What we learned in the NHL ...

... from the past week of action:

• Mike Babcock can walk on frozen water but he can’t work miracles coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lured away from Detroit for a reported $50 million over eight years, he is 0-2-1. The Red Wings, whom he left behind, are 2-0-0 under his successor, Jeff Blashill. But Babcock did win the NHL’s first coach’s challenge, so it hasn’t been a complete loss for him.

• Florida’s Jaromir Jagr is working on regrowing the mullet he wore earlier in his NHL career — the most productive part of that career, incidentally. The sight of his flowing locks is worth the price of admission. So far, so good — he had two goals in his first game.

• The Philadelphia Flyers might have set a record for earliest players-only meeting in a new season — two games in. They threw the coaches out and closed the locker room following a 7-1 loss at Florida on Saturday that left them 0-2 after they scored three goals and gave up 10.

• The Boston Bruins are in trouble after losing their first two games and then losing pesky forward Brad Marchand because of a concussion. Defensemen Zdeno Chara (upper body) returned Monday in their 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay, but Dennis Seidenberg (back) remains out and the Bruins’ defense is perilously thin.

• No. 1 draft pick Connor McDavid, touted as a generational talent, had no points in his first two games with the Edmonton Oilers. Then again, the previous generational talent, Sidney Crosby, had no points in his first two games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, so patience is the byword on McDavid. “He’s going to get better as time goes on,” Oilers Coach Todd McLellan told the Edmonton Journal, noting that players with vast NHL experience have difficulty scoring against St. Louis and Nashville, the teams McDavid has faced.

• The Arizona Coyotes apparently didn’t read the preseason predictions that pegged them to finish at the bottom of the West. They’re off to their first 2-0 start since 2009-10 thanks in part to the fine goaltending of Mike Smith, who stopped 67 of 69 shots against him by the Kings and the Penguins. Young forwards Anthony Duclair (two assists) and Max Domi (one goal, two points) are worth watching. Domi is the son of former tough guy Tie Domi.