If your team misses the playoffs, the season was a failure and there\u2019s nothing to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Or at least, that\u2019s typically what fans are told, especially at this time of year. And often, it\u2019s true enough. But not always, because even a season that doesn\u2019t lead to a playoff run can still have its highlights. Like, for example, a player who puts together a season for the ages, despite all the losing.<\/p>\n
That sort of success seems worth recognizing. So today\u2019s assignment is simple: Let\u2019s go through all 32 teams and highlight the single best season any player has ever had in a year where they still didn\u2019t make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n
The Ducks have had two players hit the 50-goal mark in a non-playoff season, and you can probably guess who they are. Paul Kariya had 50 in 1995-96, which was all the more impressive for being just his second NHL season. But I\u2019m going to go with Teemu Selanne and his 52-goal campaign in 1997-98, which still stands as the franchise\u2019s single-season record. It was so impressive that Selanne was a finalist for the Hart despite the (Mighty) Ducks missing the playoffs by 13 points.<\/p>\n
Boston Bruins<\/p>\n
Despite having a ton of history to draw from, we don\u2019t have to go very far back to find a Bruins candidate. That would be David Pastrnak, who had 43 goals and 106 points last year, while also being one of the only Bruins to make it through the whole season without being traded.<\/p>\n
Buffalo Sabres<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve got lots of options to choose from here, including multiple Rasmus Dahlin seasons and Rick Martin\u2019s 52 goals in 1973-74. But as with most attempts to find a \u201cbest\u201d of just about anything with the Sabres, this one ends with everyone looking up at Dominik Hasek. Specifically, his 1995-96 season in which he led the league with both a .920 save percentage and 43.3 goals saved above average. Note that this was considered a bad year by Hasek\u2019s standards; it was the only season in a six-year stretch where he didn\u2019t both win the Vezina and be a Hart finalist. What a bum.<\/p>\n
Calgary Flames<\/p>\n
There are two strong candidates from the 1991-92 team, with Gary Roberts scoring 53 goals while Al MacInnis added 20 from the blue line. But there\u2019s no surprise over who I\u2019m going with here: One of my all-time favorites<\/a>, Jarome Iginla. This will, of course, be his 2001-02 campaign, which saw him put up 52 goals and 96 points to win both the Rocket Richard and the Art Ross. But not, somehow, the Hart \u2014 he finished tied for first with Jose Theodore, who won on the tie breaker. Why yes, I do plan to die mad about that, thanks for checking.<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n If we\u2019re counting the Whalers years, we could go with Blaine Stoughton\u2019s 52 goals, or maybe somebody such as Brendan Shanahan or Geoff Sanderson, or even Zarley Zalapski. But we\u2019ll keep it in Carolina, which means I think we give the nod to Cam Ward back in 2010-11, when he led the league in games, minutes, shots and saves and somehow still had the energy to put up a .923 season and finish a career-best seventh in Vezina voting.<\/p>\n Chicago Blackhawks<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s weirder: that we have a Hart Trophy winner available to us, or that he\u2019s barely in the running. That would be Al Rollins, the beleaguered goalie on the 1953-54 team that finished last while hanging him out to dry so badly that he got the Hart in one of the weirdest pity votes in sports history. Instead, we\u2019ll go with Bobby Hull, whose 58 goals didn\u2019t just lead the league in 1968-69, but stood as the most any player had ever had in NHL history to that point.<\/p>\n Colorado Avalanche<\/p>\n The offensive ranks are dominated by Nordiques, including 100-plus point seasons by Joe Sakic, Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet. I\u2019ll give the nod to Joe Sakic, but we\u2019ll make it the 2006-07 version, who had 100 points on the nose at the age of 36 in what would turn out to be the last full season of his career.<\/p>\n Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n We\u2019ll pause here so you can all get your \u201cisn\u2019t every year of Blue Jackets history a non-playoff year\u201d jokes off, because Columbus actually serves up three very strong candidates. We could go with Rick Nash\u2019s 2003-04 season, in which he earned a share of the Rocket Richard with the genuinely hilarious stat line of 41 goals and 16 assists. There\u2019s last year\u2019s Zach Werenski campaign (and maybe this year\u2019s too). But I\u2019m going to go with Sergei Bobrovsky in 2012-13, in which he made his Blue Jackets debut by winning his first of two Vezinas.<\/p>\n Dallas Stars<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got lots of North Stars history to choose from, including some impressive seasons from Dino Ciccarelli, Brian Bellows and Bill Goldsworthy. Dallas doesn\u2019t give us quite as much to work with, which means we probably have no choice but to go with Jamie Benn and his 2014-15 season that saw him lead the league in scoring. That\u2019s right, an Art Ross despite a playoff miss. Impressive, right? Please don\u2019t ask how many points he had.<\/p>\n Detroit Red Wings<\/p>\n With all due respect to DGB favorite Reed Larson, who managed 60-plus points from the blue line while missing the playoffs five different times, this one ends up being easy. With a nod to Marcel Dionne\u2019s 121 points in 1974-75, it has to be Steve Yzerman and his 62 goals and 127 points in 1989-90.<\/p>\n Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n The Gretzky-era Oilers never missed the playoffs, and the decade of darkness doesn\u2019t offer us much beyond the occasional solid season from Sheldon Souray or Devan Dubnyk, so this is going to come down to Connor McDavid vs. Leon Draisaitl. While Draisaitl can boast a 50-goal season in 2018-19, I\u2019ll go with Connor McDavid and his 108-point Art Ross win in 2017-18.<\/p>\n Florida Panthers<\/p>\n A funny thing about Panthers history is that it\u2019s chock full of goaltenders having excellent seasons and missing the playoffs anyway. On most teams, Roberto Luongo\u2019s 2003-04 season would be an easy pick, given he led the league in goals saved above average while finishing as a Vezina finalist. But I think he\u2019s narrowly beaten out by John Vanbiesbrouck in 1993-94, as the former Ranger stood on his head for a brand-new expansion team, finishing as Vezina runner-up and a Hart finalist. (Bronze goes to Pavel Bure\u2019s 59 goals in 2000-01.)<\/p>\n Los Angeles Kings<\/p>\n It\u2019s another tough break for Marcel Dionne, whose 56 goals and 107 points in 1982-83 would top most teams. Not the Kings, though, as the first ever career playoff miss by Wayne Gretzky in 1993-94 came with a league-leading 92 assists and an Art Ross-winning 130 points.<\/p>\n Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n Don\u2019t sleep on Niklas Backstrom\u2019s 2008-09, Dwayne Roloson\u2019s 2003-04 or even Manny Fernandez\u2019s 2005-06. But we don\u2019t have to overthink this one, and can hand the honors to Kirill Kaprizov and his 96 points two years ago.<\/p>\n Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n As you\u2019d expect, there are plenty of excellent goaltending seasons to choose from, including Carey Price in 2018-19. And nobody has ever had more points in a Montreal playoff miss than Nick Suzuki\u2019s 77 two years ago, which narrowly beats out Saku Koivu\u2019s 75 in 2006-07. But if you give me access to this much history, you know I\u2019m going to use it, so let\u2019s go all the way back to Newsy Lalonde and his league-leading 43 points in just 24 games in 1920-21. He didn\u2019t win the Art Ross or the Hart because neither award even existed yet, but he does get bonus points for being named \u201cNewsy.\u201d<\/p>\n Nashville Predators<\/p>\n It occurs to me that I must be a modern-day Hart voter because I\u2019ve been ignoring defensemen so far. If any team can change that, it has to be the Predators, so let\u2019s go with a 23-goal season from Shea Weber. That only narrows it down to two years, 2008-09 or 2013-14. I\u2019ll go with the latter, which saw a more grizzled version of Weber named a Norris finalist.<\/p>\n New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n Unlike other teams, we already know we won\u2019t have any 50-goal or 100-point seasons to choose from, because it\u2019s the Devils<\/a>. I\u2019m tempted to go with defenseman Tom Kurvers, racking up 66 points in 1988-89, which is the sort of season that convinces dumb teams to trade for you the following year. But this is just going to end up being a Martin Brodeur season, and we might as well accept that. We\u2019ll go with his 1995-96 season, in which a 23-year-old Brodeur played 77 games and posted a (for the time excellent) 2.34 goals against average and .911 save percentage while finishing fourth in Vezina voting.<\/p>\n New York Islanders<\/p>\n The right answer here is probably Ilya Sorokin\u2019s 2021-22 season, which saw him post a career-best .925 save percentage. But just for fun, I\u2019m going to go with one of my favorite Hall of Very-Good guys: Ziggy Palffy, and his 48 goals and 90 points from the 1996-97 fishstick squad.<\/p>\n New York Rangers<\/p>\n We could make John Vanbiesbrouck our first two-time winner, or go with Henrik Lundqvist or maybe Brian Leetch in 2000-01. But I think this one has to be Andy Bathgate, who scored 40 goals to win his only Hart despite a playoff miss in 1958-59.<\/p>\n Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n Another easy call, with apologies to that 90-point Tim St\u00fctzle season. The only question is which Erik Karlsson season you want to go with. I\u2019ll take 2015-16, in which he led the league in assists with 66 on his way to 82 points and a Norris runner-up finish.<\/p>\n Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n We\u2019re going back to the \u201990s for this one, and you could make a fantastic case that it should be Mark Recchi, who had 53 goals and 123 points in 1992-93. But so did everyone else, which is why it remains the greatest season in NHL history<\/a>. I\u2019m going to jump ahead a year and go with Eric Lindros in 1993-94. When you weren\u2019t using him to crush one-timers on your little brother in NHL \u201994, he was scoring 44 goals and 97 points while dominating the game physically in a way we\u2019d never quite seen before. But yeah, mostly the NHL \u201994 thing.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n With all due respect to Paul Coffey\u2019s 103 points from the blue line in 1989-90, this one\u2019s easy. It is, of course, going to be Mario Lemieux, and specifically his 70-goal, 168-point season in 1987-88. It\u2019s the single greatest year by a non-playoff player ever, so good that he won the Hart Trophy nearly unanimously despite the Penguins missing the playoffs by a single point on the final night of the season. Along with Rollins and Bathgate, it\u2019s the third and to this day still last time MVP voters honored a playoff miss.<\/p>\n San Jose Sharks<\/p>\n And here\u2019s our first two-time winner. Only one player in franchise history can beat Timo Meier\u2019s 76 points in 2021-22, and it\u2019s a defenseman. Come on back, Erik Karlsson, as your 101-point Norris win from 2022-23 laps the field and then some.<\/p>\n Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n So here\u2019s a fun thing I learned: Excluding their lone playoff appearance in 2022-23, the Kraken have only had one player in their history receive any postseason award votes at all that weren\u2019t for the Lady Byng. If you knew that was Joey Daccord getting two third-team all-star votes in 2023-24 then \u2026 well, I\u2019m guessing you\u2019re Joey Daccord.<\/p>\n St. Louis Blues<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a cool trivia question about Brett Hull: Not counting his aborted five-game comeback with the Coyotes after the lockout, he played 18 full NHL seasons, starting in 1986-87 with the Flames and ending in 2003-04 with the Red Wings. How many postseason appearances did he make? The answer is \u2026 19, because he actually debuted with a pair of games in the 1986 playoffs. In other words, our pick will not be Brett Hull, for the Blues, or anyone else. Let\u2019s go with Alex Pietrangelo, who had a career-best 54 points in 2017-18.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n Another easy one, as Steven Stamkos actually offers us a pair of Rocket Richard seasons. I\u2019ll take his 60-goal season in 2011-12. It\u2019s one of only four times in NHL history that a player has had 60 goals while missing the postseason. We\u2019ve met two of the others, Lemieux and Yzerman. The fourth hasn\u2019t been mentioned \u2026 yet. Can you figure out who it is before we get to him?<\/p>\n Toronto Maple Leafs<\/p>\n We have a pair of 50-goal seasons from Rick Vaive, plus 90-point seasons from Mats Sundin and Eddie Olczyk and whole bunch of Phil Kessel. But I\u2019ll reach back to 1967-68, when the Leafs followed up their most recent Cup win with a playoff miss despite getting .934 goaltending from not one but two goalies. In this house, we respect Bruce Gamble, but I\u2019m still going with 43-year-old Johnny Bower.<\/p>\n Utah Mammoth<\/p>\n If we\u2019re counting the Coyotes, it\u2019s probably Sean Burke from 2000-01. If we\u2019re also counting the original Jets (which we should not<\/a>), then it\u2019s Dale Hawerchuk in 1988-89. But since the league insists that this is a brand new franchise, we only have last year to work with. And that\u2019s OK, because Clayton Keller quietly racked up 90 points.<\/p>\n Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got three excellent Quinn Hughes seasons to choose from here, plus the 102-point Elias Pettersson year that convinced us all that he\u2019d be an elite superstar forever. But I\u2019m still salty about having to skip Pavel Bure from some goalies in the Panthers section, so his 51 goals and 90 points for the 1997-98 team get the nod here. Don\u2019t argue with me, Canucks fans, I could have picked someone else from that team<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n They\u2019ve only missed the playoffs once, in 2021-22, and all the members of that team were immediately invited to a gathering at Kelly McCrimmon\u2019s house and then never seen again. Let\u2019s give the nod to Jonathan Marchessault for his 30-goal season and move on.<\/p>\n Washington Capitals<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a twist: We\u2019ve arrived at that fourth and final 60-goal scorer, and it\u2019s not Alexander Ovechkin. Instead, we\u2019re going to go with Dennis Maruk, who had an eye-popping 60 goals and 136 points for the 1981-82 team that mustered just 65 points while missing the playoffs for the eighth time in eight seasons.<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n Ilya Kovalchuk had a pair of 52-goal seasons from the Thrashers days, but you know we\u2019re not using those. We could turn to a personal favorite in Dustin Byfuglien, who had 20 goals for the 2013-14 edition of the Jets. But the simpler answer here is probably the right one, so we\u2019ll finish our list with Kyle Connor and his 47 goals and 93 points from 2021-22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If your team misses the playoffs, the season was a failure and there\u2019s nothing to celebrate. 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