This is going to be about anyone from star players to solid players who aren't preforming up too scratch this season. This top 10 is in no particular order and is my personal opinion with analytics to back up my picks I figured this was a good time to do this because
1. Anze Kopitar
After a dynamite 92 point season LA fans had to be expecting a little bit more from him but with just 27 points with just 9 goals in 41 games Kopitar hasn't been able to get the ball rolling all season also just me making assumptions but he is posing for a new career high in penalty minutes that might be indicative of frustration due to a struggling Kings side that Kopitar isn't exactly helping the cause much
2. Jonathan Quick
In the same boat as Kopitar coming of a decent season on an average kings team with 64 starts he had 33 wins and 28 losses while posting a 9.21 SV% but this year with injury and a struggling kings team he has just 18 starts thus far only having 6 wins whole having a sub .900 SV% it is no secret that he is struggling not too mention a GAA of 3.05
3. James Neal
After a decent season playing for Vegas he has 44 points in 71 games. not bad at all fairly on par of what he has been doing since his 61 points in 59 games performance in Pittsburgh in the 2013-2014 season. after just signing a massive 5.75 million til the 2023-2024 season it looks like Calgary is going to have a lump sum of dead cap laying around in James Neal unless he steps it up massively in the second half of the season. with just 8 points in 41 games this far Neal hasn't looked good at all even sporting a hilariously low shooting percentage at just 4.5%
4. Nolan Patrick the X-second overall pick has struggles since joining the NHL having a rough season this year with just 11 points in 33 games and a -4 he looks like he isn't even going to reach his 30 point mark from last season. on top of that his shooting percentage is abysmal being just 8.5 % its unclear is Nolan Patrick is ever going to live up to the second overall hype, its too early too tell but its not looking good this season either
5. Max Pacioretty in one of the worst trade sagas in history the Vegas Golden Knights trade a 2018 first, 2019 second and 2021 third for Tomas Tatar that never really turned out well for Vegas as he out up just 6 points in 20 games for them in the regular season and just 2 points in 8 games in the playoffs. In this past off season Vegas jumped on the opportunity to pick up Max Pacioretty from the struggling Habs Team sending them Tomas Tatar, 2019 2nd and Nick Suzuki in return for the 5 time 30+ point guy. hoping that Max would bounce back from a 37 point season playing in 64 games, he has so a certain extent. in 31 games played he has put up 20 points and has 11 goals. he is poised to break last seasons goals and point total but not by much, this trade definitely didnt work out great for Vegas as Tatar, just one of 3 pieces sent over in the trade currently has 31 points in 41 games thus far.
6. Vladimir Tarasenko 22 points with just 11 goals in 37 games Tarasenko has made a a name for himself being one of the most deadly goal scorers in the NHL with the past 4 seasons being 33+ goals with one reaching 40 goals, Vlad has struggles this season along a puzzlingly bad Blues team he has to hold a large portion of the blame. He hasn't produced anything like he normally does and with another 30 goal season being doubtful and a career low -15 so far its no secret that the blues expected a little bit more out of their veteran sniper
7. Milan Lucic Edmonton fans were hoping that he was going to have a bounce back season and reutrn to the strong gritty scorer that he used to be. In his first season with Edmonton he put up 50 points and played relatively well, as over paid as he is, if you ignore his massive contract thats a good season. But with last seasons minuscule 34 points he left a hole in their offensive core and this season is no difference with just 8 points in 40 games, a minus 11 he couple easily be in contention too one of the worst contracts in the NHL.
8. Dougie Hamilton after 3 consecutive 40+ point seasons Carolina pulled the trigger to move young defense man for young defense man with Carolina sending Hanifin and lindholm over to Calgary for Ferland, Hamilton and Fox. Hanifin has never been known as a massively offensive threat being more of a stay home defense man where Hamilton is more known for his ability to create offensive chances and generate points from the blue line. He has not been able to do that since coming over to Carolina with just 13 points in 40 games Hamilton will be lucky too crack 30 points this season making it his lowest point total since his sophomore season in Boston. While holding a -13 on the season he hasn't been very strong offensively or defensively for Carolina. with Hanifin poised for a new career high this season in points and lindholm ripping it up right now the trade looks very bad for Carolina as long as Hamilton doesn't get his feet moving
9. Ryan Kesler now I know Kesler hasn't been in the greatest of health in the last couple seasons only playing 44 games last season and putting up 14 points. this season Kesler only has 6 points in 39 games with a -13 and a 6.8 shooting%. things aren't looking great for Kesler and Lucic in the same boat, very high paid players that fell off very quick 2016/2017 Kesler had 58 points in a full season but since his troubles in 2017-2018 he hasn't been able to move forward from it. without being able to contribute Anaheim is already missing out on Parry and with Kesler being invisible as well doesn't spell well for Anaheim
10. Cory Schneider Prior to his injury of late Schneider was struggling hard. I wasn't going to put nay goalies in this list at all but I had too. Being a goalie getting paid 6 Million a year playing second fiddle to Keith Kinkaid is embarrassing with just 9 starts this year (when he was actually starting) he failed to capture a single victory. Schneider hasn't won a game in over a calendar year! posting a .852 SV% and a 4.66GAA this season has been a train wreck for Schneider. hopefully when he recovers from this injury he will regain his strength and play the way he has in the past. but with the way Blackwood is playing maybe the devils aren't too concerned
This is my top 10 list there are more struggling players and I tried not too include any goalies or any players feeling their sophomore slump but in the cases or Patrick and Schneider I had to put them in if you there I missed some players please reply too the thread telling what players and why. Thanks!
1. Anze Kopitar
After a dynamite 92 point season LA fans had to be expecting a little bit more from him but with just 27 points with just 9 goals in 41 games Kopitar hasn't been able to get the ball rolling all season also just me making assumptions but he is posing for a new career high in penalty minutes that might be indicative of frustration due to a struggling Kings side that Kopitar isn't exactly helping the cause much
2. Jonathan Quick
In the same boat as Kopitar coming of a decent season on an average kings team with 64 starts he had 33 wins and 28 losses while posting a 9.21 SV% but this year with injury and a struggling kings team he has just 18 starts thus far only having 6 wins whole having a sub .900 SV% it is no secret that he is struggling not too mention a GAA of 3.05
3. James Neal
After a decent season playing for Vegas he has 44 points in 71 games. not bad at all fairly on par of what he has been doing since his 61 points in 59 games performance in Pittsburgh in the 2013-2014 season. after just signing a massive 5.75 million til the 2023-2024 season it looks like Calgary is going to have a lump sum of dead cap laying around in James Neal unless he steps it up massively in the second half of the season. with just 8 points in 41 games this far Neal hasn't looked good at all even sporting a hilariously low shooting percentage at just 4.5%
4. Nolan Patrick the X-second overall pick has struggles since joining the NHL having a rough season this year with just 11 points in 33 games and a -4 he looks like he isn't even going to reach his 30 point mark from last season. on top of that his shooting percentage is abysmal being just 8.5 % its unclear is Nolan Patrick is ever going to live up to the second overall hype, its too early too tell but its not looking good this season either
5. Max Pacioretty in one of the worst trade sagas in history the Vegas Golden Knights trade a 2018 first, 2019 second and 2021 third for Tomas Tatar that never really turned out well for Vegas as he out up just 6 points in 20 games for them in the regular season and just 2 points in 8 games in the playoffs. In this past off season Vegas jumped on the opportunity to pick up Max Pacioretty from the struggling Habs Team sending them Tomas Tatar, 2019 2nd and Nick Suzuki in return for the 5 time 30+ point guy. hoping that Max would bounce back from a 37 point season playing in 64 games, he has so a certain extent. in 31 games played he has put up 20 points and has 11 goals. he is poised to break last seasons goals and point total but not by much, this trade definitely didnt work out great for Vegas as Tatar, just one of 3 pieces sent over in the trade currently has 31 points in 41 games thus far.
6. Vladimir Tarasenko 22 points with just 11 goals in 37 games Tarasenko has made a a name for himself being one of the most deadly goal scorers in the NHL with the past 4 seasons being 33+ goals with one reaching 40 goals, Vlad has struggles this season along a puzzlingly bad Blues team he has to hold a large portion of the blame. He hasn't produced anything like he normally does and with another 30 goal season being doubtful and a career low -15 so far its no secret that the blues expected a little bit more out of their veteran sniper
7. Milan Lucic Edmonton fans were hoping that he was going to have a bounce back season and reutrn to the strong gritty scorer that he used to be. In his first season with Edmonton he put up 50 points and played relatively well, as over paid as he is, if you ignore his massive contract thats a good season. But with last seasons minuscule 34 points he left a hole in their offensive core and this season is no difference with just 8 points in 40 games, a minus 11 he couple easily be in contention too one of the worst contracts in the NHL.
8. Dougie Hamilton after 3 consecutive 40+ point seasons Carolina pulled the trigger to move young defense man for young defense man with Carolina sending Hanifin and lindholm over to Calgary for Ferland, Hamilton and Fox. Hanifin has never been known as a massively offensive threat being more of a stay home defense man where Hamilton is more known for his ability to create offensive chances and generate points from the blue line. He has not been able to do that since coming over to Carolina with just 13 points in 40 games Hamilton will be lucky too crack 30 points this season making it his lowest point total since his sophomore season in Boston. While holding a -13 on the season he hasn't been very strong offensively or defensively for Carolina. with Hanifin poised for a new career high this season in points and lindholm ripping it up right now the trade looks very bad for Carolina as long as Hamilton doesn't get his feet moving
9. Ryan Kesler now I know Kesler hasn't been in the greatest of health in the last couple seasons only playing 44 games last season and putting up 14 points. this season Kesler only has 6 points in 39 games with a -13 and a 6.8 shooting%. things aren't looking great for Kesler and Lucic in the same boat, very high paid players that fell off very quick 2016/2017 Kesler had 58 points in a full season but since his troubles in 2017-2018 he hasn't been able to move forward from it. without being able to contribute Anaheim is already missing out on Parry and with Kesler being invisible as well doesn't spell well for Anaheim
10. Cory Schneider Prior to his injury of late Schneider was struggling hard. I wasn't going to put nay goalies in this list at all but I had too. Being a goalie getting paid 6 Million a year playing second fiddle to Keith Kinkaid is embarrassing with just 9 starts this year (when he was actually starting) he failed to capture a single victory. Schneider hasn't won a game in over a calendar year! posting a .852 SV% and a 4.66GAA this season has been a train wreck for Schneider. hopefully when he recovers from this injury he will regain his strength and play the way he has in the past. but with the way Blackwood is playing maybe the devils aren't too concerned
This is my top 10 list there are more struggling players and I tried not too include any goalies or any players feeling their sophomore slump but in the cases or Patrick and Schneider I had to put them in if you there I missed some players please reply too the thread telling what players and why. Thanks!
