The NHL's 10 biggest disappointments of 2024-25, from contract mismatches to offensive declines

The NHL is a harsh, results-focused business.

What a player did in the past doesn’t matter; it’s all about how they’re performing right now. Contracts also play a massive role in setting expectations for players in a cap world.

Earlier this year, we highlighted some positive surprises by analyzing the league’s most improved players. Now, here are the NHL’s 10 biggest disappointments this season — only players, no coaches or GMs — in no particular order.

Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks

Pettersson appears to perhaps finally be turning a corner — he’s scored four goals and three assists in his last six games — but his drop-off over the last 12 months is one of the most mystifying stories in the NHL.

The 26-year-old Swede has scored just 42 points in 61 games, which translates to a 56-point pace over 82 games. He’s produced just 1.5 points per 60 at five-on-five, which is third-line territory. It’s all the more disappointing because his $11.6 million cap hit is the fifth-highest mark of all players in 2024-25, not to mention his lackluster offensive performance was also a problem down the stretch last season and in the playoffs.

Why has Pettersson, who scored 102 points in 2022-23 and entered last year’s All-Star break on a 107-point pace, seen his production fall off a cliff? Many theories are floating around but it’s probably a combination of factors rather than a singular issue.

It’s noteworthy, for example, that Pettersson revealed he was playing through knee tendonitis down the stretch last season, which coincides with when his point totals first cratered. It’s fair to wonder if he’s still felt the lingering effects of that at some points this season. Pettersson’s top skating speed and speed bursts above 20 miles per hour are down significantly compared to two years ago. The first step of his skating has looked slow at times, which has hindered his ability to dynamically carry pucks through the neutral zone and create rush chances.

Pettersson’s waning confidence has also seeped into his game.

At his peak, he’s a silky smooth puckhandler and can deke around defenders to manufacture dangerous passing and shooting lanes, but this season, he’s been far more reluctant to attempt high-risk, high-reward dangles. He’s been playing it safe, which has made it difficult for him to take the puck to the inside.

Pettersson has also second-guessed his shot at times. There have been several plays, especially on the power play, where he’s had the puck in a dangerous scoring location but has double-clutched or attempted an extra pass instead of just firing it on the net. He’s generating shots at the lowest rate of his NHL career.

Lately, Pettersson’s displayed a more aggressive shot-first mentality and is gaining some of his swagger back offensively, but it’s going to take more than a handful of strong performances before we can confidently declare that he’s back to his typical superstar level.

Brady Skjei, Nashville Predators

After the Preds traded Ryan McDonagh back to the Tampa Bay Lightning, general manager Barry Trotz vowed to his players that he’d find a high-end top-four defenseman to make up for the loss of McDonagh. Trotz delivered on that promise, signing Brady Skjei to a seven-year, $49 million contract in free agency.

Skjei spent a large chunk of the first 20 games or so alongside Roman Josi. It looked like a tantalizing combination on paper, especially given the elite top-pair results teams like Colorado (Devon Toews, Cale Makar), Vancouver (Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek) and Dallas (Thomas Harley, Miro Heiskanen) have gotten when pairing their two best offensive defensemen. In reality, Skjei and Josi got torched defensively and the experiment was scrapped.

Still, given his success anchoring Carolina’s second pair in previous years, you expected Skjei to have success driving his own pair. That hasn’t materialized. Skjei’s been steadier since his nightmare start to the season, but he continues to decisively lose his matchups.

Nashville has been outshot, outchanced and outscored by 17 goals during Skjei’s five-on-five shifts. He’s been far leakier defensively than he was with the Canes and he’s on pace for just 30 points offensively, which represents a significant dip compared to his last three seasons.

Dom Luszczyszyn’s Net Rating player card

Environment, teammate quality and systems can drastically influence a defenseman’s performance. In Skjei’s case, the Hurricanes’ favorable environment likely propped up his perceived value to a certain extent.

Elias Lindholm, Boston Bruins

The “check engine” light on Lindholm’s offensive game had already appeared last season, long before he signed a mega seven-year, $7.75 million AAV contract with the Bruins on July 1.

Lindholm scored just 15 goals and 44 points in 75 games with the Flames and Canucks in 2023-24. He was still excellent defensively last season, but his offensive play-driving metrics had fallen off a cliff and the eye test backed it up as well. Lindholm didn’t have the dynamic speed to transport the puck up ice or excel as a playmaker; his offensive value was limited to his knack for getting open in the slot and finishing chances. Lindholm was terrific for the Canucks in the playoffs (10 points in 13 games on top of quality defensive play) but his point production was inflated by an absurd 16.4 percent on-ice shooting clip at five-on-five.

All signs pointed to Lindholm being a shutdown middle-six center at this stage in his career. Boston, however, rolled the dice on him being a true No. 1 center, the way he once was with the Flames when he played with Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau. The hope was that riding shotgun with David Pastrnak — which represented a huge upgrade in linemate quality for Lindholm compared to last season — could unlock his previous high-end top-six production.

That gamble has been a disaster.

Lindholm and Pastrnak mustered just 1.87 goals for per 60 in 224 five-on-five minutes together before the Bruins abandoned the experiment. Lindholm is on pace for just 43 points. He’s been an offensive black hole at five-on-five, scoring just 1.13 points per 60, which ranks 10th among Bruins forwards and 281st league-wide.

The 30-year-old’s defensive play is still superb, but he isn’t paid a $7.75 million AAV to be a middle-six checking center. With six years of term remaining after this season, Lindholm’s contract carries serious long-term risk, even with the salary cap increasing.

Jack Quinn, Buffalo Sabres

Quinn, the Sabres’ No. 8 pick from 2020, appeared poised for a breakout campaign in 2024-25.

The 23-year-old winger was limited to just 27 games last season because of injuries, but he produced five-on-five points at the fifth-best rate of all NHL forwards who logged 300 minutes in 2023-24. With his pedigree, the hope for better health and a potential bump in ice time, Quinn was expected to make noise this season as a high-end top-six player.

Instead, he slumped to just one goal and four assists in his first 24 games and has scored at a mediocre pace of 34 points per 82 games. He and Dylan Cozens flopped together on the Sabres’ second line, which is one of the catalysts behind Buffalo’s underwhelming season.

Quinn is generating five-on-five shots and scoring chances for himself at the lowest rate of his career, which is concerning for a shot-first scorer. He’s been invisible for long stretches of the year and has struggled as a play-driver. The Sabres have been outscored by 12 goals during Quinn’s five-on-five shifts this season.

Chart via Evolving-Hockey’s RAPM model

Injuries have obviously hindered Quinn’s overall development, but he’s gone from being a core piece to entering “prove it” territory.

Matias Maccelli, Utah Hockey Club

Maccelli appeared to be a key part of Utah’s exciting young core heading into this season. He amassed 49 points in 64 games (a 63-point pace over 82 games) as a 22-year-old rookie in 2022-23 and followed that up with 57 points as a sophomore last season.

This year, he’s scored just 18 points in 52 games and has been a healthy scratch for 12 consecutive games, dating back to Feb. 9 before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

The 24-year-old Finnish winger is an exceptionally crafty, dynamic playmaker. He’s a slick puckhandler and has impressive vision. However, Maccelli is undersized at 5-foot-11, can be a mixed bag defensively and isn’t much of a forechecker, which is a disadvantage considering the coaching staff’s preference for big, heavy forwards in the bottom six.

Last year, he had great success playing on the third line with Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse, but that trio hasn’t clicked this season, leaving Maccelli bouncing around the lineup, unable to find an ideal fit. Top-six duties haven’t been easy to come by either because of the growth of Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley.

Maccelli has also been a bit unlucky, as Utah has only scored on 6.4 percent of its shots during his five-on-five shifts, compared to the two seasons prior when it was nearly 10 percent. That kind of deflated on-ice shooting percentage will always have a negative impact on a playmaker’s point totals.

Long-term, Maccelli is way too skilled to continue rotting away in the press box. But this year, at the very least, appears to be a write-off.

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

jeremy Swayman’s contract dispute with the Bruins wasn’t resolved until Oct. 6, when he inked an eight-year, $66 million contract with an $8.25 million AAV. That deal made him the league’s fifth highest-paid goaltender this season. Many feared he would start slow after missing Boston’s entire training camp and preseason, but nobody predicted he’d be battling season-long woes.

Swayman’s save percentage has consistently been in the .914 to .920 range in his NHL career, but he’s slipped to .897 in 2024-25.

The Bruins haven’t been as stout defensively in front of Swayman compared to years past. According to Evolving-Hockey, Boston ranks 18th at suppressing shots and expected goals against this season, which is a modest decline compared to last season and a far cry from the elite defensive environment of 2022-23. The increased volatility of Boston’s defense is notable but isn’t enough to justify Swayman’s struggles. The 26-year-old is expected to be the type of star netminder who can bail mediocre defensive play out, but he’s instead been part of the problem.

Swayman has also faced a learning curve as he adjusts to being the undisputed No. 1 goaltender rather than his previous 50/50 share of the net with Linus Ullmark. He’s already played 49 games this season, which is a career high.

Goalies are notoriously volatile, and there are enough contextual factors, including the missed training camp/preseason, worsening defensive environment and increased workload, to hope Swayman will bounce back with a clean slate next season. However, it won’t be easy with the roster in front of him weakening as the organization transitions to a retool.

Chris Kreider, New York Rangers

Nearly every core player on the Rangers has taken a step back this year.

Artemi Panarin is no longer playing like an MVP candidate, Adam Fox hasn’t looked Norris-caliber and other top forwards such as Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière have seen their offensive numbers tumble.

Chris Kreider’s production has plummeted to 18 goals and just four assists in 54 games, which translates to a 33-point pace over 82 games after scoring 39 goals and 75 points last season. He has scored just 11 even-strength points all season, which is a colossal drop-off compared to the 41 even-strength points he notched in 2023-24.

Zibanejad and Kreider’s inability to control play and drive offense at five-on-five on a line together is a huge reason why the Rangers have underperformed. Zibanejad has caught fire offensively with 20 points in 18 games since being shifted to the wing on J.T. Miller’s line, but Kreider has still struggled.

Kreider has been a major drag on the Rangers’ two-way results. During his five-on-five shifts, New York has controlled just 45.7 percent of shot attempts and 42 percent of goals. The 13-year NHL veteran has battled through back spasms, so his deteriorating physical health has been detrimental. Between that and natural aging, his elite speed has started to taper off for the second consecutive season.

Hopefully, Kreider can heal his body in the offseason and be fully healthy next fall, avoiding the start of a precipitous decline.

Philipp Kurashev, Chicago Blackhawks

Kurashev broke out with 54 points in 75 games last season, largely playing on Connor Bedard’s line. Most understood his production was inflated from riding shotgun with Chicago’s young franchise star, but there was still reason to believe Kurashev could be part of the Blackhawks’ future as a supporting middle-six forward.

The 25-year-old was shifted back to the middle and began the season with a huge opportunity as the club’s second-line center. He couldn’t capitalize on it. Not only did he get off to a slow start offensively, but his two-way play didn’t look comfortable at center. There were subtle situations in which he missed opportunities to drive play; a forecheck where he was half a second too late to disrupt the opposition, a puck down low he wasn’t able to fully control for his line or a fast transition play he wasn’t able to connect.

Kurashev has slumped to just 10 points in 43 games, and the Hawks have been outscored by an egregious 31-10 score during his five-on-five shifts. He’s been healthy scratched several times and hasn’t been able to consistently crack the lineup in the second half.

It’s becoming abundantly clear that Kurashev was just a Bedard merchant. He’s unlikely to be qualified in the summer as a restricted free agent, with this disappointing campaign likely costing him millions on his next contract.

Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins

When Kyle Dubas took over as Penguins general manager two summers ago, he immediately faced a tough dilemma in goal.

Jarry, a two-time NHL All-Star with the talent to perform like a top 10-15 starter, was a pending UFA looking to cash in on a lucrative long-term contract. Jarry’s lengthy injury history and unproven playoff track record made a long-term contract seem like a dicey bet, but the Penguins were handcuffed because the goalie market that summer was very lackluster and the organization was still in win-now mode, hoping to make one final push to contend around Sidney Crosby.

Dubas doubled down on Jarry, inking the talented, mercurial puck-stopper to a five-year extension worth $5.375 million annually. Jarry was inconsistent in Year 1 of the contract, and it only got worse this season. The 29-year-old lost the starter’s job and slumped to the tune of an .884 save percentage in 22 games before being placed on waivers and demoted to the AHL in mid-January.

It obviously isn’t easy to play behind a leaky Penguins defense that concedes a ton of rush chances, but Jarry hasn’t done his part to at least stem the bleeding. His contract, which has three years remaining after this season, has become a problem.

However, this is some hope. Jarry has a 4-0-0 record and has pitched a .930 save percentage in four games since his AHL stint. It’s a tiny sample size, of course, but given how large of a role the mental side of the game can play in goaltending success, you’re hoping his time in Wilkes-Barre was a chance to reset his confidence.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (and the rest of the Oilers’ top wingers)

It feels unfair to single Nugent-Hopkins out because nearly every Oilers top-nine winger has underachieved this season.

Neither one of Viktor Arvidsson or Jeff Skinner, who were signed in the summer to beef up the club’s middle-six wings, is likely to hit 15 goals this season. Zach Hyman went from scoring 54 goals last year to just 22 this season. Leon Draisaitl has been forced to drag around mediocre wingers all season on the second line. Edmonton’s top nine looks noticeably slower after losing Dylan Holloway and Warren Foegele in the summer.

On the surface, Nugent-Hopkins’ 42 points this season don’t seem too shabby, but it’s underwhelming considering the plum opportunity he’s gotten to ride shotgun with Connor McDavid on the first line (although recently, he’s centering the third line) and the top power-play unit.

Nugent-Hopkins has scored just 1.25 points per 60 at five-on-five, which ranks in the bottom 25 percent of all NHL forwards who’ve played at least 500 minutes this season. That’s problematic when you consider he’s spent about 50 percent of his even-strength minutes on McDavid’s line. It’s also part of the reason why the Oilers don’t have a positive goal differential with McDavid on the ice at five-on-five this season, a stat that sounds nearly impossible to believe.

Don’t forget Nugent-Hopkins scored 104 points only two years ago. Nobody expected him to be a consistent 100-point player, but that he’s barely on pace to crack 50 points despite such favorable deployment is disappointing. Those offensive expectations will obviously change, however, if he continues centering the third line down the stretch rather than playing first-line wing.

Honorable mentions: Gustav Nyquist, Steven Stamkos, Yegor Sharangovich, Max Domi, Nils Höglander, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Matt Dumba, Chandler Stephenson, Ryan Lindgren

(Photos of Elias Lindholm and Elias Pettersson: Maddie Meyer and Steph Chambers / Getty Images)