Happy Halloween. Are you scared?
no? It should be. Because your favorite team might have a stinky player right now.
That’s the surprisingly creative theme of today’s post, which scours the league for players who had a horribly unstable October. Of course, bad starts are relative, and we primarily focused on players who went into the season with high expectations because they were stars, joined new teams, or both. I’ll guess.
We’ll fill out a 21-man roster — we’re struggling here so we need an extra goalie — and we’ll have a limit of one player per team. Otherwise, the entire roster would be just this. That means 11 teams will be eliminated because either no one played badly or our expectations were already low. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which team. We’ll tackle those teams with a few middling honorable mentions, but for the rest, turn up the spooky music and look for last-minute ideas for truly spooky costumes.
goalkeeper
Stuart Skinner, Oilers
He looked good outdoors on Sunday, so maybe we can build on that. The Oilers were hoping they could, as the Skinners had a tough start with an .863 save percentage and 3.51 goals against average. Numbers in the mid-80s might have won them over, but Jack Campbell still has his ups and downs, and this year’s Oilers need the return of the players who bailed them out last year.
Filip Gustafsson, Wild
The Wild weren’t entirely sure what they were getting when they acquired Gustafsson from Ottawa last summer in exchange for a disgruntled Cam Talbot. When they saw him hit .931 for the season, they must have felt like they found a winning lottery ticket in an old coat pocket. But so far this year, that magic has disappeared, with a GAA of .885 and a GAA of 4.36. Somehow mixed in are 41 save shutout numbers, which gives you hope while also telling you how bad he was in every other game.
Devon Levi, Sabers
It’s really impossible to make this list without someone representing the Sabers at the bottom, and if I pick Tage Thompson, I’m afraid he’ll find me and eat me. There is. So instead he goes with Levi in one of the most transparent attempts at reverse jinxing we’ve ever seen. This kid stinks and will never heat up and get the Sabers back in the race!
Honorable mention: Connor Hellebuyck is doing great, staying under .900, but they might want to see more after handing him a $59 million contract extension that doesn’t even start until next year. Just about everything is going well in Detroit, where Ville Husso has had a decent start on paper.
defense personnel
Erik Karlsson, Penguins
Well, the Penguins have a lot of candidates, including Tristan Jarry and Jeff Carter. It’s not that Carlson was bad. But he came into the game last night scoring just two primary points and no points on the power play, then had a productive night that ended in a turnover. It’s safe to say the Penguins still haven’t found a way to fit him. You don’t have to buy a player with four years left on his contract and look at nine games before deciding whether to move him, but you also don’t have to act like this is the start anyone wanted. Let’s not forget that Karlsson has the second-highest cap hit of any defensive player in the league this year, even after factoring in what the Sharks are holding. The Penguins didn’t make that trade with last place in mind.
Dmitri Orlov, Hurricanes
Orlov was supposed to be one of the highest prizes available on the UFA market, so when the Hurricanes acquired him on just a two-year deal, it felt like a can’t-miss connection. That’s probably still the case, but this year they only have two even points, the attackers are still waiting, and somehow they’re already minus-9 points. That said, his underlying numbers are solid and his minus is inflated by empty nets and short-handed goals, so this will probably all work out. probably.
tori krug, blues
It’s always been an awkward situation for Krug and the Blues after the team tried to trade him over the summer just for the veteran to use his NTC card. The Hollywood version of the story would end with him proving the front office wrong while having a great season, much like the star he once was. Instead, he barely scored points in seven games.
Matt Dumba, Coyotes
With the UFA market not materializing in the offseason, his contract always felt like a marriage of convenience, if not a Plan B. He could head to Arizona on a one-year deal, play some minutes on a young team, and then either become part of a fun Cinderella story or be traded to a contender at the deadline. Not in the plan: He will have one point in October with really terrible underlying numbers. Despite an 8-1 win, it’s not great, even if it was meaningless.
Ryan McDonough “Predators”
The 34-year-old’s possession numbers have been inconsistent, with only two secondary helpers available for the first month of the season, and he still has one year left on his $6.75 million contract. I was worried that it might. But I was wrong. It’s been 2 years.
Damon Severson, Blue Jackets
Severson has three points on the year (one goal and two secondary assists last night), but his fundamental numbers are good. He is also already on the bench. They better hope so, considering the Blue Jackets bet $50 million on him.
Honorable mention: I’ve never stayed up late enough to watch a West Coast team before, so I don’t even know if Tyler Myers was that bad, but it’s been almost two weeks and I’m still laughing this clip. Hampus Lindholm is meaningless so far after a 53-point season and is one of the few disappointments for the Bruins. And while it might naturally feel cruel to include anyone from the Sharks on the main list, Jean Rutta and Matt Benning both fit in so badly that lumping them together as one probably doesn’t make sense here. We will be able to field players who are worthy of joining us. (However, the guy has one assist. Also, his name is Man Running.)
forward
Matty Beniers, Kraken
We expected the Kraken’s overall team shooting percentage improvement from last year to return, but we didn’t expect Benier to do all the heavy lifting to make it happen. Last year’s Calder winner has yet to score this year, totaling just three points (with only one even score). He also had a league-worst minus-12 game total this year. Yes, it’s an overrated stat, but you don’t want to be the worst in the league.
Trevor Zegras, Ducks
He has already experienced a bit of a redemption story from a condition. Rookie head coach Greg Cronin is on the bench. He scored a big goal in Saturday’s win. However, this goal was his first of the year, and EA’s cover boy is not expected to be on the bench at all. He’ll figure it out, because he’s too good not to do it. However, the Ducks are focused on the future, and this was not the start they expected from their potential franchise player.
Nazem Kadri, Flames
Kadri scored his first goal of the season Sunday night at the Heritage Classic, but it was a reminder that he’s always been a man for the big stage. Still, one goal and two points through nine games is not what you want from a 33-year-old with six years left on his UFA contract, and it’s a big reason why the Flames are in such a miserable position. now.
Nicklas Backstrom, Capitals
The fact that he’s playing is a great story in itself and probably about all we could reasonably expect. Still, one secondary assist in eight games…isn’t great, especially considering he has two more years and a $9.2 million cap hit.
matt duchene, star
Duchesne basically fell into the Stars’ lap after their weird purge in Nashville, so it’s really not possible for him to be a huge disappointment. Still, his one goal and two assists through October aren’t quite as impactful as one might expect, considering how fit he was in Dallas.
Tyler Bertuzzi, Maple Leafs
You could pick any of Brad Treliving’s offseason additions here. Because they are all struggling to some degree. That can happen when you change teams, and Bertuzzi said he’s starting to feel better about his new home. Still, he probably won’t be at the 30-point pace he expected when he signed his one-year “show-me” contract.
blake wheeler, rangers
Acquiring Wheeler may have been inevitable near the end of his time in Winnipeg, and no one would have expected the 37-year-old to return to being an All-Star. Still, the player was still scoring at a pace of around 60 points despite a slump over the past few seasons, making his cheap contract in New York feel like a certainty. Instead, he’s been meaningless this season, playing less than 12 minutes a night.
Dominik Kubalik, Senator
The good news is he scored on Saturday. The bad news is that it was his first goal of the season. The worst news is that Alex DeBrincat, who was traded with him, leads the league in goals scored. OK, that last part isn’t Kubalik’s fault, and you could argue that he was dumped more in salary than actual assets in the DeBrincat trade. Still, it would be great to bring something to an Ottawa team that hasn’t gotten off to a great start.
July Slavkowski, Canadian
Is he still a teenager? yes. Is he still the best long-term prospect in the 2022 draft? According to Coley, he is. Should I hold back? Yes, a thousand times. Has he already scored a goal or given an assist since the opening game? No, that’s why he has to be in our team.
Lucas Reichel, Blackhawks
Ignoring that record, it was a reasonably encouraging start in Chicago, as it should be. But Raz was right, Rychel was one of the few legitimate disappointments. He played just 23 games for the big club last year and scored 15 goals, but this year he has zero goals this season. He’s only 21 so you’d understand that, but a rebuild needs a few young players to overachieve, and that certainly hasn’t happened here (yet).
Jonathan Drouhin “Avalanche”
The Avalanche didn’t have to make a big commitment to bring him in, so this may be more scary than disappointing. Still, Drouin is an easy character to root for, and beneath the surface it always seemed like a great comeback story might be brewing. Colorado felt like a good fit, but it hasn’t happened yet as he has shown just one assist in eight games.
Tanner Jeannotto, Lightning
He scored two points last night, his first in two weeks. No one expects him to challenge for the Art Ross Trophy, but I’m starting to think he wasn’t worth the trade price of all his draft picks (check notes).
Honorable mention: Is it fair to spend the entire season comparing Ivan Barbashev’s work to Riley Smith’s? No, but we do it anyway, and right now it’s not a great look for Las Vegas. Nico Hischier was injured, but up until then he had only scored two points for the Devils. Anders Lee is a true poster child, scoring 28 goals every year, but he still has 27 goals to go despite his late start. Owen Tippett, who has high expectations due to his age and playing opportunities, has only made two shots this year, but this is just a shooting percentage on a Flyers team that clearly lacks lower-ranked players. Matthew Tkachuk looked poised to conquer the league last year, but it took until Saturday for him to score his first goal of the year. Finally, the Kings might be the hardest team to do this with. It’s worth pointing out that Adrian Kempe hasn’t scored yet, as almost everyone on the roster seems to be doing pretty much as expected. He’s been a goaltender all year (he’s scored two goals, both empty netters).
(Top photo of Stuart Skinner and Dominik Kubalik: Curtis Comeau / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images and Chris Tanouye / Freestyle Photography / Getty Images)
