NHL Insights: New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs

Welcome to another edition of NHL Insights as we look at three teams that are off to surprising starts which include the New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, and Vegas Golden Knights and one group that is struggling in the Toronto Maple Leafs

A new season means NHL Insights has returned. The new NHL season is underway, and there have been some surprising starts throughout the league. Several teams are doing better than expected from the preseason prognostications. They include the New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, and Vegas Golden Knights. And while it is still early and there can be a course correction, it is good to see specific teams taking the next step. On the flip side of things, one team in the East, Toronto Maple Leafs, is struggling as many people wonder if it was the right move to run it back.

Time to dive into some NHL Insights for the past week.

NHL Insights: Devils, Bruins, Golden Knights, Maple Leafs

New Jersey Devils

After an uneasy start to the season, the New Jersey Devils have been on fire. As of this writing, the Devils have won six of their past seven games and look like a team that could contend for a playoff spot this season. New Jersey has flipped a switch after an 0-2 start to the season. And they bounced back nicely after a loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday, October 24th. That loss a year ago or two years ago could have turned into three or four losses in a row. Now, the Devils have the mentality to turn a loss into a winning streak.

New Jersey has a big test this week in Western Canada. Goaltending has looked solid but is still a question mark. The Devils are playing a team-first transition game. Jesper Bratt leads the team with 16 points in 10 games in a contract year. Bratt tied Tim Higgins for the longest point streak in franchise history to open the season at 10 games. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are stepping up as well for the Devils. The biggest question will be what they do with Alexander Holtz.

Boston Bruins

Another team off to a surprising start is the Boston Bruins. The Bruins continue to play great hockey to start the year. Though their win against Pittsburgh, they did not have a great morning skate as head coach Jim Montgomery stated and it showed early. The Bruins rallied to win to go 9-1 on the season. Nobody expected this with the injuries to Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Matt Grezlyck to begin the season.

However, it was all about survival for the Bruins until they came back. Boston is doing more than just surviving they are exceeding everyone’s expectations to start the season. Most figured once healthy the Bruins were going to be a playoff team. But outside of their faithful fans, did anyone expect them to be leading the Atlantic Division? Good on Jim Montgomery for getting another shot at coaching in the NHL. It is nice to see a story like his.

The Bruins offence is clicking with the return of Brad Marchand to the lineup. All he did was record three points in his first game back. David Pastrnak continues to light up the scoresheet and he is due a new contract this summer. This is a veteran group that knows how to get it done. Just look at the leadership group led by Patrice Bergeron.

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Vegas Golden Knights

And how about the Bruins former coach Bruce Cassidy getting it done in Vegas? The Golden Knights are off to a fantastic start. Who knows what led to his time being over in Boston, but he has got this Golden Knights team playing with an edge they have not had since their first year in the league. The Golden Knights power play is clicking and that makes them a dangerous team. We know how good Cassidy was orchestrating the Bruins power play, just look what he is doing in Vegas.

Logan Thompson is playing well for the Golden Knights in between the pipes. While Adin Hill is also stepping up, if this keeps up, Vegas will have to long and hard about potentially moving Robin Lehner. Offensively, the Golden Knights are clicking. A healthy Jack Eichel is a scary Jack Eichel. He is back to being the player he was before his injuries in Buffalo. Mark Stone is also healthy as the Golden Knights have found contributions up and down the lineup. Everyone knew if this team was healthy they were going to be good.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Then there are the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto is struggling to begin the season as they did last year, but it feels different this year. All the talk the Maple Leafs did in the off-season has not translated into a great performance to begin the season. There is no Jack Campbell anymore. He was a big reason why the Maple Leafs turned things around last year. Toronto’s goaltending has not been terrible. Ilya Samsonsov has lived up to his contract. Erik Kallgren has played decently in his starts. But it is the team in front of them that has not.

Toronto should have come out like a team on a mission. Similar to the New York Rangers. After losing so many times in the first round, you would think something would click and the Maple Leafs would come out angry. How many times is this time just gonna run the same group back and get the same results? No Jake Muzzin hurts, but the big boys of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner need to step up. It is now or never for the Maple Leafs.