A month into the NHL season, the eternal powers are battling it out as the Blues try to survive

We are one month into the NHL season and some things are abundantly clear.

The rebuilding Nashville Predators are an absolute mess. Their ugly 6-2 loss in Florida on Thursday left them in the basement of the Central Division with a 4-9-1 record and a goal difference of minus-17.

Something has to change soon in Smashville.

The aging Pittsburgh Penguins are also a mess. They have a number of Hall of Fame players well into their 30s, but they lack goaltending and team defense. Sidney Crosby and Co. have a record of 5-8-2 with a goal difference of minus-17.

Former Blues assistant coach and former Blues player Jim Montgomery is facing the Boston Bruins. There are signs that the foundation has cracks,

He had to reprimand Brad Marchand on the bench and use David Pastrnak during a game. The Bruins beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 in overtime on Thursday, but are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and 7-7-1 overall.

The long-powerful Colorado Avalanche is also sputtering. Facing a Blues-like litany of injuries, the Lanche have struggled to a 5-8-0 start.

Conversely, the Winnipeg Jets are on their way to a top playoff spot. Their 1-0 win over Colorado on Thursday increased their record to 13-1-0. That’s an amazing start given the parity of the salary cap era.

As for the Blues, they’re just trying to survive after losing No. 1 center Robert Thomas and top-four defensemen Philip Broberg and Nick Leddy to long-term injuries during the season.

They keep falling behind in games and lack the firepower to consistently catch up. Their frustrating 3-2 loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday dropped them to .500.

Writing for ESPN.com, Greg Wyshynski had this take on the Blues:

The Blues were an offensively challenged team even before they lost top center Robert Thomas to a broken ankle. They ranked 24th in the NHL with 2.69 goals per game through their first 13 games. This meant that the Blues’ best chance of victory would come from solid team defense to make up for the lack of goals. Unfortunately, an average of 3.08 goals were conceded per game.

Without the goaltending of Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer, things could have been worse. Binnington (.904 save percentage, 2.77 goals against average) and Hofer (.903, 3.33) helped the Blues climb into the top 10 in team save percentage to start the season.

The Blues are not an exemplary defensive team under coach Drew Bannister, as they rank 23rd in expected goals conceded per 60 minutes (2.57) and actual goals conceded (2.72). While their goaltending has been solid, both Binnington and Hofer have performed below expectations, according to Stathletes. So there is room for improvement here, especially from Binnington, who could be Team Canada’s starter in the four-nation duel.

Given what’s happened to the Blues this season – and what else is happening in the NHL – things could be worse.

Here’s what people wrote about the first month of the season:

Ryan Dixon, Sportsnet: “Friday is November 8th, which means – if we ignore the early European start of Buffalo and New Jersey in the Czech Republic – it has been exactly a month since the NHL season began in earnest on October 8th with a banner raising in South Florida began. Some of what has happened in the four-plus weeks since was expected by many. On the other hand, the number of things that count as surprises seems at least a little more extensive than usual. For example, two teams that were viewed by many as regressions – the Winnipeg Jets and Carolina Hurricanes – have the two best point percentages in the league. Martin Necas, a player mentioned endlessly in summer trade rumors, has 20 points, bettered by only five forwards in the NHL. Nikolaj Ehlers, who has been cited in as many offseason fake trade suggestions as Necas, is right behind with 17 points. The Washington Capitals, a club you may have forgotten even made the playoffs last year, are off to a hot start that gives them the information they need to return this season, and center Dylan Strome has the fifth-best Points per game grade (1.58) by a Canadian NHL player. Matt Duchene (1.36) is sixth. Meanwhile, defenseman Cale Makar competes with teammate Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead, but the Avalanche teammates are a combined minus-11, playing for a 6-7-0 team. Connor McDavid also plays for a sub-.500 squad. Due to a combination of injuries and inconsistent play from their teams, McDavid and Auston Matthews – the two most recent Rocket Richard winners – have combined for eight goals this year. In other words, the same amount was raised by Alex Laferriere of the Kings or Ross Colton of the Avs (now injured). The Boston Bruins – who won a league-record 65 games in the 2022-23 season as Jim Montgomery won the Jack Adams in his first year with the team – have been identified as a team that may drop the ax on their coach, while the Nashville Predators – after winning the offseason – have won just four of 13 games this year. In fact, GM Barry Despite is already talking about a rebuild.”

Ryan Lambert, EP Rinkside: “Barry Despite said in a radio interview this week that the Nashville Predators will have to think about a rebuilding plan if they don’t move in the right direction soon. That’s pretty interesting, isn’t it? Just a few months ago, Despite traded his 22-year-old “goalkeeper of the future” to sign a goalkeeper seven years older until 2033. He also signed 33- and 34-year-old forwards to five- and four-year deals, respectively, and a 30-year-old defenseman through 2031. Now the six highest-paid players on the team have some form of motion protection, and there is no one on a significant contract Books this summer. I don’t know how you go from saying, “We can be competitive, but we need to add $20.5 million in cap space to do it,” to saying 10 or 11 later, “Maybe we need to think about rebuilding.” This could just be a scare tactic, with Despite trying to light a fire under his players’ asses. He really doesn’t have much of a choice because the idea of ​​rebuilding just doesn’t seem realistic at this point. I guess you have to pay someone even if you’re tanking, but I wonder how many teams would actually line up to trade even top veterans Filip Forsberg or Roman Josi, considering they’re at high salaries for many years be under contract and have a deal Say to all trading objectives. This also feels like it’s laying the groundwork for just firing the coach who was a genius, then he wasn’t, then he was again, and now I guess maybe he isn’t either. Whatever the mix is, it doesn’t work, and if you want to blame Andrew Brunette, I guess I can see the argument.”

Kevin Kurz, The athlete: “If you’re looking for reasons why the Flyers are in the basement of the league after three and a half weeks, you best start with their misfortunes at the No. 2 goalie spot. The divisions are glaring. No. 1 Samuel Ersson, who is out Saturday with a minor lower-body injury, has a respectable record of 4-2-1 with a goals-against average of 2.68 and a save percentage of .901. But the reserve goalkeeper position was nothing short of an embarrassment. The Flyers have yet to win a game or score a single point in the six games Kolosov or Ivan Fedotov have played.”

Jason Chen, The Hockey News: “The Kraken are absolutely hopeless when it comes to scoring, with two shutout losses during their four-game losing streak, and it’s not like the Senators and Bruins are particularly difficult to score on. They are 1-5-1 since their three-game winning streak and are 24th in goals per game since joining the NHL. You can’t blame the fans if their interest continues to wane.”

Matt Larkin, Daily Faceoff: “The Pens’ grizzled veterans were their best players last season, and they all performed at or near the top of their abilities relative to their age. Aside from the power play issues, one could argue that everything went as well as it could have for the Pens in 2023-24 and it wasn’t enough for a playoff spot. A 16-year playoff streak ended with two playoff failures in a row. In response, center Kevin Hayes, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and future Rutger McGroarty were the team’s biggest additions. So it was difficult to imagine a different fate this time, no matter how much Crosby wanted to believe otherwise. We’re now 14 games into Pittsburgh’s season, and where are things going? (Sidney) Crosby is still Crosby, on his way to overtaking Wayne Gretzky and setting an NHL record in his own right with 20 consecutive points per game. (Evgeni) Malkin is scoring at a pace of 94 points. You played every game along with (Erik) Karlsson and (Kris) Letang. And it led to this. . . a 5-7-2 record. Déjà vu from last season. The Pens continue to receive outstanding contributions from their veteran players and very little help from the rest of the roster. The Pens, of course, are paying for years of betting on first-round picks and prospects in the name of chasing the Stanley Cup – which, for the record, was a totally worthwhile venture for then-GM Jim Rutherford. It certainly doesn’t help that $5.375 million goaltender Tristan Jarry is completely broken and is currently trying to fix his game in the AHL. The Pens have elite special teams talent so far this season, but they’re bleeding goals and are on par with bottom teams like the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens when it comes to suppressing shots at 5-on-5 Scoring chances and expected goals conceded is .”

Ray Ratto, The defector: “Their 3-0 victory Tuesday night over the equally anonymous Utah Hockey Club was the Jets’ 12th win in their first 13 games. They scored the most goals per game and allowed the second fewest; They won eight of their games despite allowing the first goal, a power play that scored 44 percent of the time, the second-best save percentage in the league and essentially dominated all of the more sophisticated metrics. . . There is no aspect in which they have not been dominant.”

“I just think the chemistry isn’t right on all of our lines. Our penalty shootout was good. I would say the power play was acceptable. Our confrontations are good. Overall, our 5-on-5 play has improved defensively since the beginning of the year. But we didn’t score many goals.”

Barry Despite, general manager of the Nashville Predators.