NHL panic meter: How worried should 4 teams be after sluggish starts?

The NHL season opened 10 days ago. As of Friday morning, every team but the San Jose Sharks had played between four and six games. That translates to about 5% of the 82-game grind - or just enough action to form opinions off.

Let's check in on four teams battling a sluggish start. Is it time to panic?

We've rated each situation on a screaming face emoji scale, with one (😱) being the lowest reading on the panic meter and five (😱😱😱😱😱) being the highest.

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo's first three games were demoralizing. The poor performances led to viral sound bites from multiple star players, chants calling for five-year general manager Kevyn Adams to be fired, a jersey being thrown onto home ice, and several fans wearing paper bags on their heads.

In other words, the spiraling of another Sabres season was well underway following three losses in which the team was outscored 10-2. Full panic mode.

On Wednesday, Buffalo exploded offensively in an 8-4 win over Ottawa to inject a dash of relief and hope, at least temporarily. This is a patently flawed team - the "Fire Adams!" chants weren't uncalled for - that's dealing with injuries to forwards Josh Norris and Jordan Greenway, defensemen Michael Kesselring and Mattias Samuelsson, and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Expectations weren't particularly high coming into 2025-26, as most pundits believed the Sabres' best-case scenario was a wild-card spot. The panic level is nevertheless high after a 1-3-0 start due to the uninspiring play and the fan base's growing disenchantment with both management and ownership.

Panic meter reading: 😱😱😱😱

New York Islanders

The last successful Islanders teams were stingy under Barry Trotz in the late 2010s. The current Isles, led by bench boss Patrick Roy, are the opposite - a porous defensive unit that allows an ungodly amount of odd-man rushes.

New York's first three opponents made life incredibly difficult on goalie Ilya Sorokin by generating 5.12, 4.79, and 4.26 expected goals, respectively. Sorokin, who's nearly impossible to beat on his best nights, couldn't hold down the fort in those losses, with the final scores reading 4-3, 4-2, and 5-2.

While the Isles defeated the Oilers on Thursday to snap the losing skid, the 60-minute breakdown of New York's season paints a bleak picture. They've, on average, trailed for 36:04, tied for 22:01, and led for a league-low 1:55.

Rookie Matthew Schaefer's been a rare bright spot. He's flashed world-class skating and a super polished overall game for a recently turned 18-year-old defenseman. Roy has trusted him to the tune of 22 minutes a night.

The Isles are set up nicely to "ethically tank" (i.e. ice a competitive lineup but lose a bunch of games) then draft a long-term running mate for Schaefer. Put another way, the lackluster start might be more of a blessing than a curse.

Panic meter reading: 😱

Ottawa Senators

Unlike the other teams discussed in this piece, Ottawa is unquestionably on the rise. There is no existential crisis to discuss five games into its season.

Yet, from a short-term perspective, the 2-3-0 team has plenty to worry about.

The Senators have carried play, and their goal differential is nearly even (11-9) over 230 total five-on-five minutes. On an individual level, center Shane Pinto has burst through the opening gates with six goals and a shootout winner.

But abysmal special teams and goaltending have muted the good. The Sens have scored four goals on 18 power-play opportunities, while their opponents have tallied nine times (!!) on 20 chances. Starter Linus Ullmark (.862 save percentage off four starts) and backup Leevi Merilainen (.731 off one) have failed to provide the squad with what one might consider a terrific outing.

Brady Tkachuk's health is the most concerning development. The winger will be sidelined six-to-eight weeks following thumb surgery. Tkachuk, the team captain and a key top-line forward, is the caliber of player that's nearly impossible to fully replace, and his recovery timeline covers 20-25 games.

That isn't a season-crushing number of games without Tkachuk in the lineup. But it's still a significant chunk. The Sens will be challenged here.

Panic meter reading: 😱😱😱

Vancouver Canucks

Three big questions swirled around the Canucks ahead of the season.

Can highest-paid player Elias Pettersson return to a dominant two-way form? How does Thatcher Demko look coming off a major injury? Will Filip Chytil, a top-six center along with Pettersson, rise to the occasion in a premium role?

None of those questions have been answered definitively a week into the season, of course, but here are the early returns for the 2-2-0 Canucks.

• Pettersson continues to generally underwhelm (two assists and four shots in four games), though his gaudy underlying numbers suggest he's on the verge of turning the corner. The sky isn't falling ... yet.

• Demko looks fantastic in net. He was arguably the NHL's top goalie in Week 1. This is a huge development for a team that's, in part, designed to go only as far as Demko and partner Kevin Lankinen will take it.

• Chytil unsurprisingly doesn't appear to be a natural fit at second-line center, despite scoring three times already. That's a roster issue (where are the offensive catalysts?!), not a Chytil issue. He's a solid 3C capable of filling in at 2C in a pinch.

Beyond the central questions, power forward Kiefer Sherwood's picked up where he left off last year (three goals and a team-leading 20 hits). The club's turning the puck over too much (74 giveaways in four games). And the transition game's out of whack (perhaps simply adjusting to a new coach).

Talk about a mixed bag of early impressions.

Panic meter reading: 😱😱 (and a half)

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter/X (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).