In this edition of the hotstove we discuss which teams have impressed us the most a month into the season.
These teams don't necessarily need to have the best records. They could be teams that have played well despite injuries, exceeded expectations and so forth.
Todd Cordell
I've been very impressed with the Buffalo Sabres thus far.
I expected the Sabres to be better with Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly and co. in the fold but I did not expect them to go from the worst possession team the NHL has seen in the analytics era to a top-10 team (they currently rank 6th) in that regard.
They may only be 6-8-0 but they've been playing some pretty good hockey and have been sunk by poor goaltending as much as anything else.
Of late Linus Ullmark seems to be giving them a chance on a nightly basis and the wins are starting to come more frequently as a result.
The Sabres may not be a playoff team but they're far from the free two points they were just a year ago.
John Jaeckel: Minnesota Talented, deep and fast. The lingering question I have on Minnesota is whether Devan Dubnyk is the real deal.
I haven't really seen Nashville yet, but I suspect they may be the class of the Central this year.
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