It\u2019s December, which means it\u2019s not too early anymore.<\/p>\n
At least for some things. For example, if a team is struggling to hit .500 at this point, it\u2019s not just a case of a slump or a run of rough luck. That team is bad. There\u2019s still time for them to get good again, absolutely. But right now? There\u2019s no more pointing at the calendar and pretending everything\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not as convinced it\u2019s not too early to pass judgement on the offseason. But we\u2019re doing it anyways, so here we go\u2026<\/p>\n
Bonus five: Still-too-early offseason lessons<\/p>\n
5. The Ducks defense wasn\u2019t the problem for John Gibson \u2013 <\/strong>For years, we watched Gibson struggle in Anaheim. Some of us wondered if he was cooked. Others pointed out he was playing behind a young Ducks team that wasn\u2019t offering him any help. When he was finally dealt to the Detroit Red Wings, we figured we\u2019d finally get to see what he could do behind a better team. And so far, the results haven\u2019t been great. Even as the Wings have hung in the playoff race, it hasn\u2019t been due to goaltending, with Gibson especially putting up some ugly early numbers.<\/p>\n 4. Maybe the Leafs and Mitch Marner should have figured it out \u2013 <\/strong>You\u2019re probably sick of hearing about the Leafs\u2019 struggles, if such a thing is possible. But they\u2019ve been bad, and a big part of the story has been the things Marner did well, including special teams and playing in his own end. The Leafs tried to replace him in aggregate over the offseason and those moves have almost all been busts. The lesser side of the story is that Marner hasn\u2019t exactly been lighting it up in Vegas, where he\u2019s on pace for just 16 goals and his lowest full-season point total since he was 20 years old. He\u2019s probably still happier, because he can make a mistake like this<\/a> without seeing it on the front of every newspaper, but it hasn\u2019t been a perfect fit quite yet.<\/p>\n 3. The Sabres won the JJ Peterka trade \u2013 <\/strong>They haven\u2019t won much else, but so far Josh Doan is producing at the same rate as Peterka in Utah. Factor in age, salary and Michael Kesselring, and the early returns say Kevyn Adams may have actually won one here.<\/p>\n 2. Playing it safe isn\u2019t always very safe \u2013 <\/strong>It\u2019s always interesting to look back at which teams had the quietest offseason. Sometimes it works. But in the summer of 2025, some of the quieter teams<\/a> included the Flames, Canucks, Capitals and Predators. The Caps are OK, although they\u2019re on pace for a step back from last year\u2019s surprise. The other three? Maybe staying the course wasn\u2019t the right plan.<\/p>\n Speaking of which\u2026<\/p>\n 1. The Oilers should have got a goaltender \u2013 <\/strong>Easy to say it now, but how many of you thought it was a mistake at the time? Hm, OK, that seems to be literally everyone on the planet. Interesting.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll get into the Oilers a bit more down below. For now, let\u2019s move on to the rankings, which features a major absence this week\u2026<\/p>\n Road to the Cup<\/p>\n The five teams with the best chances of winning the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n Both the best and worst play of the weekend: Kyle Palmieri tearing his ACL, then gutting it out to set up a goal on his way off the ice.<\/p>\n This effort is different!<\/p>\n Kyle Palmieri would NOT quit on the play \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/BTAghx555l<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He\u2019ll be out for at least six months<\/a>.<\/p>\n 5. New Jersey Devils (16-8-1, +4 true goals differential*) \u2013 <\/strong>They\u2019ve adjusted OK to life without Jack Hughes, with three wins in four games on the week. That basically leaves them neck-and-neck with\u2026<\/p>\n 4. Carolina Hurricanes (16-7-2, +16) \u2013 <\/strong>I\u2019m sorry, I know we\u2019re all working away in the online content mills, but there is no way that a 1-0 win over a last-place team which features 32 shots by both teams combined should result in a 10-minute \u201chighlights\u201d video<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. Dallas Stars (17-5-4, +22) \u2013 <\/strong>Four straight wins and 21 goals scored. Not bad for a reasonably tough stretch of schedule. By the way, if you\u2019re wondering about their next matchups with the Avalanche, I checked the schedule and they\u2019ll play them twice in March, once in April and then seven times in May.<\/p>\n 2. Tampa Bay Lightning (16-7-2, +19) \u2013 <\/strong>The win streak is up to seven, which has been enough to open up a bit of a cushion on top of a weird Atlantic Division. They\u2019ve got the Islanders twice this week, starting tomorrow, with the Penguins sandwiched in between.<\/p>\n 1. Colorado Avalanche (18-1-6, +51) \u2013<\/strong> It\u2019s important to make sure other teams in the league still feel like they have a chance, so let\u2019s highlight this week\u2019s sign that the Avs aren\u2019t unbeatable: Mackenzie Blackwood is occasionally letting the other team score again.<\/p>\n Mackenzie Blackwood’s shutout streak finally comes to an end at 173:31 (nearly three full games).<\/p>\n It is the 3rd longest streak in Avalanche history (behind two by Patrick Roy).<\/p>\n Blackwood saved 84 consecutive shots without allowing a goal during the streak.<\/p>\n \u2014 Jesse Granger (@jessegranger.bsky.social<\/a>) November 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n *Goals differential without counting shootout decisions like the NHL does for some reason.<\/p>\n Not ranked: Minnesota Wild \u2013 <\/strong>We\u2019re getting close. We\u2019re not quite there yet.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to find a way to sneak the league\u2019s hottest team into the top five, especially after they beat the Avalanche on Friday night<\/a>. That game was a shootout, so call it a tie if you\u2019d prefer, but even hanging with the unstoppable Avs right now is impressive. Getting two points in the process is a statement.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, so is a loss to the Sabres, which is what we got on Saturday in a classic letdown game<\/a>. That one was a shootout too, as the coin flip giveth and taketh away. But if I was looking for cover for leaving the Wild out of this week\u2019s top five, the Sabres provided it.<\/p>\n The Other Rankings had already seen enough, moving the Wild into their five-spot<\/a> before that Friday night showdown. We move a bit slower on this side of the weekend, since we\u2019re more focused on the long-term. But the Wild have been undeniably impressive lately, digging out from a 3-6-3 start with seven straight wins and just a single regulation loss since October. And that stretch includes wins over contenders like the Knights, Hurricanes, Jets and now Avs, so it\u2019s hardly been empty calories.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t been enough to cause a major shift in the projections quite yet, with Dom\u2019s model still having the Wild around the middle of the pack<\/a>. And the betting odds, which I don\u2019t rely on but can serve as a useful sanity check, haven\u2019t caught up yet. In fact, most of them still have the Wild down with teams like the Habs, Senators and Ducks, which is to say teams with real but outside chances. If you think the Wild are obviously one of the five best bets to win the Cup right now, and you\u2019re the wagering type, let\u2019s just say there\u2019s some value to be had.<\/p>\n Or you could just enjoy the run and that fun feeling of watching a team where just about everything is clicking. Kirill Kaprizov looks like a guy who deserves a big contract. The youth is holding up their end, with Matt Boldy scoring and Brock Faber handling 24 minutes a night. The \u201cDanila Yurov as first-line center\u201d era is progressing nicely. And in the biggest story of the young season, Jesper Wallstedt is posting the sort of goaltending numbers the team was dreaming about when they invested a first-round pick in him all those years ago. He had his doubters, and it was deserved after last year\u2019s debacle, but he\u2019s proving them wrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n Can they keep it up? Sure, at least for a while. They kick off a road trip tomorrow that starts with three games in Canada, and that\u2019s not a bad place to be these days<\/a>. The schedule between now and the holidays is basically a whole bunch of very winnable matchups, plus statement games against the Stars and Avs, which are both on home ice.<\/p>\n Really, the only downside right now is that all this winning hasn\u2019t translated into a big jump up the standings, because the brutal Central just didn\u2019t give any ground near the top. It\u2019s not hard to imagine the Wild cooling down only slightly, going on to finish the season with well over 100 points, and then being rewarded with a first-round matchup that starts on the road in Dallas.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a ways away, though. For now, it\u2019s enough to enjoy watching a team hit on all cylinders. It\u2019s not quite a top-five performance just yet, but they\u2019re knocking on the door. Let\u2019s see if they break it down this week.<\/p>\n The bottom five<\/p>\n The five teams headed towards dead last and the best lottery odds for Gavin McKenna (we think<\/a>).<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get right to the big story\u2026<\/p>\n For the first time since January 2022, the Sharks are not in the bottom five. First we had to say goodbye to the Blackhawks a few weeks ago, and now the Sharks are also getting a chance to creep outside the warm embrace of failure and see what the real world is like.<\/p>\n (It\u2019s not all good news for the Sharks, though, because this is the week we found out they\u2019re dastardly rule-breakers<\/a>.)<\/p>\n 5. Vancouver Canucks (10-13-3, -18) \u2013 <\/strong>We held out as long as we could, but with five losses in six games they haven\u2019t given us much choice. By points percentage, we\u2019re actually flattering them here \u2014 they\u2019d be 29th overall. Oh, and they get the Avs tomorrow, so that should be fun.<\/p>\n The good news: It really does feel like some sort of change is imminent<\/a>.<\/p>\n 4. Buffalo Sabres (10-11-4, -12) \u2013 <\/strong>Shootout or no, coming out of Minnesota with two points is impressive. But it still leaves the Sabres as the only Eastern team that\u2019s under .500 on the year.<\/p>\n 3. St. Louis Blues (9-10-7, -21) \u2013 <\/strong>Nasty stuff on Saturday, with Alexey Toropchenko ejected after sticking his knee out on Utah\u2019s Logan Cooley<\/a>. The Blues killed it off and earned a 1-0 win, their second straight on this three-game homestand that wraps up tonight against the Ducks.<\/p>\n 2. Calgary Flames (9-14-4, -17) \u2013 <\/strong>The thing about a lost season is that it can be hard to get up for every game, so when you\u2019re playing the defending champs you can be sure you\u2019ll be ready to play and ah, nevertheless\u2026<\/p>\n The good news is they came back and won that game, so \u2026 extensions for everyone<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1. Nashville Predators (8-13-4, -29) \u2013 <\/strong>Let\u2019s focus on the positive: They strung together consecutive regulation wins for the first time this season, winning on the road in Detroit and Chicago. Should that be enough to move them out of the bottom spot? Maybe, but the good news is they play Flames tomorrow so the two contenders can figure it out for themselves.<\/p>\n Not ranked: Edmonton Oilers \u2013<\/strong> OK, let\u2019s do this.<\/p>\n The Oilers haven\u2019t been a focus of this column for most of the year. They made a brief appearance in the top five back in week one, reflecting their status as preseason favorites. They fell out quickly after a slow start, but that wasn\u2019t a big deal, because this was the Oilers \u2014 they always start slow, everybody always freaks out, they always end up running off 12 straight wins at some point, and we always say we won\u2019t get fooled again.<\/p>\n And I promised I wouldn\u2019t. While we made note of their struggles, including in last week\u2019s Canadian panic rankings<\/a>, we tried hard not to overreact. They do this every year. You\u2019re not allowed to really worry about the Oilers in October and November.<\/p>\n OK. Now it\u2019s December. Can we worry yet?<\/p>\n Even after Saturday\u2019s win over Seattle, we\u2019re 26 games into the season and the Oilers have won just 11 times. They have yet to put up a three-game win streak. They\u2019ve only won back-to-back games in regulation once, and that was in the season\u2019s first week. They have a loss where they gave up seven goals, plus one where they gave up eight, and also one where they gave up nine, all in the last month. The goaltending, to put it mildly, remains a concern, but it\u2019s far from the only problem. They have just six wins in regulation, which is tied for the fewest in the league. In Daniel\u2019s most recent report cards, there are nine players in goal or on the blue line who received grades, and only one did better than a C<\/a>.<\/p>\n So what now? Earlier in the month, we ran a couple of interesting pieces from Lowetide that covered the two apparent possibilities: staying the course<\/a>, or making a trade to shake things up<\/a>, especially in goal. Neither feels like an ideal option right now, which isn\u2019t a good sign of a team that\u2019s in one.<\/p>\n\n
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