We are already a month into the 2025/26 NHL season, but the narrative currently being painted isn’t one that anyone expected heading into the new campaign. The Florida Panthers were supposed to be set for a date with destiny as they gunned for the first three-peat since the Islanders’ dynasty of the 1980s. However, the Cats are already in turmoil, with injuries to superstars Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk leaving them 8-7-1, third bottom of the Atlantic, and memories of their back-to-back Cups suddenly distant.
Conner Brown #16 of the New Jersey Devils tries to pass the puck in front of the net guarded by Dan Vladar #80 of the Philadelphia Flyers Photo Credit – Jack.Smart@prohockeynews.com
Admittedly, some heavyweights are thriving. The Colorado Avalanche were one of the frontrunners in preseason, and they remain that in November, gliding onto the ice as perennial Cup favorites with a league-high 11 wins. But elsewhere, the early goings of the new season have belonged to the underdogs.
As pucks dropped and bodies collided, a series of teams dismissed as afterthoughts have flung themselves to the league’s upper tier, with bookies and pundits alike scrambling to recalibrate their odds. But do any of these unexpected contenders harbor any genuine hopes of claiming the Stanley Cup? Let’s take a look.
Devils
The Devils were no one’s favorite dark horse, as depicted by their +2500 preseason odds with the bookies. Fast forward a month and 11 wins, however, and now the NHL odds providers price them as +1200 contenders. What’s changed? Just about everything.
Jack Hughes has shot out of the blocks like a man bent on breaking every franchise record, racking up 18 points already. Analysts predicted fragility, especially on defense. Instead, veteran goaltender Jake Allen has proven to be a brick wall, with the Garden State outfit claiming six wins in eight when he’s between the pipes, his .914 save percentage the eighth best in the league, and even keeping last summer’s blockbuster new addition, Jacob Markström, on the sidelines.
But even fairy tales have their skeptics. Depth scoring remains an unfinished chapter, leaving a question mark on whether the bottom six can sustain this early magic into the brutal grind of April. Still, the metrics back it up: the Devils aren’t just wishful thinking. If this engine keeps humming and Hughes remains healthy, you’re staring at a team nobody wants to meet four times in a playoff series.
Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens’ transformation from rebuild fodder to headline story is one of hockey’s great switcheroos. Toting a preseason line that had them at +7500 and a projected finish of just 90.5 points, the odds screamed development, rather than destiny. The results, however, are impossible to ignore: a 10-4-2 scorcher has them top of the Atlantic and shrunk their odds down to +4500 to bring the Cup back to the Bell Centre for the first time in 33 years.
Cole Caufield is now a sniper in the truest sense—15 goals in 15 games, tinged with a sense of inevitability. Nick Suzuki, the metronome, keeps both ends in sync, while Juraj Slafkovsky’s step-up has injected new hope. The penalty kill, operating at a 79% success rate, suffocates opponents. Montreal at home is a force of nature.
Yet their flaws pulse beneath the surface. The team’s 8-0-1 record at home masks a troubling lack of ferocity on the road—a vital flaw for any playoff hopeful. Goaltending, riding on the unpredictable Sam Montembeault, inspires no great confidence. And that blue line, youthful and exuberant, has not yet endured the crucible of playoff-style hockey. Write them off at your peril, but we still wouldn’t bank on the record champions returning to their former glories just yet.
Bruins & Penguins
Sometimes, pride can light a fire when the hockey world has all but written your obituary. Boston and Pittsburgh entered the campaign saddled with +20000 odds—hockey’s version of a lottery ticket. Both were facing roster overhauls and the weight of age, yet neither has folded.
Boston, with David Pastrnak’s milestone goals and Jeremy Swayman’s .920 goaltending, has wrung every last drop from an aging core. Their physical forecheck ranks among the league’s meanest, with hits coming in waves. But age has a cost—depth is thin, and the power play (15% conversion) too blunt to threaten elite teams.
Pittsburgh, driven by the unwithering magic of Sidney Crosby (22 points at age 38), is defying both time and expectation. Malkin, Rakell, and a rejuvenated supporting cast have restored offensive verve—league-best even-strength scoring backs it up.
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But despite their bright starts, both teams remain priced at +15000 for a shock Cup upset. As such, they will need everything to break their way if they are to mount an unlikely march next spring. While a playoff berth is within reach, and a single-series upset is hardly unthinkable, the marathon Cup chase will likely expose their lack of depth, and they will almost certainly fall short. A wildcard berth would be considered a success, let alone a championship.
Ducks
Anaheim’s start is the stuff of fevered underdog scripts—bookmakers lumped them in with the afterthoughts. Instead, the Ducks own an 11-3-1 start, capturing 73% of available points and blazing toward a 119.8-point pace. That’s not flirting with, but mocking, the 83.5-point projection they carried out of camp.
Much of the magic starts with Leo Carlsson, whose 20 points in his third year have been both spark and stardust. Lukas Dostal in goal has provided the sort of stability that turns long nights into surprise wins. Discipline is palpable: this is the least-penalized team in the league, a testament to both youth and buy-in. And offensively? Trevor Zegras’s return has catapulted their power play into the top echelon.
But the fun may have a shelf life. The blue line lacks hardened playoff experience—veterans to steady nervy moments, muscle to fend off top-tier forechecking. Regression looms, particularly with such heavy reliance on Dostal’s unsustainably heroic goaltending. Playoff hockey is a different beast, punishing in ways the regular season never threatens.
Anaheim, for all its flair, may be closer to a wild-card darling than a deep playoff threat. But as their momentum grows, opponents are learning to take them very, very seriously.
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