Winners, losers from the first month of the NHL season

The 2023-24 NHL season is through its first month, so let's look at some winners and losers. (All stats and records through Thursday, Nov 2.)  

Winners

Vegas Golden Knights: The defending Stanley Cup champions are 10-0-1 and look even better than they did last season. They aren't just winning; they are dominating, owning a plus-16 goal differential and winning six games by multiple goals. Eleven players have already scored multiple goals, and their goalies (Adin Hill and Logan Thompson) are outstanding, with save percentages of .923 and .931, respectively. 

Boston Bruins: There were a lot of reasons to expect the Bruins to take a step back after setting an NHL record with 65 regular-season wins last season. Their top centers — Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci — retired. They lost several other complementary pieces due to free agency and salary-cap restrictions. Plus, it seemed really hard to believe their goalies could play at the same level they did a season ago. So far, none of that has mattered. The Bruins continue to defy critics and again have one of the best records in the league (9-0-1). 

Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils forward: The only things that have slowed Hughes early in his career are injuries. When he is healthy, he is one of the world's most dynamic offensive players and a centerpiece of a Stanley Cup contender. Hughes is the NHL's top scorer (20 points in only nine games) and looking like an early season MVP front-runner. 

Peter Laviolette, New York Rangers head coach: Although the Rangers have had their share of success the past few seasons, they were missing something. The results were good, but the process was not. That concern started behind the bench with former head coach Gerard Gallant, who didn't seem to get the most from a talented roster. That resulted in the hiring of Laviolette, who has the Rangers playing like a team that matches its talent level, leading the Metropolitan at 8-2.  

Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks forward: The 18-year-old is one of the most-hyped prospects to enter the NHL since Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Just a one month into his career, he already looks the part of a franchise cornerstone and superstar. He has four goals and 28 shots on goal in his first nine games and has given Blackhawks fans hope the team's rebuild will be quick.

Losers

San Jose Sharks: The expectation for the Sharks was they'd be one of worst teams in the league, but this bad? After losing 10-1 to Vancouver on Thursday, the Sharks are 0-9-1 and have scored just 10 goals. They have failed to score more than one goal in nine of their first 10 games and are one of just 10 teams in league history to not win a game through the first 10 games of a season. 

Pittsburgh Penguins: After missing the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons, the Penguins made sweeping changes to their front office and roster. The most significant were the hiring of general manager Kyle Dubas and the trade for future Hall of Famer Erik Karlsson. The early returns, however, are brutal. Pittsburgh has the worst record (3-6) in the Eastern Conference and shows the same flaws it had a season ago — bad goaltending, no scoring depth and a poor power play. 

Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers have two of the best players in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and are supposed to be a top Western Conference playoff contender. However, they have mostly wasted the stars' primes due to an inability to surround them with a Stanley Cup-worthy team. One of the big issues is goaltending. The duo of Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner has been one of the least productive in the league (.869 combined save percentage; league average is roughly .910), leading to a 2-6-1 start. 

Jonathan Huberdeau, Calgary Flames forward: When the Flames traded Matthew Tkachuk before  the 2022-23 season, they seemingly got a strong return centered on Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. Before joining the Flames, Huberdeau had been one of the league's top scorers over the previous five seasons, and the Flames subsequently signed him to an eight-year, $84 million contract extension. After a wildly disappointing debut season in Calgary, Huberdeau is off to another dismal start (five points in 10 games) and has found himself benched more than once. If he doesn't score a lot, the contract will be one of the NHL's worst. 

Juraj Slafkovsky, Montreal Canadiens forward: The Canadiens selected Slafkovsky with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft in the hopes he could be a cornerstone of their rebuild. He might end up being that, but his career is off to an alarmingly slow start. After recording just one assist (and no goals) in the first 10 games, there is talk he could be sent to the minor leagues.