NHL's five biggest disappointments: Penguins power play reaches new low

The 2023-24 NHL season is through its first two months and some teams and players have not lived up to their expectations.

Here are five of the biggest disappointments in the NHL so far.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins power play

You could probably go with the Penguins as a whole given their 11-11-3 record as of Thursday, but a lot of their struggles fall squarely on a power play unit that has gone 12 straight games without a goal and ranks 30th in the NHL with a 9.9 percent success rate. 

That unit was supposed to be a huge strength given the fact that it acquired defenseman Erik Karlsson (coming off a 100-point season in San Jose) over the offseason to add another future Hall of Famer to the power play. The Penguins already had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang as key components of the power play, along with All-Star level players Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. On paper, it should be one of the best power plays in the league. On the ice, it has been one of the worst as they have failed to come together and form a cohesive unit. 

2. Buffalo Sabres

This was supposed to be the year the Sabres ended their 12-year playoff drought, the longest playoff drought in NHL history. They missed the postseason by just a single point a season ago and seemed to finally have the foundation of a competitive team in place. 

They were the third highest scoring team in the league, had a talented young roster that played an exciting brand of hockey and have two No. 1 overall picks (Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power) on their defense. But through the first two months of the season the Sabres have taken a significant step backwards. They are just 10-14-2 entering play on Thursday and have one of the NHL's worst records. Goaltending was the big concern coming into this season, but the offense has been the real disappointment. The Sabres are averaging just 2.85 goals per game, 25th in the league. Nobody saw that coming. 

3. Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers have the two best offensive players in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and were expected to be a Stanley Cup contender this season. But they opened the year winning just two of their first 11 games, fired their coach (Jay Woodcroft) and remain on the outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Goaltending woes have been at the center of most of their struggles, and ever since they started to sit opening night starter Jack Campbell the team has started to turn things around. Entering Thursday they are 8-3-0 in their past 11 games and starting to get back on track. It was still not the start anybody had hoped for in Edmonton. 

4. Seattle Kraken offense

After a disappointing debut season, the Kraken took a huge leap forward in year two of their existence by not only making the playoffs, but by also eliminating the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche in the opening round. That set an extremely high bar for year three, and so far the Kraken have not come close to reaching it.

The source of their struggles has been an offense that has averaged just 2.65 goals per game (29th in the NHL) and helped produce one of the league's worst records. There was also the potential for a regression offensively because a lot of their success a year ago was due to an unsustainably high shooting percentage as a team. They scored on 11.6 percent of their shots a year ago, the second-highest mark in the league. They were never likely to repeat that number over another full season, and offenses that depend on high shooting percentages eventually regress. That has happened for the Kraken as they are scoring on just 8.6 percent of their shots this season. 

5. Jonathan Huberdeau, Calgary Flames

The Flames acquired Huberdeau as part of the trade that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers prior to the 2022-23 season, and then signed him to a lucrative eight-year, $84 million contract extension. It seemed like a good move as Huberdeau was one of the best offensive players in hockey. 

In the four years before joining the Flames he was the fourth-highest scoring player in the league and one of its best playmakers. His first year with the Flames was a disaster as he managed just 15 goals and 55 total points for one of the worst seasons of his career. He has somehow managed to be even worse this season with only four goals and 15 points in 25 games. Given how many years (seven after this one) and how much money he still has remaining on his contract he might have one of the worst contracts in the league.