In this week's Eastern Edge, we'll discuss each team's most disappointing player so far this season.

Boston Bruins – Jeremy Swayman

Heading into the 2022-2023 campaign, Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman were expected to share the net in Boston. As such, there wasn't much separation between the two in terms of fantasy value. Fast forward to present day where the Bruins sit atop the league standings with a sparkling 27-4-2 record. Unfortunately, the team's success has not been Swayman's success. While Ullmark has been the NHL's best netminder this year, Swayman sports an underwhelming .898 save percentage and 2.65 GAA through 12 games.

Buffalo Sabres – Victor Olofsson

Thirteen goals in 32 games is nothing to scoff at, but Olofsson's production this season is a little disappointing when you consider the context. He posted an impressive 64-point pace in his rookie campaign. Now, three years later, when the Sabres have five players scoring around or above a point-per-game rate, Olofsson is posting roughly half a point per game. He was seeing 18 minutes of action a night during his rookie season but is now limited to just 14 minutes per game. Unfavourable deployment will likely limit his production going forward.  

Carolina Hurricanes – Seth Jarvis

Before the season got underway, Jarvis was highlighted as a breakout candidate – one that would benefit from improved deployment after a strong rookie showing. Although he is seeing more ice time than last year, he's been producing less offense. However, a closer look reveals his overall numbers are weighed down by a slow start. He opened the campaign with just six points in 18 games but has been heating up with 11 in his last 16.

Columbus Blue Jackets – Elvis Merzlikins

Heading into the season, I was optimistic about Merzlikins' fantasy outlook. He had shown promise behind an underwhelming Blue Jackets' roster in the past. That roster took a step forward with the offseason signing of Johnny Gaudreau, so I thought Merzlikins would be able to tally a few more wins than before. Unfortunately, Columbus has been decimated by injuries this season – but that doesn't completely excuse Elvis' poor play. He sports a 4-8-0 record, 4.68 GAA and .864 save percentage so far this year.

Detroit Red Wings – Moritz Seider

After establishing himself as a dominant two-way force in his rookie campaign, the offense hasn't come as easily for Seider in year two. He's scoring at a 31-point pace so far this season, a far cry from the 50 points he tallied last year. His 0.125 power-play points per game represent a step back from the 0.26 PPP/game he posted last season. Although some of that is due to Filip Hronek eating into Seider's power-play role, it's worth noting that Seider is not factoring into as many of Detroit's tallies with the man advantage. Last year, he registered a point on 65% of power-play goals scored while he was on the ice. This year, that number has dropped to 50%. Part of that may be due to the arrival of David Perron, who has had a lot of power-play success in the past. More of the offense may be running through Perron, leaving less opportunity for Seider to register points. Regardless, Seider's power-play production is still lower than I would expect for a player of his caliber. I expect he'll play a more prominent role in the team's offense going forward.

Florida Panthers – Sergei Bobrovsky

Although the Panthers' roster saw many changes during the offseason, they were still expected to be a strong team this year. That hasn't quite been the case as they currently sit 22^nd in league standings. Bobrovsky's individual numbers haven't been great throughout his tenure with the Panthers, but we put up with it in the past because he was able to rack up wins behind a strong team. With Florida struggling, those wins haven't been as abundant. Bobrovsky sports a 7-11-1 record, .896 save percentage and 3.29 GAA so far this season. If you believe in the Panthers bouncing back, I'd recommend investing in Spencer Knight rather than Bobrovsky.

Montreal Canadiens – Jonathan Drouin

When expectations are low, there isn't much room for disappointment. Aside from young stars Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, not many Canadiens were highly touted in fantasy formats this year. However, since this article requires me to pick a name from each team, I'll choose Drouin for Montreal. This is a player who had all the potential in the world when he was drafted third overall in 2013. Enough time has passed to conclude he isn't the player we thought he would be, but at least he was contributing some offense in recent years, frequently flirting with the 50-point mark. This season he's scoring at a shocking 23-point pace.

New Jersey Devils – Damon Severson

From a 47-point pace last year to a 15-point pace this season. We all knew Severson's offense would fall off with a healthy Dougie Hamilton back in the fold, but I don't think we expected the decline to be this drastic. His ice time has been cut dramatically this year as he's skating less than 19 minutes a night. That's a significant demotion for a player who averaged over 22 minutes in each of his last four campaigns

New York Islanders – Josh Bailey

There aren't really any obvious disappointments from the Islanders this season. However, seeing as Bailey has consistently been a 50-point player in recent years, I'll call him out for his current 34-point pace.

New York Rangers – Chris Kreider

I don't think anyone expected Kreider to replicate the 52 goals and 77 points he racked up last season. In fact, the 37 goals and 63 points he's on pace for right now is pretty respectable when you consider his career numbers outside of last year. Regardless, his fantasy stock rose as a result of last year's production, so some will be disappointed now that he's fallen back to earth. 

Ottawa Senators – Anton Forsberg

Expectations weren't particularly high for Forsberg this year as most saw him as the 1B netminder in Ottawa – with Cam Talbot being 1A. However, when Talbot missed the start of the season with an injury, Forsberg became the starter of a Senators' team that looked much better on paper than it had in recent years. I saw him as a strong sleeper pick because he quietly posted a .917 save percentage through 46 games last year, behind a less dangerous version of the Sens. Unfortunately, he's had an underwhelming showing so far this season, sporting a 5-8-2 record, 3.23 GAA and .906 save percentage. Despite his early struggles, I'm still holding out hope and would recommend buying low if you need goaltending help in your fantasy league.

Philadelphia Flyers – Scott Laughton

As I mentioned when discussing the Canadiens, there isn't much room for disappointment when expectations are low. Most of Philadelphia's fantasy relevant players have actually been pretty productive this year. I had a hard time choosing a 'disappointing' fantasy asset from the Flyers, but I settled on Laughton because, although he's seeing an expanded role, his offensive numbers haven't improved much. He's averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time a night, which represents a two-minute increase from last season. He's also seeing significant power-play time for the first time in his career. Although he's done his job on special teams, posting four power-play points and a league-leading five shorthanded points, he has just six points at even strength through 31 games.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Bryan Rust

Rust's last three seasons feature an 83-point pace, a 62-point pace, and most recently, a 79-point pace. This year, he's on pace for an underwhelming 52 points. Rust has been given less ice time this year and recently fell off the team's top power-play unit, seeing a measly 23% of Pittsburgh's total PP time since the beginning of December. He's scored just 0.15 power-play points per game so far this year after tallying 0.35 per game last season. With all that being said, he's still a fixture of a talented top-six group in Pittsburgh and has 11 points in his last 10 games. Maybe you can buy low on him if his overall pace has discouraged your fellow fantasy manager.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Victor Hedman

Heading into the season, if you told me Mikhail Sergachev would be outscoring Victor Hedman halfway through the year, I would've sent you back to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for acting so Goofy. Yet here we are, three months into the season. Each player has played 30 games, but Sergachev has 27 points while Hedman has 18. Hedman has frequently flirted with the 70-point mark in recent seasons, so it's surprising that he's on pace for just 49 points right now. A big reason for the reduced output is a reduced role on the power play. He's seeing around 50% of Tampa's total time with the man advantage after seeing closer to 65% in recent years. He has 0.20 power-play points per game so far – a steep drop from the 0.46 PPP/game he had last season.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Nicholas Robertson

While most players on this list were selected because of their poor performance this year, Robertson is mainly here due to a lack of consistent opportunity. He's been limited to 15 games, averaging less than 11 minutes a night. Although he's currently sidelined with an injured shoulder, he'd frequently been a healthy scratch before that, despite showing great promise. Most of Toronto's big names have come to play this season, and the team's goaltending has been surprisingly good, so it's hard to justify putting anyone else on this list.

Washington Capitals – Anthony Mantha

Mantha showed great offensive potential during his final years with Detroit, pacing for 59 points during the 2018-2019 campaign, and 72 points during the 2019-2020 season. Unfortunately, he hasn't seen the same level of opportunity in Washington, and as a result, hasn't found the same level of offense. With the Capitals dealing with numerous significant injuries to their wingers this season (i.e., Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie, Connor Brown), I would've expected Mantha to step into a bigger role. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case as he's averaging just 14 and a half minutes of ice time. He's scoring at a mediocre 43-point pace. It's disappointing to see a player relegated to a depth role when they had shown strong potential not so long ago.