NHL UPDATE: With the Sharks and Ducks off to strong starts, the future is now in the NHL. And who else excelled in the first month?
- therookiereporters
- Nov 16
- 5 min read
With a little over a month in the books in the NHL, it’s time for me to praise and maybe brutally eviscerate the performance of many of the teams in the NHL. Note: all statistics and records are accurate as of Wednesday, November 12th.
After one month of NHL action, it’s safe to say that things are looking a little crazy.
The Anaheim Ducks (more on them later) are 11-4-1 and LEAD the Pacific Division, while the Los Angeles Kings are enjoying a winning run that has them in second in the same division.
Elsewhere, despite being handed a tough slate to start the season, the New Jersey Devils find themselves in first in the Metropolitan Division.
And yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs are still being owned by the Boston Bruins. Much to the chagrin of a certain middle-aged man who rants about this team after every game, particularly a certain game where they “lost to a 42-year-old Zamboni driver WHO WORKS FOR THE TEAM!”
I’m sorry, I’m getting carried away, but I had to include the famous YouTube video for your enjoyment.
Jokes aside, let’s take a look at some of the key storylines unfolding across the league and highlight some of the outstanding performances from the first month of the 2025-26 season.
It’s almost like the 2010s again: the Sharks, Ducks, Blackhawks, and Flyers are all off to strong starts.
Don’t look now, but the future is here in the NHL.
Let’s begin in the Pacific Division. After a phenomenal first sixteen games for the Anaheim Ducks, which resulted in an 11-4-1 record, they find themselves with a three point lead on the Los Angeles Kings for first in the Pacific Division. One of the outstanding performances for Anaheim has been Toronto native Beckett Sennecke, who has eleven points (six goals and five assists) in his first fifteen games. Veterans like Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba have also been making an impact for the Ducks in their first fifteen games of the season, while Leo Carlsson has twenty-five points throughout the first fifteen games.
Further down the Pacific, the San Jose Sharks are currently enjoying an 8-2-1 run following a 0-4-2 start to the season. Macklin Celebrini, who as of Sunday is fourth in the NHL in points with 24, has been a key component of the Sharks’ run of form, while the likes of Will Smith have also put up some solid performances to help the team. That currently has the Sharks at 19 points, tied with Seattle for third in the Pacific Division.
In the Central Division, the Chicago Blackhawks were projected by many, myself included, to finish last in the division and among one of the league’s worst teams. That could still happen, but sixteen games into the season, the Blackhawks occupy a playoff spot. An 8-5-3 start to the season has Chicago on nineteen points, one point clear of the Utah Mammoth for fourth in the Central Division. Connor Bedard has been at the forefront of the Blackhawks’ strong start; the North Vancouver native is tied with Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson for second in the NHL’s point-scoring table.
North of the border: Caufield and Suzuki lead Montreal to the Atlantic’s summit, while Winnipeg’s fast start has them in the conversation for the Central.
After fifteen games in 2024-25, the Montreal Canadiens had a 4-9-2 record.
After fifteen games this season, the Montreal Canadiens are 10-3-2 and hold a two-point lead on the Bruins for first in the Atlantic Division. Traditional rivals like Toronto and Florida, whose slow starts have helped Montreal to build an advantage, currently sit five and seven points back respectively.
The Habs find themselves in this position courtesy of its offence, which has scored 57 goals across the first fifteen games of the season. Cole Caufield has been at the forefront with twelve goals, good enough for second in the NHL, while Nick Suzuki is in a three-way tie for third in the NHL in assists.
Elsewhere, NHL legend Jonathan Toews returned to the league, following a brief period where he stepped away to deal with health issues, to play for his hometown Winnipeg Jets. He’s since played a huge role in the team’s success this season, with the Jets currently in third in the Central Division. Even with key talent leaving over the offseason, it seems that, up to this point, the Winnipeg Jets are still a solid team.
The teams I’m watching up to the Christmas break:
Pittsburgh Penguins:
With all of the pre-season rumours surrounding Sidney Crosby’s future with Pittsburgh, it’s almost like the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native said “thank you very much, but I’m not writing back.”
His Penguins have since been off to a phenomenal 9-5-3 start to the season.
That said, the 9-5-3 record does include losses in four of their last five games. Granted, starting goaltender Tristan Jarry is out with an injury, but backup Arturs Silovs is going to have to pick up the pieces and fast.
This coming weekend, the Penguins will play the Predators as part of the NHL’s Global Series; considering that Nashville isn’t exactly faring well, Pittsburgh should use this trip across the Atlantic Ocean as a chance to turn their fortunes around. Following their trip to Sweden, the Penguins enjoy a three-game home stand against Minnesota, Seattle, and Buffalo, before playing four of their next five on the road. A five-game home stand follows that stretch, while four of their last seven games of 2025 are on the road.
Considering that a good portion of the Penguins’ holiday stretch is at PPG Paints Arena, where they are 4-2-1 so far on the season, the team will need to put together a winning run on home ice if they are to remain playoff contenders.
Boston Bruins:
Winners of six straight heading into Monday’s action, Boston sits in second in the Atlantic Division with a 10-7-0 record after seventeen games. With many people having projected the Bruins as being a bottom-five to bottom-ten team, it’s safe to say Boston has relatively exceeded expectations over the course of their first seventeen games.
But it’s Boston’s holiday season stretch that will define whether the Bruins remain playoff contenders or not. The Bruins end the month with key divisional matchups (Thursday against Ottawa and Saturday against Montreal), while they also have to play divisional opponents four more times before Christmas. They also have a Pacific road trip coming up before the holidays are over.
Of the 24 games that Boston plays before the end of 2025, the Bruins should have to earn points in at least twelve of them. If they can do that, they should still find themselves in the playoff race before the calendar flips to 2026.
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Article written by Noah Guttman © Noah Guttman 2025
