2023-24 NHL season: Early winners and losers

Winner: Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins have gotten off to an incredible start to the 2023-24 season, going 6-0-0 in their first six games before adding an overtime loss to their record in their seventh game. Many people thought the Bruins would take a big step back this year following the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. After all, how do you replace two franchise players at once, one of whom was the team captain? 

So far, the Bruins are showing they haven’t lost a step, with Pavel Zacha and Matthew Poitras filling the top center roles. Forwards David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand have been key contributors, while the defense and goaltending have been exceptional. Boston has allowed the fewest number of goals so far this season. Notably, the Bruins haven’t faced a very difficult schedule so far, so we’ll see how they do once they face a string of tough teams.

Loser: Pittsburgh Penguins

After acquiring key talent in the offseason, it seemed like the Pittsburgh Penguins had reloaded and were prepared for one last push during the Sidney Crosby era. They have not started off the season well, though. The team is struggling with consistency, the defense needs refining, and Jake Guentzel, who led the team in goals last year, is having a slow start. (Yikes, these bold predictions aren’t looking good right now.) They’re currently 3-4-0 through their first seven games. 

Sure, it could be worse. They could be in a deeper hole like the Oilers. Then again, expectations were far higher for the Oilers than the Penguins. Pittsburgh seems to be coming out of their early season rut, crushing the previously undefeated Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. But the Metropolitan Division is stacked, so the Penguins are in for a real fight.

As the 2023-24 season continues, keep an eye on these players and teams to see how they fare.