Every NHL Team's Most Disappointing Player for the 2023-24 Regular Season
Every season there is some expectation for every team and player in the NHL when it all begins. That expectation is built on several factors including previous production, individual talent, injury status, age and even the supporting cast around them.
Some players meet those expectations, and others surprise you and exceed those expectations.
Some players fall short of those expectations and have you wanting more.
Those are the players we're looking at today as we look around the NHL and point out every team's most disappointing player for the 2023-24 NHL season.
Anaheim Ducks: Trevor Zegras
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Part of this was out of Trevor Zegras' control as injuries limited him to just 31 games during the 2023-24 season. But even when he did play, he did not make anywhere close to the expected impact, scoring just six goals with 15 total points.
That per-game average saw his overall point production cut in half from his first two full seasons in the NHL.
His season got off to a rocky start due to a drawn-out restricted-free-agent saga that did not see him actually sign his new contract until just before the start of the season, and he was never really able to get going. His name even surfaced in trade rumors around the middle of the season and leading up to the trade deadline.
Zegras still has an enormous amount of talent and sky-high potential offensively, but this season was pretty much a lost year for him. He needs a fresh start and better injury luck. He still figures to be a significant part of the Ducks' rebuild.
Arizona Coyotes: Jason Zucker
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Jason Zucker seemed a strong signing for the Coyotes in the offseason when they added him on a one-year, $5 million contract.
While there was never any expectation for him to be a franchise-changing player, his whole tenure with the team, right up to his trade to Nashville at the deadline, was underwhelming.
He scored just nine goals in 51 games (after scoring 28 the year before in Pittsburgh) and was traded to the Predators for only a sixth-round pick.
The whole purpose of a team like Arizona signing a free agent like Zucker is to boost his value and cash it in at the deadline for at least a second- or third-round pick.
Neither happened here for the Coyotes as Zucker's production dropped and he was traded for a marginal return.
Boston Bruins: Jake DeBrusk
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This needs to be prefaced by saying Jake DeBrusk has been absolute money for the Bruins in the playoffs and there has been nothing disappointing about his performance in the first round.
For this exercise, though, we are looking at the full 82-game season, and in that context, he was probably a little disappointing, at least based on what he had done in previous years.
After scoring 52 goals in only 141 games over the previous two years (a 30-goal average per 82 games), DeBrusk returned this season and scored just 19 goals in 80 games and was wildly inconsistent at times. In the end, his goals-per-game average for the season was the third-lowest mark of his career and his point-per-game average was the second-lowest.
Fortunately for the Bruins, he is redeeming himself in the playoffs.
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Buffalo Sabres: Peyton Krebs
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There were a lot of disappointing elements about the Buffalo Sabres this season, and most of them related to the stunning decline in their offense from the 2022-23 season.
While several players could have earned the title of most disappointing, we're going to give it to Peyton Krebs.
A key part of the Jack Eichel trade with Vegas, Krebs scored just four goals with 17 total points in 80 games this season with rather uninspiring underlying numbers offensively.
He will turn 24 next season and has more than 215 games in the NHL under his belt. If he was going to be a top-line player (or even a top-six player), you would at least like to see some progress toward that by now.
All he did this season was take a small step backward.
Calgary Flames: Jonathan Huberdeau
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There was really only one choice for the Flames here, and it had to be Jonathan Huberdeau for the second year in a row.
The Flames have to hope this does not become a trend that keeps repeating itself.
Huberdeau is just one year into his massive eight-year, $84 million contract and has yet to come close to justifying it. Even worse for Calgary is that not only did he not improve on his disappointing debut season with the team, but he also seemed to take another step backward with slightly worse offensive production.
Given his shortcomings defensively if he does not score at an elite level that contract is going to be one of the worst in the NHL, if not the worst.
He will be 31 next season, has scored just 27 goals the past two seasons combined and still has seven years and nearly $75 million remaining on his contract with a full no-movement clause. That is a real problem for the Flames.
Carolina Hurricanes: Tony DeAngelo
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Tony DeAngelo has always had his flaws and issues on and off the ice, a combination that has seen him bounce around the NHL without finding a long-term home.
However, there was always at least one thing you could guarantee with him that kept getting him new opportunities despite the flaws: his offense.
But even that was not always there this season for the Hurricanes.
DeAngelo scored just three goals with eight assists in 31 games, found himself as a healthy scratch consistently, was placed on waivers and was still a liability defensively.
He is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and after such a disappointing overall season, it would be a surprise if he is back in Carolina next season.
Chicago Blackhawks: Andreas Athanasiou
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After scoring 20 goals and being one of the few offensive bright spots for the 2022-23 Blackhawks, this season ended up being an almost completely lost season for Athanasiou.
A groin injury robbed him of most of the season, limiting him to just 28 games, while he managed only two goals and seven assists when he was on the ice.
His 2022-23 performance earned him a nice two-year contract extension in Chicago that pays him more than $4.2 million through the end of the 2024-25 season. It is possible that a fresh start and better injury luck could get him back to that 20-goal level, but he has failed to play in at least 30 games in two of the past three seasons.
His contract is hardly a liability for the Blackhawks given their salary cap situation and it is possible that a bounce-back year could make him a strong trade candidate later in the year.
Colorado Avalanche: Alexandar Georgiev
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Getting traded to Colorado seemed like a great opportunity for Alexandar Georgiev before the 2022-23 season. Not only because it was going to allow him to be a starting goalie for the first time in his career, but also because he was going to get a chance to play for a team that could give him goal-scoring support and insulate him with what might be the best defensive group in the NHL.
In his first two full years with the Avalanche, he has led the league in wins.
But year two was a little rockier for him as his overall save percentage dropped from .918 down to .897, well below the NHL average.
That win total this season was largely the result of the team around him. He is the biggest question mark for the Avalanche in the playoffs right now, but he has at least done a strong job rebounding after an ugly Game 1 performance against the Winnipeg Jets.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Johnny Gaudreau
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Johnny Gaudreau might end up being one of the many cautionary tales when it comes to big-time free-agent signings.
The Blue Jackets shocked the hockey world before the 2022-23 season when they signed him as an unrestricted free agent when they were not even close to being a contender.
However, the results through the first two years have been extremely underwhelming, and they somehow managed to get even worse this season when Gaudreau's production dropped from his debut season in Columbus.
He scored just 12 goals with 60 total points in 80 games and still has five more years at over $9 million per season against the salary cap remaining on his contract.
The Blue Jackets hoped he would be a franchise-changing addition, but it hasn't worked out that way at all.
Dallas Stars: Nils Lundkvist
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The Stars paid a steep price to get Nils Lundkvist from the New York Rangers prior to the 2022-23 season, sending a first-round pick in the other direction in the hopes they can help mold him into a consistent NHL defensemen.
Just two years into his Dallas tenure, though, he has not taken a significant leap forward. Players like Thomas Harley have rocketed past him in terms of usage and production.
His usage and playing time has dwindled, and his future with the Stars seems uncertain at this point.
Given what Dallas paid to get him, it's been an underwhelming start to his career with the Stars.
Detroit Red Wings: Ville Husso
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Multiple lower-body injuries limited Ville Husso to just 19 games and only one start after January, which certainly played a role in his disappointing season.
However, it was also the second year in a row when he did not give the Red Wings the goaltending they were hoping for when he was on the ice.
Detroit signed him to a three-year, $14.25 million contract before the 2022-23 season in the hopes he could bring some stability to the position, especially after such a strong 2021-22 season when he took over as the St. Louis Blues' starting goalie.
In two years with the Red Wings, though, he has managed only a .895 save percentage in 75 appearances. He still has one more year remaining on his contract and needs a big year to help Detroit snap its playoff drought.
Edmonton Oilers: Jack Campbell
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Goaltending can either salvage a bad team or ruin a great one. The Jack Campbell era in Edmonton, as limited as it has been, has been more of the latter.
This year resulted in Campbell appearing in just five games, and that alone is enough to make him the team's biggest disappointment.
The Oilers signed him to a five-year contract in free agency two years ago, and in his first year as their starting goalie, he was one of the league's least productive netminders.
There was at least some hope that a fresh start this season could produce better results, but it became apparent quickly that wasn't going to happen.
After five games and a .873 save percentage, he was sent to the American Hockey League where he spent the remainder of the season as Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard manned the Oilers' net.
In two years with Edmonton, Campbell has an .886 save percentage in 41 appearances. Among the goalies who have appeared in at least 40 games during that stretch, his save percentage ranks 60th out of 62 NHL goalies.
Florida Panthers: Aaron Ekblad
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This is a tough one because Aaron Ekblad wasn't bad by any means. This is simply a product of circumstances.
Firstly, the Florida Panthers were really good during the regular season and didn't have many players fail to meet expectations.
Secondly, it was another year when Ekblad was derailed by injuries, limiting him to just 51 games and helping him produce one of his worst offensive seasons to date in his career.
He's a good player and an important part of the Panthers core and roster, but injuries really limited him this season.
Los Angeles Kings: Pierre-Luc Dubois
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Pierre-Luc Dubois arrived in Los Angeles with some significant expectations.
Not only has he been a productive, two-way, power forward in the NHL, but the Kings also paid a steep price to get him with an eight-year, $68 million contract extension in the hopes he could be a difference-maker and help them make a big leap toward Cup contention.
It did not play out that way in year one, though.
Dubois scored just 18 goals with 40 total points in 82 games for what would be one of his worst offensive seasons in the NHL. He not only failed to make a serious impact, but he was also a complete non-factor at times.
The Kings need more from him for that salary.
Minnesota Wild: Filip Gustavsson
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Filip Gustavsson was arguably one of the biggest reasons the Wild made the Stanley Cup playoffs during the 2022-23 season.
He took over the starting goaltending job, finished with one of the league's top save percentages, and he masked several significant flaws that existed on a roster that was impacted by buyouts and a salary-cap crunch.
His ability to at least come close to repeating that performance would play a big role in the success or failure of the 2023-24 team.
He did not duplicate that success and saw his save percentage drop from .931 all the way down to .899 for the season.
At 25, he is still young and signed to a team friendly contract (just $3.75 million against the salary cap for the next two years), but the Wild need more of the 2022-23 version next season if they are going to compete given their salary-cap situation.
Montreal Canadiens: Josh Anderson
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Josh Anderson's contract (seven years, $38.5 million) was always going to be a risk for the Canadiens from the moment he signed it before the 2020-21 season.
But this year seemed to be the first time it became a serious problem.
Despite appearing in 78 games and playing nearly a full season, he managed just nine goals and was never really a factor offensively.
On a per-game basis, it was by far his worst season in Montreal across the board as all of his major offensive numbers completely fell off a cliff.
In his first three seasons with the team, he scored 57 goals in 190 games, which comes out to a respectable 25 goals per 82 games pace. He also averaged more than 2.30 shots on goal per game.
This season? He scored just nine goals in 78 games and averaged just 1.81 shots on goal per game, one of the lowest marks of his career and his worst since the 2016-17 season.
Nashville Predators: Juuse Saros
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The most impressive part of the Nashville Predators' season is they won as many games as they did and made the playoffs despite getting a down year from their most important player, Juuse Saros.
His .906 save percentage for the season was by far his worst mark since becoming the Predators' starting goalie, and it was significantly below what the Preds have come to expect from him.
In recent years, his play was pretty much the only thing that kept them competitive on most nights and even kept them in the playoff hunt.
But this season? He just did not play up to the level that had made him a consistent Vezina Trophy contender the past few seasons.
Fortunately for Nashville, the rest of the team played so well that it was able to help pick him up.
Saros is still one of the best goalies in the league, but the fact that a player this good can have a down year like this just shows how volatile the position can be when trying to project future performances.
New Jersey Devils: Dawson Mercer
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The entire Devils season was a disappointment, from the goaltending and the front office's lack of urgency in fixing it to the coaching staff under former head coach Lindy Ruff.
One of the many issues was a lack of progress from some of the younger players on the roster, including a pretty significant step backward from Dawson Mercer, one of the team's best young forwards.
The 22-year-old saw a seven-goal and 23-point drop in his production from the 2022-23 season while also posting worse underlying numbers in terms of shot attempt share, scoring chance share and expected goal share.
Mercer is a big part of the Devils' future and there should have been an expectation for a breakout performance this season. It did not happen. He might be one of several players who will benefit from a fresh start with a new voice and ideas behind the bench.
New York Islanders: Ilya Sorokin
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This might have been one of the more stunning performances in the league this season. In his first three years, Ilya Sorokin established himself as one of the league's elite goalies and the type of player who can single-handedly lift a mediocre team to levels it has no business reaching.
He finished in the top six of the Vezina Trophy voting two years in a row, was the runner-up during the 2022-23 season and probably deserved serious MVP consideration.
But after posting save percentages of .924 and above in back-to-back seasons, that number dropped to .908 this year, and he lost his starting job in the playoffs to Semyon Varlamov.
Bet on a big bounce-back season no matter what else is happening around him on the Islanders. but there is no avoiding how disappointing his performance was this year.
New York Rangers: Kaapo Kakko
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Kaapo Kakko is a very good player. He does a lot of the grunt work on his line and little things that help produce positive results, and every team in the NHL would probably like to have him.
But it is hard to overlook the fact that he is a No. 2 overall pick who has played 300 games in the NHL and never scored more than 18 goals.
You expect a star at that spot, but he isn't.
Maybe it is the curse of unrealistic expectations. But the Rangers have been waiting for their young top picks, Alexis Lafrenière and Kakko, to take big leaps forward to help them become serious Stanley Cup contenders.
Lafrenière took a big step toward that this season, but Kakko hasn't.
It is a testament to how good the rest of the Rangers roster is that they can get an underwhelming stat line from a No. 2 overall pick and still be this good.
Ottawa Senators: Jakob Chychrun
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There were certainly worse, less productive players on the Senators roster this season, but we are not looking for the worst players here. We are looking for the most disappointing. And Jakob Chychrun might qualify for that title.
Overall, his production was fine. He scored 14 goals, he had 40 points and those are solid, respectable numbers for a defenseman. He also shook off all of the injury concerns that have followed him around for most of his career and played a full 82-game season without missing any time.
But something was missing.
The Senators acquired him hoping he could be a long-term piece on their defense and help turn them into a playoff team again. But he did not make that sort of an impact or stand out.
Add in the fact that he is entering the final year of his contract, was the subject of trade rumors and may not have a long-term future in Ottawa, and it was all a little underwhelming.
Philadelphia Flyers: Cam Atkinson
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After missing the entire 2022-23 season, Cam Atkinson returned to the Flyers' lineup hoping he could provide a steady top-six scoring presence to a young, rebuilding team that desperately needed it.
For the first half of the season, he did.
Through his first 47 games, he had 13 goals and 28 total points and seemed to be on track for a respectable year.
Then he finished the year on a 23-game pointless streak, managing just 28 shots on goal. He was a complete non-factor as the Flyers' playoff hopes slipped away.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Reilly Smith
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There were a lot of different directions you could take for a disappointment in Pittsburgh.
Erik Karlsson did not fully match expectations, but he was still good.
Ryan Graves had a brutal debut season after signing a six-year contract, but expectations were already low for him.
Tristan Jarry lost his starting job down the stretch and was again not available when the team needed him, but that was also probably to be somewhat expected at this point in his career.
But Reilly Smith stands out because there were such high hopes for him when the Penguins acquired him from the Vegas Golden Knights for only a third-round draft pick. The hope was that he could slide into the second-line spot vacated when Jason Zucker left in free agency and help establish a strong second-scoring line.
For about 10 games, he did exactly that with six goals and 11 total points.
The problem was that over the next 66 games, he scored just seven goals with only 29 total points and was largely invisible and helped drag down the team's second line. He still has one more year on his contract at $5 million for next season, but the Penguins need more from him if he does not get traded this offseason.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Andrei Vasilevskiy
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It seems staggering to suggest Andrei Vasilevskiy would ever be the most disappointing player in Tampa Bay, but if we are being totally objective about this, it's hard to make an argument for anybody else.
It just wasn't a particularly good year for him.
He missed the first month of the season as he continued to recover from offseason surgery, and he was never really able to get into a rhythm when he returned to the lineup. This was by far his worst season as a starting goaltender in the NHL as the Lightning finished with one of the worst team save percentages in the league.
Maybe it was the recovery from injury, or the fact that he has played a ton of high-level hockey over the past eight years.
Whatever the reason, the 29-year-old's 2023-24 season was a big disappointment based on the expectation he has set for himself during an otherwise Hall of Fame-worthy career.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Ilya Samsonov
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The Maple Leafs rolled the dice a little bit by signing Ilya Samsonov to play a major role before the 2022-23 season and rewarded them with a shockingly productive season that resulted in him posting a .919 save percentage that was the best of his NHL career.
As surprising as that performance was, the 2023-24 season was equally disappointing.
His save percentage dropped by .030 points and left the Maple Leafs with a major question mark in goal going into the playoffs.
The team in front of him was not always strong defensively, but it needed more from Samsonov and probably expected more.
He also struggled in the first four games of the Leafs' playoff series against the Boston Bruins, resulting in Joseph Woll getting the Game 5 start with the team facing elimination. Woll stopped 32 of 33 shots in the 2-1 overtime win.
San Jose Sharks: Kevin Labanc
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It was only a few years ago that Kevin Labanc looked like he had a chance to be a really productive middle-six winger in the NHL, and perhaps even a fringe top-line scorer.
But things never really fully clicked for the 28-year-old in terms of consistency or his all-around play, and he never seemed to be a fit for coach David Quinn.
Labanc not only found himself as a healthy scratch 20 times this season, but he also scored just two goals with nine total points in the 46 games that he appeared in.
He is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and both sides seem ready for a fresh start elsewhere.
He has some offensive ability and somebody is going to take a chance on him to see if a better supporting cast can help him get back on track.
Seattle Kraken: Matty Beniers
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After winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year during the 2022-23 season, expectations were through the roof for both Matty Beniers and the Seattle Kraken.
But like most of his teammates offensively, the 2023-24 season was a huge regression for Beniers as he went from 24 goals and 57 total points as a rookie to just 15 goals and 37 total points in year two of his career.
He is still only 21 years old with enormous potential, so it is way too soon for the Kraken to be overly concerned about him. They do, however, need him to bounce back next season if they are going to build a consistently competitive team in the coming seasons.
The development of Beniers and Shane Wright will go a long way toward determining the ceiling of this current core group in Seattle.
St. Louis Blues: Kasperi Kapanen
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At this point in his career, there probably should not be exceedingly high expectations for Kasperi Kapanen. He never really became a star and has struggled with consistency in Toronto and Pittsburgh.
After joining the St. Louis Blues late last season, he had a strong finish and at least set the stage for what might have been a resurgence in a new spot.
What happened instead was Kapanen putting together the worst offensive season of his career, scoring just six goals with 22 total points in 73 games.
It was another frustrating season for the 27-year-old in what has been a frustrating career over three different teams. He is an unrestricted free agent after this season and will likely be looking for a fourth club.
Vancouver Canucks: Vasily Podkolzin
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The Canucks have been one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season and most of the roster has exceeded expectations. Finding somebody who didn't exceed expectations is difficult.
So we're going to with Vasily Podkolzin simply because he has not shown a ton at the NHL level despite some significant hype when he was picked in the first round of the 2019 draft.
He spent the 2023-24 season split between the NHL and AHL, scoring zero goals with only two assists in his 19 games with Vancouver. It's a disappointing output because he scored 14 goals in his first taste of NHL hockey two years ago and has steadily dropped since then.
He will be 23 at the start of next season and is starting to go from prospect to suspect when it comes to being an impact player in the NHL.
Vegas Golden Knights: Adin Hill
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There was nothing necessarily bad about Adin Hill's play this season. He still finished with an above-average save percentage (.908 during the regular season), but it was still a big drop from the level of play we saw from him during the 2022-23 playoffs when he backstopped the Golden Knights to their first Stanley Cup with a stunningly high .932 save percentage.
He ended up not getting the start in the playoffs for the Golden Knights, with that role going to Logan Thompson.
Vegas avoided the temptation to overpay him for too many years in the offseason when it re-signed him, but his $4.9 million price tag is still expensive for a team that is perpetually pushed against the cap and already has a goalie it seems to trust more (Thompson) when the team is fully healthy.
Some regression had to be expected from what we saw in the playoffs because he had never shown the ability to play at that level over a full season in his career. Still, for nearly $5 million he is an expensive backup goalie in the playoffs.
Washington Capitals: Darcy Kuemper
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The Capitals signed Darcy Kuemper to a long-term contract before the 2022-23 season fresh off his Stanley Cup-winning performance with the Colorado Avalanche in the hopes he could provide some stability at the position after years of Braden Holtby holding things down.
He has mostly underwhelmed in that time and took an even bigger step backward this season with a .890 save percentage.
That performance resulted in him losing his starting job to Charlie Lindgren who ended up helping to lead the Capitals to the playoffs.
Washington still has three years on Kuemper's contract remaining, and he is not even the best goalie on the roster at the moment.
Winnipeg Jets: Logan Stanley
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Even though he had a strong finish to the regular season, Logan Stanley might be out of opportunities with the Jets.
After being a first-round pick in 2016, the 25-year-old has not done anything to establish himself as a regular in the Winnipeg lineup.
He was a healthy scratch in 57 games this season and averaged less than 14 minutes of ice-time per game in the 25 games that he did dress in, making little to no impact offensively or defensively.
Even though the Jets had a strong regular season, they still had some flaws in their defense and could have used a breakthrough season from the 2016 first-round pick. It never happened, and it is getting hard to believe it will in future seasons.
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