This is kind of a tough one for me
- It might be the Jackson acquisitions, but everyone was as excited about getting those players as Jackson was to sign them. A lot of the underperformance we see out of those players are related to teamwide issues, including coaching and Mcdavid's tough season
- Bouchard has struggled, but he also doesn't have the missile that was Mcdavid in previous year to breakout the puck to this year.
- RNH is a living disappointment, can't neg him for being ineffective when he's always been ineffective.
- Hyman was always going to regress from his 50 goal season, it's just more pronounced with Mcdavid having an off year.
- Not really disappointed in Skinner, kind of expected him to struggle with inconsistent play, The issues with his game were long standing
- Knoblauch's coaching bump ended quickly. Now he's playing Mcdavid/Drai into the ground, and refuses to trust or utilize anyone who doesn't fit his mold of what a hockey player should be. Of course, if goaltending wasn't so bad, no one would be complaining.
- I guess Mcdavid's off year might be the biggest disappointment considering how important he is to the successes of team on the ice, many of the outstanding issues the team is currently facing are directly due to Mcdavid not being quite as dominant as in past years. He's carried this franchise for so long, but you can see that he's not shooting or driving to the net anymore, is constantly forcing bad passes instead of taking an extra step and creating a lane, and is frequently apathetic on defense. It's easy to see why people think he's injured or discontented in Edmonton, but I'll always give him the benefit of the doubt after how hard he's played for this franchise on the ice. Deep playoff runs, nagging injuries, and an offseason wedding that likely cut into his training time are probably all factors, and more off years are coming as he gets older and declines too.