Although the 2024-25 National Hockey League (NHL) year has only just begun, many teams are underperforming and already leaving fans worried about what the rest of the season will be like. These three teams are the Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators.

Over the past few seasons, the Edmonton Oilers have always been a team that gets off to a slow, shaky start, coming out of nowhere and blowing away the competition. They did just that last season, reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, losing only to the Florida Panthers in four games. Goalkeepers are the current situation that requires serious help, which has a huge impact on the entire team. Goaltender Stuart Skinner is 1-3-0 with a .851 save percentage and a 4.03 goals against average (GAA) to start the season. Skinner doesn’t need to be the best goaltender in the league for the Oilers to get where they need to be during the regular season. As long as he is average, which he easily achieved with the Oilers last season, the Oilers will be able to win a lot of games.

Winning games shouldn’t be a problem for Edmonton’s depth and stellar roster. However, top scorers, like center Leon Draisaitl, who only scored three goals to start the season, and center Connor McDavid, who scored one goal and had six points, are not enough to sustain the Oilers’ success. this season. On the bright side, Edmonton’s depth is showing promise, with forward Jeff Skinner, newly acquired from the Buffalo Sabres, accumulating four points in six games. Right winger Corey Perry is playing well and their blue line looks promising as well. This gives viewers hope that, like many times before, the Oilers tune might change.

The Colorado Avalanche will always be one of those teams in the playoff discussions; However, as of now, the Avalanche are facing a rocky start to this 2024-25 season. The Colorado Avalanche started their season 0-4 for only the second time in franchise history. The Avalanche currently rank last in the league in goals allowed per game at 4.83 due to poor goaltending. Goaltender Aleksandar Georgiev is 1-3-0, with a .811 save percentage and a 4.99 GAA. In their four losses, he has allowed the most goals in the league with 17. Despite their goaltending issues, they have major star power with players like center Nathan MacKinnon, defenseman Cale Makar and power forward Mikko Rantanen. On the defensive side, they do well in limiting shots against, ranking fourth in the league with 25.5 per game, and generating scoring chances, ranking eleventh in goals, averaging 3 .50 per game.

The Nashville Predators had one of the greatest stories of last season, going on an 18-game winning streak (16-0-2) after general manager Barry Trotz canceled their trip to see U2 at the Las Vegas Sphere after two brutal defeats. After that point, the Predators made the playoffs for the first time since 2022. Their top free agent acquisitions this summer, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, have just two goals combined, unlike the forwards on their previous teams. Stamkos, in particular, has struggled, with just one goal and no assists in five games; we could link his slow production to his linemates. In Tampa Bay, he had center Brayden Point and right wing Nikita Kucherov creating scoring opportunities left and right, while that same type of playmaking ability can’t be seen in Nashville.

Another big problem hurting the Predators is their aging roster. Stamkos and Marchessault are 34 years old and showing signs of slowing down. The Predators roster has an average age of 28.96, making them the third oldest team in the NHL, just behind the Oilers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Going forward, hockey fans will keep a watchful eye on these three teams to see how the players’ new adjustments might propel some of them to levels of success that observers know they are capable of. It will be interesting to see how these three teams grow as the season progresses.