The bad losses are the worst for it.

But if you would like some morbid entertainment one night, log onto social media and witness some of the ugly heckling directed at the newest members of NHL management.

The analytics guys.

On Tuesday, it was Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas's turn, as his team laid an egg in a 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators that had fans booing and the team not saluting two nights later.

The (publishable) response online?

"Where is Kyle Dubas?" one fan tweeted. "Wasn't he the 'genius' that was supposed to try and fix this?"

On Saturday, the Edmonton Oilers pulled a similar no-show in getting bombed 7-1 by the Chicago Blackhawks, and this time, team statistician Tyler Dellow was the target.

"Nice work," came the catcall. "Chalk one up for spreadsheet hockey."

Analytics in hockey are controversial at the best of times, even with high-profile backers such as TSN's Bob McKenzie, and for some of the NHL teams that invested in them this summer, these are hardly the best of times.

In addition to the Leafs and Oilers, the New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals all made high-profile hires in this area over the summer. So far, only the Panthers are significantly improved in the standings – going from a bottom-feeder a year ago to a 91-point pace – and goaltender Roberto Luongo is largely responsible.

So, why aren't the numbers guys helping?

The answer comes down to a few things, but in many cases, you don't have to look much past their hire dates. Dubas was hired in late July, weeks after free agency opened. Dellow was brought in in mid-August and primarily to work with coach Dallas Eakins.

If there's one area analytics can have a bigger impact than any other, it's in player acquisition, both by finding hidden gems and avoiding obvious mistakes. All five of the teams that added in this area, however, did so after their rosters were basically set.

They were also all franchises desperately trying to catch up, as more successful teams such as Chicago had head starts of several years to integrate this kind of analysis.

The other thing to keep in mind is that analytics in hockey typically focus on how skaters drive play at even strength, and in that department, all of these teams except New Jersey have improved.

Edmonton's possession game is up about 6 per cent. Washington, too.

Even Toronto has made inroads (up roughly 4 per cent, depending how you measure) after years as a possession black hole under coach Randy Carlyle (under 43 in his first 148 games behind the bench).

It's also only a quarter of the way into the season, which is far too early to be making pronouncements on something as complex as statistical analysis being used to alter the way teams play.

There have been analytics success stories elsewhere around the league – the Penguins stand out as a huge one after going big on them – but the reality is Dubas, Dellow and others haven't been allowed to have much of an influence on rosters.

If that happens and they still fail, then the criticism is certainly valid. For now, these rosters and their imperfections are largely on those who hired them to help.

Rising / Falling: Focusing on starts

One of the compelling concepts that Dellow helped bring to the forefront last season as an analyst was looking at small sections of games to draw conclusions about which teams and players were succeeding in those aspects of play (after losing an offensive zone faceoff, for example).

With that in mind, here's a look at teams that have been the best and worst early in games, when score effects are minimal and the first goal is up for grabs. Teams that score first are 203-64-40 this season (all numbers prior to Sunday's games):