The 2026-27 NHL season, which opened on Sept. 29, has officially entered its second month.
There's plenty of focus on the positives, such as Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid's torrid scoring pace, the Connor Hellebuyck trade and Montreal Canadiens rookie goalie Jacob Fowler.
But what about the flip side?
Washigton Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin is starting slowly in his 22nd and final season. The Colorado Avalanche haven't shown last season's dominance and the Pennsylvania teams have struggled, along with Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Bowen Byram. Plus, there's no contract extension for Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes.
Is it time to hit the panic button? USA TODAY takes a look.
Alex Ovechkin showing his age?
Ovechkin, 41, entered this season needing 11 goals to break
Wayne Gretzky's record of 1,016 combined regular season and playoff goals. He needed five assists to break Nicklas Backstrom's team record of 762 career assists. But he's at one goal and three assists after 11 games, the worst start of his career.
A couple things have been working against Ovechkin. He was injured heading into training camp and the Capitals' offseason acquisitions have cut into his ice time. He's no longer playing all two minutes of the power play and is averaging a career-low 13:47 per game. According to NHL Edge, his hardest shot is down 4 mph from last season and his fastest skating speed is down 2 mph. He's on pace for a career-low 122 shots.
Ovechkin has a history of starting slowly, so it's a matter of waiting to see if he'll break out again.
Colorado Avalanche off to slower start
The Avalanche were sitting at 6-5-1 heading into Wednesday's game after winning the 2025-26 Presidents' Trophy.
They are built around Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas but they dealt away some of their depth before giving Makar a record contract extension.
Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury were traded. The Avalanche signed free agent Jaden Schwartz, who had six points in his first four games before going without a point in his next five games.
MacKinnon, Makar and Necas are doing their part, but they'll need more depth scoring to push for another division title. They got a start on Wednesday, Oct. 28, when Schwartz, Parker Kelly, Nazem Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog joined MacKinnon in scoring in a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils.
Pennsylvania teams struggle
The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins ended playoff droughts last season, and Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh to get to the second round.
But slow starts leave the Penguins and Flyers at 14th and 16th, respectively, in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers were sunk by a team-worst 0-6-3 start in which they struggled to score. Penguins forwards Andrei Kuzmenko (death of his father) and Ben Kindel (vasovagal episode) have missed time.
One highlight for the Flyers is that Matvei Michkov, who struggled last season, has picked up nine goals in October.
Blackhawks' Bowen Byram has disappointing start
Byram was stuck behind Makar and Rasmus Dahlin early in his career, and the Blackhawks made a big bet he'd be a productive No. 1 defenseman if given the opporunity.
The Blackhawks sent the fourth overall pick to the Buffalo Sabres in a trade for Byram and gave him a $12.5 million-a-year contract extension.
But Byram has one point in six games and is a minus-7. Several things have worked against him. The Blackhawks were without injured top player Connor Bedard at the beginning of the season and Byram missed a game to fly home for the birth of his twins. He played one game with Bedard, picking up his lone point, then has been out with an upper-body injury. He's considered day to day.
Quinn Hughes hasn't signed extension
The Minnesota defenseman is off to another tremendous season, but he has yet to agree to a contract extension in the final year of his contract. He gave a positive update recently.
"My two feet are planted in Minnesota and, you know, something could happen soon. I'm not really too sure," he told reporters on Oct. 24. "I'm really enjoying playing here."
GM Bill Guerin addressed Hughes' contract situation Wednesday on "The Chad Hartman Show," saying he hasn't talked to Hughes' agents recently.
“There’s nothing really to talk about right now," he said. "What am I going to do? Like going, ‘Please, please, please, please.' This is a unique situation. I think Quinn needs to wrap his head around a couple things. ... Quinn's situation will resolve itself at some point in time. This does not keep me awake at night."
Guerin said there's no date for Hughes to sign or for the GM to consider other options.
"At some point in time, I'll have to try to figure things out and see what's best for the team," he said. "I know one thing for sure. Having Quinn on our team is what's best for the team. ... I don't know what's gong to happen. I don't know what I'm going to do."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL season hits one month. Is it time for teams to panic?
