Not including rookies or players who missed significant time in 2023-24 or 2024-25, I wanted to list the skaters who have improved and declined the most from their 2023-24 campaigns.

I will be relying a little on my player-game ratings as they give me a simple number to compare against.

An average player rating for forwards is 6.41 and 6.39 for defenders. This is averaged out over 870 skaters who have played in 2024-25.

Nashville Predators

Biggest Improvement: No one

Compounding a very disappointing season for the Predators in 2024-25 is that they didn't have a player who improved over their prior campaign.

Biggest decline: Steven Stamkos

Stamkos has put up just 23 goals and 45 points in 73 games in 2024-25. This is his lowest output since his rookie year in 2008-09, when he had 23 goals and 46 points in 79 games. He is signed for three more years at $8 million AAV and is now 35 years of age. He would be a liability in the top six on most playoff NHL teams in 2024-25.

San Jose Sharks

Biggest Improvement: William Eklund

Eklund has raised his production from 0.56 points per game in 2023-24 to 0.79 in 2024-25. He has a chance at 20 goals and 60 points. He's gone from a prospect to a very good top six forward and should be a core piece for the Sharks moving forward.

Biggest Decline: Mario Ferraro

Ferraro was one of the bright lights for San Jose in 2023-24, where he had a career-high of 21 points as well as putting up 124 hits and 195 blocks in 78 games. His offense has regressed a little in 2024-25 to 13 points in 73 games, but he has still hit the 100/100 club in hits and blocks for the fourth season in a row. He's a borderline top-four defender on most NHL teams who should probably be a fifth or sixth defender.

Seattle Kraken

Biggest Improvement: Kaapo Kakko

Kakko matched his career-high with 40 points in 2024-25 but has done it in 71 games compared to the 82 he played in 2022-23. He was acquired by the Kraken after playing 30 games for the NY Rangers and has produced 26 points in 41 games which is a 52-point pace. He should be a top-six forward in Seattle moving forward.

Biggest Decline: Tye Kartye

Kartye was a feel-good story for Seattle in 2023-24, playing 77 games and chipping in 11 goals and 20 points while delivering 229 hits. 2024-25 has been a struggle as he has just five goals and nine points in 58 games, but he has put up 160 hits. His ice time has gone from 11:50 to 9:39 and his regular role is no longer assured.

St. Louis Blues

Biggest Improvement: Dylan Holloway

I don't think even St. Louis knew what they had in Holloway when they signed him to an offer sheet in the off-season. He has exploded for 26 goals and 62 points in 75 games, and he hasn't slowed down with 30 points in his past 31 games. He's become a star in this league.

Biggest Decline: Mathieu Joseph

2024-25 has not been kind to the Joseph brothers. They started the year out as teammates on the Blues, but Pierre-Olivier struggled and was dealt to Pittsburgh while Mathieu has also struggled while in St. Louis. His ice time in Ottawa was 16:28 per game in 2023-24 but it has crashed to 11:59 in St. Louis. He has gone from a second or third line forward in Ottawa to a third or fourth line forward in St. Louis and perhaps he never should have been a second line player. He's gone from a career-high 35 points in 72 games (0.49/g) to just 13 points in 56 games (0.23/g).

Utah Hockey Club

Biggest Improvement: Logan Cooley

Cooley has avoided the sophomore slump and has back-to-back 20 goals in his first two seasons in the NHL. His production has gone from 0.55/g to 0.82/g while his ice time has gone from 15:49 to 17:55. He's improved in the faceoff circle from 38.0% to 45.2%. If he isn't already, he will be the number one center in Utah on a nightly basis.

Biggest Decline: Juuso Valimaki 

Even before an ACL injury ended his 2024-25 campaign, Valimaki was going backwards from his impressive 2022-23 in Arizona. A week before his knee injury, Utah placed him on waivers and he went unclaimed. He went from being a top-four NHL defender in 2023-24 to a sixth or seventh defender in 2024-25. It could be a battle for him to come back from his knee injury and get a regular role in the NHL again.

Vancouver Canucks

Biggest Improvement: Kiefer Sherwood

Sherwood had a breakout in 2023-24 with Nashville, where he had 10 goals and 17 assists in 68 games to go along 234 hits while averaging 12:10 per game. He's built on that in 2024-25 and if not for Quinn Hughes, he might be the MVP of the Canucks. He has career-highs of 17 goals and 18 assists in 70 games while setting a new NHL record with 424 hits.

Biggest Decline: Elias Pettersson

This has been the worst season of Pettersson's NHL career. He has just 15 goals and 30 assists in 64 games (0.7/g). He has seen his ice time go from 20:33 to 19:39 to 18:40 since he had 102 points in 2022-23. His shots on goal per game has gone from 3.2 to 2.5 to 1.7 during the same period.

Vegas Golden Knights

Biggest Improvement: Brett Howden

Howden has a career-high 22 goals and 36 points in 71 games (0.51/g) as well as contributing 107 hits and 205 face off wins. His shooting percentage is high at 19.3 so he might struggle to hit 20 goals again even with an increase in shots on goal from 1.1 to 1.6 per game.

Biggest Decline: Nicolas Roy

Roy has his lowest production since 2020-21. He's produced 26 points in 62 games (0.42/g) after putting up 41 points in 70 games in 2023-24 (0.59/g). He has his fourth year in a row of 300 or more face off wins.

Winnipeg Jets

Biggest Improvement: Dylan Samberg

Samberg has made huge strides in 2024-25 going from 15:38 per game to 21:25 and producing 19 points in 52 games (0.37/g) from 18 points in 78 games (0.23/g). He's a solid top-four defender in 2024-25.

Biggest Decline: Dylan DeMelo

DeMelo is still a solid defender, but his production of 0.37 to 0.38 points per game in 2022-23 and 2023-24 has declined to 18 points in 74 games in 2024-25 (0.24/g). He has 125 hits and 104 blocks to give him his fifth career 100/100 hits and blocks. He's still a solid top-four defender and has dipped ever so slightly.

Thank you very much for reading and if you have any comments, please leave them below or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15