If such a thing as the Dog Days of November are possible, the National Hockey League is smack dab in the middle of them.
We sort of surmised that the expansion to an 84-game season that began for the first time in decades prior to the beginning of October had the potential to have its less dramatic moments. But as we approach the quarter pole (the first teams to officially reach that milestone play tonight) when this is juxtaposed with the likes of the NBA and even college sports it’s striking to me how especially uninspiring this season has been so far.
The Carolina Panthers and Edmonton Oilers are still best in class, just as they were last June. The Panthers have a chance to begin tonight’s North American play as an outright number one because as we are composing this they are in action in Helsinki with what HEAVY.com’s Todd Matthews attempted to play up as a big deal:
The Carolina Hurricanes are one of just a few NHL teams that have a perfect record in the NHL Global Series.
Per Peter Dewar and Walt Ruff of Hurricanes.com:
“Carolina (2-0-0) is one of five teams that have won all of their games contested outside North America, alongside the New Jersey Devils (3-0-0), St. Louis Blues (2-0-0), Toronto Maple Leafs (2-0-0) and Philadelphia Flyers (1-0-0). Should they remain victorious through the 2026 NHL Global Series Finland, the Hurricanes would become the first team in NHL history to win each of their first four regular season games outside North America.”
The Hurricanes can take that next step forward on Thursday afternoon when they square off with Seattle.
Forgive me, I had to suppress a couple of unavoidable yawns. The Global Series is the signature event of the season to date–there’s no NHL Cup, not even a 4 nations cup on the horizon. And as Matthews reminded it isn’t exactly the most novel new wrinkle:
Carolina hasn’t played a regular-season game overseas since their last trip to Finland on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8, 2010. They faced the Minnesota Wild in both contests and won both games by a goal.
Yes, Connor McDavid’s off to a superb start, but that’s hardly unprecedented. Alex Ovechkin’s farewell tour is intriguing but hardly has translated to on-ice success: his Capitals are once again mired in a mediocre start that currently has them sitting just outside of a playoff position. Maybe we’ll be thinking more about them once there’s enough season elapsed for these storylines to truly matter.
If there is a story that qualifies as even somewhat eye-opening, it can be found with those Wild, currently a mere point behind Edmonton and neck and neck with the ‘Canes and who so far have gotten out somewhat in front of their skis, per MINNESOTAHOCKEY.com:
They’ve scored 52 goals and allowed just 36, with Jesper Wallstedt leading the team in wins (7) and Kirill Kaprizov driving offense with 12 goals, 12 assists, and a +10 plus/minus… This is a marked improvement from last season’s second-round playoff exit, After a 2025–26 season where they made the playoffs for the first time since 2015 but fell in the second round, the Wild have not only survived but thrived. Their early-season dominance suggests they’ve found a winning formula.
One could also contend that the fact that Carolina is being pushed by the New Jersey Devils for that division lead is a bit of a surprise–though readers of THE ATHLETIC’s Murat Ames’ pre-season prognostications are likely less so:
The Devils have followed 2022-23’s 112-point peak with three middling seasons, including last year’s 87-point playoff miss. The best-case for them to eclipse that point total comes from Sunny Mehta’s offseason tweaks and the likelihood Jake Allen and Nico Daws will give the Devils better goaltending than what they got from Markström last season. It’s not that Anthony Mantha, Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist or Declan Chisholm are stars, but they do appear to be solid fits at the edges of a star-powered roster that needed more help.
In the early going, that formula is paying dividends, and it’s giving the Devils a much-needed boost among the conflicted hockey faithful in the congested Tri-State area. But there’s still a LOT of hockey left to be played in a season that is already proving night in and night out that it will be the LONGEST one ever. If there is a silver lining, it will be ending at a time when the likely lack of a major league baseball season will be providing that much more opportunity for discovery and engagement. Will I be one of those seeking such comfort? Likely, but not totally sure. Let me sleep on it.
Courage…