Ten NHL players having bounce-back seasons and crushing expectations

There’s generally very little sympathy for struggling NHL players.

Teams don’t owe them any long-term loyalty and can move on from a player at a moment’s notice. Fans can turn in a heartbeat, too, while the media picks apart flaws during bad stretches, especially in bigger markets.

It’s a brutal mental experience to go through. I’ve talked to players over the years who are self-critical and even harder on themselves than the criticism from the public. There’s no amount of money that can replace the peace of mind when they live up to or even exceed expectations.

That’s why it’s so easy to root for bouncebacks and redemption stories. Today, we’ll be diving into 10 skaters (no goalies) who are crushing it in response to a down year (this isn’t a list of breakout players so don’t expect to see names like Sean Durzi, Frank Vatrano, etc.).

Alex DeBrincat, Detroit Red Wings

Stats: 10 GP, 9G-4A-13P, 17:41 ATOI

DeBrincat ranked sixth in goals over the two seasons before arriving in Ottawa for 2022-23 via a trade from Chicago. The only scorers ahead of him in that timeframe were franchise players: Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov and Alex Ovechkin.

DeBrincat didn’t live up to the hype last year, scoring 27 goals and 66 points. It’s been a dream fit for him in Detroit, however, as he’s rattled off nine goals and 13 points through 10 games.

Before we get into his perfect start in Detroit, it’s important to clarify that he deserved a bounceback based on positive regression alone. Many people chalked up DeBrincat’s declining numbers to him losing Patrick Kane as an elite playmaker to set him up. While that must have been a factor, there wasn’t enough focus on how unlucky he was in his finishing.

DeBrincat generated shots and scoring chances at virtually the same rate in Ottawa as in his final year with Chicago. The scoring dip was partially driven by him hitting posts and missing straightforward chances that he normally converts.

Data via Natural Stat Trick

The only other time DeBrincat’s shooting percentage dipped below 11 percent in a year was in 2019-20 (he scored just 18 goals that year) and the following season he came roaring back with 32 goals in 52 games during the shortened 2021 campaign. So he’s had this type of big bounceback before.

Here’s a manual breakdown of how he’s scoring after watching film.

DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin have shown excellent chemistry, especially attacking off the rush. Below is a montage of some of the gorgeous rush goals they’ve connected on.

Larkin deserves a ton of credit for DeBrincat’s hot start. He’s the one driving the bus for the top line. In those clips, Larkin was doing the heavy lifting to force a turnover to spark an odd-man rush, carving through the defense with his speed, or making a terrific pass. DeBrincat simply had to get open and be a clinical finisher or make a sharp pass.

DeBrincat’s scoring will slow down — he’s shooting 28 percent right now — but the chemistry he and Larkin are showing offers a ton of promise.

Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers

Stats: 10 GP, 2G-6A-8P, 19:31 ATOI

Is Couturier even human? Philadelphia’s top center hadn’t played a game since December 2021 because of two back surgeries and somehow hasn’t skipped a beat upon his return.

Couturier’s picked up eight points in 10 games and resumed his stellar two-way impact. The Flyers are outplaying teams to the tune of a 56.1 percent share of scoring chances when Couturier’s been on the ice at five-on-five. That’s incredible considering the team’s overall state, especially on the back end.

Couturier’s won the most puck battles in the NHL this season, according to Sportlogiq’s data.

Philadelphia’s essentially grafted two-thirds of a top line back onto its roster because his linemate Cam Atkinson has also been terrific. Atkinson missed the entire 2022-23 campaign because of his own injury and has scored six goals and three assists through 10 games.

Combine those two strong returns with Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink’s breakout, Joel Farabee, Scott Laughton and Noah Cates and all of a sudden they have a respectable forward group, which explains why Philly hasn’t started the season in the basement.

Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks

Stats: 9GP, 6G-4A-10P, 18:35 ATOI

Last season was difficult for Boeser. He was grieving his father’s death, injured his hand in training camp which hindered his first-half performance and was in the trade rumor mill non-stop.

On the ice, Boeser scored just 18 goals in 74 games. He took a huge step back defensively, with the worst two-way metrics of his career. He wasn’t living up to his $6.65 million cap hit.

Boeser revamped his offseason training this summer to improve his conditioning, switching to a trainer that head coach Rick Tocchet knew. He made an immediate statement with a four-goal performance against the Edmonton Oilers in the season opener.

“Just mentally I’ve talked about just finding that motivation again, finding that peace with everything,” Boeser said after that game. “It was a really good summer and I was itching to get back.”

Vancouver’s second line with Boeser, J.T. Miller and Phil Di Giuseppe has embraced a blue-collar identity.

Di Giuseppe is an excellent F1 forechecker and Miller often swoops in as the second forward to win pucks back. Miller is an excellent playmaker below the dots, so Boeser uses his strong hockey IQ to find open ice in the slot.

Boeser’s goal below is a perfect template for what every player’s role on the line is and how they control play and create offense.

Here’s another goal that follows the same forechecking formula with Di Giuseppe the F1, Miller the F2 and Boeser the slot finisher.

Boeser’s also evolved as a net-front threat. He’s set excellent screens and paid the price to jam rebound goals, too.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Florida Panthers

Stats: 8GP, 1G-2A-3P, 23:52 ATOI

Ekman-Larsson was a top-four liability for the Canucks last season. After he got bought out in June, he earned just a one-year, $2.25 million deal with the Panthers in free agency. Another miserable season would have put his NHL career on the rocks.

Arriving in Florida, OEL shifted to the right side in a massive top-pair role because of Aaron Ekblad’s and Brandon Montour’s injuries. Ekman-Larsson had a mixed start through the first three games but has impressively stabilized his game over the last handful of contests.

The Panthers have played sound, low-event hockey with OEL deployed. Ekman-Larsson’s driven a 58 percent share of shot attempts and has been on the ice for just three five-on-five goals against.

Gustav Forsling’s dynamic skating is exactly what Ekman-Larsson needed in a partner stylistically — it’s a monumental upgrade from Tyler Myers, who was a liability to play with. That partner upgrade, coupled with the Panthers forwards offering strong puck support, has insulated OEL on the breakout.

Most importantly, Ekman-Larsson doesn’t look as slow and flat-footed defending the rush, which was a massive problem last season. He broke his foot at the world championships in the summer of 2022 which he admitted hindered him in 2022-23. Ekman-Larsson’s not a long-term top-pair solution, but on a fast team with good support, the early results are showing he still has the puck skills and defensive positioning to be a useful defenseman.

OEL was rocked by a reckless Charlie McAvoy hit recently but it sounds like he’s still healthy, which is awesome news.

Ryan Hartman, Minnesota Wild

Stats: 9 GP, 6G-3A-9P, 17:54 ATOI

It could be tempting for outsiders to look at Hartman’s stat line and assume he’s riding Kaprizov’s coattails on the first line. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Minnesota’s top line has been inconsistent because of Kaprizov’s struggles, especially defensively, despite what his point totals might indicate. Hartman? He’s already raced his way to six goals, only one of which has been a primary assist for Kaprizov. Last season, Hartman didn’t score his sixth goal until Feb. 11.

In typical Hartman fashion, most of his offense has come from gritty work around the blue paint. He’s banging home inner-slot chances, rebounds and tips. That’s his bread and butter, but there have also been a couple of flashy, solo efforts sprinkled in. He made a fantastic play to pick off a pass, create a breakaway and finish with silky hands against the Capitals.

Hartman also made a pretty pass to set Marco Rossi up for a tap-in as part of his five-point performance against the Oilers.

Two years ago, Hartman finished third among all NHL players with 28 five-on-five goals, behind only Matthews and Kyle Connor. After falling well short of that last season, Hartman looks back on track as Minnesota’s first-line center. Now, he just needs his star linemate to play to his potential.

Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers

Stats: 10 GP, 1G-9A-10P, 25:35 ATOI

After signing an eight-year, $6.25 million AAV extension a year ago, Sanheim’s contract already looked like a potential albatross.

The 27-year-old’s offensive production dipped to just 23 points last season, his ice time declined and he was even a healthy scratch for a game in Calgary, which was personally important because he had family in attendance. Sanheim’s confidence looked shattered and his fit with John Tortorella appeared questionable.

New Flyers GM Daniel Briere even had a deal to ship Sanheim to St. Louis in the offseason, which was nixed because Torey Krug invoked his no-trade clause.

Sanheim’s returned to the Flyers in excellent form, decisively grabbing the No. 1 defenseman mantle. He ranks third among all NHL players in average ice time and has been a strong play driver, helping the Flyers earn over 56 percent of shot attempts and 57 percent of scoring chances during his five-on-five shifts.

Sanheim’s made subtle, smart plays to pick up 10 points in 10 games. That includes the refound confidence to jump into holes like on this goal.

Sanheim has been by far the Flyers’ most active defenseman at carrying the puck into the offensive zone, according to Corey Sznajder’s tracking. That explains why the Flyers are generating tons of shots and chances offensively with him on the ice (even though they haven’t had the bounces to convert more of them into goals).

There have still been occasional mistakes in Sanheim’s game, but overall, he’s done admirable work handling some of the biggest, toughest minutes in the league.

Teuvo Teravainen, Carolina Hurricanes

Stats: 10 GP, 8G-1A-9P, 16:04 ATOI

Teravainen’s been a consistent 60-to-70-plus point producer but fell to just 37 points in 68 games in an injury-plagued 2022-23 season.

The stakes are really high for him on a personal level this year given his pending unrestricted free-agent status. Teravainen’s 29, meaning the contract he signs this summer will probably be his last big payday.

The slick, versatile two-way winger is off to a dream start. He’s definitely more of a playmaker than a scorer but has surprisingly broken out with eight goals in his first 10 games. Remember that he had only 12 all of last year — his career high of 23 in 2017-18 should be breakable.

Six of Teravainen’s eight goals have been preceded by an east-west pass like this one.

Carolina’s done an excellent job of teeing him up with passes that are making it difficult for goalies to square up. Teravainen, meanwhile, has been lethal with his one-timer and has shown nifty hands around the net when parked further in tight. That influx of cross-seam scoring chances explains why he has so many goals despite not generating many shots, although his 36.4 percent shooting clip will surely cause a noticeable slowdown in his goal scoring later down the road.

Mathieu Joseph, Ottawa Senators

Stats: 8GP, 3G-4A-7P, 15:29 ATOI

Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Nick Paul at the 2022 trade deadline, Joseph scored 12 points in 11 games as a Senator to close out the season. That earned him a four-year, $2.95 million AAV contract extension and created high hopes for last season.

Instead, the speedy, lanky winger went through the entire 2022-23 campaign without scoring a single even-strength goal. Injuries were definitely a big part of the story and limited him to 56 games, but Ottawa’s bottom six needed more punch last year, and Joseph’s failure loomed especially large because of his contract.

Joseph’s been flying since the season opener, using his pace and energy to make plays with and without the puck. A bump in linemate quality definitely helps as he’s seen a solid chunk of time alongside breakout rookie Ridly Greig and Vladimir Tarasenko.

Before the season, Joseph’s contract looked like a top candidate to ship out to carve out cap room to re-sign Shane Pinto. But Pinto’s 41-game suspension buys the Senators time to figure that out and an extended runway for Joseph to potentially prove himself as an indispensable piece.

Sean Monahan, C, Montreal Canadiens

Stats: 9GP, 5G-3A-8P, 19:00 ATOI

In August 2022, the Calgary Flames surrendered a first-round pick to the Canadiens to offload the final year of Monahan’s $6 million cap hit. Clearing that cap space was necessary to fit Nazem Kadri’s lucrative contract on the books.

It’s ironic how Kadri’s looking like the bad contract now, whereas Monahan’s five goals and eight points would both lead Calgary. It was an understandable maneuver by Brad Treliving at the time but boy has it aged terribly so far.

Monahan was in the middle of a bounceback last year, but he suffered a season-ending injury that limited him to just 25 games. Given his longstanding durability concerns, it was fair to wonder how it would affect Monahan’s play this year after he signed a one-year, $1.985 million extension.

In addition to the offense, Monahan hasn’t been on the ice for a goal against at five-on-five despite handling some tough matchups. The underlying numbers for his line with another pair of bounceback veterans in Tanner Pearson and Brendan Gallagher have been excellent.

Ryan Strome, Anaheim Ducks

Stats: 9GP, 2G-9A-11P, 17:41 ATOI

Strome made a disappointing first impression in Anaheim, scoring just 41 points in the first season of a five-year, $25 million contract. That was a significant drop-off from the 66-points-per-82-game pace Strome produced during his final three seasons with the New York Rangers. But now, he’s off to a torrid start.

It’s likely the change in environment/talent quality that’s caused Strome’s production to yo-yo over the last 2-3 years more than huge swings in his individual play. Strome is a great complementary player but he’s not going to be the main driver of a line. That was perfect for New York where Strome had a cushy even-strength role alongside Artemi Panarin and a spot on the Rangers’ star-studded top power-play unit. Last season, the Ducks didn’t have any true star talent for Strome to play with and iced an anemic power play.

Interestingly, Strome’s point drop-off last season almost entirely came from the man advantage, which is greatly influenced by teammate quality.

This year, Strome’s featured on a line with Mason McTavish and Vatrano that’s outscored teams 9-2 at five-on-five. McTavish’s monster breakout coupled with Vatrano performing like an elite sniper because of the inflated shooting percentage bender has given Strome a significant lift. Strome’s made crafty, creative passes to feed them in the inner slot for high-danger chances.

Here’s a beautiful one from earlier this week that set up a McTavish goal.

Honorable mentions

Cam Atkinson, Jack Roslovic, Trevor Moore, Morgan Rielly, Bryan Rust, Vladimir Tarasenko, Adam Lowry, Jordan Greenway, Colton Parayko, Tanner Pearson, Ryan Johansen, Kyle Palmieri, James van Riemsdyk

(Top photos of Sean Monahan, Brock Boeser and Alex DeBrincat: David Kirouac, Bob Frid / USA Today and Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)