Teams Making Headlines In The First Month of The Season

By Megan Lipscomb

Published on November 21, 2024

A month has already passed in the 2024-2025 National Hockey League season. During the first month of the season, there have been shockers, disappointments, and overall excitement in the world of ice hockey. Today I will be talking about five teams in the NHL that are making headlines, for reasons good and bad.

 

Boston Bruins

First, let’s take a trip to the Atlantic Division, and we will be shipping up to Boston with the Bruins. Their record as of November 20, 2024 is 8-9-3. Not only is this record shocking to fans all across the Bruins community, but The Bruins fired their head coach Jim Montgomery on Tuesday, November 19, 2024. This left the Bruins fans in shock because the Bruins have been dominating the NHL since the 2022-2023 season. Coach Montgomery took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons respectively, winning the Jack Adams award in 2022-23. Boston fans are furious with the firing of Coach Montgomery, especially after an offseason where the team lost 2022-23 Vezina trophy winning goalie Linus Ullmark, and Monty is being scapegoated. The replacement of Coach Montgomery is Joe Sacco who has been the assistant coach for the Bruins for the past ten years. The B’s will have a lot on their plate as they look for their 9th straight playoff birth.

 

New Jersey Devils

Next, we’ll be taking it to the Metropolitan Division, specifically to the Garden State, home of the New Jersey Devils. In previous years, the Devils would be at the bottom of the Metro Division right now. As of November 20, 2024, they are third in the Metro Division. While it has not been all sunshine and rainbows, the Devils have put up some impressive victories. Earlier this month, the Devils took a trip down to Sunrise, Florida to play the defending champ Panthers. The trip consisted of two games in Sunrise and New Jersey took the wins in both of the games. The first game was on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, with the Devils winning 4-1 against the Panthers. The second game was on November 14, and resulted in the Devils winning 6-2. Before the Florida games, the Devils took a trip northwest to Edmonton. The Devils on the road ended up the Stanley Cup runner in a 3-0 shutout. Jack Hughes has been good as ever, and Nico Hischier as well. Offseason signings like Paul Cotter are turning into top players, and it is looking up for the Red and Black.

Nashville Predators

Moving down South to the Central Division, we will be taking a trip to the Music City, Nashville, for the Nashville Predators. Most Preds fans thought this would be the Preds season. They spent millions during the off-season leading into the 2024-2025 season, picked by millions of fans by winning the off-season with their spending. The Predators added Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei. Everyone in Nashville thought this was going to be Nashville’s Stanley Cup move. The truth of the matter is they are not getting what they hoped from the new additions. General Manager Barry Trotz spent 108.5 million dollars on these three free agents, and has not gotten much back. They have not been at the bottom of the Central Division since the beginning of the 2023-2024 season. Preds fans everywhere are blaming the lack of consideration when it comes to the spending choices, and may have preferred moves that would be more effective in making the team more well rounded. If the Preds do not stop spending all of this money now they will not be seeing a Stanley Cup playoff ticket, and it will be a massive disappointment in Music City

 

Seattle Kraken

Next we will be moving out West to the Pacific Division, taking a trip to the Emerald City: Seattle, home of the Kraken. The Kraken have not been known for their consistency but this season has been different for them. This team has had its ups and downs but, they have shown dominance in the first week of the season. Their 2024-2025 season started with all Central Division teams. Early on they faced the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, and Nashville Predators. Out of these first four games, the Kraken have won two out of these four games. The Kraken beat the dominant Wild 5-4 and they beat the Predators 7-3. Despite their absence in the playoffs in the recent 2023-2024 season, they were able to make the playoffs back in the 2022-2023 season. Seattle is underestimated because they are an expansion team. Every Seattle fan has seen that the Kraken are not the best at the beginning of the season. Look at what happened in 2022-2023 the Kraken were not doing well at the beginning of the season and they got into the Stanley Cup playoffs. With Jared McCann at a PPG pace, alongside additions like Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour, the Kraken are a team to look out for as we head into the coming months

 

Edmonton Oilers

Next we will be taking a trip to Oil Country: Edmonton to see the Edmonton Oilers. It is not that the Oilers are doing badly but coming off of being so close to a Stanley Cup title, I thought they would be dominating the Pacific Division. The Oilers are now 10-8-2 and fourth in the Pacific Division. I am not saying the Oilers are completely done for because it is still early in the season but, if they do not get their act together by January, I could see it going downhill for them. On November 19, 2024, they beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 in Edmonton. The Oilers do have potential, but something needs to wake them up, and the Oilers are known for doing better under pressure. It is only a matter of time before we see the Edmonton Oilers we saw at the beginning of April last season. I believe this season will be a turnaround and redemption season for the Edmonton Oilers, and they could be a sleeping giant in the west.

 

Yes it is early, but Bruins, Devils, Predators, Kraken, and Oilers all are seeing what this season might be. Boston has a chance of recovering without Coach Montgomery. The Devils have a lot more competition ahead of them to prove they can make a division title run. Nashville has time to prove that all of the money they spent in the off-season was worth the risk. The Kraken can still boost their chances of seeing the Stanley Cup playoffs. Edmonton has the potential to get their revenge in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It is all about growth and determination for all of these teams, and will be interesting to see where they go in the coming months

 

 

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