The life of a fantasy hockey general manager is never easy. All your planning and research go right down the drain as soon as the puck drops on the first game of the season.

Some players go into slumps right away and never shake out of it. Because of their history, you may be hesitant to drop them. They are a liability to your team, as they are either taking up bench space or a roster spot and aren’t producing.

So you’re stuck holding on to those players for too long, hoping for a rebound.

Below are 10 players who were disappointments this year. Note that you won’t see any goalies on the list, as they had their list already. Also, we’re not taking injuries into account, as that has also been done.

10. Elias Pettersson

This one is more of a slight disappointment, but in a season where goal scoring was up and good-to-elite players were putting up career highs, Pettersson’s 70 points have to be considered a blow. Sure, he had a slow start but played much better under Bruce Boudreau, but by then it was too late for many fantasy squads. Considering the hype he’s had, it’s a disappointment. He has yet to have a point-per-game season, and you can’t feel comfortable drafting him in the top 40 in a points-only pool.

9. Anthony Beauvillier

What made Beauvillier’s season so disappointing was that it was lacking in the usual second-half resurgence. He typically starts slow before rebounding enough in the second half, which entices fantasy hockey general managers to re-draft him the following season. This year, he had 20 points in his first 49 games and then had 11 in his next 11. Fantasy general managers must have been relieved that he was again back to his old ways, but he finished with only three points in his last 15 games. For those whose math is not their strong suit, that put Beauvillier at 34 points in 75 games. As he doesn’t contribute in other categories, that made him a detriment to your team.

8. Neal Pionk

In the two seasons preceding this one, Pionk had 77 points in 125 games. That ranks him as the 13th offensive defenseman over that span, an 82-game pace of 51 points. He was probably a little under the radar, as many don’t consider him a great offensive player, but this year he didn’t even reach a 40-point pace as he had 34 points in 77 games. He averaged fewer than two shots per game, which didn’t help. Also not helping is his lack of power-play time. Starting in late January, Josh Morrissey took over the power-play duties and never gave it up.

7. Eeli Tolvanen

Near the end of last season, Tolvanen had eight goals and 17 points in 19 games, a streak many fantasy general managers were hoping could continue into this season. And while many of the Predators had great seasons, Tolvanen was not one of them. Thanks to the aforementioned hot streak, last year, Tolvanen finished with 11 goals and 22 points in 40 games, an 82-game pace of 23 goals and 45 points. This year he had 11 goals and 23 points in 75 games. Not the type of impact many wanted. His time was down 1:20 per night compared to last season, and his power-play time also dropped.

6. Tyson Barrie

It feels weird to have a defenseman put up a 46-point pace and feel like a disappointment, but that’s where we are with Barrie. After a great first season in Edmonton where he had 48 points in 56 games (a 70-point pace), Barrie signed a three-year deal to stay with the Oilers. Much was expected of him, but he was inconsistent, losing his top power-play spot for a few games. He finished with 41 points in 73 games, and Evan Bouchard regularly outshone him. Those struggles are continuing in the postseason, where Barrie has four points in 12 games, behind Bouchard, Cody Ceci and Duncan Keith.

5. Jeff Petry

It was a tale of two seasons for Petry. Like many of the Habs players, Petry’s numbers were awful under Dominique Ducharme but rebounded nicely under Martin St. Louis. In his first 39 games. Petry had three goals, eight points, minus-10, 22 PIM, 56 shots, one power-play point, 85 hits and 47 blocked shots. Then St. Louis came in, and in his next 30 games, Petry had five goals, 21 points, plus-zero, 16 PIM, 70 shots, two power-play points, 57 hits and 74 blocked shots. Like Pettersson, Petry’s resurgence was not enough to make up for the poor start to keep him off this list. 

4. Dominik Kubalik

Kubalik was one of the sexy picks to have a big breakthrough season. After all, he had an 82-game pace of 55 and 56 points in each of his first two seasons and many believed the Hawks would be a better team than a year ago. Not only did Kubalik not break through, but he suffered a setback as he finished with 31 points in 78 games, a 33-point pace. His per-game marks for goals, assists, points, PIM, shots and power-play points were the lowest of his three-year career. His ice time also dropped as the season went along, from 16:18 in the first 22 games to 13:49 the rest of the year.

3. Jakob Chychrun

Yes, injuries are not a reason to be included on this list, but Chychrun was disappointing when he was in the lineup. A year ago, he had 18 goals and a 60-point pace, while also averaging 3.1 shots per game and contributing in blocked shots and hits. While his peripherals were still high this season, his point total dropped. He had just 21 points in 47 games, a 37-point pace. Worse was that he was usurped on the power play by Shayne Gostisbehere, and Chychrun finished with one measly power-play point.

2. Sean Monahan

Imagine if before the season began, someone guaranteed that Johnny Gaudreau would finish second in the league in points with 115, Matthew Tkachuk would notch 103 points, Elias Lindholm would be a point-per-game player, Andrew Mangiapane would pot 35 goals and their top two defensemen would finish with 50 and 48 points each respectively. If you had Monahan, you would have expected big things as well. Even though his numbers have been declining the last few years, you would have banked on a rebound season. Instead, he put up one of the worst seasons ever for a player making $6 million a season with 23 points in 65 games, an 82-game pace of 29 points. His numbers would have been even worse if it weren’t for the power play, where he picked up 13 of his points. Since he doesn’t contribute in other categories, he’s pretty much unkeepable in keeper leagues and undraftable in one-year pools.

1. Alexander Radulov

Hockey has not been kind to Radulov over the past three seasons. In 2019-20, he had 34 points in 60 games. That is a 46-point pace, his worst mark ever in the NHL, including his time in Nashville. Last year, he had an 89-point pace but was limited to 11 games because of injury. This year was just awful all around. He played in 71 games but finished with merely four goals and 22 points. Yikes. The 35-year-old also had 1.3 shots per game, the lowest number of his career and down a shot per game from a year ago. He didn’t hit much or pick up PIM. He had eight power-play points as he was relegated to the second unit. Maybe worst was his 14:05 ice time per night, two-and-a-half minutes lower than his previous low.