Who Are The Worst Playoff Performers Of All Time?

[JKG33]

Relative to cap hit and regular season performance, there is no better answer than Matthews and Marner. Great, another Leafs thread

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Panarin deserves a honourable mention, he just dissappears in 5vs5 hockey come playoff time. Once again only one point through three games and abhorrent shot metrics when he's on the ice.

Man, I keep sayin this- he doesn’t play winning hockey, not in the playoffs at least. He’s like Adam Dunn, or one of those other home run hitters who was deficient at everything else.

Joe Thornton averaged 0.717 ppg in his career in the playoffs. That was a bit under his 0.900 regular season average.
But to call him a playoff choker is just histrionics. Very few players in the history of the game have outperformed their regular season averages in the playoffs. Thornton's numbers put him at 153rd all-time. Not amazing, but hardly scorn-worthy.
I think people remember one or two postseasons he had in Boston and it just became a label that was never updated and has been lazily repeated for so long that it's now "common knowledge".
Honestly, it reminds me of people who talk about the President's Trophy curse. It's parroting nonsense. Stop it.

Joe Thornton is an easy answer here. If I'm remembering this correctly, he appeared in 33 playoff series and he led ZERO of them in scoring. This is a guy who in his day was a regular Art Ross contender. Won the Hart.

But I'll also mention Keith Tkachuk. He may yet make the Hall of Fame, and probably should. A multiple 50-goal scorer and regular 40-goal type of player. Though they were short runs, three of his first four playoffs (two Winnipeg, one Phoenix) were actually quite productive. But, after that, when he was very much in his prime, he had 14 goals in 63 playoff games, which is bad.

(It's probably not fair to even mention him because he appeared in only 25 playoff games, but Dan Cloutier was brutal. In his 25 appearances, his stats show 27 goals against him above average. The thing is, though, nobody ever really thought he was anything special... except for Marc Crawford.)

Alex Mogilny was pretty poor, too, for large stretches of his playoff career (4 goals in 23 games when the Devils won the Cup). But he had some good years, too, so he doesn't really merit mention, I guess.

It's hard to say with Marcel Dionne. His numbers are mostly quite poor (esp. if you delete 1982, which was a fluky / weird playoff when the Kings upset Edmonton), but his teams were usually quite bad and overwhelmed in the first round, with atrocious goaltending. But, you know, if Steve Yzerman had had a career-ending injury in about 1995, we'd also be looking back at his playoff resume as similar to Dionne's. Sometimes, it's all about team context.

I have this whole Charlie Kelly Pepe Silvia conspiracy with Thornton, but it basically boils down to-

1) Injuries. Dude played through a torn ACL and MCL, so we know he was tough and willing to play through injury. He was a big body playing a ton of games, refusing to sit out, and I wonder if that wore him down by the time playoffs rolled around. Nobody loved the game more, so I just can’t imagine it was an effort/prep thing.
2) Strategy. I don’t think Thornton was any worse in the playoffs, but the spacing he feasted on just tightens up a bit in the playoffs. I’d say the team failed to adjust more than anything, Jumbo still made passes when they were there, dudes just flubbed shots and failed to establish position.
3) Marleau. I blame Marleau. Now there was a playoff stinker, and he just sunk Joe with him. Joe would never say that, too nice a guy, as is Pat, but that gentleman lacked any playoff snarl whatsoever.

In summary, Joe did nothing wrong, it was the cowardly Patrick Marleau all along.

Also, Nash is a weird one, because it just felt like he’d be good. Idk how to explain it better, but a lot of these guys I can create a narrative for, even if it’s my own biased BS. Nash I can’t, big scorer, shoulda been better.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Who do you think are the worst ever?

Who you got

 

[NVious]

Who you got

Toronto Maple Leafs 2020-21 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com

The roster, scoring and goaltender statistics for the 2020-21 Toronto Maple Leafs playing in the NHL.

www.hockeydb.com

 

[crosby87]

Obvious troll post is obvious.

it's clearly not meant to be taken srs or as bait lmao obviously no one thinks mcdavid is the worst playoff performer of all time. It's actually kind of wild how many took me srs instead of obviously making a joke to cope that mcdavid is gonna be ahead of crosby all time.

I guess i gotta blame the actual insane crosby fans that make ppl believe that post lol

 

[nbwingsfan]

Nyquist has 5(!!)G and 28pts in 75 playoff games

 

[nbwingsfan]

There was someone who had gone through his stats for game 7s and his stats for those were absolutely atrocious.
In case someone has them readily available it would be interesting to see them now that he's retired.

They’re not good no, but the Bruins also don’t get to those game 7s or two SCFs without him either

 

[sting101]

Marner and Matthews - are on a poor trajectory for such highly paid players. production isn't terrible but just the little subtle plays that identify players committed to winning have never stood out. Not much difference between game 65 and a playoff game at this stage

Rick Nash - his score off the rush style didn't work very well. Struggled in contained environments as he wasn't much of a playmaker and then he would lose his confidence and hands even. A bit mentally weak from what i witnessed

Joe Thornton - wasn't able to elevate his game and was always ripe for picking at chances going the other way. I don't think he was terrible he just couldn't break through and didn't shine defensively enough to make up for his inability to come up clutch.

Dave Andreychuk - His plodding skating and inability to do much other than PP made him pretty useless/invisible as a top F especially if Gilmour wasn't doing everything to get him chances. Ironically he did his best work near the end in TB when the expectations were little.

Pierre Turgeon - had the tin man nickname for a reason. The year Hunter took him out though he was playing excellent and looked to break through then that happened. Maybe a bit over maligned but early on he wasn't much for contact and skating through it

Alexei Yashin - Had little interest in ever playing hard or showing up beyond what he was paid for. The Islander players referred to Mike Peca as the real captain. Guy was a pathetic now show and probably the worst big scorer regular season player who was junk in the playoffs

Tyler Seguin - Bruins staff took a lot of criticism for moving on from Seguin but it looks like they were right about some of his inability to pay a price and make adjustments to his game. He's been largely a disappointment.

Michael Nylander - never looked that interested in playoff hockey. His kid William looked the same for the first few until he redeemed himself the last couple playoffs. Although not sure what is going on this year as there seems to be a story that is being kept quiet. Loved the chirps last night about he's looking ready with no shirt his earrings and chains on.

From my Canucks Markus Naslund was always disappointing and Dan Cloutier was a nightmare in goal. His whole demeanor was awful as you could almost see the pressure dripping off his forehead. Elias Pettersson is looking awful this year but he's been in a funk since his big contract so it's not just a playoff thing he's let the new expectations go to his head and was excellent in 2020.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Rask has a .925 career playoff SV% 27 GSAA for his career in the playoffs. His playoff numbers are actually better than his regular season numbers.

Doesn't matter what numbers you have if you choke in the biggest games.

2010 - Bruins up 3-0 on Flyers in both the series and Game 7 of Round 2, loses 4-3 (on 27 shots)
2013 - Gives up 2 goals in the final minute to lose to the Hawks in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals
2014 - Gives up 4 goals on 28 shots in Game 6 and 3 goals on 18 shots in Game 7 against Montreal in Round 2
2017 - Gives up 3 goals on 29 shots against in Game 6 vs. Ottawa in first round, gets caught way out of position on OT winner
2018 - .896 in 4 straight losses vs. Tampa in 2nd Round
2019 - Gives up 4 goals on 20 shots, lets in 2 of 4 shots in the 1st period in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals
2020 - Opts out in the middle of the playoffs after losing 3 out of 4 starts

 

[Turin]

Did you watch the Jets Oilers series?

Good point, but also, the bubble was a strange time

 

[nbwingsfan]

Doesn't matter what numbers you have if you choke in the biggest games.

2010 - Bruins up 3-0 on Flyers in both the series and Game 7 of Round 2, loses 4-3 (on 27 shots)
2013 - Gives up 2 goals in the final minute to lose to the Hawks in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals
2014 - Gives up 4 goals on 28 shots in Game 6 and 3 goals on 18 shots in Game 7 against Montreal in Round 2
2017 - Gives up 3 goals on 29 shots against in Game 6 vs. Ottawa in first round, gets caught way out of position on OT winner
2018 - .896 in 4 straight losses vs. Tampa in 2nd Round
2019 - Gives up 4 goals on 20 shots, lets in 2 of 4 shots in the 1st period in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals
2020 - Opts out in the middle of the playoffs after losing 3 out of 4 starts

It absolutely does matter when it was his play that gave his team those chances in the 1st place.

He was the far and away favourite for the Conn Smythe if Boston won one single extra game in 2019 for example.

 

[Peltz]

Stamkos in this generation, versus expectation and skill level. Thornton and the Sedins, and Marleau did little for me in the previous generation (if one separates these). Bobrovsky was awful outside of that 2019 series, but there's potential that he's turning that around late in his career on a team that can play D (this year and last, of course).

Marcel Dionne, on his one line team, became a little easier to deal with in the postseason.

Andy Bathgate in the O6 era, same could be said there.

Alexei Yashin seemed to leave a lot on the table, not that his teams were stacked. Selanne is kind of weird case in this regard. His stats probably are too strong of a case against his contribution,.but he still seemed to leave something on the bone...it also felt like he was always against a buzz saw or he was hurt...

No one should have expected anything from them, but Lalime and Cloutier flat out gave away series whenever they could it seemed like...

Stamkos? Are you kidding me?

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Iginla. Overrated fake tough guy loser.

 

[ItWasJustified]

He was the far and away favourite for the Conn Smythe if Boston won one single extra game in 2019 for example.

So he choked away both the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe. Doesn't make the argument for not being a choker any stronger, sorry.

 

[Fourier]

McDavid.

He's a playoff McNothingburger.

I have to think this is pure trolling. People can't really believe this do they?

 

[Steven Toast]

Selanne had very disappointing totals in the postseason. 44-44-88 in 130 GP. Mostly playing in the playoffs post age 30 has something to do with this.

 

[behemolari]

Matthews

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Man, I keep sayin this- he doesn’t play winning hockey, not in the playoffs at least. He’s like Adam Dunn, or one of those other home run hitters who was deficient at everything else.




I have this whole Charlie Kelly Pepe Silvia conspiracy with Thornton, but it basically boils down to-

1) Injuries. Dude played through a torn ACL and MCL, so we know he was tough and willing to play through injury. He was a big body playing a ton of games, refusing to sit out, and I wonder if that wore him down by the time playoffs rolled around. Nobody loved the game more, so I just can’t imagine it was an effort/prep thing.
2) Strategy. I don’t think Thornton was any worse in the playoffs, but the spacing he feasted on just tightens up a bit in the playoffs. I’d say the team failed to adjust more than anything, Jumbo still made passes when they were there, dudes just flubbed shots and failed to establish position.
3) Marleau. I blame Marleau. Now there was a playoff stinker, and he just sunk Joe with him. Joe would never say that, too nice a guy, as is Pat, but that gentleman lacked any playoff snarl whatsoever.

In summary, Joe did nothing wrong, it was the cowardly Patrick Marleau all along.

Also, Nash is a weird one, because it just felt like he’d be good. Idk how to explain it better, but a lot of these guys I can create a narrative for, even if it’s my own biased BS. Nash I can’t, big scorer, shoulda been better.

Thornton was the problem with the Sharks because he wouldn't shoot. The most goals he scored in a playoff year was 3. That's 3, Even when they played 24 games. He would not take a shot. As you said things tighten up in the playoffs and a one dimensional player like Thornton was relatively easy to neutralize. Marleau was effective in the playoffs. Before Thornton, he, Damphousse and Nabokov pretty much beat Roy and the Avs by themselves.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Can it be a team? Asking for a friend. I have two in mind. One is last 13 years and other is 1967.

 

[HanSolo]

This Oilers team is different man, they have solid depth

We'll see. I won't sit here and argue that McDavid is dragging all of them kicking and screaming but there's a pretty marked difference with this team between when McDavid plays and when he doesn't.

 

[HanSolo]

Pretty sure it was that series, but the biggest thing I remember was Marchy serving a penalty and when it expired the penalty box dude wasn't letting him out of the box.

Yeah I have a vague recollection of that. And a less vague recollection of Wilson boarding Marchessault from behind (no injury so there wasn't that much noise compared to Wilson's hit on, say, ZAR) and Reaves waiting until after the playoffs, probably on Gallant's restrictions, to start taking runs at Wilson.

Also remember how it all started going to shit after Imagine Dragons played which birthed the Imagine Dragons curse. I don't ever think I've heard their music played at T-Mobile since then.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

Hellebuyck.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

They’re not good no, but the Bruins also don’t get to those game 7s or two SCFs without him either

And why are game 7 stats the only significant stat? What if Boston clinches in game 6 and he steals the game. Maybe series clinching and elimination stats are more meaningful.

 

[MattMartin]

Yashin was brutal

 

[John Mandalorian]

Monahan has to be up there. Invisible.

Several Montreal fans have been loitering around the Avs vs Jets thread(s). Initially there was some finger wagging about Allen vs Georgiev. But you know the real reason for the loitering was to peacock about Monahan. Habs fans are still looking in and reading this. It’s their culture to do this.