NHL Concern-O-Meter: How Worried Should These 7 Teams Be?

The NHL season is only nine or 10 games old for each team, but it is never too early to start making wild assumptions or jumping to ridiculous conclusions. After all, if you can’t use hyperbole as a baseline, what fun is that?

With hyperbole in mind, which teams should already be panicking about their start? Certainly not the Utah Mammoth, who have quickly established themselves as contenders for the Central Division, and not the Boston Bruins, who are exceeding expectations. These seven teams are all likely not thrilled with their starts, with those at the bottom of the list feeling the most heat.

Montreal Canadiens: 2.5/10

The Canadiens were the darlings of the offseason. That’s what happens when you have one of the most exciting cores in the league all signed to minimum wage. Yet here we are, through nine games, and the Canadiens are stuck in the middle of the pack in a crowded Eastern Conference.

The offense will be okay long-term, but what’s more concerning is their defense and goaltending. The Canadiens are tied for the fourth-most goals allowed in the East, and neither Jakub Dobes nor Jacob Fowler is a stalwart in the crease.

All that said, they are too deep and talented to really be worried. There’s less margin for error in the Eastern Conference, but the Canadiens have so much high-end talent that there is little doubt they’ll start to find their groove sooner or later.

Washington Capitals: 3/10

The Capitals shot up the list of contenders with the acquisitions of Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou this offseason, and both have done well in their new digs. Yet here the Capitals sit, 5-4-0 and in a four-way tie for ninth in the conference.

Goaltender Logan Thompson has been good but has come back to Earth a bit after finishing fourth in Vezina Trophy voting a season ago. Concern levels are low because this feels like a team that underwent major changes to find its identity early in the season.

A big key for the Capitals will be the health of Pierre-Luc Dubois. He has proven himself to be a major piece of the puzzle thanks to his two-way prowess, but injuries have been a consistent factor (he’s only played in four games this season). Without him, they have a big hole and could struggle despite a strong roster on paper.

Colorado Avalanche: 3.25/10

The 2025-26 season may have ruined expectations for this team. They ran the table from start to finish, rolling to the Presidents’ Trophy a season ago. For that reason, it feels a little jarring to see them holding a wild card position despite being tied with the Dallas Stars at 11 points.

Losing to the Devils, their second in a row, only aids that perception. The usual suspects are scoring, but defensive lapses keep popping up, and the goaltending – lights out a season ago with Scott Wedgewood – has looked merely okay so far.

The Avalanche are probably fine, but there is something to the thought that Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and the crew may be feeling complacent about the regular season and attempting to keep something in the tank for the eventuality of the playoffs. They should be in contention for the division again, however, because they have one of the best rosters in hockey.

Buffalo Sabres: 5/10

The Sabres have had a weird start to their season. It doesn’t help that they have faced a slew of injuries, including to all-world defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Goaltending has been a mess, but it isn’t helped by the fact that the Sabres are one of the worst in the league when it comes to surrendering high-danger chances.

The fact that they keep stealing points should be a positive sign for the team. Guys are coming back, and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been solid the last few outings. Even more encouraging: the Sabres are 12^th in goals for per 60 at 5-on-5.

The downside is both their special teams units have been trash this season, something that has to be rectified if they want to keep earning points. That said, they have been fantastic at coming back from multi-goal deficits, though they need to work on finishing those games.

Columbus Blue Jackets: 6.75/10

It has been an ugly six months for the Blue Jackets. They looked like they were on the cusp of a playoff spot in April only to fall apart down the stretch. Kirill Marchenko demanded his way out of town and was dealt for a solid return to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, the Blue Jackets are off to a poor start, 3-5-0 through eight games.

The young core feels like it is at something of a crossroads. Adam Fantilli got a new contract and has just two goals and three points. Matthew Knies scored twice in the opener and hasn’t since. Zach Werenski has no goals (but six assists) and Sean Monahan has just one goal.

Eventually, this group has to find cohesion and figure it out, or it’s going to be back to square one for the Blue Jackets. It is an ugly cycle that the Blue Jackets haven’t gotten out of for extended periods of time since the team came to Columbus in 2000.

Anaheim Ducks: 7.5/10

The Ducks put on a master class on how not to manage a franchise this offseason. The Leo Carlsson offer sheet saga effectively reset the league’s pay scale, particularly when it comes to securing young, promising but unproven talent. That same offer sheet also cost them Cutter Gauthier, making salary cap management even tougher going forward.

The Ducks have been lukewarm out of the gate. Lukas Dostal and Ville Husso have been pedestrian, and the defense outside of Jackson LaCombe has been a major downgrade from last season.

The good news is that Carlsson is off to a hot start with 11 points in nine games, and Beckett Sennecke looks like he’s taking a step forward. The offense is going to have to make up for their counterparts more often this season, and the early returns simply aren’t there yet, as the Ducks are off to a very meh 4-5-0 start.

Los Angeles Kings: 9.5/10

The Kings were in a weird place going into the offseason. They have enough pieces to justify trying another playoff run even if franchise pillar Anze Kopitar called it a career. They were one of those teams clearly stuck in a transitionary period yet not fully rebuilding.

The early returns suggest that a rebuild may be on the horizon. They are a hideous 1-4-2, tied with the rebuilding Calgary Flames for the worst mark in the league. They are also tied with the Flames and Philadelphia Flyers for the fewest goals, just 17 through seven games.

Artemi Panarin and Adrian Kempe are doing fine, but Quinton Byfield feels like he’s never going to take the next step. Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg have been sieves in net; the former with a gross .869 save percentage through five starts. They may start to move towards average, but merely being within shouting distance of a playoff spot may be all they’ll achieve.

You Can Only Say “There’s a Lot of Hockey Left” For So Long

The most common response (rightfully) at this stage is that there’s still a lot of hockey left. And, yes, a lot can happen in 74 or 75 games. That said, some of these teams have established their identities already (Kings) while others are simply trying to find a groove. In either case, they can’t take too much longer or they’ll be stuck wondering what went wrong.