I'm going to assume that every NHL team and city has a whipping boy or two on their rosters. This is the player who rightly or wrongly is singled out most nights, for lack of effort, lack of production, giving the puck away, losing a check, or a crappy game Corsi. Since I live in Vancouver, I only know this particular market intimately and know that even if a chain of errors with two or three players leads to a goal, the whipping boy is the one singled out every time. Is it fair? Probably not, but usually where there is smoke there is fire.

More often than not, these players have had some success in the past, and make more money than the average player which might justify the criticism levelled at them. I assume every city is not as rabid as Vancouver in writing this as post-game breakdowns can be brutal here.

Obviously, this becomes a frenzy when a team is struggling as the Canucks have been, but even on teams that win, there are performances that don't measure up and the player is called into question.

I've tried to research each team by perusing their game day threads online and learn a little. It appears that each city has the same issue where it seems that the refereeing sucks and is biased against their team, star players should be traded at the end of the second period and coaches have no idea who to play and how much ice time each player should get. The last two points only apply when losing, but the referee issue seems to stand win or lose.

Please leave a comment if you follow one of these teams or live in the city to let me know what player or players are roasted on a regular basis if I got it wrong.

Anaheim Ducks

John Klingberg played eight seasons with the Dallas Stars and is in his first season with Anaheim. According to some Duck fans, there is a reason that Dallas moved on from Klingberg and they feel fortunate that Anaheim only signed him for one season. From the outside he appears as a capable offensive-minded defender who can put up 45-50 points a season and run a power play. His arrival in Anaheim has delayed Jamie Drysdale's production reaching another level until at least next season.

Max Comtois led the Ducks with 33 points in 55 games in 2020-21, but since then has seven goals and 10 assists in 58 games. He has battled some injuries since then but the bottom line is that he has struggled to produce. He's a physical player who gets around two hits per game, so the effort might still be there when the production isn't. Unfortunately, he doesn't play defense well enough not to produce. He is an RFA after this season.

Arizona Coyotes

Clayton Keller has six more years remaining at $7.15 million AAV. He is paid to lead this team in points and produce like he did last season. He's on a bad team, but he needs to make this team better and lift the players around him. He hasn't been the best player on the ice after five games for the Coyotes this season and will need to improve. He does have points in each of the past four games, so he might be warming up.

Barrett Hayton has had a horrible start to this season, going pointless while being on the ice for eight goals against in five games. He has struggled in the faceoff circle and has been beaten out for the top-six roles by Travis Boyd and Nick Bjugstad so far. He's only 22 years old but needs to show the progression from last year where he had 10 goals and 13 assists in 60 games. It doesn't help that he was drafted ahead of Quinn Hughes, Noah Dobson and Oliver Wahlstrom.

Calgary Flames

Elias Lindholm has high expectations this year with Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau in town. It's easy to forget that his chemistry with Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau might not be easy to replicate in the short term. Currently, he has two points in five games and is a minus-three with a Corsi of 42.4. Last year he was plus 61 with a Corsi of 56.1 so he has some work to do in order to get back to those levels this year. 

Blake Coleman is a very good player, who is physical, kills penalties, plays well defensively and chipped in with 16 goals and 17 assists in 81 games last year. He also is signed for five more years at $4.9 million AAV. His play will be scrutinized as his production won't be at a level with most players making similar money. He's a player you love to have when your team is winning, but will focus on when they are losing.

Jonathan Huberdeau being here is inevitable, but his tenure in Calgary is very short so give the fans and media some time.

Chicago Blackhawks

Seth Jones is set to earn $9.5 million AAV for the next eight seasons. Just with his contract alone, Jones will be on this list even if he gets 10 goals and 60 points every year. One hopes that with the Blackhawks tanking that fans and media don't take out the losing on him.

Patrick Kane has had slow starts before and can never be accused of being a stellar defensive player, but he has always driven the offense for the Blackhawks as long as he's been in the NHL. He is in the last year of his contract and even though he is making $10.5 million this season, there might be concern that he could mail it in this year. So far he has three assists in five games, but doesn't have much to work with, so a 90 point season might be out of reach.

Colorado Avalanche

Josh Manson is paid a lot of money to be an average defenseman with four years remaining at $4.5 million AAV. A defender who only plays 16:52 per night is not an average defenseman, especially when you don't have an offensive component to your game.

Erik Johnson is averaging 15:24 of ice time after six games this season where he has two assists and is a plus three, with 11 hits and 12 blocked shots. There are calls on game day threads that the game has passed him by and how he should have retired after winning the Stanley Cup last season. He's in the last year of his contract which pays him $6 million this year.

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn still has three years remaining on his $9.5 million AAV contract. I'm not sure what his role is now with Dallas as he still gets over 40 percent of power play time, kills some penalties and is still good in the faceoff circle while remaining quite physical for a 33-year-old. His start to this season will not endure him to the Dallas fan base unless they put a lot of value in faceoffs. He did have a very good game on Saturday night, which quieted his critics for at least one game.

Radek Faksa is a shut-down defensive player who makes $3.25 million AAV for the next three seasons. Last year he had five goals in 77 games and six goals in 55 games the year before that. His offensive zone starts are among the lowest in the NHL but because it is so hard to evaluate the defensive play, his lack of production will put a target on his back.

Edmonton Oilers

Brett Kulak was re-signed by the Oilers for four more seasons at $2.75 million AAV. Apparently the Edmonton fan base is not unanimous in their joy over the signing. After five games this year he has averaged only 15:25 per game and has struggled a little in his own end. This could be a long four years for fans.

Darnell Nurse is a player from the outside who any team would love to have in their top-two. Even though he is a multi-category stud each season who averages about 0.5 points/game and had 196 hits and 132 blocked shots last season, he can make the odd mistake with the puck and have trouble defending at times. There are those who consider him a star and those who consider him a liability in his hometown.

Los Angeles Kings

Sean Durzi is a player who I have on my keeper pool team, so it wasn't great to see his name splattered in a negative way on the King's game day threads. Like most defenders who have an offensive mindset, he can make the odd bad play with the puck and have trouble defending in his own end. Personally I will take the four points in six games that he has put up to date, this season.

Viktor Arvidsson has been an enigma for a few years as he constantly seems to get injured. He hasn't played more than 66 games in a season since 2017-18. This year he has had a very slow start and was pointless after his first five games, before getting three points in his sixth game. He's a streaky player and fan bases don’t seem to like a streaky player when he's not doing well.

Minnesota Wild

Tyson Jost is running into a similar situation that he had in Colorado which is his inability to produce when given the opportunity to play with some pretty good players. He's had opportunities with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello as well as Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek and has come up empty so far this year. 

Matt Dumba is in the final year of his contract which will pay him $5.2 million this year. Some fans look at the trading of Fiala as a choice between keeping one of the two players and how the Wild should have chosen Fiala. By next season, it's a reality that the Wild will not have either, so the fan base might need to add another player to this list next year.

Nashville Predators

Filip Forsberg is in the position of just re-signing with the Predators for another eight years at $8.5 million AAV. If he doesn't duplicate his production from last year of 42 goals and 42 assists in 69 games this season, he will be criticized. In seven games, he has two goals and two assists and is a minus five. Some fans have signing regret like a few other players on this list.

Mattias Ekholm is a player, who honestly I know fairly little about. I've seen him play a few times and always thought he was a solid defender. I only put him down here because he is older at 32 and has four more years remaining at $6.25 million AAV. He is the type of player, who defends well, but isn't overly physical and doesn't produce as much offense as one would like from a player making as much as he does. To be fair, I didn't see his name in a negative way on any game day thread, so he might not even belong here.

San Jose Sharks

Marc-Edouard Vlasic has four years remaining at $7 million AAV. He is 35-years-old. He needs to be on this list and I don't even need Sharks fans to confirm it.

Logan Couture has five years remaining at $8 million AAV. He is 33-years-old. Couture is a player who is more than the offense he has provided as he kills penalties, takes faceoffs and is usually matched up against the opposition's best players on a nightly basis. As he ages, his production has come down to 50-55 points a year, and as the Sharks are no longer a decent team, the ability to shut down the opposition is much more challenging and his name might come under more scrutiny.

Seattle Kraken

Vince Dunn seems to be on the cusp of becoming a power play quarterback at any moment. Unfortunately he is in his sixth NHL season and has never quite held on to that title for any length of time. He's had his share of defensive lapses as well, so fans have never quite embraced him as 'the guy'.

Jamie Oleksiak is a huge man at 6-7 and 257 lbs. In his 11th NHL season he has carved out 448 NHL games and has found a regular role with Seattle this year and last. He's a physical defender who had 182 hits and 86 blocked shots last season, but his lack of foot speed can be exposed at times.

St. Louis Blues

Robert Bortuzzo was the only Blues player who was mentioned negatively in a particular game day thread, so I'm just assuming that fans of the Blues love all their other players. Bortuzzo is not fantasy relevant at this point as I don't think he will see 73 games like he did last season where he had 135 hits and 97 blocked shots.

Vancouver Canucks

J.T. Miller just re-signed for seven more years at $8 million AAV and I'm not sure if anyone is aware, but things aren't going well right now. The Canucks are winless in their first six games and at one point Miller was on the ice for every opposition goal in their first two or three games. People are not happy with the re-signing at this point. He won't get back to 99 points this year, but if he can get back to 80 it would go a long way to appeasing the masses this year. Personally, I don't think he is a center and seems to struggle with assignments and puck distribution in his own end. I think the team would do well to move him back to the wing with Elias Pettersson and have Miller take the draws.

Tyler Myers is affectionately or unaffectionately known as the "Chaos Giraffe" in Vancouver. To be fair, when a 6-8, 229 lb defenseman lays down on the ice, it does take some time to get back up and in the play. He can be a bit of an adventure in his own end with the puck and flailing on the ice in front of his own net. However, in saying all that, if it wasn't for his $6 million AAV salary he is still a useful top-four defender in this league who had 145 hits and 148 blocked shots last year.

Vegas Golden Knights

Zach Whitecloud is another player I'm guessing on because I couldn't find much for Vegas and their fanbase being negative to a particular player. Whitecloud is physical, kills penalties and has his ice time curtailed to 15:28 so far this season, so other than missed assignments and puck mishandling, his play shouldn't be overly criticized.

Phil Kessel is only here because he has one point in six games and usually if Kessel isn't producing he shouldn't be on the ice but Vegas might have a new Kessel on their team. I must admit that the one Vegas game I watched this year, I saw Kessel backtrack and break up a two on one opportunity for the opposition. I don't think I had seen him do that in his previous 15 seasons. He has one hit in six games, a pace that will shatter the six hits he had in 82 games last season.

Winnipeg Jets

Blake Wheeler had the captaincy stripped from him before the start of the season, then he wasn't even named as an alternate. The 36-year-old Wheeler has two years remaining under contract at $8.25 million and can be a topic of discussion amongst Jet fans. Some of that might be attributed to the fact that even when he was captain he might not have led by example in terms of defensive effort. Never a move to win over the fans.

Logan Stanley dressed for 58 games last season and had 131 hits and 100 blocked shots. On the surface, he appears to be a steady offensively challenged defenseman who is 6-7 and 228 lbs. In reality, he lacks some foot speed and some puck handling skills.

After looking at the players listed above, I've come to the conclusion that fans don't care for rich players or anyone over 6-7. It's that simple.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or players you'd like me to look at please message or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.