Friday Four: Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and other early-season oddities

We’re still less than three weeks into the 2026-27 campaign and it’s easy to jump to conclusions about things that may turn out to be silly a month from now. Still, it’s fun to look around the league at some anomalies and ponder if they could become trends.

Maybe a team that was destined to be a basement dweller catches fire in the first half-dozen games and is sitting near the top of its division. Or there might be a player that never really had a nose for the net who is suddenly shooting the lights out. What about the goalie that struggled mightily last year who is all of a sudden unbeatable? History tells many of these things won’t hold up for 80-plus games, but it doesn’t make them any less eye-popping for now.

There’s also the odd early-season trend that turns out to have legs and be sustainable. The Pittsburgh Penguins from a year ago are a good example: after missing the playoffs for three straight seasons, the Pens won six of their first eight games and no one thought it would last. However, five months later, Pittsburgh claimed a playoff spot and never really slowed down.

There’s no guarantee any of the interesting trends we’re seeing now will continue, but here’s four that especially don’t seem to make any sense.

Most 39-year-olds would be quite happy to pick up four points in their first seven games, but Sidney Crosby has set a different standard. Crosby actually only had two points through his first six games before a two-goal effort Tuesday bumped up his numbers. He also endured a four-game stretch without a point, which was the first time that’s happened to Crosby since January 2023.

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This pace would end up seeing Crosby finish with 48 points, his lowest total ever over a full season. Is Father Time finally catching up with Crosby? It's doubtful. Crosby is coming off three straight 90-plus point seasons and then last year’s campaign, where he missed 14 games but still scored at an 89-point pace. It’s reasonable to expect a little regression from someone who just turned 39, but not that much. Crosby’s hockey IQ is off the charts and if his skills do eventually start to diminish, it’s likely going to be a much slower decline.

This is more than likely an anomaly that will end with Crosby going on a hot streak soon, as his shooting percentage is down a bit from his career average and the Pens are a top-10 team in scoring this season. It won’t be long before Crosby is filling the scoresheet again.

Nathan MacKinnon, the enforcer? You might think so if this is the first season you’ve ever seen him play. Whether it was a bitter playoff exit last spring or losing to the U.S. in the gold-medal game, MacKinnon seems to be playing with a little more frustration.

The Colorado Avalanche superstar had only 10 career fights coming into this season and none since 2022, but has already dropped the gloves twice this year.