Plenty of surprises highlight the NHL in the first month of the season. The Florida Panthers have been awesome and the Arizona Coyotes have been awful. The Edmonton Oilers have been magnificent and the Chicago Blackhawks have been feeble.

The Blues have been jazzy and Vegas has been uninspiring. Who knows what to make of the Buffalo Sabres.

But here is my take on whether some teams are truly who they seem to be on Nov. 8:

Arizona Coyotes are the NHL's worst team

Is this who they really are? Absolutely

We are accustomed now to seeing teams tear up their rosters in the name of a rebuild. It's an accepted practice now. But this one bothers me. Conor Garland and Christian Dvorek are only 25.
Moving those two seemed more like money transactions than rebuild trade. But maybe you can't separate the two. Regardless, the Coyotes are hard to watch right now. Does 15 wins sound about right?

Florida Panthers are the NHL's best team

Is this who they really are? Yes.

Best team that I've watched this season. The Panthers have the goaltending, defense and offense. Bill Zito has been impressive as a new general manager. The only question is coaching. Zito has to make a difficult decision about how to replace Quenneville. Does he go out and recruit a veteran coach or a rising young star or ride it out with Andrew Brunette? He has to make sure he keeps the dressing room chemistry the way it is now. The only teams right now challenging the Panthers are the Edmonton Oilers (still don't trust their goaltending) and the Carolina Hurricanes (who didn't measure up to the Panthers in their game)

Detroit Red Wings are a playoff team

Is this who they really are? Nope

The Red Wings are far more competitive than they were last season. They are harder to play against. Their defense and offense is improved. They are sitting in a playoff spot this morning, but they are still giving up more goals than they score. This team is short on consistency. You are never quite sure what you are going to see. But their rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are going to be stars.


Predators are in a playoff spot

Is this who they really are?Not buying it.

The Avalanche will make the playoffs and they are below the Predators in the standings right now. The Predators have too many flaws and not enough difference-makers. The Predators are just an OK team.

The Vegas Golden Knights are not in a playoff spot

Is this who they really are? They probably are a playoff team.

But until we know when injured players Jack Eichel, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, William Karlsson, etc are returning to the lineup, it's hard to make any meaningful projections. What we know is the Golden Knights without those players are just an ordinary team. One plus for the Golden Knights is the Pacific Division remains a forgiving division. Edmonton and Calgary seem like the only teams that will for sure make the playoffs.

Seattle Kraken aren't the Vegas Golden Knights

Is this who they really are? Very true.

General managers learned from the mistakes they made preparing for the Golden Knights expansion draft. They didn't give the Kraken the same number of add-ons that they gave the Golden Knights. They didn't offer significant packages to save specific players. The Kraken will finish in the bottom-third of the standings.

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