The other week, In the Crease took a look at the teams with the most surprising starts to the season. This week, we will take a look at the teams with the most disappointing first few weeks. These are teams that are playing below the expectations that were set for them at the beginning of the season.
New York Islanders
Coming into the season, many hockey fans had high expectations for the Islanders in their first full season under head coach Patrick Roy. However, the start to New York’s season has been a nightmare. Only 13 games into the season, the team has lost five starters to injuries: forward Anthony Duclair, center Mathew Barzal and defensemen Adam Pelech, Alexander Romanov and Mike Reilly. In addition to the injuries, the team’s struggles to score goals have caused it towards the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, as the 31st team out of 32 in goals scored per game. The defense and goaltending has been good for the most part, but it is hard to win games when each goal is a struggle to come by. The Islanders have time to turn their season around, but that turnaround must start sooner than later.
Colorado Avalanche
Every hockey fan knows how talented the Avalanche are. However, the start of this season has been a struggle for them, sitting at a 6–7 record, good for 12 points. The team has dealt with their fair share of injuries, but it’s obvious that their biggest and most pressing issue is goaltending. The club sits dead last in the league in goals allowed per game, at 4.15. It is hard for any team to win games when their goaltending is allowing this many goals on a nightly basis. In addition, the team has an .858 save percentage, which, to put frankly, is terrible. It is possible that the team’s offensive star power will heat up and cancel out the weak goaltending, but it looks like the Avalanche will need to make some sort of trade or signing to improve the goaltending if they have plans to turn their season around and contend come the spring.
Nashville Predators
The Predators were applauded by many as the winners of the offseason, signing free agents Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei to contracts on July 1. Despite the team looking extremely strong on paper, things have not come together yet as they only have nine points in 12 games. It is possible that the team is not clicking yet due to all the additions during the offseason and that the players are still working on forming chemistry with one another. Just like the other teams with rough starts to their seasons, the Predators have time to turn things around, but considering the fact that they went all-in during the offseason, they really need to.
