This week, we are going to look at the most disappointing fantasy player from each team in the Western Conference.

I'm going to be looking at some of the projections for each of these players and see where they are at a third of the way through the 2025-26 season.

We will attempt to avoid skaters who have missed a significant portion of the 2025-26 season due to injury.

Frank Vatrano – Anaheim Ducks (29-3-1-4) (pre-season projection 81-23-21-44)

Vatrano had 37 goals and 60 points in 82 games during the 2023-24 season with the Ducks and followed up that career year with 21 goals and 24 assists in 81 games in 2024-25.

His ice time has gone from 17-18 minutes per game to 12:34 per night. His shots on goal per game have dipped to 1.9, which is his lowest since 2017-18. He has been on the power play just 16.6% of the time after being over 50% in each of the past two seasons.

Beckett Sennecke has not helped Vatrano's role on this team in 2025-26.

Mackenzie Weegar – Calgary Flames (30-1-4-5) (81-9-40-49)

Connor Zary – Calgary Flames (28-4-2-6) (66-16-24-40)

Yegor Sharangovich – Calgary Flames (26-4-4-8) (77-18-25-43)

Weegar has seen a decline in goals, assists, hits and blocks and is a team worst minus 21 after 30 games in 2025-26. He is still getting 48.4% of power-play time, so he should see a slight improvement in offense as the season progresses.

Zary is on pace for 12 goals and 18 points in 2025-26 after producing 61 points in his first 117 NHL games (0.52/g). His ice time has been reduced to 13:57 per game compared to 16:04 in 2024-25. His power play time has gone from 44.5% to 30.8%.

Sharangovich is on pace for 12 goals and 12 assists after producing 17 goals and 15 assists in 73 games in 2024-25, which was a sharp decline from his first year with the Flames in 2023-24, where he had 31 goals and 28 assists. Expectations weren't sky high for Sharangovich but a modest improvement on 2024-25 was expected.

Ryan Donato – Chicago Blackhawks (29-8-5-13) (80-29-34-63)

This is more a testament to how well the players in Chicago have been in 2025-26, as Donato hasn't been bad, but just a bit below expectations. He's on pace for 23 goals and 37 points after a career year in 2024-25 of 31 goals and 31 assists.

His ice time has gone from 16:19 to 15:02 per game, and his power play time has gone from 51.9% to 29.6%.

Devon Toews – Colorado Avalanche (29-1-9-10) (79-9-39-48)

The addition of Brent Burns has taken some ice time away from Toews, as he is averaging 22:40, down from 24:35 per game. His points per game (0.34/g) is at its lowest in his career.

He doesn't add much in fantasy other than points and plus-minus, so with the reduced production, he's not nearly as valuable as he was in prior years.

Dallas Stars – No one

Outside of some injuries, there isn't a skater on the Stars who I would consider a disappointment at this stage of the year.

Trent Frederic – Edmonton Oilers (29-2-1-3) (73-10-29-39)

Aside from the Oilers signing Frederic for eight years, his value in fantasy circles has taken a beating in 2025-26. He is capable of producing 30-40 points and putting up 175-200 hits.

After 29 games, he is on pace for eight points and perhaps 150-160 hits, while playing just 11:44 per night, which is hardly even third-line minutes.

Andrei Kuzmenko – Los Angeles Kings (25-4-4-8) (73-20-30-50)

Kuzmenko can produce at the NHL level, but can also be very inconsistent. He impressed in 2024-25 with the Kings with 17 points in 22 games, and then added six points in six playoff games. I think most people had him pegged for 40-50 points in 2025-26. He's on pace for 12 goals and 12 assists after 25 games.

Ryan Hartman – Minnesota Wild (24-4-4-8) (67-12-19-31)

After producing between 0.61 and 0.79 points per game for three seasons with the Wild, Hartman dipped to 11 goals and 15 assists in 69 games (0.38/g) in 2024-25. I was hoping that was a bit of a blip, but he has come out in 2025-26, producing just 0.32 pts/g after 25 games. He does add faceoffs in pools that include them, but his winning percentage has dipped to 41.9% from 47.7% in 2024-25.

Steven Stamkos – Nashville Predators (28-8-3-11) (81-32-28-60)

Jonathan Marchessault – Nashville Predators (23-5-3-8) (80-22-37-59)

Stamkos had a difficult inaugural season with the Predators in 2024-25 with 27 goals and 25 assists, which was his lowest output (over 70 GP) since his rookie year in 2008-09. He is on pace for 22 goals and 32 points in 2025-26 after 28 games. He does have four goals and six points in his past six games, so perhaps there is hope for a turnaround.

Marchessault has had similar production issues as Stamkos since joining the Predators. He is on pace for 17 goals and 12 assists in 2025-26 after posting 21 goals and 36 assists in 78 games in 2024-25. His ice time is still between 17 and 18 minutes per game, but his power play time is down to 55.1% from 71.1%.

Timothy Liljegren – San Jose Sharks (24-0-4-4) (70-8-23-31)

Liljegren had the potential to put up more offense than he had in the past, where he had a career 0.3 points per game. At this point, he is on pace for 14 points (0.17/g) while averaging 20:09 per game. His hits have decreased to below one per game, so he's probably not a 100 hits and 100 blocks candidate now.

The Sharks have played above expectations, so they don't have much in the disappointment department.

Chandler Stephenson – Seattle Kraken (26-5-8-13) (78-12-39-51)

Stephenson has averaged between 0.65 and 0.81 points per game since 2020-21. After 26 games in 2025-26, he is on pace for 41 points (0.5/g).

He is averaging over 20 minutes per game and above 60% on the power play, so he should improve upon those numbers if he maintains his role. He could also be at risk of losing his existing role.

Robert Thomas – St. Louis Blues (26-4-14-18) (76-24-66-90)

I would have comfortably put Thomas at reaching 80-90 points in 2025-26, but after 26 games, he is only on pace for 57 points. His icetime was 19:57 in 2024-25 and is down to 18:48 so far.

The Blues have struggled offensively as a whole, but Thomas is a big part of that.

Barrett Hayton – Utah Mammoth (25-3-2-5) (76-19-26-45)

The 5th overall pick from 2018 doesn't contribute much in fantasy circles if he doesn't produce outside of a few faceoff wins. He is on pace for 16 points after putting up a solid 2024-25 with 20 goals and 26 assists in 82 games. He's almost in droppable territory in some pools if he doesn't turn it around.

Jake DeBrusk – Vancouver Canucks (29-8-5-13) (81-25-23-48)

Outside of the power play, DeBrusk has one goal and four assists in 29 games in 2025-26. Right now, he is on pace for 22 goals and 37 points, but without the power play, he doesn't really produce much. It's a good thing he has been on the power play 67.7% of the time.

Reilly Smith – Vegas Golden Knights (26-3-3-6) (78-13-26-39)

Smith has been a fairly safe bet for 40-50 points since he first joined Vegas in 2017-18. After 26 games, he is on pace for 10 goals and 20 points. His ice time has gone down from 15:26 to 13:11, and he doesn't provide hits, blocks, or faceoff wins, so he shouldn't be on most fantasy rosters at this point.

Gustav Nyquist – Winnipeg Jets (20-0-6-6) (79-14-29-43)

I was hoping that Nyquist had a little more gas left in the tank at 36 years of age and that he might produce somewhere between 28 points in 79 games in 2024-25 and 75 points in 81 games in 2023-24 and possibly come up with 40-50 points in 2025-26.

He's on pace for 24 points and has seen his ice time in Winnipeg down to 12:22 per game after being between 17-18 the past few years.

Thanks very much for reading. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter @gampbler15.