The first month of the 2025-26 NHL season has offered its share of surprises, from unexpected playoff contenders to teams failing to meet their lofty preseason expectations .

The same goes for NHL players, some of whom have started the season at a torrid pace and others that have been statistical disasters for their teams.

Here's a look at 10 shockingly good performances to start the season ... and five shockingly bad ones that hopefully won't continue on too longer.

Shockingly good

2025-26 stats: 16 GP | 11 G | 15 A

This season has been two years in the making for Carlsson.

After the Ducks selected him second overall in 2023 , Anaheim applied load management to his rookie season, where Carlsson played 55 games. His sophomore campaign saw him start to fulfill his potential wit

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