2.) Alex Pietrangelo
There has been an entire post regarding Alex Pietrangelo's decline. The defenseman has seen his defensive stats take a nose dive this season, with the following numbers dropping significantly from his 2022-23 campaign.
Year | Blocked Shots | Takeaways | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|
2022-23 | 177 | 56 | 65 |
2024-25 | 139 | 25 | 41 |
However, one reason was pointed out as being the main catalyst: Pietrangelo's age. The native of King City, Ontario, is 35 years old. He's nearing the end of an illustrious playing career that consists of two Stanley Cups.
While the 2024-25 season was massively underwhelming for Pietrangelo, it comes with getting older. Perhaps a limited role will help him bump some of these numbers back up. Maybe fans must wait until 2027 for his $8.8 million cap hit to come off the books.
3.) Ivan Barbashev
On the surface, it appears that Ivan Barbashev had an excellent 2024-25 season. 23 goals and 28 assists looks good, especially with Jack Eichel driving the line.
However, digging past these numbers reveals some problems with the Russian winger. For one, he was an absolute liability on the power play. Barbashev scored two goals and one assist on the unit this season, disappearing when called upon.
He was also nearly non-existent after returning from his upper-body injury. Before he was hurt on December 15 against the Minnesota Wild, Barbashev had 30 points (15 goals and 15 assists). Since that injury? He had 21 points (eight goals and 13 assists).
The drop-off has been noticeable in being taken off the top line during the Stanley Cup playoffs. By the way, he had one goal and one assist during the postseason. Now, fans are wondering if he'll stick around longer or be traded. Maybe a rebound campaign and taking more shots will help him get back to prominence.