Five struggling NHLers who need to pick it up for the playoff push

Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

There’s never a good time to start struggling, but it doesn’t help when your team is trying to make Trade Deadline plans.

Today, we’re looking at five NHLers who have struggled in recent weeks – or even months – on teams in the playoff hunt. These five players have either played the whole season below their usual standards, or have just gotten cold over the last bit. In some cases, they’re still playing some decent hockey – but the stats just aren’t in their favor.

Two of the names below appear on Frank Seravalli’s most recent trade targets list, so their lack of production won’t help their trade value. Overall, these five are going to want to start producing sooner rather than later – both for their own sake and to help their teams advance to the postseason:

Blake Coleman, RW (Calgary Flames)

Coleman was a useful bottom-six piece during Tampa Bay’s two Stanley Cups in 2020 and 21, and it helped him get a spicy contract with Calgary until 2027. Last year was the best season of Coleman’s career, in which he scored 30 goals and 54 points as a top-six forward. He’s still tracking to beat 40 this year, but his production has dried up in the month of February with zero points in the last seven games. Before that, he had eight points during an eight-game stretch in January. So the sudden decline has been a bit surprising, to say the least.

Coleman is still generating chances, but just not getting in the high-danger areas like he once was. Most of Coleman’s offense has come at 5-on-5 this year, so he hasn’t been able to rely on the man advantage to register a ton of points. He’s not playing badly, but the recent drop in production has made things more difficult for him.

Casey Mittelstadt, C (Colorado Avalanche)

The Avalanche made a big splash last spring, trading Bowen Byram to the Buffalo Sabres to bring in Mittelstadt and solidify the team’s center depth. But it just hasn’t paid off in the way either party was hoping, with both players seemingly back on the market. Mittelstadt registered 59 points two years ago and 57 between Colorado and Buffalo last year. So a drop to 45 is disappointing, especially considering he has just one goal in all of 2025. He couldn’t score on the power play when given opportunities on the top unit early on.

With a rate of just 1.45 points per 60 at 5-on-5, Mittelstadt has just not been good enough. He still gets accused of passing the puck way too often, and his defensive game can sometimes be downright ugly. If Mittelstadt is truly being shopped again, going on a cold streak like this – eight points in his last 21 games – isn’t going to help.

Logan Stankoven, RW (Dallas Stars)

This one is different because he’s the only rookie on the list. But given how strong Stankoven’s NHL career started, he looked to be like a key piece of Dallas’ attack. Stankoven entered the season as one of the favorites to win the Calder Trophy, especially after playing so well with the Stars during his 24 regular season games last year. But he’s having a rough time producing in Dallas, and his ice time has fallen as a result. He had a nice three-point effort against Toronto in mid-January, but that accounts for nearly half of the seven points he has registered since Jan. 1. He recently found himself as a healthy scratch after returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

I wonder if a move back to center – a position he often dominated in junior – could help him get his production back on track. Stankoven is great at center but has played wing for most of his pro career. It worked in the AHL last year, but it feels like he’s not playing with the fearless instinct that made him so good last year. A bit of change might not hurt.

Timo Meier, RW (New Jersey Devils)

Meier is on pace to tie his 69-game production with the Devils from last season, despite having missed just one game in 2024-25. Meier is a three-time 30-goal scorer and would have made it four had he not missed 13 games last year. So to be on pace for just more than 20 – and with one goal all of 2025 – it’s been a step back for the top trade target from 2023. Meier’s struggles have been mostly isolated to the past two months. He started off strong and looked poised to chase down 70 points for the second time in his career.

There’s been some absolutely unlucky moments, for sure – and he’s been better in many facets of the game compared to last year. Nobody will deny that he still brings the energy every night. But his lack of production with a cap hit of $8.8 million until 2031 simply isn’t good enough.

Brock Boeser, RW (Vancouver Canucks)

You know how many notable UFAs go on an absolute tear before landing a shiny new contract? Boeser has seemingly gone the other way. A year ago, he set new career bests with 40 goals and 73 points. Boeser has missed seven games this year, but he’s on pace for just 27 goals and 53 points, giving him an 82-game pace of just 57. In fact, that would be his lowest full-season pace since he was on track for just 53 in 2021-22, and the third lowest of his NHL career. Maybe he’s not a consistent 40-goal guy – fine.

But last year, he found so many different ways of being effective with and without the puck and he just hasn’t been the game-breaker they’ve needed him to be this season. Boeser just hasn’t been the same since coming back from his early-season concussion. He’s been linked to multiple teams ahead of the trade deadline, so we’ll see if the Canucks elect to move on from their longest-tenured player.

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