The opening 10 games may be the defining benchmark for the season

Colorado looked really confused and lost a lot of players to injuries, but they still have really good players and should be a better team than they are, so this is a really big surprise. The other team that surprised me is Nashville.

I watched them play the other day and it didn't look like they had a lot of pace, they didn't have a lot of skill. They went out and signed Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault to help them out. The unfortunate thing is that Steven Stamkos had Nikita Kucherov passing him the puck for ten years, and now he has someone else doing it and it's just not the same.

If you're a shooter, you need someone who can load the gun and all you have to do is pull the trigger, and right now it doesn't look like he has the pace or the ability to shoot the puck often enough and flat hit enough to make a difference. I think Marchessault is struggling to keep up in the game.

It's important to try to get off to a good start. Tommy McVie (former NHL coach and scout) always said catch-up hockey is loser's hockey, Heinz 57 hockey. You can't make the playoffs in the first 20 games, but you can miss them.

There's an old saying that if you're in the standings, you'll finish by Thanksgiving (November 28). We're not that far away from US Thanksgiving if you look at the first 10 games. Everyone is approaching the first ten games, so ten more games will show a lot of teams where they are and what they will be like.

A good start can really make your season a lot easier. It won't put pressure on the team early in the season and force them to start playoff games before Christmas. So a good start is always what everyone is looking for and getting those points in October and November and resting on those points in April or May can be a big advantage towards the end of the season.

All points count equally, so get everything you can. I remember my time with the Red Wings and that was a big deal, getting off to a good start, just like when I was with the Ducks. Had a good start, got out in the first 10 games and was way up there. 500, like 8-2 or 7-3, you want to be three or four games over if you play 10 to 15 games and then play up to 20.

Ken Holland (former general manager of Detroit) was the first person I heard talk about US Thanksgiving, so he was a big fan of it. If you go back through the years and go back in time, it's pretty accurate to find yourself at the end of the year on this date.

The New Jersey Devils are off to a good start. They have such a good team on paper and the addition of a goaltender in Jacob Markstrom from Calgary has really given them a lot of confidence compared to their goaltending usage last year. But the guy that I think really makes a difference is that Dougie Hamilton is healthy.

They have a No. 1 defenseman who can generate offense, play around 30 minutes and control the pace of the game. History shows that teams that win the Stanley Cup have this guy. They have a man like that which gives them great confidence to have a goalkeeper like that there and their young players are so good and so talented that they will score goals. Their biggest question mark with what they've added is whether they'll be ready to defend hard enough and keep up with their scoring.

Sheldon (Keefe) has a way of playing and I think they have embraced the new coach and his way of doing things and I think they get full marks for their performance.

I'm not surprised they're off to a good start, purely based on the changes they've made and the quality of people they have, particularly the quality of Dougie Hamilton's return. With him back from injury and now having a good goalie, they will be tough to beat, just like the New York Rangers.

They're good, they've got it and their goalie proves he's worth it, give him $100 million, what's the difference, he stops all the pucks.

They're really in a good position and playing well at the moment, but again it's only been ten games but the Metropolitan Division is going to be tough.