A month in, the 2022-23 NHL season is no longer fresh and fun for many franchises and their fan bases. Concerns that this won’t be the season they envisioned in the preseason are beginning to mount.
Case in point: When The Athletic asked its NHL staff this week for each team’s biggest concern at this point in the season, one reporter covering a preseason-projected playoff team asked if he could submit a response of “Everything.”
Another said the team he covers now regrettably seems too good to tank.
It’s a full spectrum of concerns. Here are the biggest ones for each team.
The horrendous penalty kill: You could have your pick of concerns here — John Gibson being annihilated nightly, Mason McTavish’s Calder candidacy never getting off the ground, Dallas Eakins’ coaching, etc., etc. — but when you continually take penalties and can’t kill them, it destroys any momentum you do build. The Ducks’ 4.63 penalties per 60 minutes isn’t the most in the NHL (Ottawa is at 5.80), but they’re atrocious at erasing them. They’ve allowed a league-high 15 power-play goals, and their 61.5 percent kill rate is flat-out unacceptable. Gibson (.768 shorthanded save percentage) isn’t covering up the leaky kill like he used to. Guess replacing Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson is harder than you think. — Eric Stephens
Through three games, the #NHLDucks have shown the ability to score when they work in the offensive end. They won’t win if they can’t stop anybody in their own end.https://t.co/FQaQ9cw228
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) October 18, 2022
How to survive their upcoming 14-game road trip: The Coyotes have been an unexpectedly tough out most nights this season, but the greatest challenge comes now — a record stretch of no home games between Nov. 5 and Dec. 7 that will be the ultimate test for the resiliency that coach Andre Tourigny is trying to instill in his talent-thin roster. Arizona’s 3-6-1 record could be about to get worse in a hurry. — Eric Duhatschek
How they will clear space for Charlie McAvoy: McAvoy (shoulder) is scheduled to return around Thanksgiving. But he is currently on long-term injured reserve. Assuming the rest of the roster is at near or full health when McAvoy is cleared, the Bruins would have to create cap space to accommodate his $9.5 million average annual value. They have already placed Nick Foligno ($3.8 million AAV) and Mike Reilly ($3 million) on waivers. Both cleared, indicating that the Bruins would have to part with assets to clear either salary. Craig Smith ($3.1 million) is unrestricted after this year. But the right wing has been injured and is averaging a career-low 11:48 of ice time per game. — Fluto Shinzawa
‘I’m starting to get excited now’: Jim Montgomery cannot help but anticipate Charlie McAvoy’s return. https://t.co/eUZvesqGQO
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) November 1, 2022
Injuries on defense: Buffalo is off to a 7-3 start and has been playing without its top three defensemen for the past week. Mattias Samuelsson is out for at least a few more weeks. Henri Jokiharju is getting closer to a return, as is Ilya Lyubushkin. But the Sabres’ depth on the blue line has been tested. While they’ve gotten strong goaltending and decent play from those who have filled in, they’ll have a much stabler situation when the lineup is back at full strength. — Matthew Fairburn
Jonathan Huberdeau: Through nine games, the star forward and prize acquisition has just one goal, and he has gone pointless over his past three games. Only one of his five points has come at five-on-five. Huberdeau is trying to shoot more and create plays, but it hasn’t all clicked just yet. Meanwhile, Darryl Sutter is trying to figure out if Elias Lindholm or Nazem Kadri should be his center, going forward. There’s still time for Huberdeau to get going, but he’ll need stability. — Julian McKenzie and Hailey Salvian
The Flames haven’t gotten a goal at five-on-five from…
Read More: Each NHL team’s biggest concern a month into the 2022-23 season, from