Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk and have lost more salary to injury than any other team. They’re also 5-4-0 in their last nine games and the goals seem to be coming, with 35 in those nine outings. Their underlying numbers are strong, too, so they should be a playoff team — and a handful once Tkachuk returns in the second half. — James Mirtle

Los Angeles Kings: B

The Kings are proving those who predicted imminent doom after an uninspiring offseason wrong. They’re still getting it done with defense and goaltending. Darcy Kuemper is having a solid follow-up to his Vezina Trophy finalist season. Corey Perry and Joel Armia have been fine additions who have played up and down the lineup. They’ve managed to be in a playoff position because of their great road record, but they’ve got to squeeze out more offense. A few players who have provided consistent depth scoring in the past have struggled to find the net. — Eric Stephens

Minnesota Wild: B

A month ago, when the Wild won three of their first 12 games, nobody could have imagined such a grade. But we grade on a curve, and what an exceptional month of November it has been for the Wild (11-1-1). Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson have combined for five shutouts, and Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon were exceptional. — Michael Russo

Montreal Canadiens: B-

The Canadiens got off to a hot start and followed that with a cold stretch. This is exactly what they hoped to avoid this season. But ultimately, a 13-7-3 record after 23 games is something they would have taken had it been offered to them before the season began. The goaltending is a problem, the power play is a problem, but this team has far fewer problems overall than it did a year ago, and the talent is really starting to pop. In the context of a team trying to emerge from a rebuild, the first quarter has been more than fine. — Arpon Basu

Nashville Predators: F

To be fair, the Predators aren’t dramatically worse than they were supposed to be. They were supposed to be bad. Still, this is a disaster headed for perhaps the worst record in the league, a fire sale and a prolonged rebuild. General manager Barry Trotz, whose long-term deal for Juuse Saros looks especially problematic now, is a beloved figure in Nashville who is starting to burn through the goodwill. — Joe Rexrode

New Jersey Devils: B

The Devils are off to a solid start with a 16-7-1 record. They’ve dealt with injuries — the Jack Hughes hand injury certainly has cast a bit of a shadow over the start of the season — but none are season-ending. Some of the team’s underlying numbers suggest overperformance, but overall, New Jersey has to be somewhat pleased with its start. — Peter Baugh

Matthew Schaefer has made an immediate impact on the Islanders. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

New York Islanders: A-

The Islanders’ season has been far from perfect. Defense has been a real weakness, both at five-on-five and on the penalty kill. But after Mathieu Darche took over and kicked off a retool, expectations changed for the Islanders — and they are exceeding them. Matthew Schaefer has made an immediate impact with his dynamic all-around game. Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal have been difference makers up front, and after shaking off some offseason rust, Ilya Sorokin has been strong in net. So even if the team steps back and sells at the deadline, that progress is all important in the big picture. — Shayna Goldman

New York Rangers: C

Concerns about the Rangers’ offensive firepower and overall depth have come to the forefront during a turbulent first 26 games. Their top players aren’t producing enough, and the bottom half of their lineup is severely lacking skill, resulting in an average of 2.56 goals per game, which ranks 30th in the NHL. It’s been especially glaring at home, where New York is just 2-7-1 and has been shut out five times. The main thing keeping the Rangers from a D grade or worse is a defense that’s much improved under new coach Mike Sullivan. — Vincent Z. Mercogliano

Ottawa Senators: B+

Earlier this week, the Senators were the only Canadian team in a playoff position. That already has and will continue to change with how fickle the Eastern Conference has been. But the Senators have kept their heads above water despite early-season issues with goaltending, special teams and not having their captain, Brady Tkachuk, due to injury. This grade will go up if they continue playing well as their issues improve. — Julian McKenzie

Philadelphia Flyers: B

The Flyers are trying to improve this season, and in many respects, it appears that they have. Offseason additions such as Trevor Zegras and Dan Vladar have been invaluable, and the Flyers have been a generally responsible team defensively, with players such as Travis Sanheim and Cam York shouldering a heavy workload on the blue line. But their offensive attack is wildly inconsistent. It remains to be seen whether they have the talent level or the hockey IQ to execute what new coach Rick Tocchet wants them to do when they have the puck. — Kevin Kurz

Pittsburgh Penguins: B+

October was an A-plus. November, not so much. Still, the Penguins entered the season with bottom-five expectations around the league and find themselves in a battle for playoff position despite a rash of injuries. Job well done so far by Dan Muse and his team. — Josh Yohe

Macklin Celebrini is helping propel the Sharks to a decent start to the season. (Bob Kupbens / Imagn Images)

San Jose Sharks: A+

The goal for the Sharks this season was to be better. Sitting just outside playoff position after starting with a 0-4-2 record didn’t seem realistic, but here they are. Second-year coach Ryan Warsofsky has pushed and prodded a receptive group that’s become appointment viewing due to the ascendant 19-year-old superstar Macklin Celebrini. He isn’t alone. Will Smith hits the scoresheet often as a blossoming running mate and Yaroslav Askarov is excelling in goal after a shaky start. — Eric Stephens

Seattle Kraken: B+

The Kraken have amassed a very impressive 28 points in 23 games to open this season, overcoming a variety of key injuries to Jared McCann, both of their best defenders (Vince Dunn and Brandon Montour) and their starting goaltender. Lane Lambert has Seattle playing lockdown defensive hockey, and some of its youngest players — Matty Beniers and Shane Wright — have been key drivers of those defensive results. The Kraken haven’t given an opponent an easy game yet this season, which could make them dangerous in the Western Conference playoff race. — Thomas Drance

St. Louis Blues: F

If you had told fans at the beginning of the season that the Blues would be sitting near the bottom of the NHL standings on Thanksgiving, they would’ve been mortified. There were far higher expectations for the Blues after their near upset of the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Perhaps they were too high for a club that’s still retooling its roster. But being on the low end of nearly every statistical category in the league warrants a failing grade. — Jeremy Rutherford

Tampa Bay Lightning: B

After a shaky start in which they stumbled through the first two weeks with a 1-3-2 record, the Lightning have turned things around to climb up the Atlantic Division. It hasn’t been perfect in Tampa Bay — the power play isn’t dangerous enough, and Brayden Point hasn’t hit his top gear, either. But credit to the Lightning for managing through some really key injuries, including Victor Hedman’s absence, and navigating through a number of call-ups from Syracuse. — Shayna Goldman

The Maple Leafs have taken a considerable step back this season. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

Toronto Maple Leafs: D

It’s been a bad start for the Leafs. A step back with Mitch Marner off to Vegas was expected, but this has been much, much worse. Hardly anything has gone right. The Leafs have been poor defensively, their special teams have been mediocre, their goaltending (until recently) hasn’t been effective, and coach Craig Berube has struggled to find solutions. Injuries made things only more challenging. What’s made it all worse is the soft, home-heavy schedule the Leafs were unable to take advantage of. — Jonas Siegel

Utah Mammoth: B

The Mammoth have cooled off after a dream start to the season, but they still own a playoff spot in the West by points percentage. Utah is stingy defensively and controls play well, but its power play is among the worst in the NHL, and the Mammoth have been sunk to some degree by poor goaltending, as their team save percentage at five-on-five is near the bottom of the league. Overall, they’ve looked like a playoff-caliber team, which is encouraging. — Harman Dayal

Vancouver Canucks: F

Vancouver entered this season expected to be a fringe playoff team, and instead has performed at the level of a tanking NHL team. By the eye test, goals against or whatever underlying metric you want, Vancouver is the worst defensive team in hockey and is also inept on the penalty kill. The Canucks still have Quinn Hughes and a dynamic first power-play unit, and injuries — especially at center — have significantly submarined Vancouver’s ability to hang with its opponents at five-on-five, but this has still been nothing short of a nightmare run out for the Canucks. — Thomas Drance

Vegas Golden Knights: C-

The Golden Knights have more losses than wins, which is something you can rarely say over their nine-year history. They have nine losses in 13 games this month, but Vegas’ league-high eight overtime and shootout losses have kept it in a playoff position for the most part. Mark Stone’s injury hurt the team badly, and he returned Wednesday, so brighter days should be ahead for the Golden Knights. For now, they get a passing grade for staying afloat while not playing particularly well. — Jesse Granger

Washington Capitals: C+

They’ve spent most of the season riding the roller coaster, including a 10-game stretch in which they went 2-6-2 and were outscored 34-25. Their finishing is spotty. Their special teams are sub-mediocre. Still, the Capitals’ strengths — high-end five-on-five play and Logan Thompson, primarily — have them where they should be: squarely in the playoff picture. — Sean Gentille

Winnipeg Jets: C

It would be disingenuous to publish a story called “The Winnipeg Jets are going to struggle. Don’t count them out when they do” to preview the season and then act shocked or appalled that the Presidents’ Trophy winners are just 12-11-0. Winnipeg is going to have to scratch and claw for a playoff spot this season, if it makes it that far. The Jets started to play better when Dylan Samberg, Adam Lowry and Cole Perfetti returned to the lineup, but they’re getting outchanced again and are losers of four straight. There’s a better team than we’re seeing, but Winnipeg’s problems — pace, structure, consistency and secondary scoring — are plentiful so far this season. — Murat Ates