A month of NHL action is a big enough sample size to separate the playoff contenders from the pretenders. While there are teams like the Buffalo Sabres that most people figured would be awful, there has also been a handful of teams that have really underachieved.
Here is a look at the three most disappointing teams so far this NHL season.
Colorado Avalanche (4-8-5)
The Avalanche took a major step forward a year ago under rookie head coach Patrick Roy and many felt they would build on a return to the postseason as a true contender in the West. However, Colorado has stumbled out of the gate with just four wins through 17 games and they have really been exposed on the road in particular with one win through nine games as the visiting team.
The Avalanche rank 25th in the NHL with goals allowed per game and while it would be easy to point the finger at netminder Semyon Varlamov his .918 save percentage is still very respectable. Colorado’s defense has been exposed by some of the top teams in the West and a young core that features Matt Duchene, Nate Mackinnon, and Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t been nearly consistent enough up front. The loss of veteran center Paul Stastny certainly hurts but this Avalanche team is far too talented to be playing at such an underwhelming level and they are clearly the biggest disappointments so far this NHL season.
Dallas Stars (5-6-4)
Dallas reloaded in the offseason with an eye on contending in the West and they looked good through the first couple of weeks as they opened the year with a 4-1-2 start. However, the Stars have posted a brutal 0-5-2 record since and the fact that they rank 28h in the NHL with an average of 3.5 goals allowed per game is a big part of the problem.
Kari Lehtonen needs to be better but so does the defensive play in front of him. Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza lead an impressive cast of forwards but head coach Lindy Ruff needs his team to be better in its own end to have any chance at getting back on track in the West following a disappointing slide.
Columbus Blue Jackets (4-10-1)
Unlike the Avalanche and Stars the Blue Jackets are on this list in big part because of the injuries that have ravaged their team. That list begins with starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, Brandon Dubinsky, Nathan Horton, and Artem Anisimov and no team has been hit harder by the injury bug than Columbus.
While it might not be a bad thing to tank the rest of the way and get a chance to draft a star player like Connor McDavid the Blue Jackets will welcome back some of their players soon and they could still have a chance to turn things around once they do. Injuries have played a major role in the Blue Jackets being one of the most disappointing teams in the NHL so far this season and it will be interesting to see how things play out the rest of the year.
