Struggling Sophomores

The term “sophomore slump” is used to describe second-year NHLers struggling to replicate the magic they displayed during their rookie seasons.

Not all players flounder during their second seasons, though. Some continue the pace they established when they were rookies, and others take colossal steps forward – forward Tyler Seguin is already just one point shy of his 22-point total in 74 games last season, and defenceman Nick Leddy has already more than doubled his output from last year in less than half the games.

This list is for struggling sophs, though. Here are four:

Tyler Ennis

After a very successful rookie season during which the 5’9” forward showcased his skill and posted 49 points in 82 games, Ennis has run into some bad luck this season. After going without a point in his first seven games this year, Ennis was sidelined with an ankle injury and hasn’t played a game since.

Ennis faces some tough competition for ice time this season; the Buffalo Sabres added offensive forward Ville Leino over the off-season, and rookie Luke Adam is off to a hot start. Indeed, Ennis has averaged about three fewer minutes of ice time per game this year than he did last. He’s too talented to be kept off the score sheet for long, though.

Mark Letestu

Letestu was a pleasant surprise for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. An undrafted forward, he scored 14 goals and 27 points in 64 games and helped the Penguins accumulate 106 points despite missing each of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal for about half of the season.

This season didn’t start off too well, though. Letestu managed just one assist and a –6 rating in 11 games before he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The staggering Jackets might not seem like the best team with which to improve one’s stats, but the 26-year-old scored two goals in his first three games with Columbus and has averaged over 16 minutes of ice time per game.

Magnus Paajarvi

Stuck in the shadows of highly talented youngsters Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Paajarvi’s ice time has steadily decreased from the start of this season, bringing his average down to 12:34 per game – compared to 15:23 last year.

He wasn’t a high-scorer in his rookie year, with 34 points in 80 games for the Edmonton Oilers, but the 20-year-old has disappointed by managing just one assist in 17 games this season.

The Oilers have a much better set of offensive weaponry this season than last, so Paajarvi will have to play his way up the depth chart.

Mattias Tedenby

Another speedy Swede, Tedenby was supposed to take a step forward this season after posting 22 points in 58 games for the New Jersey Devils last year. He hasn’t logged a lot of ice time this year, but his measly three assists are nonetheless underwhelming, and the relatively low-scoring Devils need all the offence they can get.

Tedenby was made a healthy scratch last week because of his poor defensive play, and his role probably won’t become much greater until he’s improved that part of his game. What a strange concept – the Devils making sure their players are defensive wizards before rewarding them with significant ice time!