3 Teams who can maintain surprisingly good starts.

 3 Teams who I think will be able to maintain their surprisingly good starts to the 23-24 season.

Now that we are almost 2 months into the 23-24 NHL season, and we have a good idea of how teams are looking right now whether that means they will be playoff bound possibly or maybe miss the playoffs and so far there have been some surprises at least to me of teams who have started out extremely well who I wasn't expecting to do good this year or teams who have had bad starts who I thought would be playoff locks in the offseason, and although it isn't set in stone who will and will not make it, you can get the feeling of who is trending to be a playoff team and who is not, but there are 3 teams specifically who have started out extremely well this year and as of December 12th are in a playoff spot who I was expecting to miss the playoffs this year, but who I think can maintain there start to the year and wind up making the playoff as teams like Philly, Montreal and St.Louis have all had pretty good starts, but I am not confident in them still being playoff teams by game 82, but these other 3 teams I think do have a decent shot to remain in a playoff spot by seasons end.

#1 Florida Panthers: 17-9-2 for 36 PTS, 2ND in Atlantic, 3RD in East.

Now last year Florida had to bite and kick to make the playoffs as they were in a heated race with Pittsburgh, NYI and Buffalo for the last two playoff spots last year and they were able to just edge out the Sabers and Pen's for the 2nd wildcard position and then went on a magical playoff run to the Cup Final and definitely everything went well for Florida in the playoffs until the Final, but given the fact this team went to the final last year you might be thinking why I am surprised by their fantastic start to the season, and the reason is in the offseason they found out that top 2 defenders Ekblad and Montour were both going to miss about 1-2 months of game action due to injuries sustained in the playoffs and they really couldn't add something overly big on the blueline due to lack of cap space and in order to get some stopgaps on the blueline, they couldn't add as much on the forward group as they wanted, and I still wasn't sure playoff Bobrovsky would show up to start the season and he might go back to his streaky self from last year's regular season, so I thought they would have a tough time keeping the puck out of their net at least to start the season until the two top defenders got back from injury and at that point they would be far enough under .500 that with the amount of teams ahead of them they would just miss out on the playoffs this year, but so far that has not been the case. 

Last years Eastern Champs started off the season hot as Bobrovsky picked up where he left off last year in the playoffs, free agent signings like Mikkola, OEL and young D Balinskis all had fantastic starts to the season and were able to help the Panthers have a solid start defensively to the season which was something I wasn't expecting in the offseason, Stolarz then did pretty well as the backup with Knight in the minors which is another thing I wasn't expecting to happen in the offseason, and then instead of being out until December which is what most people were expecting, Ekblad and Montour would only be out a week and month after the season began so having both D back not too long after the season began was a huge win for Florida and then the offense continued to click, as even though they have missed Bennett basically all season, Rodrigues who was brought in to replace Duclair in free agency has done absolutely phenomenal putting up 21 points in 27 games and is on pace to smash his previous career high in points, and Reinhart's game has stepped up dramatically as he is top 10 in scoring and is on pace for his first 100 point season right now, so all of these things have led to the Panthers to being a top team in not only the Atlantic but the east as well and I think I may have horribly underestimated them as I think after a solid start they have what it takes to keep in a playoff spot the rest of the year and although I predicated them to miss the playoffs this year by a few points, I now can't see them not being a top 3 team in the Atlantic this year. 

#2 Detroit Red Wings: 15-9-4 for 34 PTS, 4TH in Atlantic, 5TH in East.

Now last year the Red Wings were able to have a solid start to their year and for the first few months of the season they looked like they might wind up being a playoff team or may wind up just missing, but in the 2nd half they fell hard and especially after they sold off multiple pieces at the deadline, they took a nose dive and after keeping a wildcard spot in reach most of the first half of the season, they wound up collapsing, moving pieces and fell to 12 points back of a playoff spot by the end of the season, so it was a lost season last year and then this year they made some solid and some questionable moves in the offseason, as they brought in Sprong and Fischer in free agency which I think were good moves, they also signed Compher which was a good move but one I thought they may have overpaid and given too much term to, and then they were able to get DeBrincat from Ottawa for a very low price and signed him to a reasonable deal that I think was a fantastic move, and on defense they kept around Walman and Maatta which I think were decent moves and also brought in Gostisbehere on a 1 year deal which I think was fantastic and traded for Petry which was a decent move but not a great one and also signed two goalies in Reimer and Lyon to challenge as backup which I thought could be good moves, so I thought they still had some holes defensively and in net, but would have a much better forward group, but I just couldn't see them jumping anyone, and so far I have been so wrong with my prediction that they would be a bottom dweller in the Atlantic and East.

Now the offense has been clicking just like I thought it would in the offseason as DeBrincat has come in and been another solid goal scorer so far having 13 goals in 28 games and has helped out the Wings top end as Larkin and Raymond have also been fantastic, then their free agent additions in Compher and Spong  have both been fantastic additions for the Red Wings this year as middle six goal scorers and then Perron and Fabbri continue to produce while Kostin and Fischer have provided some really good depth scoring and it is why Detroit is a top end offensive team this year and I think in the long run the Kane addition will help them to, but they have actually been good enough defensively to win games as Chiarot is having a good year, Holl hasn't looked bad, Gostisbehere has been fantastic and those aspects have made for better defensive play and then Husso once again doesn't have good numbers but a fantastic record and is doing alright, while Lyon has been fantastic so far this year as the backup, so all in all the Wings had a good start last year to the season but collapsed in the last half of it, but I think they are much better suited to keep this good start going this year as they are much deeper, have a better offense and their defense isn't doing overly bad and if they can add another solid D this year, I think they should stand a good chance at making the playoffs unlike what I predicated this offseason. 

#3 Arizona Coyotes: 13-13-2 for 28 PTS, 5TH in Central, 8TH in West. 

Finally with Arizona, last year they were no good team as even though they competed a lot harder then they had the previous season, they were still a bottom dwelling team in not only the West but the league as even though they weren't a bottom 5 team like two years ago, they were still under .500 for most of the year, were sellers at the deadline and wound up with the 6th overall pick despite their compete level really rising from the prior year, and after not getting the Tempe arena finalized and still having no long term home, this team changed it's view on itself as instead of moving whatever players they could get good value for in the offseason like Schmaltz, Crouse and Vejmelka which a lot of people thought they would probably do, now in year 3 of their teardown they made a vow to become a more competitive team, and that is exactly what they did in the offseason. Now in the offseason they brought back 2 players who they dealt at last years offseason in Bjugstad and Stecher to be a solid 3C and bottom pairing D respectively, then they added Zucker and Kerfoot in free agency as well, Zucker on a 1 year deal and Kerfoot on a 2 year deal to help the teams top 9 for now and possibly move them in the future, they also added top 4 D Matt Dumba on a 1 year deal to sort of help round out their top 4 for the upcoming year and then added Sean Durzi from LA in exchange for a 2nd round pick which they have plenty of, and they brought in Durzi to be a solid top 4 D for years to come in Arizona, so the Coyotes  made a lot of moves this offseason to improve this team and make them more competitive and leave behind their rebuilding ways, and I thought when making my predictions that they would be a good and competitive team and surprise some people but still fall 6-10 points out of the playoffs, but if you look at how they have started, they look a ton better then I thought so far. 

So before this current 4 game losing streak the Coyotes are on right now they had looked absolutely fantastic as they had a solid record of 13-9-2 and had beaten the last 5 Cup Champs in a row and quite honestly, They have looked much better to start the year then I was expecting. Now their goals for and against are hovering right around average right now in the West which is fantastic given how bad they have been in years past, but there offense looks a lot deeper then the past few years as Offseason additions Kerfoot and Zucker have fit in well with Kerfoot getting 15 points so far and Zucker getting 10, Crouse has hit double digit goals with 13 while a pleasant surprise in Carcone who is a bottom six forward already has 14 goals on the year which is outstanding and Keller, Schmaltz and Maccelli all have over 20 points so far this year so the offense is clicking and their defense while not among the best in the league is holding in there right now and giving them chances to win each and every night and both Moser and Durzi have 13 points this year with Kesselring having 6 in 12 games and has been a pleasant surprise on the backend, but I think the biggest surprise is in net as Vejmelka who has been the teams starter the past few years has actually had a rather rough season with a 2-7-2 record and a .892 SV%, while Ingram who signed a 3 year contract in the offseason to remain with Arizona has taken the starting job and ran with it as he has a 11-6-0 record and a astounding .920 SV% and has been the biggest reason for Arizona's hot start, so all in all this Coyotes team looks good, and in the preseason I had the Coyotes doing better then expected and having around 86 points and missing the playoffs, but with how well their offense and Ingram are doing and how poorly teams like the Kraken, Flames, Blues and Wild have been to start the year, I would not be one bit surprised now if they wind up hitting 90+ points and make the playoffs this year. 

2 Honorable mentions

Boston: 18-5-4 for 40 PTS, 1ST in Atlantic, 1ST in East

I was extremely surprised last year when the Bruins who started the season with Injuries wound up having the best season in NHL history and winning the President Trophy, and in the offseason after losing half of their top 6 including longtime Bruin mainstays in Bergeron and Krejci and replacing them with bargain contracts in free agency, I thought they were poised to take a major step back and fall 35-40 points and barely make the playoffs as a wildcard team, but the additions in the offseason have worked out fantastically for Boston, there defense and goaltending is having another stellar year and although this team is slightly behind their pace from last year, nearly 30 games into the year they are the first team in the East to 40 points and are still leading the Atlantic and it seems like no one can slow them down, so while I am not overly shocked they are playing well and in a playoff spot, I am surprised at Just how good they are doing and I wouldn't be shocked if they won the Atlantic and East this year. 

Winnipeg: 17-9-2 for 36 PTS, 2ND in Central, 5TH in West

Last year the Jets got of to a blazing start and were contending with the Stars and Wild for top spot in the Central division, but just like the Red Wings they had a miserable 2nd half of the year and fell out of the top 3, but were able to finish out the season just ahead of Calgary and Nashville for the last playoff spot in the West before quickly getting ousted in 5 games in round 1 by Vegas, so it wasn't a great year for them and coach Bowness called them out about their lack of effort in the playoffs, so they went into the offseason with people speculating big moves, although they were less moves then people were expecting, as the Jets moved Dubois to LA for a nice return, bought out Wheeler, retained some of their UFA's and brought back Brossoit to be the backup. Now in the preseason I had Winnipeg finishing with around 85 point and missing the playoffs before they stunningly signed Scheifele and Hellebuyck, and with those two staying put and not possibly being dealt, I thought they would get around the 90 point range and still miss the playoffs, but they have done better then I expected as their goaltending has been superb, the defense has done pretty well and the additions of Vilardi and Iafallo have really rounded out the forward group, and now I think if they can continue to play like they have to start the year, I think playoffs are a guarantee and I could see them even hit 100+ points. 

So to sum it all up, I think there are a handful of teams that have had fantastic starts to the year that I wasn't expecting such as Washington and Philly,  but I strongly think that Florida, Detroit and Arizona who I thought would miss the playoffs have surprised me and at this point have convinced me that they could easily be playoff teams this year, so in my eyes, I think these teams (Along with Honorable mentions Boston and Winnipeg) stand a good chance in my eyes to make the playoffs this year after I said they wouldn't, but I would love to hear thoughts, Which team has surprised you with a good start and do you think they can maintain it, leave a comment down below to let me know.