3 Eastern Confrence teams who have overachieved to start the season plus some more signings and Waiver news

Today I give my opinion on some recent signings, an update on some more Waiver news and 3 eastern conference teams who have overachieved to start this year and will probably be brought down to earth in the next couple of weeks. 

We are over a week into the season and there are 3 teams in the eastern conference right now who are playing quite well but in my opinion are overachieving and won’t be able to maintain this pace for this year

 

1: Boston

The Bruins have opened the season winning 5 of six games to start and look like they are doing well but while they are doing well I am still at least not confident that they will be able to keep this sort of a pace up and the injuries will eventually get the better of them. Now the Bruins have a lethal even without Marchand and I wasn’t too concerned that the position wouldn’t be too bad as they still have a lot of depth at the forward position and a ton of guys who can score and they showed that early by scoring at least 5 goals in each of their first four games and have at least 4 goals in five of six games but it has been their defence that I was always worried about because they didn’t have McAvoy and Grzelyck out to start the year and now Carlo is out while Grzelyck is in but they are still missing 2 of their top 4 D and I think we have already seen their defensive problems as they have given up 3 or more goals in 4 of their 6 games including 7 in their only loss and I think that I even though they have won a lot they have played a tad worse over the past few games and if there offense sputters then I would be extremely worried because if they can outscore their problems until McAvoy gets back then I think they will still be a decent team this year but I think they have heavily overachieved so far and instead of being the best in the East they should probably be a middle of the pack team this year.

2: Philadelphia 

The Flyers have also started out better then most people expected getting 3 wins to start the season before getting handed their 1st loss of the season on Wednesday against the Panthers but they look like a much more competitive team then they were last year at least to start and I would chalk this up to just a good start for the team. They haven’t been playing outstanding but they have put enough in on a night tonight bases to get wins against teams who I think are better then them. Guys like Konecny, Hayes, JVR, Laughton and Frost to some extent are all doing pretty well offensively and helping the team over come the loss of Couturier and DeAngelo and Provorov both look good and are putting up points on the defensive end while the defensive system put in place by new coach Tortorella seems to be working and Hart has a outstanding .943 SV% in 3 games to start the season but they still have a ton of injuries in Philadelphia right now and while they are playing well they are winning a lot of close 1 goal games and while they may put up more points then I was expecting before the season started I just can’t see them sustaining play like this with this lineup and I expect them to start losing some more games soon and be more of a lower end team in the league this year after a overachieving start to the season. 

3: Detroit

As for Detroit they haven’t been the hottest team to start but they also haven’t lost in regulation this season up to this point going 2-0-2 in 4 games but I think that while they have played quite well to begin the season this year they will end up losing some ground before you know it. Detroit started the season with two wins where they showed that they can defend quite well and play with a lead and then they showed there resilience coming back multiple times to force OT against LA and then had a good lead yesterday against the Blackhawks but let the game slip and blew their lead so I think they will be a mediocre team this season but do look good to start the season. Both goalies have played well as both have played two games and have over a .910 SV% so that position looks solidified but they still have a young team that will make mistakes and even though the defence looks great and the Offense led by Larkin, Raymond and Kubalik along with good play from Sundqvist and Rasmussen has looked lethal at times I just think that they will make some mistakes that will cost them games like in their most recent game against Chicago and while I expect them to continue to maintain a good pace this season and not trail off like they did last year when they collapsed in the second half I just think this start is too good for them and they will start losing some games soon and be a middle of the pack team as they continue to play after a overachieving start to the year in my opinion.

Here is what has happened with the waiver wire over the past few days.

Cleared Waivers 

Buffalo 

Anders Bjork LW,RW (1 year left $1.6 Million dollars)

Vancouver 

Philip Di Giuseppe LW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

Cleared unconditional waivers

Seattle

Michal Kempny LD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

Claimed off waivers 

Lukas Sedlak LW,C,RW (1 year left $.800 Thousand dollars) was placed on waivers by Colorado and claimed by Philadelphia. 

Dryden Hunt LW,RW (1 year left $.763 Thousand dollars) was placed on waivers by New York R and claimed by Colorado.

Currently on Waivers 

Minnesota 

Andrej Sustr RD (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

Not too many surprises here in the waiver wire over the past few days. I am a bit surprised that no one took Bjork as he was once with Boston a great prospect with Middle six potential but now he is a 4th line forward at best and I think that his high cap hit of $1.6 Million dollars probably was the main reason he cleared as not many teams can afford to pay a depth forward like Bjork that much money so I am also not too surprised he cleared, and Di Giuseppe was coming off Season Opening Injury Reserve and had to clear waivers to be sent down so while he is a good AHL forward and call up option, I didn’t really think that any teams would claim him and Kempny was placed on Unconditional Waivers so that he and the Kraken could terminate his contract and usually when someone wants to terminate their contract then they don’t usually get claimed so I am not at all surprised he went through unclaimed and is now going to be a UFA, I am a bit surprised that Sedlak was claimed as he isn’t the best of depth forwards and he didn’t get much of a opportunity with the Avalanche but with all the forwards injured in Philadelphia they thought that they could use another NHL body as they are using a lot of AHL forwards and getting a player who knows who to play in a bottom six role in the NHL should help Philadelphia, and I am not really surprised that Dryden Hunt wound up being claimed as he is a really productive bottom scorer and after having a career high 17 points last year he showed that he can be a good 4th line forward and with Colorado losing Sedlak and Lanseskog injured having a healthy body and good depth player like Hunt will surely help the Avalanche, and lastly Andrej Sustr is on waivers right now and I wouldn’t be too surprised if he ended up clearing but he showed last season with Anaheim that he can be a decent 6th or 7th defensemen when he had 5 points in 23 games with Anaheim and if there is a team with a weak or banged up D-corp then they could claim Sustr on waivers so I think he might be claimed but wouldn’t be surprised if he does indeed clear.

Here is a list of all the NHL signings that have happened between OCT 12th and OCT 15th. 

Metro

Washington 

Winger Sonny Milano and the Washington Capitals have agreed to a 1 year contract with that will carry a AAV of $.750 Thousand Dollars and the deal is 1 way. I am just really shocked that no one seemed to want Milano and even Washington after they signed him they went and put him on waivers and sent him to the minors but I think that Milano is still a good NHL forward. He got into 66 NHL games last season with the Anaheim Ducks and was able to be very productive even getting a opportunity with Zegras and put up 34 points and I thought that while he probably isn’t a top six forward he should be a good 3rd line forward for a team but now it seems like he will have to prove in the AHL that he is still a good NHL forward and I think he will be a good pickup for Washington and that they will eventually use him in their bottom six where he can show he can be a good NHL forward still.

Atlantic 

Buffalo

Left Defensemen and the Buffalo Sabres have agreed to a 7 year contract extension that will carry a AAV of $4.29 Million dollars and the deal is 1 way. Now this caught me off guard as Samuelsson has barely been in the NHL and now he is already getting a massive long term extension but if his play keeps trending in the right direction then I think this contract could be good for Buffalo. Now he had played in 42 games last year putting up 10 points and in 52 career NHL games he has 12 points so it does look like he could be a lethal defensemen and being paired with Dahlin to start the season is actually good as a defensive defensemen like Samuelsson would make a really good pair for Dahlin and I think that this contract will not look good at first, in a year or two it could actually be a really good contract and Samuelsson could be a top 4 defensemen in Buffalo. 

Montreal 

Left Defensemen William Trudeau who was a 4RD pick in the 2021 draft by the Montreal Canadiens has now signed his 3 year entry level contract with the Canadiens and it will carry a AAV of $.857 Thousand dollars and the deal is two way. Trudeau is still quite a young defender and was only recently drafted but even though he was taken in round 4 it look like he may be able to make the NHL roster eventually as he had a pretty good season in the QMJHL last year and will probably need another one to two seasons in the AHL or Juniors to continue to grow his game but I could see him eventually being a good 3rd pair defensemen for the Montreal Canadiens.

Pacific 

 

Central 

Winnipeg 

Center, Right Winger Brad Lambert who was a 1RD pick in the 2022 draft by the Winnipeg Jets has come to terms on his 3 year entry level contract with the Jets that will carry a AAV of $.950 Thousand dollars and the deal is two way. Now Lambert was going to be one of the higher draft picks of this past draft but his stock fell over the past few years and instead of being drafted in the top 10 he was taken 30th overall but he still projects to be a good player. Now he only had 10 points in 49 games last year over in LIIGA and he could go back there or start his pro career in the AHL but he also didn’t look to out of place in the Jets training camp so I think that after at least one season if not two that Lambert will be ready for a full time NHL role and should be able to eventually be a lethal middle six forward for the Jets.