Yes, it is early and some of these players will fall back into the middle of the pack of their team, but these are the players who have emerged as the best player on their roster to date.

Conversely, we are also looking at the most disappointing player to date from each team as well and most of these players should improve as the season progresses.

Happy Halloween!

Anaheim Ducks

Troy Terry leads the Ducks in goals with four, assists with six, points with 10 and is one off the team lead in SOG with 25. More importantly his CF% is 55.3 on a team with only one other player above 50 (Zegras). He also has four hits in nine games, which is only two off his career high of six in a season after four years in the league.

John Klingberg signed a one-year contract for $7 million with Anaheim and has played 61.9 percent of the time on the power play but after nine games only has two assists to show for his 23:00 of ice time per night. Defense has never been his strong suit, but his CF% is 41.8 and his xGF% is 35.3, which are low even for his standards. Cam Fowler or Jamie Drysdale could claw back a few more minutes with the man advantage from Klingberg as the season progresses.  If this season doesn't improve for Klingberg, the best move Dallas might have made this off-season was letting him walk.

Adam Henrique, Max Comtois, John Gibson and Jamie Drysdale (injured day-to-day) could be runners up in the disappointing category. Gibson did make 32 saves on 35 shots in a win against Toronto on Sunday night.

Arizona Coyotes

Shayne Gostisbehere won't maintain his four goals and four assist in eight game pace, but he has been the best Coyote so far this year. He has still struggled away from the puck with a minus nine, 37.3 CF% and 28.8 xGF% but so has almost every other player on this team.

Clayton Keller has eight points in eight games, but has been just slightly above average while the red-hot start for J.J. Moser has cooled off a little in recent games. Josh Brown has been a bit of a pleasant surprise in Arizona by leading the team with 25 hits and 20 blocked shots in his first eight games while averaging 19:52 per night.

Barrett Hayton was a player I had on my list to play on the top line and get some time on the first unit of the power play who could improve on his 10 goals and 13 assists in 60 games last year. He is pointless after eight games to start this year and has been buried in his own end with only 28.8 percent of his zone starts in the OZ. Travis Boyd has taken his spot on the first unit of the power play and with the early success of that unit, changes aren't happening any time soon. Hayton is almost playing himself into being a healthy scratch. He would need to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL so that is not really an option for Arizona.

Calgary Flames

Nazem Kadri leads the Flames in goals with four and points with nine after seven games. He's been a catalyst on the first unit of the power play which has scored seven times in seven games. Flames fans have to be happy so far with Kadri on the roster.

Elias Lindholm and Jonathan Huberdeau have had underwhelming starts to the season. Lindholm had 42 goals and 40 assists while being a plus 61 last year. After seven games, he has two goals and one assist and is minus two. Huberdeau had 115 points with Florida last year and only has one goal and four assists after seven games. More concerning is that only one point is at even strength for both Lindholm and Huberdeau. I have no doubt that Lindholm and Huberdeau will begin to produce more as the season goes on, but it's always a concern when you have them in a pool.

Chicago Blackhawks

Jonathan Toews has found his game again after missing all of 2020-21 and struggling last season. He leads the team in goals with five as well as faceoff wins with 98 while putting up a 64.9 win percentage. He is also the only player to play more than five games and have a CF% above 50 on the roster. If Toews and Patrick Kane can produce this season, this team might not be as bad as most thought it would be offensively at least.

Alex Stalock has had a good start to the season with three wins in seven games, a 90.9 save percentage and a positive GSAA of 1.02.

Seth Jones had four assists in his first eight games and was minus five, but still had 16 hits and 21 blocked shots, but he will miss the next three or four weeks with an injury.

Petr Mrazek has struggled as a Blackhawk in his three games with a save percentage of 87.3 and a GSAA of minus 2.34 and given up starts to Stalock as a result. Mrazek is out with a groin injury and is day-to-day.

Colorado Avalanche

Valeri Nichushkin had seven goals and five assists in seven games before missing the past two games with an injury. Not only has Nichushkin led the team with seven goals but five of them have been on the power play and one goal while shorthanded. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have 12 and 11 points between them after nine games, but Nichushkin has really been the early MVP in my mind.

Alexandar Georgiev has played very well in his six starts with a 91.8 save percentage and a 3.18 GSAA while Pavel Francouz has struggled in his three starts, losing all three with a 89.8 save percentage and a minus 0.46 GSAA.

Alex Newhook and J.T. Compher would be my most disappointing players so far with only one goal in nine games for Newhook and one assist in nine games for Compher to show for. I expected more production from both this season. Newhook scored in his last game on three shots on goal, so perhaps things are looking up for him.

Dallas Stars

Jake Oettinger had been unbeaten and had a string of six quality starts in a row until his last start when he was pulled with a minor injury and took the loss. After seven games he has five wins, a 95.2 save percentage and a GSAA of 9.04 which leads the NHL. The hope right now is that his injury won't bother him moving forward and he can continue to put up good numbers. The Stars have definitely relied on him to have a record of 5-3-1 after nine games.

Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski have carried on where they left off last season and have nine goals and 12 assists at even strength in nine games as a line. More impressive is that their xGF% is between 66.4 and 68.3 for all three of them. They have been dominating.

Denis Gurianov was a healthy scratch for one game and has gone pointless in the eight games he has played so far. The Stars are paying him $2.9 million this season which won't help if they're trying to move him in a trade.

Edmonton Oilers

Connor McDavid is doing McDavid things so far with nine goals and nine assists in his first nine games. He has never had more than 44 goals in a year, but 50 goals might be in reach. His shots on goal per game is at 3.3 compared to 3.9 last season and it is unlikely that he continues to have a shooting percentage of 30.0, so 70 goals is probably not in the cards, but the 164 point pace might be.

Leon Draisaitl just quietly goes about his business and has four goals and 12 assists in his first nine games which is a 146 point pace over 82 games. He's had three seasons with 105, 110 and 110 points and there is no reason to believe he can't set a career-high this year.

Stuart Skinner has been excellent in his four games this season with a save percentage of 95.5 and a GSAA of 7.00 while Jack Campbell has been a little below average in his seven games with four wins, two losses, an 88.8 save percentage and a GSAA of minus 2.64. Skinner will need to put up a few more quality starts before real conversation begins with the coaching staff on who gets more starts in Edmonton.

Jesse Puljujarvi has only one goal and one point in nine games. Not even decent underlying defensive stats will save Puljujarvi from his critics and rightfully so to this point of the season. His ice time has gone from over 16 minutes per game last year to around 12, and his SOG have gone from 2.5 to 1.4 per game. There just aren't signs that he can turn this around in Edmonton. A change of scenery might be on the horizon.

Los Angeles Kings

Gabriel Vilardi has a team-leading seven goals and 11 points in the first 10 games of the season. He only played 25 games last season and posted career-highs of 54 games, 10 goals and 13 assists in 2020-21. He's well on his way to living up to the 11th overall pick the Kings made in 2017. He has elevated his SOG/game from 1.6 to 2.7 and even though his shooting percentage is high at 25.9 he should get to 25-30 goals this season if he remains healthy.

Anze Kopitar as usual is leading this team at the age of 35 as he has nine points in the first 10 games and has won 61.5 percent of his faceoffs while playing on the power play and while shorthanded. He has seen his ice time dip below 20 minutes per game for the first time since 2014-15. It will be interesting to see if it is just a coincidence or if the coaching staff is looking to limit them.

Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen  have not provided the Kings with solid, consistent goaltending in the first 10 games. The team still has five wins, but Quick has a save percentage of 87.8 and a GSAA of minus 5.12 in seven games and Petersen has a save percentage of 86.5 and a GSAA of minus 3.91 in four games. With better goaltending this team could be above 0.500.

Minnesota Wild

Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov have both produced this year with the man advantage but been a little unlucky at even strength.  Zuccarello has five goals and seven assists in nine games, with four goals and four assists on the PP. Kaprizov has six goals and five assists in nine games with two goals and four assists on the PP.

Tyson Jost had opportunities in the top-six early on this season but couldn't produce as he has only one assist in seven games and he has been a healthy scratch for two games so far. Marco Rossi has played eight of the nine games this season and has averaged 11:23 per game. He hasn't been given the opportunities given to Jost, but he still needs to generate more than the three SOG he has had to stay in the league this year. Alex Goligoski had 30 points last season and was a plus-41 for the Wild. This year he has played four of nine games for the Wild and been a healthy scratch for the other five games. Disappointing but not unexpected for a 37-year-old defender.

Nashville Predators

Nashville have had a poor start at 3-5-1 with only 21 GF in nine games. Roman Josi has had a slow start with only a goal and three assists, but there are signs that he should improve his production. He has 43 SOG and a shooting percentage of 2.3 whereas last year it was 8.9. Although last season was high, his career-average was 6.4. His 5on5 SH% is relatively low at 6.6, so the team around him should start scoring more as the average is over 10. He has still been the most valuable Predator in my opinion.

Dante Fabbro is in his fourth NHL season and is 24-years-old now. He progressed last season and had 24 points in 66 games and averaged over 19 minutes per game. This year he has played nine games and has one assist and has only averaged 15:56 per game and his season high is 17:40. The good news is that he has been paired with Josi 59.4 percent of the time he has been on the ice at even-strength so he should benefit over the long run. The decrease in minutes is a concern though.

San Jose Sharks

Erik Karlsson has six goals and five assists in 11 games to start this season and he looks to have another step in his stride. He is shooting 22..2 percent which won't last but he can maintain a point-per-game for as many games as he's healthy. Unfortunately he hasn't played 71 games in a season since 2017-18 and that year was the beginning of his injury woes. He looks like he is enjoying playing again, so we should all take it in while we can.

James Reimer has been very good to start the year even though he has only two wins to show for it in seven games. He has a 91.4 save percentage and a GSAA of 2.44.

Timo Meier has 53 SOG in 11 games. Unfortunately he only has one goal and four assists in that span. His 5 on 5 SH% is very low at 3.8 so goals will come for the team when he is on the ice sooner than later. He had 326 SOG (4.2/g) last year and ended up with 35 goals and is on an even higher pace for shots this year after 11 games (4.8/g).

Seattle Kraken

Jaden Schwartz  has battled injuries over the past two seasons and has only played 40 and 37 games in each of the past two. After 10 games this year, he co-leads in goals with Jared McCann (five), leads the team in points with 10 and has four of the 10 PPGs the Kraken have scored this year.

Oliver Bjorkstrand came to the Kraken as a three-time 20-goal scorer and having had 28 last season. In his first 10 games, he has one goal and three assists on 39 SOG. As disappointing a start he has had in terms of production, if he can continue to produce 3.9 shots/g he will reach 20 goals for the fourth time in his career.

Shane Wright has dressed in five of the first 10 games and it is looking more likely that he is sent back to the OHL after nine games. I don't think most people are disappointed in his one point in five games, but the average ice time of 6:51 per game. We want him to get a real chance to produce for this Kraken team as an 18-year old, but the reality is that he isn't ready for the NHL.

St. Louis Blues

Justin Faulk is a player I have to admit I was completely wrong about. When the Blues re-signed him for seven years at $6.5 million AAV after the 2020-21 season I questioned what the hell Doug Armstrong was thinking. He had a middling first year under his new contract in 2020-21, but exploded last season for 16 goals and 31 assists to go along with 149 hits and 101 blocked shots in 76 games last season. All he has done this year is begin the campaign with three goals and six assists in seven games to lead the team in points with Brayden Schenn. This year and last he has produced while not being on the first unit of the power play. Of course this pace can't be sustained and he can struggle defensively, so enjoy his success while it lasts.

Ryan O'Reilly has really struggled this year both with and without the puck. He has one goal in seven games and is a minus 10. He is usually up with Patrice Bergeron and Bo Horvat in faceoff wins for the league but he's not even first on the Blues as Robert Thomas has 71 to O'Reilly's 56. He has played with Jordan Kyrou the most to start the season and Kyrou has struggled as well with three goals in seven games. O'Reilly should improve his production sooner than later.

Vancouver Canucks

Elias Pettersson has four goals and five assists in his first nine games. Last year he had three goals and seven assists after the first 22 games, so the start he has had this season is a huge step for him. Not only does he lead the team in points, but he has been killing penalties as well. He also has nine hits and 11 blocked shots to start the year, which certainly could add value to multi-category leagues.

Thatcher Demko has not gone through a spell like this before in his five seasons in the NHL. In seven games, he has one win, a save percentage of 87.4 and a GSAA of minus 6.37. in his career he has only had a negative GSAA once in 2019-20 at minus 4.02 in the 27 games he played that year. To be fair, the team in front of him has been awful defensively for the most part, but Demko hasn't been himself either. He hasn't let in more than one or two bad goals, but has not been making the save that most Canuck fans are used to him saving. I have no doubts he will get back into a positive GSAA by Christmas and get 30 wins by season's end.

Vegas Golden Knights

Jack Eichel is back to being 100%. He has four goals and six assists in the first 10 games of this season and looks comfortable doing it. His xGF% of 64.4 is the highest on the team and when his line is on the ice they are carrying the play. His 5 on 5 SH% is at 8.8 so there is some room to improve production as ideally he would be around 12 or 13.

Phil Kessel has only a goal and two assists in his first 10 games as a Golden Knight. I picked up Kessel in my keeper pool and am speaking from personal disappointment when I include him here. I thought and hoped that Kessel would generate more production than he has. His 5 on 5 SH% of 11.3 gives me pause that he will generate more. I might be dropping him from my team this week if he doesn't show a little more very soon.

Winnipeg Jets

Connor Hellebuyck has played seven of the first nine games for the Jets and that will probably be the split going forward. Hellebuyck has four wins, a 93.1 save percentage and a GSAA of 6.96. He gives the Jets a chance to win on most nights.

Kyle Connor had 47 goals last year in 79 games and I had him pegged to possibly be one of the few players in the league who could break 50 this year. He has one goal and three assists in nine games, so he's not exactly making it easy to even get to 35 or 40 this year. The good sign is that he has had 33 SOG (3.7/g) which is not far off his 4.0/g he had last season. The goals will come, but the Jets PP will need to get going sooner than later as they only have four PPGs in nine games.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or players you'd like me to look at please message or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.