The Biggest Early Disappointment for Every NHL Team in 2015-16
Every team has them: Those players who have performed below expectations in the early part of the season.
Maybe it's a depth forward, a guy who was expected to carve out a role on his NHL team but hasn't done so. Maybe it's a middle-tier defenceman, a not-so-solid veteran whose struggles hurt his club. Or maybe it's a legitimate star, either a No. 1 goaltender or a top pivot whose problems are making it extremely hard for his franchise to win games.
These are the players this slideshow is devoted to. Read on to see each NHL team's most disappointing player early this season.
Statistics courtesy of war-on-ice.com, NHL.com and Stats.Hockey-Analysis.com. Salary information via NHLNumbers.com.
Anaheim Ducks: Corey Perry
1 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 1G-3A-4PTS, 51.6% Corsi rating.
Contract: $8.625 million cap hit through 2020-21.
Performance so far: There has been a lot of disappointment in Anaheim early. The Ducks hoped to build on a year in which they came oh-so-close to the Stanley Cup, losing in the Western Conference Final, but the beginning of 2015-16 has been a disaster for the club.
Corey Perry's performance has been one of the biggest disappointments, though it's hard to make the case for any one player. The most concerning thing here may be that his shot count is so far down from its normal levels. He's typically up around three shots per game and at times has gone even higher, but this year he's stuck at just two per contest.
Goals and assists can fluctuate for any number of reasons, but when shot totals drop off, it's often indicative of a larger problem.
Arizona Coyotes: Mike Smith
2 of 30
Stats line: 11GP, 5-3-1 record, 0.904 save percentage.
Contract: $5.67 million cap hit through 2018-19.
Performance so far: Mike Smith started the year on fire, allowing just two goals in his first three contests. This prompted head coach Dave Tippett to play him in both halves of a back-to-back set of games in mid-October. After posting a 37-save shutout over Anaheim, he allowed three goals on 17 shots against Minnesota and was pulled.
He hasn't been the same since. In seven consecutive contests, Smith has posted sub-0.890 save percentages and allowed three or more goals in every game except one: an October 30 start against Vancouver in which he was pulled after allowing two goals on three shots. He rebounded with a strong outing against Colorado on Thursday, but he needs to manage more than just one strong game.
This is a disaster for Arizona. Smith's poor play was arguably the primary reason for the debacle that was Arizona's 2014-15 campaign, and the club desperately needed better goaltending this time around. Perhaps even more critical to a cost-conscious Coyotes franchise, Smith is under contract at a hefty price for three more seasons after this one and, at the age of 33, may not be able to pull himself out of his current tailspin if it doesn't happen soon.
Boston Bruins: Tuukka Rask
3 of 30
Stats line: 9GP, 3-5-1 record, 0.879 save percentage.
Contract: $7.0 million cap hit through 2020-21.
Performance so far: Tuukka Rask started out slowly last season too, so it's not a total shock to see him begin the campaign poorly. That doesn't make it any more tolerable, though.
Rask has allowed three or more goals in seven of his nine games this term, and after seeming to find his feet late in October, he fell flat on his face versus the Dallas Stars on November 3, allowing five goals on just 19 shots against. He has also been thoroughly outshone by backup Jonas Gustavsson (3-0-0, 0.914 save percentage).
When Boston signed Rask to his massive, long-term contract, it was with the idea he was one of the game's truly elite goaltenders. Last year, he managed to bounce back down the stretch and justify the team's faith, but surely the club was hoping he wouldn't follow that up with an even worse start in 2015-16.
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Buffalo Sabres: Evander Kane
4 of 30
Stats line: 8GP, 1G-2A-3PTS, 56.4% Corsi rating.
Contract: $6.0 million cap hit through 2017-18.
Performance so far: There's actually a fair bit to like about Evander Kane's performance. The scoring hasn't come yet, but good things are generally happening when he's on the ice. His Corsi number shows the Buffalo Sabres have dominated the shot clock when he's out there. As a general rule, that eventually translates to goals—especially so with a player as talented as Kane.
The disappointing part has been everything else. Buffalo was supposed to be a fresh start for Kane, but some of the same issues from the past keep coming up.
The first issue is injury. Injuries have played a big role in Kane's failure to build on big seasons in the past, and as Sportsnet reported in late October, he's now out for four to six weeks with a knee injury.
The second is his history with the Winnipeg Jets. His time with the team was turbulent, and in a recent interview with the Hockey News, he was sharply critical of the team and revealed he "asked for a trade every offseason" he was with the club. Perhaps that was something he needed to come public with; perhaps it was inevitable it would be revisited given the attention his relationship with the Jets has garnered over the years. Even so, the Sabres had to be a little disappointed their star winger is still dealing with that now-severed relationship.
Calgary Flames: Dougie Hamilton
5 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 2G-1A-3PTS, 50.0% Corsi rating.
Contract: $5.75 million cap hit through 2020-21.
Performance so far: When the Flames acquired Dougie Hamilton and made him their highest-paid defencemen, it was a coup. It's hard to land a big, young, right-shooting defenceman of Hamilton's obvious ability; he was supposed to be the final piece in what might have been argued to be the best defensive corps in the NHL.
The actuality on the ice has fallen far short of the expectations on paper. Hamilton has been lit up in highly visible ways at times, and while he's probably a better player than perception currently rates him—he's minus-11, but plus/minus is a terrible stat and a lot of the negatives haven't been on him—he hasn't been the player the Flames or their fans hoped for.
There are some promising signs, and there's often an adjustment period with a new team, so it's far too early to panic.
Carolina Hurricanes: Jeff Skinner
6 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 2G-1A-3PTS, 57.7% Corsi rating.
Contract: $5.725 million cap hit through 2018-19.
Performance so far: The Hurricanes are in some ways a surprisingly good possession team, but they lack finish. They rank just 28th in the NHL in terms of goals for thanks to problems both at even strength and on an anemic power play.
Jeff Skinner is a big part of those problems; he's one of the few players on the roster with a history of being a legitimate offensive difference-maker. But he's pointless on the man advantage and at even-strength this term and is currently on pace for the worst scoring rate of his career.
Chicago Blackhawks: Viktor Tikhonov
7 of 30
Stats line: 8GP, 0G-0A-0PTS, 57.1% Corsi rating.
Contract: $1.04 million cap hit through 2015-16.
Performance so far: Don't let that pretty Corsi number lead you astray—Tikhonov hasn't been good, and he's been a deserving healthy scratch of late for Chicago. The Blackhawks have given him a healthy dose of offensive-zone starts and even some time with Jonathan Toews, but Tikhonov has deservedly fallen down the depth chart.
Much more was hoped for from the one-time first-round draft pick.
Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene
8 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 4G-2A-6PTS, 44.1% Corsi rating.
Contract: $6.0 million cap hit through 2018-19.
Performance so far: It's tempting to hang a portion of the Avs' early struggles around the neck of Semyon Varlamov, but the truth is the team's skaters have been hammered by the opposition, repeatedly penned in their own end of the rink and struggling to generate the same pressure in the offensive zone.
Matt Duchene is part of the problem, though incredibly the Avs are even worse when he's off the ice. He's also not scoring at nearly the rate Colorado would like to see from him.
Columbus Blue Jackets: David Clarkson
9 of 30
Stats line: 8GP, 0G-1A-1PTS, 41.5% Corsi rating.
Contract: $5.25 million cap hit through 2019-20.
Performance so far: Columbus is what one might call a "target-rich environment" for this kind of treatment; huge segments of the club have underperformed, and the results have been all too obvious. Even so, it's hard to look past David Clarkson.
The Jackets knew they were getting an ugly contract when they acquired the robust winger from Toronto, but they also likely expected someone who could make a positive impact on the ice.
That hasn't happened. Clarkson has been a non-factor offensively, and the Jackets have spent the majority of his shifts just trying to get the puck out of the defensive zone. He's been a healthy scratch too, though he's now on injured reserve with a back injury, as Sportsnet's Emily Sadler reported on Wednesday.
Dallas Stars: Valeri Nichushkin
10 of 30
Stats line: 11GP, 0G-2A-2PTS, 56.0% Corsi rating.
Contract: $925,000 cap hit (plus bonuses) through 2015-16.
Performance so far: After a promising rookie campaign in 2013-14, Nichushkin saw last season all but wiped out by the effects of a hip injury that ultimately required surgery, reported by Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
The hope was that he'd bounce back in a big way this season, but so far he's been confined to a depth role and the offence has been slow to come. One thing the 20-year-old does have on his side is time; it would have been nice for him to come out guns blazing, but this is a long-term story.
Detroit Red Wings: Brad Richards
11 of 30
Stats line: 6GP, 0G-2A-2PTS, 45.9% Corsi rating.
Contract: $4.0 million cap hit through 2015-16.
Performance so far: It's probably a little unfair to give Brad Richards this label. He didn't play particularly well in the early going for Detroit, but he's adapting to a new team and a new system. Now, he's out with a back injury and isn't even skating, per MLive.com's Ansar Khan.
Both Richards and fellow newcomer Mike Green have been in and out of the lineup with maladies early in 2015-16, and thus the Wings have been forced to lean on their depth much earlier than expected.
Edmonton Oilers: Anton Lander
12 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 0G-0A-0PTS, 39.5% Corsi rating.
Contract: $988,000 cap hit through 2016-17.
Performance so far: For years, Anton Lander was the prospect who simply couldn't deliver in the NHL, regardless of how good he looked in the minors. That changed last season, as he carved out a role both as an even-strength defensive specialist and as a surprisingly potent offensive weapon.
All that hard work seems to have gone up in smoke this term. He hasn't been terribly reliable defensively, he hasn't even been relevant on the offensive side of the puck and the Oilers have been consistently shelled whenever he finds his way to the ice.
Edmonton has plenty of other underachievers, but what moves Lander to the top of the list is his success last season, success that offered hope he was ready to help stabilize the centre position.
Florida Panthers: Dave Bolland
13 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 1G-3A-4PTS, 44.6% Corsi rating.
Contract: $5.5 million cap hit through 2018-19.
Performance so far: The most expensive forward on a budget-conscious Florida team, Dave Bolland's underperformance early this season is a regrettable continuation of his difficulties in an injury-plagued 2014-15 campaign.
The most telling statistic here might be that he scored eight goals in just 23 games for Toronto the year before the Panthers signed him; in his 65 games since, he has lit the lamp on just seven occasions.
If that wasn't bad enough, despite Bolland's reputation as a defence-minded centre, Florida has spent most of his shifts inside its own end of the rink.
Los Angeles Kings: Marian Gaborik
14 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 1G-1A-2PTS, 55.3% Corsi rating.
Contract: $4.875 million cap hit through 2020-21.
Performance so far: One of the big problems with being a player like Marian Gaborik is it's easy to live and die with shooting percentage. He's a one-shot scorer, a sniper; he isn't known for being particularly strong in other areas.
During his career, he's delivered that nicely and last season managed 27 goals for the Kings. The trouble is that with him mired at just a 3.4 percent conversion rate, he's not really doing a lot of anything for L.A at present.
Minnesota Wild: Devan Dubnyk
15 of 30
Stats line: 11GP, 7-3-1 record, 0.896 save percentage.
Contract: $4.33 million cap hit until 2020-21.
Performance so far: It never changes. The Wild end up with goaltending problems, go out for a solution, think they have it found and then have goaltending problems again.
Despite Devan Dubnyk's impressive record, his return to the Minnesota net has been decidedly underwhelming. So far, the team is winning despite him, not because of him. Case in point: In his last four starts, Dubnyk has allowed three or more goals in each and posted a 0.885 save percentage or lower every time. His record in that span? A respectable 2-1-1.
He does have time to bounce back, but for a team that has seen so many goalies fall by the wayside, this is a fear-inspiring start.
Montreal Canadiens: Alexander Semin
16 of 30
Stats line: 10GP, 1G-2A-3PTS, 52.9% Corsi rating.
Contract: $1.1 million cap hit through 2015-16.
Performance so far: The hope was that Semin, long an analytics darling, would be able to shake off a disappointing offensive season and provide Montreal with a little scoring depth this time around. It's still early, but so far that hasn't happened.
It's worth taking a little bit of time and looking at his underlying numbers a little more closely. In the early season, the Canadiens have done well in terms of Corsiwhen Semin has been on the ice, something that is pretty common for him; his lines typically do a good job of this. One key difference this year is his line has been awful at generating an edge in high-danger scoring chances; Semin and his linemates typically do well here, but this year the chances against are significantly tougher than the chances generated.
Nashville Predators: Cody Hodgson
17 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 1G-1A-2PTS, 52.5% Corsi rating.
Contract: $1.05 million cap hit through 2015-16.
Performance so far: Cody Hodgson was a pretty decent bet by the Predators. Once a high draft pick and a capable secondary scorer at the NHL level, Hodgson's game fell off a cliff in Buffalo last season. Given that so many other Sabres struggled, the Predators decided that offering him small money on a one-year contract and hoping for a reversal was a low-risk and potentially high-reward bet.
Nashville was right, but so far, its gamble hasn't panned out. Hodgson may be turning a corner, though. After going pointless in 10 straight games to start the season and seeing his ice time curtailed, he has notched points in consecutive games. It's a small start, and he needs to continue in this vein if he is to save his NHL career.
New Jersey Devils: Tuomo Ruutu
18 of 30
Stats line: 3GP, 0G-0A-0PTS, 51.2% Corsi rating.
Contract: $3.8 million cap hit through 2015-16.
Performance so far: There actually aren't a lot of obviously disappointing candidates in New Jersey, as the Devils have started off the year surprisingly well. We've settled on Tuomo Ruutu, who had a terrible 2014-15 campaign but might have been capable of rebounding.
If he is, we won't know for a while. After playing tiny bits of three games, Ruutu was shelved with a broken foot. According to Tom Gulitti of the Record the winger is going to miss four to six weeks with the injury.
New York Islanders: Ryan Strome
19 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 1G-4A-5PTS, 47.0% Corsi rating.
Contract: $833,000 cap hit (plus bonuses) through 2015-16.
Performance so far: On most other teams, Ryan Strome wouldn't seriously be in the running here. He hasn't been all that bad. It's just Islanders fans had a decent reason to expect growth, and instead, he appears to have taken a small step backward. Well, that and the fact there aren't that many players underperforming on this roster.
Head coach Jack Capuano recently singled out the Isles' young players, a group that decidedly includes Strome, as needing to do more.
"We have too many veteran guys working too hard," he told Newsday's Arthur Staple. "Some other guys [are] just not holding their weight."
New York Rangers: Dan Girardi
20 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 1G-2A-3PTS, 40.2% Corsi rating.
Contract: $5.5 million cap hit through 2019-20.
Performance so far: Don't take my word for it—read some of the quotes offered by Dan Girardi himself in a recent interview with the New York Post's Larry Brooks.
"The beginning of the year, I don’t know what to tell you," he told Brooks. "Obviously I went through a stretch of pretty tough hockey. I’ve been around a long time. I know what to do and how to play with the puck, and for some reason, I couldn’t make simple plays."
Both Girardi and coach Alain Vigneault feel the defenceman has been better of late, so the Rangers just have to hope a key cog in their machine has turned a corner.
Ottawa Senators: Mark Borowiecki
21 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 0G-1A-1PTS, 42.4% Corsi rating.
Contract: $1.1 million cap hit through 2017-18.
Performance so far: Mark Borowiecki played his way into the Ottawa rotation last year, creating a logjam on defence that was one of the factors leading to the trade of Eric Gryba over the summer. The long-time AHL defenceman was also rewarded with a multi-year deal, the first contract of his career that cracked seven figures.
Ottawa may be regretting that decision. He's looked a lot more like a tweener in the early going this season than he has a player worthy of a three-year deal.
Philadelphia Flyers: Jakub Voracek
22 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 0G-4A-4PTS, 55.7% Corsi rating.
Contract: $4.25 million cap hit through 2015-16; $8.25 million cap hit through 2023-24 upon expiry.
Performance so far: The big question with Jakub Voracek is when he'll score a goal.
One might argue he's doing everything he can. The typical advice offered to a slumping player is to simplify things and just put pucks on net. If that's the right step, it's only a matter of time before Voracek starts converting. He ranks eighth in the entire NHL with 50 shots through just 13 games. He's also been very good at generating high-quality scoring chances.
He's disappointing in one sense: Everyone expects scorers to score. But in the very near future, it's a good bet he'll be doing exactly that and that we'll forget all about his slow start to the season. Claude Giroux was in a similar fix in 2013-14, and after starting the year by going 15 games without a goal, he scored 28 times the rest of the way.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Chris Kunitz
23 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 2G-0A-2PTS, 46.6% Corsi rating.
Contract: $3.85 million cap hit through 2016-17.
Performance so far: It's tempting to go with Sidney Crosby here—though for the record, there's no reason to be even a little worried about him—but it's too hard to ignore regular linemate Chris Kunitz.
Kunitz had his worst season in ages in 2014-15, perhaps his worst season since leaving the Thrashers organization for Anaheim a decade ago. Somehow, he's been even worse to start this season. The 36-year-old may be finished. He still has time to rebound, but even Crosby can't seem to keep him scoring these days, and he may be acting as a weight around the neck of Pittsburgh's superstar.
San Jose Sharks: Raffi Torres
24 of 30Stats line: Has not played this season.
Contract: $2.0 million cap hit through 2015-16.
Performance so far: Raffi Torres has not yet played, and San Jose has suffered for it.
The Sharks lack depth and have for several years now, and Torres could have boosted them in a major way. He's a competent two-way player, a physical presence and a capable auxiliary offensive threat. He'd look great right now if he were skating on their third line.
He isn't doing that because he made a stupid play in the preseason that is just the latest in a long pattern of stupid plays. He endangered Anaheim forward Jakob Silfverberg's health and cost himself and his team in the process.
St. Louis Blues: Magnus Paajarvi
25 of 30
Stats line: 1GP, 0G-0A-0PTS, 50.0% Corsi rating.
Contract: $700,000 cap hit through 2015-16.
Performance so far: Magnus Paajarvi is a one-time No. 9 overall draft pick. He has more than 200 games' worth of NHL experience. He's only 24 years of age. He skates like the wind, he's diligent defensively and is listed at 6'3", 208 pounds. He's also dirt cheap on a team that has had to carefully navigate treacherous salary-cap waters.
And yet he's not a full-time NHL player.
We're at the point where his major-league career is on life support. Injuries up front in St. Louis have opened up another opportunity for him; he needs to deliver immediately.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Matt Carle
26 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 0G-0A-0PTS, 46.0% Corsi rating.
Contract: $5.5 million cap hit through 2017-18.
Performance so far: Matt Carle is the highest-paid defenceman on the Lightning roster, and he has three years left on his current deal, an item of major concern for a team with significant cap worries in its immediate future. He's 31 years old and in the back half of his career. Once an offensive defenceman, he is no longer scoring; once a trusted defensive defenceman, he now has the worst Corsi rating of any Lightning regular. And he was recently made a healthy scratch by the club.
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times recently explained Carle has been the subject of wide trade speculation but that his hefty contract and modified no-move clause make any deal difficult. His poor play early this year certainly isn't helping, either.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Jonathan Bernier
27 of 30
Stats line: 7GP, 0-6-1, 0.899 save percentage.
Contract: $4.15 million cap hit through 2016-17.
Performance so far: Toronto's nominal starting goaltender, Jonathan Bernier, has had good games and bad games. When he has played well, he's had no support from his teammates; when he's played badly, he's been really bad.
James Reimer recently started consecutive games and would appear to be the team's No. 1 goaltender for the time being.
Vancouver Canucks: Derek Dorsett
28 of 30
Stats line: 13GP, 2G-1A-3PTS, 41.1% Corsi rating.
Contract: $2.65 million cap hit through 2018-19.
Performance so far: Derek Dorsett doesn't play tough minutes, either in terms of quality of competition or tons of defensive-zone starts. He doesn't contribute anything of significance offensively, either. Yes, he's physical, but that takes a backseat to the fact Vancouver gets destroyed whenever he sets foot on the ice.
Take high-danger scoring chances as an example. When Dorsett is on the bench, Vancouver collects 53 percent of those chances. When Dorsett is on the ice, Vancouver collects just 45 percent of them, a drop of eight percentage points that also reflects what happens to shot attempts when he plays.
Dorsett, who at age 28 is now moving away from his scoring prime, can be expected to get worse over the course of his rich four-year contract.
Washington Capitals: Brooks Laich
29 of 30
Stats line: 12GP, 1G-0A-1PTS, 61.2% Corsi rating.
Contract: $4.5 million cap hit through 2016-17.
Performance so far: Brooks Laich is doing weirdly well in terms of on-ice shot attempts, an aberration from recent years. However, his scoring touch seems to have abandoned him completely.
He finally scored on Thursday for his first point of the season; that goal came on just his third shot in the last six games.
Winnipeg Jets: Nic Petan
30 of 30
Stats line: 11GP, 1G-0A-1PTS, 39.2% Corsi rating.
Contract: $863,000 cap hit through 2017-18.
Performance so far: We can argue about why Nic Petan's numbers are so bad. Maybe it's his linemates. Maybe it's his limited ice time. Maybe it's the way the coach has instructed him to play. Whatever the case, the fact is the pint-sized junior scoring star isn't putting up points in the NHL and the Jets are getting crushed when he's on the ice.
Something needs to change.
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