Most Disappointing NHL Players

Top 5 Most Disappointing NHL Players this Season

Recently I presented my list of the Top 5 Rising Stars in the NHL.  Today, I’m back with a new list.  This is a list players do not want to be on.  These are the guys that underperformed and are overpaid.   Their teams rely on them and they failed to perform this season.    

#1

Dany Heatley – Minnesota Wild 

Age: 33

Position: Left Wing

Shoots: Left

Why he's on the list:

This is a guy who scored 26 goals his rookie year and 41 in his sophomore year; a guy who has had two 50 goal seasons (’05-’06 & ’06-’07).  This year was the least productive year in his entire career.  In 76 games he scored only 12 goals and recorded 16 assists.  The only season in his career in which he scored fewer goals was the shortened season, a year ago, when he scored 11 goals in 36 games.  Even in 2003-2004 when he only played in 31 games, Heatley still scored 13 goals. Minnesota pays him $6 million a year and it’s not for what he offers on the defensive side of the puck. 

#2

Daniel Sedin – Vancouver Canucks 

Age: 33

Position: Left Wing

Shoots: Left

Why he's on the list:

I can sum Daniel Sedin’s season up in one word: Lacking.  If you exclude the shortened season (’12-’13), Daniel recorded 6 consecutive seasons with at least 29 goals.  He even scored 41 in the ’10-‘11season. This year, in 73 games, D. Sedin scored 16 goals.  It’s the worst season statistically he has had since 2002-2003 when he was 22 years old. Now, I’m not ignorant enough to blame Daniel for Vancouver’s horrible season. It’s obvious that the problems on that team are bigger than Daniel Sedin’s lack of offensive production.  However, when your most talented goal scorer puts up the worst numbers he’s had in the last 10 seasons, it’s definitely a contributing factor.  There’s a reason he makes $6.1 million a year.  The Canucks expect him to put a shit load of points on the board.  He’s 33 years old, meaning he only has a couple seasons left before really dropping off.  Unfortunately this past season was one I’m sure he would rather forget about.    

#3

Dustin Brown – Los Angeles Kings 

Age: 29

Position: Right Wing

Shoots: Right

Why he’s on the list:

This season was Brown’s least productive season of his career.  Other than the shortened season of ’12-’13, Brown has scored 20 or more goals and totaled more than 50 points for 5 consecutive seasons. This year he put up a total of 27 points in 79 games; 15 goals and 12 assists.  Even during the shortened season a year ago, Brown had more points than this year; totaling 29 points with 18 goals and 11 assists in just 46 games.  His offensive production was unimpressive to say the least; especially for a guy who is solidly in the prime of their athletic abilities.

#4

Devin Setoguchi – Winnipeg Jets  

Age: 27

Position: Right Wing

Shoots: Right

Why he' s on the list:

For 3 consecutive seasons (2008-2011) Setoguchi scored at least 20 goals.  His best was the 2008-2009 season when he scored 31 goals and recorded 34 assists.  Since his departure from San Jose in 2011 he has failed to reach the 20 goal mark.  He’s only 27years old so age is not the problem.  Setoguchi made a name for himself in San Jose as a consistent goal scorer and is failing to live up to it.  He isn’t a great defensive player so if he isn’t producing on the stat sheet he isn’t bringing a lot to the table to earn the $3.25 million he gets paid.  As a “goal scorer” for the Jets this season he buried a whopping 11 goals.  If the Jets are paying him to score goals, and they do, they need to find a better deal. 

#5

Evgeni Nabakov – New York Islanders

Age: 38

Position: Goalie

Catches: Left

Why he’s on the list:

Nabakov just wrapped up the worst season he’s had in 7 years and one of the worst of his career. Initially, I wrote out an in depth breakdown of his GAA and SV% over his career and over the past 7 years.  When I was done I read through it and realized it gave me a head ache.   Basically, all of those numbers break down into this: Nabakov allowed 0.35 more goals per game this season than he has over the past 6 seasons.  On top of that, he stopped 0.7% less shots than his other 2 seasons with the Islanders despite facing the fewest amount of shots he’s faced since his rookie year.  The Islanders need a whole list of things to fix their team; a new goalie might be one of them.