The first month of the 2025-26 NHL season has offered its share of surprises, from unexpected playoff contenders to teams failing to meet their lofty preseason expectations.

The same goes for NHL players, some of whom have started the season at a torrid pace and others who have been statistical disasters.

Here’s a look at 10 shockingly good performances to start the season … and five shockingly bad ones that hopefully won’t continue on too much longer.

Shockingly good

2025-26 stats: 16 GP | 11 G | 15 A

This season has been two years in the making for Carlsson.

After the Ducks selected him second overall in 2023, Anaheim applied load management to his rookie season, when Carlsson played 55 games. His sophomore campaign saw him start to fulfill his potential with 20 goals and 25 assists in 76 games. But now we’re seeing Carlsson unleashed: 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) through 16 games for the Ducks, powering them to the top of the Pacific Division in the first month of the season.

What’s changed? The coach, for one. Joel Quenneville has helped turn the Ducks into a puck-possession juggernaut, and Carlsson’s offensive explosion is a result of it. So far this season, the Ducks are generating 58.7% of the shot attempts and 59.6% of the scoring chances with big Leo on the ice. That’s way up over the average of the last two seasons for Carlsson in shot attempts (48.7%) and scoring chances (48%). He has also scored nine points on the Ducks’ power play, which has caught fire after being the worst in the league last season.

“Leo’s really taken off,” Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek told ESPN this week. “I think with the younger guys, Joel preaches it every single day: Puck possession, hang onto it and if we lose it, we got to get it back fast. I think that has resonated well and the guys have taken to it. They’ve been executing and they’ve been getting rewarded for that.”

2025-26 stats: 16 GP | 4 G | 5 A

Unfortunately for a franchise seeking its first playoff berth since “Fast Five” was in theaters, there once again haven’t been many bright spots for the Buffalo Sabres to start this season. Josh Doan is a glaring exception, with four goals and five assists in 16 games.

The son of former NHL great Shane Doan was acquired from Utah in the JJ Peterka trade back in June. Doan had seven goals and 12 assists in 51 games as a rookie for the Hockey Club last season in limited ice time (13:31 per game). He’s getting more ice time (15:28) with the Sabres, and putting more shots on goal (9.6 per 60 minutes) than he did last season (7.3) at 5-on-5. He’s also getting way more power-play time than he did in Utah as well.

Doan is a solid two-way player who is building his case for an expanded role this season.

2025-26 stats: 12 GP | 2.46 GAA | .923 SV%

For years, Knight was the goalie of the future for the Florida Panthers. But inconsistency, health matters and the stubborn refusal of playoff hero Sergei Bobrovsky to abdicate the throne saw the Panthers trade him to Chicago in the Seth Jones deal.

He was fine last season in 15 starts for Chicago, going 5-8-1. He’s been a revelation through 12 games so far this season for the improved Blackhawks, with a .923 save percentage and a 2.46 goals-against average. Entering Wednesday night, Knight led the NHL with 13.3 goals saved above expected.

While new coach Jeff Blashill is trying to improve his young team with an aggressive system in the defensive zone, the results aren’t quite there yet. But Knight has been there every time they’ve needed him, dramatically decreasing the average number of high-danger goals the Blackhawks have given up compared to last season.

2025-26 stats: 15 GP | 11 G | 7 A

When the Panthers needed a hero in the Stanley Cup Final, Brad Marchand responded with the best playoff series of his life with six goals in six games. When the Panthers needed a hero to start this season – with superstars Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk lost to injury – Marchand responded with one of the best opening months of his NHL career.

The 37-year-old winger has 11 goals in 15 games for the Panthers, including a five-game goal streak he continued in a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. He has 18 points in that span with seven assists, having played with his usual linemates Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen as well as up with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett.

“His hands are so quick,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said after the Vegas game. “He’s a good player when you coached against him for years, but you get on the ice in practice and see those goals, it’s just exceptional.”

Down two key players, Marchand’s efforts are keeping the Panthers afloat until at least Tkachuk can return in December or January. He has been their MVP. No wonder GM Bill Zito signed Marchand through 2030-31.

2025-26 stats: 17 GP | 9 G | 7 A

Ah, the halcyon days of the 2022-23 season. The Devils eliminated the New York Rangers to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Jack Hughes played 78 games. And Dawson Mercer had a breakout season with 56 points in 82 games, including 27 goals.

Mercer was unable to build on that offensive explosion over the next two seasons, dipping to 33 points in 2023-24 and then 36 points last season with 19 goals. He was inconstant and ineffective, unable to maintain a spot in the team’s top six next to center Nico Hischier. But he put in the work during the offseason and now it’s hard to imagine Mercer not playing in the top six after a stellar start.

Skating the majority of the time with Hischier and Timo Meier, Mercer had nine goals and seven assists in his first 17 games, skating to a team-best plus-9 rating. He’s earned his top-six minutes with strong efforts in all zones.

Yes, Mercer put in the work during the offseason to improve his game. But as coach Sheldon Keefe has noted, it does also help that Mercer didn’t miss a chunk of camp like he did last season during restricted free-agent contract talks.

2025-26 stats: 16 GP | 5 G | 7 A

Islanders fans knew they were getting a charisma cannon in Schaefer. The 18-year-old defenseman had displayed an infectious enthusiasm since being drafted first overall in June, providing a vital vibe shift for a franchise desperately trying to locate a personality after years of Lou Lamoriello homogeny.

What those fans might not have anticipated: That Schaefer could jump right into the NHL and be one of its most effective defensemen through the first month of the season. Schaefer has 12 points in 16 games for the Islanders, skating 22:13 per game. Six of those points have come on the power play, which has gone from second worst in the NHL last season to 22nd overall. New York scores 57.8% of the goals when Schaefer is on the ice.

He’s been anything but sheltered for the Islanders, starting just 53% of his shifts in the offensive zone. With a stick-tap to Bo Horvat‘s incredible goal-scoring start (12 goals in 16 games), Schaefer’s instant impact has been one of the more pleasant surprises for the Islanders and the NHL.

2025-26 stats: 18 GP | 11 G | 1 A

Will Kiefer Sherwood finish the season with 57 goals, based on his current scoring pace, despite previously tapping out as a career high of 19 goals last season? Will he continue to shoot 29.7% for the Canucks? Will be continue to battle the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby for the Rocket Richard Trophy, as is his current status?

The answer to all of these is likely “no” followed by a bemused chuckle, but that these questions can even be asked at the moment is why Kiefer Sherwood’s season is so astonishing. The Canucks winger has started the season with 11 goals in 18 games for 12 points overall. Yes, that’s correct: Every single point Kiefer Sherwood has scored this season has been a goal — save for one assist on a Brock Boeser goal on Nov. 8. And it was a primary assist, no less!

This video game glitch of a start for Sherwood has enchanted Vancouver fans, building on his cult hero status. (Witness @DailyWoody, which combines on- and off-ice coverage with Kiefer Sherwood memes.) It’s probably important to mention that Sherwood is in a contract year ahead of unrestricted free agency. Cha-ching.

2025-26 stats: 15 GP | 0 G | 6 A

When Alex Pietrangelo announced he was stepping away from the NHL due to rehab a prolonged hip injury, the Golden Knights knew they’d need more from Shea Theodore. That he’d answer the bell isn’t shocking, as Theodore has been the second-best defenseman on the Knights since Pietrangelo arrived in 2020. It’s how incredibly well he’s played in that expanded role.

Theodore, 30, has six points in his first 15 games, having his ice time jump from 22 minutes per game last season to 24:16 on average this season. But his underlying numbers are incredible, despite taking on tougher assignments: Vegas is averaging 0.89 goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 with Theodore on the ice. Only two other defensemen in the league are averaging under a goal per 60 minutes (min. 200 minutes): Matt Roy of the Washington Capitals and Will Borgen of the New York Rangers.

Theodore and partner Brayden McNabb aren’t setting the world ablaze offensively, but they’ve been a good as it gets as a shutdown pair.

2025-26 stats: 14 GP | 2.26 GAA | .913 SV%

The Avalanche have started the season 11-1-5 for 27 points, best in the NHL. Yet starting goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood has played in only two of these games, as he was still recovering from surgery in May to correct a lower-body issue. When the starter goes down, it’s up to the backup to step in and hold down the fort. Wedgewood has gone well beyond that call of duty.

The 33-year-old journeyman — the Avs are his fifth NHL team since 2021 — has a 10-1-2 record with a .913 save percentage and a 2.26 goals-against average. Granted, when a team is hitting the scoreboard with four goals per game on average, a goalie can breathe a bit easier. But Wedgewood has also saved 6.0 goals above expected this season in back of the Colorado defense.

Blackwood returned to the Avs this week, which means Wedgewood could see his action decrease. But when Colorado thinks back to the .794 points-percentage season that propelled them at the start, the job Wedgewood’s done is a key reason for it.

(Stick tap to defenseman Sam Malinski, another Avalanche surprise early in the season.)

2025-26 stats: 10 GP | 2.15 GAA | .919 SV%

The Flyers looking for goaltending stability is a tale as old as time. After three goalies combined for a .872 team save percentage last season, worst in the NHL, GM Daniel Briere signed one of the few decent free-agent options on the market in Vladar to a two-year deal. The 28-year-old goalie had spent four seasons in Calgary as the crease-mate of Jacob Markstrom and then rookie Dustin Wolf. His stats weren’t always stellar — .895 save parentage in 100 games with the Flames — but he was a gamer.

Now, he’s arguably the Flyers’ MVP early in the season.

Philly is 8-5-3 through 16 games under Rick Tocchet, sitting in a wild-card spot entering Wednesday night. Vladar won six of those games against three losses, with a .919 save percentage and six goals saved above expected.

Shockingly bad

2025-26 stats: 16 GP | 3 G | 0 A

Kasper, the eighth overall pick in 2022, showed strong potential as a rookie last season with 19 goals and 18 assists in 77 games for the Red Wings. Strong enough that Detroit had him slotted with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane on their second scoring line. But that trio didn’t click, generating just 1.82 goals per 60 minutes together. Kasper’s lack of production was a huge factor there, with just three goals and no assists in 16 games so far this season, skating to a minus-6.

Coach Todd McLellan demoted him to third-line winger recently.

“His play hasn’t matched what we expected from him,” said the coach, who said Kasper hasn’t shown the same battle level as last season and is now in his own head. “It happens to a lot of second or third-year players. Marco’s going through that right now.”

2025-26 stats: 9 GP | 3.52 GAA | .861 SV%

To be clear, there are other contenders for the most disappointing goaltender so far this season. Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues has gotten more attention for the puck he tried to steal than the ones that he’s stopped. Ottawa Senators goalie Linus Ullmark is last in the NHL in goals saved above expected according to Money Puck, with minus-7.9 through 14 games.

The difference between those two and Montembeault, however, is that a good portion of their pain is team-related. Ullmark’s save percentage isn’t far off from crease-mate Leevi Merilainen. Ditto Binnington’s with Joel Hofer, who has arguably had a worse season so far. But as good as rookie Jakub Dobes has been for Montreal (.920 save percentage through seven games), that’s how bad as Montembeault has been for them.

The 29-year-old goaltender is 4-4-1 through nine games with an .861 save percentage. He’s second to Ullmark for worst goals saved above expected (minus-7.1). Analytically, he’s been the worst 5-on-5 goalie in the league so far this season for netminders with his workload, and has the second-worst wins above replacement in the NHL.

(Please note that all three goalies from Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster — Binnington, Montembeault and Vegas’s Adin Hill — are all off to lousy starts this season as they try to defend their Olympic roster spots from goalies such as Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper, who have both been outstanding to start the season. Curious, isn’t it?)

2025-26 stats: 16 GP | 3 G | 6 A

Point was named to Team Canada’s preliminary Olympic roster back in June. His start has been so mediocre — by his standards — that at least one Canadian columnist lamented that Point has a roster spot that could be otherwise given to Connor Bedard or another player off to a better season.

That is, of course, absurd. Point is one of the NHL’s elite, who has scored more goals over the last three seasons (139) than Nathan MacKinnon (125). That established, it’s been an underwhelming first 16 games for Point: three goals, six assists and skating to a minus-11 rating for a player who was a plus-17 last season.

One issue is his shot generation. Point’s shot attempts (8.5 per 60 minutes) are down off his two-season average (12.8) at 5-on-5, which has led to his shots on goal (5.6) also declining from that average (6.8).

Again, he should be fine. Skating with Nikita Kucherov, those numbers will trend up soon. But it has not been the strongest start.

2025-26 stats: 18 GP | 3 G | 1 A

For most of his career, goals were never really hard to come by for Stamkos. Which is one reason the first 18 games of his season with the Predators have been nightmarish for the 35-year-old. He has three goals so far this season. That’s a 14-goal pace in an 82-game season for a player that’s scored 585 goals in his career.

He’s trying to keep his optimism up.

“Something you learn as you get older or go through certain experiences is the negative stuff never helps,” he said Monday. “And we all do it, no matter what aspect in life when things aren’t going well. It’s the negative self-talk. It’s the ‘poor me’ kind of card, but it never works. You sink in deeper.”

But this start for Stamkos — three goals, one assist in 18 games — has already sparked speculation that Nashville will approach him with the idea of trading him, assuming someone else believes all Stamkos needs is a change in scenery.

2025-26 stats: 18 GP | 0 G | 4 A

Weegar has been a solid offensive contributor over the last five seasons, including 52 and 47 points for the Flames in the last two campaigns. So it’s a bit jarring to see him start with just four assists in 18 games for Calgary, two of them at even strength and two of them at 5-on-5. The Flames are averaging 1.32 goals per 60 minutes with Weegar on the ice at even strength so far this season.

While offense has been a primary problem for the Flames, as they rank last in the NHL in goals per game, it’s been a total systems breakdown in Calgary. That’s clear from Weegar’s minus-17 this season, for a player who’s only finished in the negative once during his 10-season NHL career. He’s played at least 10 minutes with seven defensive partners this season as the Flames try to find a winning mix.

Whether players are struggling or surging at the start, the key phrase here is “at the start.” There’s still plenty of season left to go to erase these bad vibe — or to experience a reversal of fortunes for the early-season stars.