With the Stanley Cup Playoffs well underway as we inch closer to the Conference Finals, it felt like a great time to look at those players who were underperformers through the first two rounds. Like our lastest featured series, NHLRumors.com, we’ll look at underperformers in both the Eastern and Western Conferences.
It would be tough to do it all in one because there are so many. More so in the East than in the West. There was more star power in the East with teams like the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
However, the West had its share of none performers as well with teams like the Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, and Colorado Avalanche
Time to reveal our underperformers in the Western Conference.
Western Conference Underperformers
Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy – F – Minnesota Wild
Topping the list of Western Conference underperformers has to be the duo of Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy. Combined the Minnesota forwards combined for four points (one goal and three assists). That will not get it done in the playoffs and thus the Wild went home in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the hand of the Dallas Stars.
Kaprizov led the Wild in scoring with 75 points (40 goals and 35 assists) but did miss the last couple of weeks of the season with an injury. But when the playoffs began, Kaprizov did look like his old self. Unfortunately, he ran into a hot goaltender in Jake Oettinger.
Boldy on the other hand was the third leading scorer on the team during the regular season. He set career highs with 63 points (31 goals and 32 assists). However, he could only muster three assists in the six-game series. Boldy had 24 shots on goal while Kaprizov had 17 shots on goal. Their lack of performance was a big reason why the Wild did not get out of the first round.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – F – Edmonton Oilers
Another player that underperformed in the playoffs was Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Nugent-Hopkins was one of three Oilers players (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) the others, who had over 100 points during the regular season.
However, during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Nugent-Hopkins mustered just one goal in 12 playoff games. While he had 10 assists in those 12 games, the Oilers needed him to score. Out of those 11 points, nine of them came on the power play. That means two points came at 5-on-5. That is not good enough.
For a player that had 37 goals this season, the Oilers needed more from him. Especially in the second round against the Golden Knights. Everyone was waiting for him to get going. Many thought that goal would get him going, but it did not.
If you want to throw Evander Kane in the mix with 5 points (three goals and two assists) fine, but he was coming back from a lacerated artery in his wrist, so we have to cut him some slack.
Mark Scheifele – F – Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets just squeaked into the playoffs and many thought they would give Vegas more of a fight because of the players on the offensive side of the puck. However, the Jets went out in five games and forward Mark Scheifele was a big no-show.
Now Scheifele did not finish the series as he was hurt in Game 4 and did not play in Game 5. However, in the four games he played, Scheifele registered one goal on 10 shots. In the regular season, he had 68 points (42 goals and 26 assists). That is not good enough. Scheifele was expected to score goals in the playoffs.
Scheifele has just not been the same player ever since his suspension against Montreal and was looking to bounce. Whether he was trying too hard is another question, but the Jets needed more from Scheifele if they wanted to advance.
Alexandar Georgiev – G – Colorado Avalanche
A big reason why the Colorado Avalanche are home and not repeating as Stanley Cup Champions is because of goaltending and the lack of depth scoring. Last year Colorado won in spite of Darcy Kuemper, not because of him.
So the Avalanche traded for Alexandar Georgiev. Georgiev looked to be the answer between the pipes, however, he only had seen two games of playoff action before this season.
In the seven games against Seattle, Georgiev struggled. He never gave the Avalanche a chance or the big key save that was necessary to win. There was never a game where he stole it. Though he played well, it wasn’t sensational. His post-season stats of 2.60 GAA and .914 save percentage were higher than his regular season numbers of 2.53 GAA and .919 save percentage.
Colorado needed a breakout game from him and did not get it.
There are others that did not make the list of Western Conference underperformers, but maybe that can be saved for another time. Don’t forget to check out the Eastern Conference underperformers already up on NHLRumors.com