Biggest Surprises to Start the 2024-25 NHL Season

It's only been a few games, but who would have had these starts on their bingo card?

The NHL’s 2024-25 regular season is underway and most teams have only played three or four games. It’s far too early to make any real assessments on what these starts mean, but there are a few surprises to kick off the season.

Calgary is 4-0

A rebuilding team that wasn’t expected to be a playoff contender is showing that they don’t intend to go down that easily. Now 4-0 to start the season, the Flames picked up wins over the Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, and Chicago Blackhawks. And, these weren’t just flukey wins. These were hard-fought, well-deserved, no-quit victories that showed this team has a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

The narrative surrounding the Flames will be fascinating to watch unfold. The expectation was that they might be better than people think, but they would ultimately sell at the trade deadline. That still might be the case, but who gets moved is anyone’s guess if the team keeps rolling.

Jonathan Huberdeau has six points and some of that is thanks to pending UFA Anthony Mantha. MacKenzie Weegar is off to a great start and a trade market might be percolating for him. Rasmus Andersson has been so good, that it makes sense the Flames might want to consider an extension, not a trade.

The Oilers Are 0-3-1

On the other end of the spectrum are the Edmonton Oilers who have started the season out in an incredibly frustrating way. They finally fought back to pick up a victory in an overtime thriller against the Flyers on Tuesday. Still, they don’t quite look like they are in sync and while some suggested their blue line would be an issue, their stars haven’t been scoring and their goaltending has been subpar.