Everyone dreams of making it to the NHL. Every player works their entire lives to be drafted and get a chance to perform in the big show. Perhaps it’s not stated enough, however, how much harder it is to succeed in the NHL compared to other leagues around the world. You’re working with the best coaches, playing with and against the best players, and working with general managers who might not be super willing to keep you around if you don’t produce consistent results.
The pressure is on day in and day out and it doesn’t go away until the season is over, only to start right back up again in training camp. Some players managed to find that consistent success, while others only succeeded for a little while. Here are the ten biggest one-year wonders in NHL history.
10. Andrew Hammond
For a minute there, it seemed like Hammond would be the Senators’ saving grace. He would instead shine too bright for his own good, burning himself out and being left for the wolves. Hammond entered the league undrafted in 2013, signing a two-year deal with the Senators. In the 2014-15 season, the Sens found themselves in a sticky situation. Both Robin Lehner and Craig Anderson were hurt, and they had no goalie. Desperate, they turned to Hammond, and boy did he deliver. He would go 20-1-2 with a goals-against average of 1.79 and a save percentage of .941. His stellar net minding would propel Ottawa into the playoffs and earn him the nickname “The Hamburglar.”
That would be the highlight of Hammond’s NHL career. He would have a decent follow-up season as a backup, but never fully recaptured that same spark and would spend most of his time in the AHL. His spectacular run in 2015 was a sight to behold, but unfortunately, he would retire in 2022 without ever truly recapturing the magic that made him “The Hamburglar.”
9. Cory Conacher
Another undrafted prospect and another Ottawa hope gone wrong, Conacher entered the league through the Tampa Bay Lightning. He would make his NHL debut in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. He would make an impact with Tampa, scoring 24 points in 35 games. Conacher was now seen as a potential star, and hoping to capitalize off of that in order to deepen their roster, Tampa would ship him off to Ottawa at the deadline for goaltender Ben Bishop. He would score another five points in 12 games with Ottawa. Fast forward to the 2013-14 season, and Conacher finds himself struggling.
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He would only score four goals and 16 assists in 60 games played. These struggles were made more painful for Ottawa as the goalie they gave up for him would immediately become a Vezina candidate. Not willing to dedicate any more time to Conacher, he was placed on waivers. He was claimed by Buffalo, but wouldn’t be offered a contract extension at the end of the season. He would be signed by the Islanders, but be placed on waivers again after just 15 games. After stints in the AHL, Conacher found himself back in Tampa, but would only play over 30 games once. He would never get higher than 12 points, a far cry from what he was hoped to become.
8. Jori Lehtera
Lehtera was drafted by the Blues in 2008, but wouldn’t play a game in the NHL until the 2014-15 season. At that time he would play in the KHL, before coming to St Louis on a two-year 5.5 million dollar contract. His rookie season immediately made St. Louis hopeful, scoring 14 goals and tallying 30 assists for 44 points in 75 games played. St. Louis was hoping he would add much-needed depth scoring.
The follow-up season saw him score 10 points less in four more games played, and the season after that saw another 12-point decrease. St. Louis would then trade Lehtera to Philadelphia alongside a draft pick for Brayden Schenn. Schenn would help St. Louis win the Cup just a couple of years later, whereas Lethera would fail to score over ten points in two seasons with Philly. He would then leave the NHL and head back to Europe, never quite living up to the hope he had created.
7. Andrew Raycroft
Raycroft captured the Calder trophy to start off his career with the Bruins. He made his NHL debut in 2003-04 and would go on to record 29 wins in his rookie season with a 2.06 GAA and an outstanding .926 save percentage. You can’t blame Boston for being excited and believing they had found their man. However, that would be as good as it gets.
After the lockout ended the next season, Boston would name Raycroft as their starting goalie the season after. He would post a terrible 8 wins in 30 games played with a 2.81 GAA and a .870 save percentage. He would find himself as the third string the very same year he was made starter. He would only post a save percentage above .900 three more times in his career.
6. Scott Bjugstad
The North Stars thought they had finally found their break. In the 1984-85 season, Scott Bjugstad would record just 11 goals and 4 assists for just 15 points. In the 1985-86 season, Bjugstad scored 43 goals and 33 assists for 76 points. That’s quite the jump and it was enough to get Minnesota excited for this young man’s future. That hope would be misplaced.
Bjugstad would never score over 20 goals again in his career. In fact, he would only score 10 goals one more time in his career. He never reached that level of success again, and Minnesota was forced to abandon that hope.
5. Jonathan Cheechoo
Cheechoo and Joe Thornton were supposed to lead Boston to glory. Thornton would go on to become one of the best centers in the league during his era. Cheechoo was not as lucky. After Thornton arrived in Boston in 2005, he and Cheecho supplemented each other beautifully. Cheecho would score 56 goals and 37 assists for a 93-point season and Thornton would win the Hart trophy.
While Thornton would continue to go on to be one of the best players in the league, Cheecho would find himself in a nose dive. He scored 37 goals and 32 assists for 69 points the next season which isn’t terrible, but that would be his last time ever scoring over 25 goals or even scoring over 40 points.
4. Wayne Babych
Babych played in the NHL for 13 years and would only score 192 goals. However, a good chunk of those were scored in one season. In 1980-81 Babych scored a whooping 54 goals and 42 assists for 96 points. The two seasons prior saw him put up 74 points, and 49 points respectively. He would only hit the 20-goal mark one more time in his entire career, with his highest point total since being a 54-point season in Pittsburgh.
3. Steve Penney
Penney was a late replacement hero. In 1984, Montreal’s coach was fed up with his other two goalies and in an attempt to shake things up named Penney the starter for the playoffs. Penney would shock the world and go on to win nine games while recording three shutouts as he led Montreal to the Conference Finals. They would fall in six games to the Islanders, and Penney was never able to perform the same.
Penney would get injured the next season and his starting role would be taken over by none other than Patrick Roy. Penney was of course unable to match Roy’s play, and despite his near-heroic playoff performance, he would be forgotten and traded away.
2. Jacques Richard
At one point in time, Richard was a very touted NHL prospect. An impressive junior career had teams after him in the draft, hoping he’d be the next superstar. For most of his career, he was anything but, never topping 50 points and having troubling off-ice behaviors as he bounced around teams. Then in the 1980-81 season, it seemed he had finally found his game.
Richard would tally 52 goals and 51 assists for 103 points and suddenly people were excited about him again. It would be short-lived, as Richard returned to his not-so-stellar play the year after, before finishing his career in 1983.
1. Jimmy Carson
Carson tops this list for a very specific reason and most die-hard fans will know what it is. If you’re the guy that Wayne Gretzky gets traded for, you better live up to the hype. While on the Kings, Carson would score 37 goals and 42 assists for 79 points. He would then follow that up with the best season of his career where he scored 55 goals and 52 assists for 107 points.
This was enough to make him the centerpiece of that iconic Gretzky trade. The thing is, Carson never lived up to that hype again. After a 100-point season in his first year with the Oilers, Carson would quickly fade into obscurity, only scoring over 30 goals one more time in his career. Edmonton gave up The Great One for that.
