We're a little more than a month into the season, and last summer's batch of hopeful free agents have now become familiar faces in their choice cities. We're starting to get a real feel for which players are adjusting nicely in their new systems—and which aren't panning out so well quite yet.

Now that most teams' big free-agency acquisitions have settled into their new rosters, let's take a look at how the biggest names on the board are doing so far.

Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, Boston Bruins

Lindholm

I cringe at assessing a Bruins top-six center at the moment knowing it's a thankless job set up to fail and that the Bruins didn't have much money to work with for center depth. That said, Elias Lindholm has had a slow start offensively with just two goals and nine assists in 17 games.

The good news? He seems headed in the right direction, with four of his points coming in the last seven games. Lindholm's play is at the bottom of the Bruins' list of problems, but overall lack of production is still on the list.

Grade: C

Zadorov

Look, it's not Zadorov's fault the Bruins' brass thought beefing up the D-core would fix everything in 2024. It is not his fault the Bruins signed him to the six-year, $30 million contract the Canucks would not. And of course, you see the vision—Charlie McAvoy spent most of his career thriving next to the giant Zdeno Chara.

Zadorov is an awesome personality, and he's the exact luxury you want anchoring a great second or third pairing on a great team. The Bruins spent too much money on a sometimes dangerous player when they needed to address bigger problems. Now they've got Zadorov racking up 29 penalty minutes, which is about nine minutes of ice time per penalty at this point. This grade is not for Zadorov, who is playing like he's always played for anyone with eyeballs to see and has been effective in certain roles. It's for the allocation of assets from the Bruins' front office.

Grade: D+

Sean Monahan, Columbus Blue Jackets

Sean Monahan's start to the season in Columbus was such a treat. Sure, he and the Blue Jackets have slowed down to where we expected them to be after their hot start, but that start meant a lot.

He's got six goals and 11 points in 15 games, only three of which came on the power play. He's on pace for 35 goals, which would be a career-high at 30 years old. He's been a crucial, bright spot on and off the ice for the city of Columbus this season, and he's showing the same heart and bounce-back potential we saw from him in Winnipeg at the end of last season. If the Blue Jackets are still in a tough spot at the trade deadline, and if Monahan wants to go Cup chasing, he'd be a great deadline candidate once again.

Grade: A-

Tyler Bertuzzi, Chicago Blackhawks

If Tyler Bertuzzi is going to do anything in this world, he's going to score a goal. The start of his Blackhawks career is business as usual, with five goals and one assist in 16 games.

The point here is to be a fun and reliable goal-scorer Connor Bedard can dish to for target practice, though, and that hasn't really been the case. It's not his fault he hasn't spent much even-strength time with Bedard, and as Bedard is slumping a bit, maybe the Blackhawks should make use of the Bertuzzi goal factory. I thought that was the whole point of the Bertuzzi signing, so until then, he's doing all he can with his place in the lineup.

Grade: B

The Nashville Predators (Steven Stamkos, Brady Skjei and Jonathan Marchessault)

The Nashville Predators are Not Doing Too Hot to start what was supposed to be a step-forward season. They're 5-9-2 and sitting in last place in the Central Division, which is worse than the Blackhawks. GM Barry Trotz brought in several big names in free agency, and none of them have made the desired impact quite yet.

The issue has almost exclusively been an even-strength thing. Nashville is tied for No. 10 in the NHL on the power play (22.2 percent) and ranks No. 2 on the penalty kill (90.9 percent). Meanwhile, the Predators are dead last in 5-on-5 goals (17) and tied for the fourth-most 5-on-5 goals against (39).

This means the talent surely exists but hasn't particularly meshed well together. This could get better with time—and has improved since the 0-5 start—but it hasn't improved significantly enough to where we thought the team would be at this point.

So, the issue is a collective, systemic one. With all that said, let's check out some individual performances.

Stamkos

Stamkos will be 38 when his four-year, $32 million contract expires in 2028. In the present, he's got four goals, eight points, and a team-worst minus-11 rating through 16 games. He's only got two even-strength points. If I know Steven Stamkos, I know two even-strength points in 16 games is a disappointing underperformance no matter the context.

Grade: D

Marchessault

Marchessault is a winger expected to score when a clutch goal is needed, at a consistent clip, on and off the power play. He's got three goals, nine points, and a minus-10 in 16 games, including three even-strength points. It's not great, and somehow it's the fourth-highest points total on the team.

Grade: D+

Skjei

Skjei's got two goals, six points, and a minus-7 in 16 games, including five even-strength points. Considering he's basically keeping the team afloat at even strength, and considering he's a defenseman, he gets a few curved points.

Grade: C-

Jacob Markstrom, New Jersey Devils

Markstrom, like the rest of the Devils, has had some high variance on a game-to-game basis. He started off the season with a Save of the Year candidate and looked like the rock-solid netminder the Devils needed to acquire. Since the strong start, he's had a few real clunkers like losses to Washington and Detroit where he allowed far too many goals.

While he's been mostly able to shake it off with some impressive wins like a shutout against the Canucks, his performance has been too erratic to fully trust just yet. The Devils' latest win, a 4-1 snap of the Panthers' seven-game win streak, was the clearest vote of confidence in Markstrom's game so far, so he's trending up. Backup goalie Jake Allen has had some elite performances to further confuse us all about Markstrom's play, but I'm sure Devils fans aren't complaining.

Overall, Markstrom's started the season 8-4-1 with a 2.54 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. According to MoneyPuck.com, he's got -1.0 goals saved above expected, which has been trending in the right direction since those two ugly losses.

Markstrom's been just good enough for the Devils to improve upon last year's goaltending situation, but he hasn't been consistently great yet. Tuesday could be the start of an inspiring streak.

Grade: B-

Linus Ullmark, Ottawa Senators

Ullmark's role in the Senators' latest win, a 3-0 shutout over the Leafs, encapsulated his value to this young Senators team: Steadiness in net. Overall, he's got a 2.51 goals against, a .904 save percentage, and -0.2 goals saved above expected in eight games started with Ottawa. All things considered, he's a big piece of the puzzle as the Senators hover around a playoff spot and might actually punch their ticket this season. It hasn't been perfect, but it's been a stark improvement on the past, and he's delivered in early, crucial moments.

Grade: B

Jake DeBrusk, Vancouver Canucks

Debrusk has been streaky on the scoresheet but consistent with effort and the forecheck his entire career, and his start with the Canucks is no different. He's heating up after a slower October, now riding a five-game point streak including three goals and two assists. As he's gotten more time to acclimate after spending his whole career with the Bruins, he looks solid next to Elias Pettersson. The patience is starting to pay off here, but the nine points in 14 games weren't too shabby to begin with given his expected role on the team.

Grade: B+

Jacob Chychrun and Pierre-Luc Dubois, Washington Capitals

Chychrun

Even with Chychrun's upper body injury (which appears to be minor, since he's been activated from IR), he's been cooking in the Capitals' puck-moving system. He's got three goals, six points and a plus-8 in nine games while averaging 18:47 in time on ice on the first pairing alongside John Carlson.

Maybe the pressure came off Chychrun a bit with Carlson already being "the guy" for the Capitals defense, maybe it was the lower expectations for the team in general, or maybe Spencer Carbery's system just works well for the puck-mover, but he's fitting in nicely in Washington.

Grade: B+

Dubois

Post-trade Dubois has been fine for the Capitals, with one goal and eight points in 14 games. Carbery has him playing second-line center alongside Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael, who have both been key elements for Washington's offense. To me, Dubois contributing to this line and providing the assists counts for a lot. He doesn't have to be the offensive producer his last contract expected him to be; he has to do his thing and make it easier for two hot players to keep scoring. It's been working!

Grade: B

Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning

Guentzel spent his entire career with the Penguins until they traded him to the Canes at the deadline last season, and then he signed with the Lightning via free agency this past summer. He's proven that wherever he is in the world, he's going to consistently tally around a point per game. That consistency has carried over to the Lightning, where he's produced five goals and 13 points in 14 games.

The Guentzel-Point-Kucherov first line is lethal, but the Lightning have struggled beyond that, particularly defensively, for the past few weeks. Through this four-game losing streak, Guentzel's only posted one goal and one assist, and he's been held off the scoresheet in his last two, including zero shots against the Flyers in the Lightning's most recent game.

The entire team's current rut puts the "minus" in A-. A player of Guentzel's character is expected to help lift the team past these things, so we'll see how it all plays out when the Lightning resume play on Thursday.

Grade: A-