10 NHL players and people facing the most pressure in 2024-25 season

Pressure is part of the privilege of life in the NHL. It hits everyone – from the front office to the fourth line winger clinging to his job, all the way to the team chef trying to prepare the perfect omelette for players at the team practice facility. It can, quite literally, eat you alive.

Some teams choose to embrace it. Outside of the Vancouver Canucks‘ dressing room last season, Rick Tocchet posted a slogan: “Meet pressure with pressure,” because that’s how diamonds are made. Others crumble under the weight of it.

Here are 10 players and people under the most pressure heading into the 2024-25 NHL season:

1. Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings GM

Perhaps no one is under more pressure than Blake, as the Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row last spring – and are seemingly stuck in neutral. Consider: After a three-year rebuild, the Kings’ playoff lineup featured just two homegrown draft picks under the age of 23 – and those were Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere. There does not appear to be more help on the way outside of Brandt Clarke bursting onto the scene this year, in the hopes he can hold the fort down with Drew Doughty out. Yes, the Oilers are a real roadblock in the division. But Blake has made a few tough decisions (Fiala for Faber, Dubois, goaltending) and the Hall of Fame defenseman is now the fifth-longest tenured GM in the league.

2. Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs

If Marner felt like the spotlight burns bright in Toronto during the playoffs, ooh boy it could be scorching hot this season, now playing into the final year of his contract. There is pressure to perform, knowing that Marner will be looking for a raise on his already premium salary. There is pressure to be a playoff contributor commensurate to his production in the regular season. There is also going to be pressure from Leafs Nation with relation to how he chooses to leverage his full no-move, no-trade. This is a story that won’t be fading onto the backburner at any point until there is a resolution to his tenure, whether it’s extending or ending.

3. Cam Neely, Boston Bruins President

Foot, meet mouth. That is probably what the Bruins are feeling today after Neely’s apparent tactical error in taking the negotiations public with No. 1 goaltender Jeremy Swayman on Monday. There is a reason why teams (and agents) rarely negotiate through the media. There is also a reason why teams seek to have one voice speak for the majority of decisions, as the messaging remains more consistent. Neely is a fiery guy. He’s an ultimate competitor. The Bruins have had loads of success during his tenure, but if Swayman remains unsigned, the temperature will be turned up on their season. And Neely already wore egg on his face from the handling of the Mitchell Miller situation.

4. Kevyn Adams, Buffalo Sabres GM

Adams has said it himself: “It’s go time” for the Buffalo Sabres, who own the longest current playoff drought in North American pro sports at 13 years. Adams is now into his fifth season as Sabres GM. He’s taken a measured approach and methodically built out Buffalo from the back end, now boasting arguably the best top four defense corps of any team in the East. Then last year, they struggled to score, didn’t get stops, and had key injuries. The end result was a seven-point regression in the standings. That can’t happen again. His predecessor, Jason Botterill, only had three seasons at the helm. The clock is ticking.

5. Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings GM

Similarly, Yzerman is now on the clock, as we are entering Year 6 of the Yzerplan and the Red Wings’ playoff drought has stretched to eight years. They’re not used to that in Hockeytown. Patience has been key – and the Wings have drafted pretty well. Mo Seider and Lucas Raymond are locked up for the foreseeable future. Simon Edvinsson should burst onto the scene this year. And Yzerman has had some wins, courting Patrick Kane twice now. But he hasn’t been able to get the Wings’ defense up to playoff-caliber yet, despite lots of money spent, and Detroit seems to be wandering the desert in search of a solution in goal until Sebastian Cossa is ready.

6. Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin, Colorado Avalanche

Together, Landeskog and Nichushkin will earn $13.125 million on the salary cap – or chew up approximately 15 percent of the total $88 million. And neither one of them has a date set yet when they will return to the lineup. And no one has a clue exactly how they will perform once they make their way back. Nichushkin is eligible to be activated from the Player Assistance program after Nov. 15. Landeskog has participated in training camp but said recently he “hasn’t come all of this way to rush it.” Given the uncertainty around these players, one thing the Avs couldn’t do was spend their money in the offseason – because there would be no way to activate them. So they wait, as one of the biggest wildcard teams in the NHL this season.

7. Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins

It’s a murky start to the season for Karlsson, who is reportedly experiencing “some kind of setback” with an upper-body injury that has kept him off the ice for the preseason. That can’t be welcome news for a guy who experienced a 46 percent reduction in production last season – despite being traded from San Jose to a more talented team in Pittsburgh. Here’s the thing: the Penguins made an enormous bet on Karlsson. They traded a first-round pick (No. 14 overall), plus have devoted significant cap space on a strapped team. You could make the argument that money left on the table by Crosby extending at $8.7 million is going in Karlsson’s jeans – and he needs to make good on it.

8. Jacob Trouba, New York Rangers

Trouba aired out his frustrations with the reporting surrounding his trade availability last summer to open training camp. But that wasn’t nearly as interesting as his next quote: “In all likelihood, this will probably be the last crack for this core. I don’t think that’s a secret by any means.” If it isn’t the last crack for the core, it might be for the Rangers’ captain. His no-trade list ratchets down to 12 teams on July 1. GM Chris Drury will have to fit in new deals for Igor Shesterkin, K’Andre Miller, Alexis Lafreniere, Ryan Lindgren and others. Trouba may be the casualty. Can he make himself indispensable this season?

9. Brendan Shanahan, Toronto Maple Leafs President

Since Shanahan took the helm in Toronto on April 11, 2014, the Maple Leafs have won exactly one playoff round in eight playoff appearances. Shanahan’s team is onto its third hired coach and third general manager. There has been very little change to the core of the team under his watch. There is also a new owner taking majority control of the team in Rogers. The buck will need to stop with someone.

10. Julien BriseBois, Tampa Bay Lightning GM

For BriseBois, this is pressure in a lower-case way compared to others. He’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion – and let’s face it, working in Tampa in different than working in another market. He isn’t going anywhere. Nonetheless, the Lightning have trended in the wrong direction, some of which is just the cyclical nature of sports with age and salary cap constraints. Some of BriseBois’s bold bets have contributed to them – from the highly publicized decision to not re-sign Steven Stamkos, to the Ryan McDonagh swaps, to the less publicized choice to re-assign chief amateur scout Al Murray. No manager bats 1.000% but it’s getting interesting in Tampa.

Honorable mention: Ron Francis, Seattle Kraken GM

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