We have completed the first two weeks of the NHL season, and so, we will begin tracking how teams are trending in their own divisions every week.
Atlantic Division
The Boston Bruins have started off their season well, being one of the last remaining teams without a loss.
The Ottawa Senators are also off to a quick start, winning every game outside of their season opener.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are clearly missing Andrei Vasilevskiy. They are currently leading the division in goals for with 17; however, they are also leading the division in goals against with 20.
I think the Buffalo Sabres were probably thinking their season was going to get off to a better start, but they are currently 1-3 with a -5 goal differential.
An early-season surprise team is the Detroit Red Wings who are also off to a 3-1 start.
Metropolitan Division
The Philadelphia Flyers lead the division early into the 2023 season, that in itself is a surprise. I don't believe they will be able to sustain this to get a playoff spot, but, they will play hard.
The Carolina Hurricanes' goaltending has been an early season issue. It doesn't help that Freddy Andersen has been held out for precautionary reasons since taking a puck off the facemask. They are leading the entire NHL in goals scored to start the season (24); however, they've also been scored on 24 times. Their defense, special teams, and goaltending will need to kick into gear.
I was not expecting the Washington Capitals to be good this season, but bottom of the division is not where they should be. Alexander Ovechkin has had the slowest start to his career, already being held to back-to-back games with no shots on goal. Their biggest issue is they cannot find the back of the net right now and they are giving up too many goals a game for that to happen.
The Devils will be fine. They are 1-1-1 to start the season.
Central Division
The Central Division, to me, seems to be going along pretty much as expected right now. The Avalanche leading the division is no surpise. I'm sure throughout the season they will switch spots with the Stars; but I do expect them to finish on top of the Central this season.
The Jets and the Blues are the two teams i'm surprised to see at the bottom of the division but it is still very early.
The Blackhawks have been feisty to start the season and Conor Bedard is looking like he will be the real deal. He will also probably be the only storyline to follow this season for the Blackhawks.
Arizona has also been a fun team to watch to start the season. Logan Cooley is up early in the points race for Rookies.
Pacific Division
The Vegas Golden Knights have picked up right where they left off from their Stanley Cup Championship run from last season with the hottest start in their Franchises short history, 5-0-0.
I did not expect Edmonton to be struggling like they are. Much like last year, their defense and goaltending is an issue and my preseason notion that I did not think they'd done enough to address it is looming large early. If they have Stanley Cup aspirations, they need to address those situations
The Kraken were really struggling with goal scoring until a 7 goal outburst last night versus the Hurricanes. It'll be interesting to see that provides their offense with the boost it needed
The Sharks are what everybody thought the Sharks would be, bad.
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