One of the best things about hockey is the uncertainty. We make our predictions, study the game to death, pretend to understand the charts that say the players we like are good and hope for the best. A lot of the time all of the preparation works out, but sometimes hockey forces us to throw it all out the window and enjoy the ride.

The 2022-23 NHL season isn't even one month old yet and there's already so much to be wrong about. Yay! I'm sure we'll get to the unpleasant surprises eventually, but for now, why don't we enjoy the good?

As it turns out, a lot of the pleasant surprises through the first two weeks of the season are oddly connected to each other. Noted Ottawa Senators fan Alanis Morissette said it best, "Life has a funny way of helping you out." Clearly, she was talking about the Vegas Golden Knights.

Anyway, let's take a look at the most pleasant surprises in the NHL while the season's still a baby.

1. Rasmus Dahlin and the Sabres

Breaking news, folks: 2018 first overall draft pick Rasmus Dahlin might actually be good.

Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever learn our lesson when it comes to this stuff, but let Dahlin's current tear be another reminder to have some patience with the guys who go straight to the NHL. Next time an 18-year-old draft pick joins a bad team and doesn't immediately blow us all out of the water, shall we give it a few years? No? A girl can dream.

Looking back with context, Dahlin wasn't ever even performing at a level where I'd seriously think he was a bust. He was on a great trajectory before the pandemic, struggled along with his team in 2020-21 and showed more spurts of potential in 2021-22 with 13 goals and 53 points in 80 games. Of course, those spurts of potential came when Dahlin had a greater opportunity following Rasmus Ristolainen's trade, and they also came with a bad plus/minus—such is life as the best defenseman on a bad team.

But is the 22-year-old entering his true breakout season now, following a full season of important experience?

Six games in and the Buffalo Sabres are 4-2-0, and it was a particularly vibey 4-1-0 before Tuesday night's 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Dahlin is currently leading all NHL defensemen in points with nine and goals with five in six games played, and the five-game season-starting goal streak he just snapped became an NHL record among defensemen.

Then there's goaltender Craig Anderson at the top of the league with his 2-0, 1.0 goals against average and .970 save percentage. We aren't kidding ourselves into believing this two-game sample means more than it does, but it's a good start.

All of this and we haven't even touched on Alex Tuch's seven points in six games or Tage Thompson's hot start, including his selection of "Fishin' in the Dark" for his goal song.

Obviously, it's ridiculous to read too much into things less than a month into the season, and like many, I've been fooled by a Sabres hot start or two in the very recent past. But I like what I see here, we'll see how they bounce back from this big loss to Seattle, and sometimes giving people room to spread their wings is the only way they get off the ground…

2. Jack Eichel and the Golden Knights

Speaking of the Sabres, Jack Eichel is off to a hot start in Vegas with three goals and seven points in eight games. The Golden Knights are doing better than expected in general at 6-2-0.

Eichel's hot start accounted for, you also have to give credit to goalie Logan Thompson, who has worked himself up from the ECHL to Vegas' No. 1 with Robin Lehner likely out for the season following hip surgery. Adin Hill hasn't been a shabby 1a, either.