Glass half-full or half-empty?

That was the general theme of last week’s column, when we looked at disappointing players where fantasy general managers could still hold on to some optimism that things will turn around. While researching that column, however, I found it’s tough to be optimistic about everyone.

There are plenty of players that, no matter how hard you look, you can’t find any reasons to be hopeful. These are the worst. At least with the players on last week’s list, you can point to ice time, shot rates, linemates, power-play time or a host of other reasons that make you confident in those players.

For the 10 players on this week’s list, there’s almost no optimism for any type of rebound. That’s not to say it can’t happen, but there would have to be major changes in the player’s deployment for why they could bounce back from their tough start.

10. Max Comtois

I don’t know how much the average fantasy general manager was expecting from Comtois, but those who had hoped for an improvement from last year’s 82-game pace of 49 points are shaking their heads. He’s been a healthy scratch and his numbers have been getting worse as the season moves along. In his first six games, he finished with fewer than 14 minutes just once. In his last seven games, he’s been higher than 14 minutes just once. Just break down the stats even further between the two sets (not including Sunday night's game, which he missed with an upper-body injury):

First six games: Zero points, 12 shots, 11 hits, 2:29 power-play TOI, 15:15 TOI

Last seven games: One point, seven shots, five hits, 1:47 PPTOI, 11:41 TOI

Those have to be concerning numbers, and unless he magically starts getting ice time again, he’s not worth owning in any league except for deeper keeper leagues.

9. Justin Schultz

Schultz could be the Vaclav Prospal of this generation, in the sense that he alternates good and bad years. If that was the case, then he was due to have a good year this season, but if anything, he’s become even more disappointing with two points in 14 games. He’s averaging 16:58 per night, down from 19:01 a night than last season and easily the lowest of his career. His power-play time has also dropped. He’s averaging one a shot per game and doesn’t contribute in any fantasy category. There is no way he should be on any fantasy roster in any league.

8. Tyler Johnson

In the preseason, Johnson was centering the top line of the Hawks with Patrick Kane. That lasted a whole three games of the regular season before he was shifted to the third line. Another few games later, and he suffered a neck injury in a game against Carolina. He’s now missed seven games since with the injury and Covid protocols. The Hawks have won four of seven games since Johnson has been out of the lineup and their last three in a row. It will be hard to put him back in a top role when the team is rolling.

7. Dylan Strome

Strome was in the dog house under former coach Jeremy Colliton, often a healthy scratch and averaging 14 minutes a night with little power-play time when he was in the lineup. It’s only been three games since Colliton was fired, but Strome hasn’t benefitted at all. He’s down to an average of 11:17 per night (including 8:51 in Friday’s game against Arizona) in those three games while lining up with Mackenzie Entwistle, Mike Hardman and Adam Gaudette. Anyone who was hoping for a Strome bounce-back under a new coach will now have to hope for him to be traded to another team instead.

6. Eeli Tolvanen

Near the end of last season, Tolvanen went on a crazy hot streak with eight goals and 17 points in 19 games. In that span, he also had eight power-play points, 30 shots and 41 hits while averaging 15:31 per night with 2:09 on the power play. Many projected Tolvanen to have a breakout season this year but it hasn’t turned out that way. While he’s averaging 2.6 shots per game and almost two hits per game, he has one goal and four points in 15 games. He’s also averaging 12:29 a night. He had one game where he played 1:18, but even removing that game from the equation, he’s averaging 13:27 in the other 14 games.

5. Kaapo Kahkonen

There were a few of us who were hoping the 25-year-old Kahkonen would be able to push the 34-year-old Cam Talbot for starts, but that simply hasn’t happened. Kahkonen has only started three of the Wild’s 14 games so far. He had one stinker and looked okay in the other two games. While Talbot’s numbers aren’t the greatest, he is 8-3. It will be hard for Kahkonen to usurp Talbot while Talbot is winning 75 per cent of his starts.

4. Jesperi Kotkaniemi

He started the season playing with Sebastian Aho but failed to produce. Now he’s been dropped down the lineup and is averaging 12:35 per game, which led to two goals and three points in 13 games. His power-play minutes are similar last season, but his percentage of his team’s power-play usage is significantly lower. At one point in Friday’s game, Carolina went with five forwards on the power play, but Kotkaniemi wasn’t one of them. If you own Kotkaniemi in a cap league, his $6-million F.U. contract makes him an even worse own. 

3. Cole Caufield

You were warned in the preseason about taking Caufield over someone like Blake Wheeler or Anze Kopitar. Many of you didn’t listen, as Caufield was selected in the top 100 of most drafts. He was taken in 100 per cent of Yahoo pools, but as of Sunday, was owned in just 28 per cent of them. After having zero goals and one point in 10 games, he was demoted to the AHL where he has one goal and four points in five games. You drafted him to score goals (since he doesn’t contribute in any other category), but if he doesn’t dominate the AHL, the odds of him being called back up are lower.

2. Alexis Lafreniere

While his teammate Kaapo Kakko is a disappointment one can be optimistic about, Lafreniere is at the other end of the spectrum. He has four goals and five points in 15 games. After starting the season in a top-six role alongside Mika Zibanejad, he has found himself on the fourth line at even strength and his power-play time is slowly becoming non-existent. In the last seven games, he has three shots total and  is averaging 12:03 a night and only 57 seconds of power-play time per game. He’s been under 14 minutes in seven of his last eight games and below 12 minutes in four of those.

1. Sean Monahan

Monahan’s production has dropped for the last few years, and no one should have been confident in much of a rebound for this season. In his last few years, he’s gone from an 82-game pace of 86 to 56 to 46 and now 44. He’s spent much of the year on the third line and is averaging almost three fewer minutes a night this year compared to last season. He has eight points in 15 games, but six of those points have come with the man advantage. His 1.5 shots per game are the first time he’s been below two since his rookie season. The worst part for Monahan owners is that the Flames are winning, so there’s no need to mix up the lines and start handing Monahan more opportunity to produce.