NHL Year in Review: Avalanche, Islanders among the league’s most disappointing teams

The SB Nation NHL Year in Review continues this Friday afternoon. We’ve looked at the most disappointing and surprising players, along with the teams that have shocked us in 2016.

Today brings to your screens the most disappointing teams of 2016. Whether they’ve been on a slow fall from grace or a sudden decline, or were once powerhouses in the NHL earlier in this calendar year, all of these teams have let us down in some way.

In the immortal words of Tyra Banks, we were all rooting for you, guys. Learn something from this.

A lot has gone wrong for the Avalanche this year. A disappointing 2015-16 season saw them fall to sixth in the Central Division with a 39–39–4 record. Head coach Patrick Roy resigned in mid-August, with differences in vision the key factor in his departure. A spark of hope was found in the hiring of Jared Bednar — the coach who took the Lake Erie Monsters to a Calder Cup championship in the AHL — but has since diminished with poor play.

Colorado sits as the league’s worst team at 23 points, and for good reason. Its goaltending has a combined .905 save percentage through 31 games. Young captain Gabriel Landeskog, among others in the Avalanche talented core, is unable to score. The Avalanche also have the NHL’s third-worst possession numbers, which they have yet to improve upon over the last several seasons.

Overall, it can easily be summed up like this.

Big pieces are sure to be shipped off sometime this season in an attempt to salvage the year. It’s quite a disappointment that Colorado hasn’t been able to get such a glut of young talent to work.

There’s still time for the Panthers to make the playoffs this season. Jaromir Jagr is pacing himself into the history books. Florida is just two points out of a top-three Atlantic Division spot, with a game in hand. And how can the Panthers possibly be a disappointment when we ranked them as one of the NHL’s most surprising teams just 24 hours ago?

Well, despite a playoff appearance last season, not all is well for the team from Sunrise.

A front-office overhaul caused tension with head coach Gerard Gallant, who was fired last month after a loss to Carolina. The image of Gallant taking a cab outside of PNC Arena was overblown, but still not a good look. Then conflicting reports over whether Dale Tallon, president of hockey operations, was taking back his general manager duties suggests disarray within the organization.

On ice, the Panthers are missing Jonathan Huberdeau’s 50-plus points thanks to a leg injury that’s kept the 23-year-old forward out since the start of the year. Florida has regressed a bit in net after Roberto Luongo put up Vezina-worthy numbers last season.

All that, plus a lack of offense that has Florida floundering in winnable games, is very much unlike that juggernaut that surprised many last season.

An expected disappointment, but a disappointment nonetheless. The Canucks had a bit of hope in the form of a 4-0 start to the 2016-17 season, but quickly came back to earth with just 10 wins since October 20.

Bad decisions like the Loui Eriksson deal combined with already unmovable contracts like the Sedin twins have made it hard for the Canucks to rebuild. Vancouver is at the end of its contention cycle, and general manager Jim Benning won’t let go of that one last glimmer of greatness. Benning and crew attempted to patchwork solutions to the Canucks’ problems but most likely made Vancouver weaker in the long run.

Oh, and there’s also this:

Oh, the Islanders. There’s such potential there. John Tavares is a star, but his talents only go so far on a team that’s been stuck in “ready to make that step” mode for the past few years. Andrew Ladd’s acquisition to bring veteran scoring to the table has turned into a bust, with just seven points in 32 games.

Not to mention the Islanders’ goaltending trio — the only one in the NHL — is underperforming, and the organization isn’t willing to let one ride some games into a hot streak. While the rest of the Metropolitan Division has risen, the Islanders have surprisingly fallen to third-worst in the NHL.

A win streak likely saved the job of head coach Jack Capuano last month, but as the Islanders continue to fall, that job might just be next on the market.

Injuries and underwhelming goaltending performances can sum up 2016 for the Stars quite well. Much like how Steven Stamkos landed on our list of disappointing players, the Stars round out this list because injuries derailed the thing that makes them so great: their explosive offense.

Take a look at the Stars’ list of injured players this season and you’ll see a lot of big names. Jason Spezza has played 27 games. Ales Hemsky is out for another few months with a hip injury. Patrick Sharp has battled concussion issues, and up-and-coming youngster Mattias Janmark is out long term with a knee injury. And that’s not even all of them.

Dallas also has a goaltending issue that’s yet to be solved. While Antti Niemi has been league average in net, Kari Lehtonen is on track for the worst season of his 13-year NHL career with a .894 save percentage.

All that, plus the struggles of last year’s rookie standout John Klingberg, have Dallas on the outside of the playoff bubble after winning the Central Division just a season ago.