Now that we’re done with the first half of the season, this is a good time to look at those underachieving players who you hope can turn it around in the second half.

After all, not all players who struggle will do so all year. Last year, we saw J.T. Miller show up on disappointing lists at the halfway point, even though he had 30 points in his first 36 games. However, he finished with 53 points in his last 45 contests, bringing him to a point-per-game season.

However, some players will continue to struggle all season. Those are the ones you want to stay away from in fantasy leagues if you’re going for a championship. If you’re already out of contention and want to look forward to next season in a keeper league, these players might be available for cheaper.

Keep in mind that this isn’t just a list of the most disappointing players, but it’s those who are unlikely to rebound. Players like Miro Heiskanen, Alexander Ovechkin and Jared McCann may be having disappointing seasons, but you can easily envision them going on a crazy hot streak in the second half. Players like Tage Thompson (12 points in his last 10 games), John Carlson (five points in his last five games) and Jason Robertson (16 points in his last 13 games) have already started turning it around.

The players on this list have a few factors going against them. These players are seeing less ice time, are being bumped off top power-play units, are taking fewer shots, or have even been healthy scratches. With usage like that, it’s difficult to see any kind of rebound coming this season.

Here are the top 10 disappointing players who won’t turn it around.

10. Trevor Zegras

There are numerous reasons why Zegras has struggled this year. He missed training camp while negotiating his new contract, which probably put him behind at the start of the season. By all accounts, he was playing well, but just not producing. Then he missed six weeks of action with an injury, and when he returned, had five points in eight games before landing on the IR again. Zegras is out until at least the end of February and should be back in time for fantasy playoffs, but by then, it may be too late. Even if he gets back to the same pace he was at before the injury (five points in eight games), that’s only a 51-point pace. On the season, his 82-game pace is 29 points, way too low for a player who was expected to lead the team.

9. Owen Power

After a great rookie season where Power had 35 points in 79 games, many were hoping he could take the next step. He hasn’t stepped back too much, but he definitely hasn’t taken that next step forward. With 17 points in 43 games, he’s on pace for 32 points. However, more concerning would be his other numbers. He’s gone from 1.6 shots per game to 1.3, and while he’s still on the second man-advantage unit, his power-play ice time has gone from 1:58 per night to 1:35. His overall ice time is down 1:30 per contest. He doesn’t hit much, but at least his blocked shots are on the rise.

8. Brandon Montour

The optimist would look at Montour, see he’s still on the top power-play unit and figure it’s just a matter of time before he starts to bounce back. The pessimist would look at everything else and start crying. His ice time is down a minute per night from a year ago. He has an 82-game pace of 28 points, after finishing with 73 last year. He’s only averaging 2.3 shots per night, down from 3.0 last season. His numbers are also down in hits, blocked shots and penalty minutes per contest. Maybe the most disappointing is his power-play production. Last year, he averaged 0.41 power-play points per night; this year it’s at 0.19.

7. Joonas Korpisalo

It’s really difficult to put a netminder on a list like this, as goalies can just go off and string together a series of great games without question. However, as mentioned in Dobber's Midseason Fantasy Hockey Guide 2024, the Sens’ goaltending situation has been awful for years. For the past five years or so, every netminder who went to Ottawa had better numbers before arriving in Ottawa and after leaving the Sens (Matt Murray, Cam Talbot and Filip Gustavsson). Korpisalo has only one two-game winning streak this year, and that was three in a row in early November. Since the middle of November, Korpisalo has had exactly two 60-minute games where he has given up two goals or fewer. In that same span, he has given up at least four goals on 11 occasions. Since November 15, he is 4-11 with a .871 SV% and a 4.03 goals against average. New coach Jacques Martin has not had any positive influence on Korpisalo’s numbers. Even if Korpisalo strung together three straight great games, would you be able to trust him for the rest of the year?

6. Matty Beniers

In a keeper league, you hold on to Beniers. In a one-year league, there’s no reason he should still be on your roster. Last year’s rookie season was great, but some of the numbers screamed that regression was coming. Last year, he scored on 16.2 percent of his shots, but only averaged 1.9 shots per game. This year, he’s scoring on 8.1 percent of his shots, but is only averaging 1.8 shots per game. He’s playing with 33-year-old Jordan Eberle, who last year broke 60 points for the first time since 2014-15 and should be regarded as a 40-point player. The third player on that line has been rotating, but it was mostly Tomas Tatar and Tye Kartye in the second quarter. Beniers is no longer on the top power-play unit. Last year, the team had a shooting percentage of 11.6 percent, second in the league. This year, that has dropped to 9.8 percent, 20th in the league. With the whole team regressing in shooting percentage, there are fewer goals, and therefore fewer assists as well.

5. Mikhail Sergachev

A year ago, Sergachev was on the top power-play unit and parlayed that usage into 27 man-advantage points, which helped boost his overall numbers to 64 points in 79 games. Many were hopeful that Sergachev could improve on those numbers and flirt with 70 points, but the team went back to Victor Hedman on the top power-play unit instead. That leaves Sergachev with little power-play time, although he does have seven power-play points. If he was producing on the power play similar to last year, he’d have closer to 13 power-play points, which would put him on pace for 64 points instead of 47. With Tampa having the best power play in the league going into Sunday’s action, don’t expect any changes there. Sergachev is on the long-term injured reserve, but it sounds like that decision was made for cap relief while he is out, and he shouldn’t be out for too long.

4. Timo Meier

Meier is currently on the IR, but is skating and could be back sooner rather than later, according to head coach Lindy Ruff. It feels like Meier is just as productive on the IR as he has been on the ice. His 82-game pace is 44 points, which is his lowest since 2017-18. He’s averaging only 2.8 shots per game, down from 4.2 in each of the previous two seasons. He’s averaging about one hit per game instead of closer to two hits per game. He’s on the second power-play unit and has only six points with the man advantage. His overall ice time is down almost three minutes per night from a year ago. He also can’t find consistent linemates, and while Dawson Mercer is his most common linemate, he’s just as likely to be playing with Michael McLeod as Tyler Toffoli.

3. Johnny Gaudreau

Last year, Gaudreau put up a 74-point season, and many fantasy general managers considered that a disappointment after coming off a 115-point campaign. Well, this year, he’s fallen even further, and with 26 points in 43 games, he’s on pace for 50 points. Just look at the comparison for the last three years:

2021-22: 40 goals, 115 points, plus-65, 3.2 shots per game, 15.3 shooting percentage, 25 power-play points.

2022-23: 21 goals, 76 points, minus-32, 2.8 shots per game, 9.5 shooting percentage, 23 power-play points.

2023-24: Seven goals, 26 points, minus-22, 2.0 shots per game, 8.0 shooting percentage, 10 power-play points.

We already know that he doesn’t contribute in peripheral statistics (he has just as many hits as power-play goals: one). While he’s still a top-line, top power-play guy, there’s no support in Columbus. He’s been regularly playing with Justin Danforth, and in the Blue Jackets’ last game, he played with Yegor Chinakhov and Cole Sillinger. Injuries to other Blue Jackets are playing a role, but great players should still be able to produce.

2. Andrei Kuzmenko

Last year’s surprise player has completely fallen off this season and isn’t worth rostering in any league. Last year, he averaged 1.8 shots per game. Thanks to a shooting percentage of 26.8 percent, he notched 38 goals. This year, he’s averaging 1.5 shots per game, and his shooting percentage has dropped to 14.3 percent, equalling eight goals. He doesn’t hit, he doesn’t block shots, he doesn’t accumulate PIM, and he has a zero in the plus/minus stat. That doesn’t take into account his 42-point pace. What exactly is he contributing to your roster again? He’s been a healthy scratch at times and has been removed from a top-six role, playing with Pius Suter and Ilya Mikheyev at even strength. His ice time is down two minutes per night from last year. His only positive attribute is that he is still on the top power-play unit, but he has only seven points with the man advantage. It may be only a matter of time before he loses that spot as well.

1. Pierre-Luc Dubois

I’ve seen some talk over the past couple of weeks from Kings’ supporters that it doesn’t matter if Dubois is awful this year, but that the idea is that he will eventually supplant Anze Kopitar as the team’s number-one center. Even if that were the case, Dubois is still having an extremely disappointing season. Never mind the eventual first-line center duties, he’s been demoted to the fourth-line center role. He’s also started the season on the top power-play unit, but lost that spot about 10 games into the season. He’s on pace for 36 points, which would be the lowest of his career. He has just two power-play points after having 23 a year ago, and even his hits, shots, faceoff wins and PIM are all on pace to be his worst in years.