By Nick Obergan
Radim Vrbata: Phoenix Coyotes
Prior to this season, Vrbata had never scored 30 goals in a season, this year he had 35 (11th); he had never had 60 points in a season, this year he had 62; he had never reached double digits in plus/minus, this year he was plus-24.
Scott Hartnell: Philadelphia Flyers
Finished the season tied for sixth in goals with a career-high 37; the first time in his career he scored more than 30 goals. He also finished second with 16 power play goals, and set career-highs in points (67) and plus/minus (plus-19), becoming a legitimate finisher and All-Star.
Ray Whitney: Phoenix Coyotes
Whitney is 39-years-old, though you would never know it from his play this year. He finished sixth in assists (53, tying a career high), tied for 12th with 77 points (tying the second best point total of his career), and finished a mind-boggling plus-26 (he is a career minus-74 with this season included). Talk about finding the fountain of youth.
Dwayne Roloson: Tampa Bay Lightning
Last year Roloson was one of the feel-good stories, an ageless wonder leading the underdog Lightning to within a win of the Stanley Cup. This year, the 42-year-old was completely different, finishing dead last among 45 qualifiers with a 3.66 goals against average and .886 save percentage. His record (13-16-3) certainly hides the fact that it was he, not Steve Mason (16-26-3), that was the league’s worst goalie this season.
Max Pacioretty: Montreal Canadiens
The 23-year-old Pacioretty had a big-time breakout season for the Habs, producing one of the team’s few bright spots. Last season he looked like a decent young player, notching 14 goals in 37 games as he split time between the AHL and NHL. Unfortunately, late in the season he suffered a severe neck injury after the unfortunate stanchion incident involving Zdeno Chara. After witnessing that, all expectations were thrown out the window; everyone merely wished him good health. Instead, he came back showing himself to be a first-line winger, potting 33 goals and 65 points. Needless to say, he didn’t spend any time in the AHL this year.
Alexander Ovechkin: Washington Capitals
Ovechkin entered this season average 1.29 points per game, and last season’s 85-point campaign was considered a slump. This season his goal scoring came back up (from 32 to 38), but his lack of assists caused his point total to dip all the way down to 65, placing the two-time MVP 37th in the league. He was a popular pick to improve on his 85-point season and regain his league-wide superstar status, instead his play declined once again, and it is unknown as to whether he will ever challenge for an MVP title again. You don’t usually see Hall of Famers whose play declines so rapidly at 26-years-old.
Ryan Getzlaf: Anaheim Ducks
Speaking of popular picks, Getzlaf looked poised to become a 90-point scorer once again, teaming up with reigning MVP Corey Perry. Getzlaf was injured last season, and still put up 76 points in 67 games. This season the Ducks’ captain was very below-average, leading to countless trade rumors, as well as rumors of his captaincy being stripped. He wound up with 57 points, his lowest point total since his rookie year, despite playing all 82 games.
Joffrey Lupul: Toronto Maple Leafs
Lupul entered the season as an injury-plauged player who would likely not live up to his potential as a 7th overall pick (2002, Anaheim). Three of the previous four seasons saw him fail to play more than 56 games and he seemed destined to be a 25-goal/50-point player on a second or third line. This year, he found outstanding chemistry opposite Phil Kessel, and the scoring winger helped him to 67 points in 66 games, earning a well-deserved All-Star nomination along the way. Of course, he got injured again, but at 28-years-old we saw that maybe his best isn’t yet in the past as his back condition was long gone.
Erik Karlsson: Ottawa Senators
Last season Karlsson was an All-Star, albeit of the token “one player from each team must be named to the weekend’s events” variety, as his 45-point year was overshadowed by a horrific minus-30 rating. That said, 45-points as a sophomore showed a glimpse of the offensive potential Karlsson possessed, but good luck finding someone (outside of Ottawa) to admit they saw a 19-59-78 line coming (10th in the league in points) from the Swedish defenseman this year. On top of that, he was plus-16, and the gambler in him showed some better instincts this year defensively.
Brian Elliott: St. Louis Blues
It was only last year at the trade deadline when Ottawa shipped Elliott out to Colorado (he was 13-19-8, 3.19, .894 at the time) for Craig Anderson, who got a big money contract from the Sens. St. Louis picked up Elliott in the offseason to be a one-year backup for $600K. Starter Jaroslav Halak started the season 1-6 and Elliott got to play, and it was tough to take him out of the net after that. The “backup” earned an All-Star nod and will get some Vezina trophy consideration after leading the league in goals against average (1.56), save percentage (.940) and second in shutouts (9).
Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan