The first week of any season is too early to make judgments, but after the lockout, it's never too early to make some hockey observations. So, here's 15:
1) Chicago has been good. Last year, there always seemed to be drama with this team. A lot of that drama has disappeared right away this season: Patrick Kane is playing like a superstar; Crawford is rebounding from a sophomore slump; the defense is clicking.
2) On that note, I don't plan on missing a Chicago/St. Louis game this year. Those games are going to be awesome.
3) Chicago may have surprised me; San Jose has stunned me. I really thought that San Jose was going to regress this year. They're a veteran team with several injuries to their defensive corps. However, they've been phenomenal. Unless LA quickly turns it around, I think a hot start like San Jose's may lead them to winning their division even though I expect them to fall off.
4) I don't think Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, or Vancouver should be panicking yet. On the other side, I don't expect Florida, Columbus, Calgary, Toronto, or even Phoenix to be in the playoff hunt come April.
5) Columbus and Calgary are obvious with obvious issues. Toronto should be too, with a youth movement going on and the team's young and inexperienced players (Kadri, Scrivens, Gardiner, Kostka, Reimer, Frattin, van Riemsdyk) learning how to win at the NHL level. However, Florida and Phoenix both won their divisions last year.
6) I feel as if Florida were the benefactors of good luck last year. Their division was weak, and their goaltenders performed better than should be expected. This is an organization very much in a continuing rebuild, and another top pick to go with the likes of Huberdeau, Gudbranson, Markstrom, etc. shouldn't be seen as a negative.
7) Phoenix is a different beast however. They were no fluke last year, having made the playoffs three years straight. Then they marched into the third round of the playoffs. Mike Smith played over his head last year, but his numbers should still be solid this year with Tippett's system. I don't see Phoenix having a terrible season either, but with Dallas and Anaheim likely being better this year I just don't see them overcoming a slow start to make the playoffs.
8) It's been rumored in the past, but Phoenix would do well to put top defender Keith Yandle on the trade market. A bare minimum of Philadelphia, Detroit, Ottawa, and Los Angeles are known to be looking to add to their defense. Teams like St. Louis, Minnesota, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Nashville, and Dallas could be inclined to do so as well. Phoenix has a lot of good defensemen in their organization, and moving Yandle could easily net them a top six forward that they need.
9) Toronto, Calgary, and Columbus could stand to benefit in the trade market as well. Toronto and Columbus are both deepest on the blue line, while a losing season could see Calgary move Jay Bouwmeester who Philadelphia, Detroit, and St. Louis have been rumored to have interest in in the past.
10) After the lockout, the holdouts of PK Subban, Jamie Benn, and Ryan O'Reilly bother me. Dallas did well to lock up Benn, but Subban and O'Reilly remain without a contract. Both were key players for their teams last year, and bitter fans can't be happy to see that neither guy is playing for their teams or being used to bring in a player who can via trade.
11) Minnesota's power play overall has looked very impressive to me. However, the rest of their play has not. Only their first line is generating any kind of offense, and Brodin and Scandella should be a third pairing at this stage instead of a second pairing. With plenty of forwards in the AHL knocking on the door (Zucker, Palmieri, Coyle, Larsson, Fontaine), I'm expecting this team could be active.
12) Detroit and Nashville are going to be in tough this year. They're clearly a step behind St. Louis and Chicago in the division, and how many times can four teams from the same division make the playoffs?
13) I still hold that Ilya Bryzgalov has not been the problem for Philadelphia this season. In my mind, he's had one bad game and has kept the team in every other game he's played. They need help on their blue line, not in goal.
14) Top rookies from the first week: Tarasenko (STL), Schultz (EDM), Conacher (TBL). Mikael Granlund needs to really step up his game, and it's a shame that Brunner is too old to be a rookie.
15) While some teams look like they are in need of moves, I don't really expect to see trades until at least the third week.
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