We use emojis every day to express our feelings or to illustrate a point.
Feeling confused? 😕 Defiant? 💀 Entertained? 🍿 Ready for adventure? 🏍️
With the 2018-19 season rolling past the quarter mark, it's time to use our emoji vocabulary to once again describe the NHL's 31 clubs.
Here is one emoji taking the early-season temperature of each team.
Anaheim Ducks - 😫
Someone save John Gibson. No other goalie is being worked into the ground like the 25-year-old Ducks starter. Gibson, who is an absolute bargain at $2.3 million, has faced the most high-danger shots, second-most shots, and has played the third-most minutes among goalies. The 2011 second-rounder may not be standing by Christmas.
Arizona Coyotes - 💁
The Coyotes' offense doesn’t make a ton of sense. At even strength, they're shooting an abysmal six percent en route to a league-low 35 goals. On the power play, where teams are supposed to shine, they’ve produced only 11 goals. On the penalty kill: 10 goals to go along with an 89.2 percent kill rate. Such a weird contrast for a team with 23 games played.
Boston Bruins - 🔧
In preseason, it felt like a virtual guarantee that the Bruins would snag one of the Atlantic’s three playoff spots. A wild-card team right now, they’re by no means in trouble, but a series of injuries, particularly to defensemen, have thrown a wrench into their plans. Charlie McAvoy has missed 17 games, Torey Krug 11, Brandon Carlo eight, and Zdeno Chara six.
Buffalo Sabres - 🛫
Hands down the best story in hockey, Buffalo's rebuild is finally taking flight. Three newcomers - Jeff Skinner, Carter Hutton, and Rasmus Dahlin - have taken center stage, while Jack Eichel (one point ahead of Skinner for the team lead) is flourishing in his fourth season. At 17-6-2, the Sabres are back in business. What a time to be alive.
Calgary Flames - ✋
In a division filled with so many passengers, the Flames have raised their hand and challenged for the Pacific’s No. 1 position. At the micro level, someone is stepping to the fore as well, with David Rittich supplanting 36-year-old starter Mike Smith between the pipes. Rittich, a second-year NHLer, owns a .924 save percentage through 13 games.
Carolina Hurricanes - 🎡
From the Viking clap, to the glass jump, to the sassy Twitter account, to the winning, the Hurricanes are the NHL’s version of a carnival. Not only are they sitting in a playoff spot with a 12-9-3 record, they also boast excellent underlying numbers. It has been a very long time since this team was relevant on the national scene. They are now.
Chicago Blackhawks - 🤹
Rookie head coach Jeremy Colliton is tasked with juggling the demands of a brand-new role and the demands of having brand-new players under his watch. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman acquired Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini earlier this week, just 20 days after naming 33-year-old Colliton as Joel Quenneville’s replacement. Make your mark, kid.
Colorado Avalanche - 🎮
Colorado's first line is the closest thing hockey has to a video game experience. Nathan MacKinnon between Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen fills highlight reels and scoresheets. A lightning-fast wrecking ball of a trio, they have amassed 26 goals for and allowed just 11 against in a league-high 323 minutes together at five-on-five. Incredible.
Columbus Blue Jackets - ☔
It can’t be easy being GM Jarmo Kekalainen right now, but through two months he has managed to fight off the Artemi Panarin-Sergei Bobrovsky storm. The big-ticket pending free agents are in limbo, having both stated publicly they are undecided on their futures. This situation had "distraction" written all over it, yet Columbus is 14-8-2. Winning helps.
Dallas Stars - 💎
Whether it’s the southern market, the position, or his playing style - a combination of factors are keeping rookie gem Miro Heiskanen out of the spotlight. Despite skating for 22:57 a night against high-quality competition and pitching in the odd point (11 in 26 games), the 19-year-old Finn isn’t garnering a lick of attention outside of the Stars' orbit.
Detroit Red Wings - 😖
That’s Jeff Blashill’s head exploding. A tad dramatic at first blush; however, no team has a worse balance of special teams than Detroit, which must drive the head coach nuts. Over the course of the young season, the Red Wings have been shorthanded for 146 minutes and on the power play for 107. Thirty-nine minutes is a gigantic gap this early.
Edmonton Oilers - ⏲️
Peter Chiarelli is on the clock. Once a GM fires his coach - like Chiarelli did last week with Todd McLellan - the attention shifts. And given that most of the Oilers' issues can be traced back to roster construction, Chiarelli’s seat is blazing hot. If Connor McDavid can drag his teammates into the playoffs, the narrative changes. If he can't ...
Florida Panthers - 🏎️
It’s time to step on the gas and catch up to the pack. A popular preseason pick to return to the playoffs, the Panthers have faltered in the early going. Goaltending has been a huge issue, with James Reimer (15 games), Roberto Luongo (nine), and Michael Hutchinson (four) posting save percentages of .894, .902, and .839, respectively.
Los Angeles Kings - 🐢
The Wild may technically be the oldest squad in the NHL, but the Kings feel the oldest. Firing John Stevens has done nothing to solve L.A.’s woes in the short term. If anything, it has exasperated their on-ice issues: They’re still slow moving, incapable of generating offense, and, for reasons unknown, Ilya Kovalchuk is now toiling on the fourth line.
Minnesota Wild - 🥕
An interesting early-season trend: Minnesota dangling a carrot to other teams and then taking it away. The Wild have allowed the first goal in 16 of 24 games but won nine of those contests. Clearly slow-starting, Bruce Boudreau’s group has a minus-3 goal differential in the first period, plus-10 in the second, and plus-4 in the third.
Montreal Canadiens - 🏙️
There is something about the bright-lights, big-city environment of Montreal that has Max Domi reinvigorated. With 11 goals and 15 assists in 25 games, the 23-year-old center is on pace to smash career highs. Prior to being traded to the Canadiens in June, Domi looked ordinary in Arizona. In hockey Hollywood, he has looked extraordinary.
Nashville Predators - 💼
Business as usual in Nashville. With a .700 points percentage and plus-22 goal differential, the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners once again find themselves in the hunt for the regular-season crown. Pekka Rinne, 36, leads all goalies in save percentage (.936), and Filip Forsberg's 14 goals put him just outside the top 10 in scoring. Ho-hum, right?
New Jersey Devils - 💪
According to Hockey Reference's strength of schedule metric, the Devils have endured one of the hardest opening stretches in the league. Yet, the worst is still to come. Over a 10-game span starting Friday, New Jersey will face the Capitals, Jets, Lightning, Sharks, Predators, Maple Leafs, and Blue Jackets. Time to flex those muscles.
New York Islanders - 🍪
Does anybody actually believe in these Islanders? Their 12-9-2 start is a nice, cookie-sized treat for a fan base abandoned by John Tavares, but that’s about all it is - nice. At five-on-five under Barry Trotz, New York ranks 27th in the NHL in both shot attempts and scoring chances, and owns an unsustainably high shooting percentage of 10.5 percent.
New York Rangers - 🎯
GM Jeff Gorton’s hiring of David Quinn was right on the money, with the latter leading the rebuilding Rangers to a 13-10-2 record. Special teams are middling and the underlying numbers aren’t great, but there’s a lot to like about this squad, including strong starts from Henrik Lundqvist (.921 SV%) and Mika Zibanejad (21 points).
Ottawa Senators - ⛲
The fountain of youth can be found in Canada’s capital. A total of nine rookies have suited up for the Senators. The club has three of the NHL’s top eight first-year scorers in forwards Brady Tkachuk (16 points in 14 games) and Colin White (16 in 24) and defenseman Max Lajoie (11 in 25). Sophomore Thomas Chabot has been stellar, too, with 29 points in 25 contests.
Philadelphia Flyers - 🌐
The world-wide search is on for the Flyers’ next general manager. President Paul Holmgren and Co. are looking for someone from outside the organization who has a "bias for action." While nothing has been decided and others are in the mix, former Wild GM Chuck Fletcher reportedly has the inside track.
Pittsburgh Penguins - 📱
Jim Rutherford is surely working his cell phone each and every day. The displeased Penguins GM already shipped out Carl Hagelin and appears motivated to pull the trigger again. Rutherford’s main message through 24 games: Pittsburgh needs more from its complementary players. Full stop.
San Jose Sharks - 🔓
Twenty-six games in, the Sharks are still trying to unlock the true potential of the Erik Karlsson acquisition. The transition has been fine, good, but the electricity everyone expected has just not been there. Fortunately for San Jose, the season is young and the courting process is ongoing. Karlsson isn’t an unrestricted free agent until July 1.
St. Louis Blues - 😬
It’s been difficult to watch the 2018-19 Blues. This season was the year public perception changed around the club, yet it sits 30th in the entire league in points percentage. Ryan O’Reilly has been tremendous, collecting 27 points in 23 games, but other offseason acquisitions - namely Patrick Maroon and Tyler Bozak - have been quiet.
Tampa Bay Lightning - 🤗
So many celebratory hugs. To nobody’s surprise, Tampa is scoring a boatload of goals, averaging 3.69 per game to trail only Colorado. Jon Cooper’s team attacks in waves, bagging four or more goals in 13 of 25 games. Top snipers Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, and Yanni Gourde are all on pace for 30-plus markers.
Toronto Maple Leafs - 🕺
One of the NHL’s most potent offenses has welcomed back superstar center Auston Matthews. On deck is William Nylander, assuming the restricted free agent comes to terms on a new deal in the next 48 hours. It’s crazy to think a Leafs lineup without Matthews and/or Nylander has scored 93 goals in 26 games. Sky's the limit moving forward.
Vancouver Canucks - 🎨
What Elias Pettersson produces between the boards for the Canucks is pure art. The stat line - 13 goals and eight assists in 21 games - is commendable. Watching him create, though? That’s the real treat. He’s such a slippery player and, at least thus far, the NHL has failed to contain him. At the moment, it’s Pettersson, Brady Tkachuk, and then everybody else in the Calder discussion.
Vegas Golden Knights - ⚙️
Following a 5-6-1 October, the gears have slowly but surely begun moving in the other direction for the Golden Knights. Led by the Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith line, the reigning Western champs have regained some of their swagger, winning four straight. The return of Nate Schmidt, sidelined by suspension, has fueled the ascent.
Washington Capitals - 🥁
Tom Wilson's suspension and overall rocky start aside, everyone in Washington seems to be marching to the same beat under new head coach Todd Reirden. The Metro Division-leading Capitals returned largely the same roster and don’t look disjointed at all with Trotz’s old assistant in charge.
Winnipeg Jets - 🎶
Is that Patrik Laine's music? Hoo boy, the Finnish finisher has been on an absolute tear as of late. Eleven goals in four games last week - five of which came in one showing - bring his season total to 19. Not everything has gone swimmingly for the 13-8-2 Jets (see: so-so five-on-five goal production), but Laine should be exempt from the blame game.
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
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