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Welcome to another edition of the Hockeybuzz hotstove.
In this one we'll be sharing some takeaways and things we've learned through two weeks of the 2014-15 campaign.
Todd Cordell: The Islanders are for real
With added depth up front, two new top-4 defensemen and a pair of established NHL goaltenders, including a very good starter in Jaroslav Halak, the consensus was they'd be a better team this season.
That's proving to be true early on with the Islanders jumping out to a 4-1-0 start that includes wins over the Rangers and Sharks.
It's too early to jump to conclusions using a five-game sample of data, but the Islanders' early season underlying data suggests they are a good team.
They're currently a 51.4% Corsi Close team, and own a sustainable PDO (save percentage + shooting percentage) of just over 100. Young players like Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome seem ready to take some of the workload off John Tavares' back, and Jaroslav Halak is giving them quality goaltending to the tune of a .931SV% during 5 vs 5 play.
That may drop a little over time, but there's no reason to believe the Islanders aren't going to legitimately contend for a playoff spot this year.
Ryan Wilson: Patience with the Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are off to another rough start this year as far as their record goes, but now is not the time to overreact.
Their goaltending has been awful to this point and that should improve as the season moves on. They are currently dead last in the NHL in EVSV% with an abysmal .843%
Possession wise Edmonton has a Score-Adjusted Fenwick percentage of 49.51% which is a great improvement over the 43.61% over last season. The Oilers might not be a playoff team but I don't think they are going to be a dumpster fire again this year either.
Adam French: Nyquist is for real, Panthers young D settling in
1. Gustav Nyquist is good. A lot of people expected a more realistic drop in production for the young winger when he wasn't shooting at like 24%. Yet he has started the season right where he left off. It was a long and relatively obscure wait for Nyquist, but looks like the Wings have another golden Swinn on their hand.
2. Ex-Florida Panthers are poison. Jaybo aside (and it took playing on an elite team in a number two role beside one of the biggest rising stars in his position to get back), ex-Panthers look like disastrous pick ups. It isn't all their fault, but just something I've noticed. Weiss was dreadful when he arrived in Detroit looking to finally compete for something other than the lottery pick, in his first game back this season he played only 8 minutes. Nathan Horton was looking good for the Bruins in a second line role, but there are questions surrounding if he will play again. Versteeg...what the hell happened there? Jokinen? Who? If I'm a GM I would be leery about picking them up.
3. Speaking of the Panthers, Ekblad was the right pick and a deserving number one selection. I know it's early and things could fall off like Seth Jones who had everybody ready to build him a statue in the first 2 weeks, then was rightfully reduced to a bottom-pairing role with PP time the rest of the season. Ekblad is arguably Florida's best defender right now. Also how about Kulikov moulding into form? Good things aren't far away for the Cats down the line.
4. Schwartz-Tarasenko is going to be a duo that scares goalies for a long time. Loved them last year and love them even more now. Great drafting and patience by the Blues.
5. That 70's Line is probably the best kept secret in the NHL. Their chemistry is unreal. Pearson-Carter-Toffoli is nasty in every sense of the word. They don't even need to be out there long to get things done. Sheltering them and matching Kopitar against the toughest competition will serve the Kings well going forward.
Tim Chiasson: Three horse race for 1st pick
After two weeks I've learned that the Connor McDavid Sweepstakes are going to be a three horse race between the Sabres, Hurricanes and Oilers. These three teams are on a whole new planet of awful right now and it sometimes looks like they're competing with each other to be the worst.
I'm shocked that the Oilers are back in this conversation again this year, I really am. I didn't think they'd be great, but I didn't think they'd be this bad either. Carolina losing Jordan Staal really helped them get involved with the McDavid talk and Buffalo started this plan last year.
There was potential for Cam Ward to, maybe, bounce back a bit this year. Fasth and Scrivens were supposed to be a serviceable 1A/1B combination and Jonas Enroth had the workings of a potential legitimate starter. The first two weeks have myth-busted all of those statements. Coming into the year this was Buffalo's pick to lose and, now, after two weeks they've got some serious competition.
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