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Earlier this week, we ranked the NHL's best surprises through just over four weeks of the 2023-24 season. There have been some pleasant surprises throughout the league in the early going, including the Vancouver Canucks looking like a bonafide playoff team, Alex DeBrincat getting off to a scorching start in his home state, and the Montreal Canadiens sitting sixth in league standings as of Monday.
But along with the good surprises also comes the bad — those teams that we didn't expect to be struggling, but find themselves on the outside looking in through almost 10 games. Each of these five clubs had high expectations and are falling well short of them in Week 4. Here are the NHL's worst surprise teams so far.
Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken enjoyed a cinderella campaign in 2022-23, winning 46 games and earning the franchise's first 100-point season (in just its second try). They were completely written off against a Colorado Avalanche team that was fresh off winning the Stanley Cup in 2022, but found a way to prevail in a seven-game upset. The Kraken came within one win of doing the same to the Dallas Stars, ultimately losing 2-0 in Game 7 of the Western Conference semis.
It was still an extremely special season in Seattle, and expectations were high in 2023-24 because of it. But the regression has hit this team like a hammer, the goaltending is not holding up, and the Kraken find themselves 3-5-2 on the season, good enough for 26th in the league. Monday night's overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning was encouraging, but the offensive depth that separated this squad from the pack last season needs to get going. There's still lots of time for Seattle to figure it out, but it's been a disappointing start.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Is the Erik Karlsson experiment working in Pittsburgh? The Swedish superstar entered Monday's game against the Anaheim Ducks with just four points in eight games. He looked more like himself in the contest, scoring a goal and an assist while playing over 30 minutes, but another 100-point season is looking very out of reach.
And the Pens have begun to flounder after a reasonably strong start. Pittsburgh has lost two in a row and five of its last six, scoring just 15 goals over that span. At 3-6, the Penguins have fallen to last place in the Metropolitan Division, below even the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have lost four straight. Tristan Jarry needs to be better, the star power needs to find the form they had early in the season, and Pittsburgh needs to turn things around quickly.
Minnesota Wild
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The buyouts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise continue to loom large, and the 2023-24 Minnesota Wild are not looking like a playoff team. The Wild have lost three in a row to fall to sixth place in the Central Division, and the incredible success of Filip Gustavsson last season has already been replaced with worry. The Swede followed up a phenomenal opening night shutout against the Florida Panthers by giving up 22 over his next four starts — three of them losses.
The Wild need Gustavsson to be well above average if they hope to compete for a playoff spot, and he's been the opposite in the early going. Marc-Andre Fleury has been fine, but the surefire Hall of Famer can't carry this team this season. Jared Spurgeon and Matt Boldy are both being badly missed, and there's a ton of talent to right the ship once those two return. But it's been a tough start for a club that still has playoff aspirations next April.
Both Alberta teams
The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers don't deserve their own headings after the abysmal hockey they've treated Alberta residents to over the last three weeks. The Flames are 2-6-1 and sit above only the Sharks for last place in the entire NHL. The Oilers got to beat the Flames in the Heritage Classic, but they remain disjointed at 2-5-1 — ahead of just San Jose.
The alarm bells are ringing in earnest for Calgary, which is just not the same team without Matthew Tkachuk and is imploding in real time. Ryan Huska must be on the hot seat, and he likely won't last much longer. The Oilers have more hope, with Connor McDavid back to full health and a win at Commonwealth Stadium, but Edmonton needs to turn things around quickly if they hope to still compete for the Pacific Division crown.
Although all of the aforementioned teams have had a brutal start, the NHL campaign is a long one. Any of the Kraken, Penguins, Wild, Flames or Oilers could still be in the playoff hunt next April, they've just all made it a lot harder on themselves.
