Fantasy Hockey Slumping Superstars: Matvei Michkov, J.T. Miller, MacKenzie Weegar, and More

Folks, we've said it before, and we'll say it again: This year seems like the next season of Stranger Things because everything is in “the upside down!” We continue to have slumping superstars who have not yet hit their expected stride, and we are now into December already.

There are a couple surprises and some expectations that might be too high considering the player, the team, and the bizarre standings we still currently have. 

Let's take a look at each of these players and break down where they are at and why it's likely too late for them to turn it around this far into the season. I mean, at what point do we start to lose hope, or are we looking through a rose-tinted visor - hoping for a back-half explosive performance?

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Matvei Michkov - Philadelphia Flyers

When your franchise player has been demoted from the top line all the way down to the third, that's an orange flag. Michkov is having the worst stretch in his entire (short) NHL career.

Why is that an orange flag and not a red one? It's not a play on team colors, but the Flyers aren't in a terrible spot. They sit third in their division and are seeing moderate success on the season.

Michkov has even been bumped off of the top powerplay unit, which doesn't help his production, however given the small sample size of this season, it is evident that Michkov is a streaky player. He is either scoring in bunches or not at all.

He has had three-game goal-scoring streaks followed by three-game pointless droughts and also scored multiple goals in a game. I do think this is a sophomore superstar trying to find his footing in the league more than a panic mode for fantasy owners. The doom and gloom looks much better if you are in a keeper or dynasty league, however if you are in a redraft league, you may want to look to move Michkov if he has not improved closer to the trade deadline.

Michkov has eight goals, six assists, and three powerplay points in 24 games played as a forward. He also has 48 shots on goal, 14 hits, and six blocked shots.

J.T. Miller - New York Rangers

Let's just call a spade a spade here - Miller is not living up to what he should on this roster, especially given the talent he is surrounded by. The newly named captain had high expectations to lead this team back to President's Trophy calibre. While it is no secret the Rangers are on year two of their struggles, they certainly have a formidable amount of depth and talent on the roster.

Miller is playing a top-six role on one of the best powerplay units in the league alongside other superstar players, including Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Adam Fox.

Miller was a point-per-game player last year, and the year before, and the year before that.. Do we see a pattern here? In this, his first year as the captain of the original six franchise, Miller and his teammates are still reeling from Jacob Trouba's departure. 

The veteran may be able to pick it up, as other Rangers are slowly showing signs of life, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that Miller may still hold value, even in re-draft leagues. One asset going for him is that he is a physical player, so his peripherals keep his floor quite high, even if he is not producing at his regular point-per-game pace.

Miller has seven goals, seven assists, and four powerplay points in 25 games played as a forward. He also has 52 shots on goal, 59 hits, and nine blocked shots.

MacKenzie Weegar - Calgary Flames

Bangers league legend and defensive mainstay. Deja vu perhaps, but Weegar has still been unable to out-hit his way off of a sad list such as this. So many top picks wasted this year on Weegar, though if you're in a bangers league, Weegar still has value with hits and blocked shots, but there are many budget-friendlier options you could have gotten much cheaper and later in the draft.

If you built your defensive core around Weegar as your physical player, then my condolences. In most leagues, because of the Flames performance and terrible goal differential this season, Weegar seems like an asset being anchored down by the franchise he plays for - who cannot decide if they are rebuilding, re-tooling, selling, or buying.

If I had Weegar on my roster, I would make the same decision as if I were the recently extended Flames general manager, Craig Conroy: I would sell every Flames asset I have and start over.

Burning it down with purpose seems a much wiser decision than letting it burn down and not calling 911, doesn't it? Weegar has an unrosterable +/- rating 25 games into the season at a -20. That is a hole he cannot dig out of, so look to move him for name value before the trade deadline.

Weegar has zero goals, two assists, and one powerplay point in six games played as a defenseman. He also has five shots on goal, 17 hits, and eight blocked shots.

Jordan Kyrou - St. Louis Blues

The Blues are having the blues. Kyrou should be one of the team's most dynamic forwards and leading in point production, but he just cannot get it going. It makes it difficult when he has little to no help, but an elite talent such as him should be the spark the team needs. He has done it before but seems to just be smoldering and struggling to see the success of seasons past.

At this rate, we will not see anywhere close to the regular 70+ point pace we are used to seeing from him. With most other superstars on this list, his deployment is elite, and he is stapled to the powerplay, but the morale and production around the Blues is so low that he just cannot piece it together.

Really, any Blues player should be moved off of your roster at this point without hesitation. Between Calgary and St. Louis, they should be all flagged as “do not roster” for the remainder of the year - even as streamers.

Kyrou has seven goals, seven assists, and two powerplay points in 25 games played as a forward. He also has 63 shots on goal, three hits, and 11 blocked shots.

Steven Stamkos - Nashville Predators

We've been here before, and somehow, still three-quarters of the leagues out there are still holding onto Stamkos like some sort of longshot lottery ticket. Nashville continues to be bad, and so does Stamkos. That's not a knock at the former Stanley Cup champion, but again, his glory days are behind him.

Stammers still has elite deployment, and even with elite talent such as Filip Forsberg feeding him, he is still struggling to bury it. While he did have two games with two points each last week, the game previous he was -3 and also followed it up with another minus game with -3 against the Winnipeg Jets.

Let's sum this up: -3 plus/minus. 2 point effort. 2 point effort. -3 again. Yikes! Further, he is a minus player on the campaign at an abysmal -10.

The ups and downs are similar to a rollercoaster at Six Flags, and you wouldn't bet your lunch that you could get on a ride there that was even keel, so why would you bet your season on someone whose season looks like a heart rate monitor?

Trade him and get something back while his name does still hold value before the trade deadline, before you're forced to drop him to the waiver wire.

Stamkos has six goals, three assists, and two powerplay points in 25 games played as a forward. He also has 47 shots on goal, 19 hits, and 11 blocked shots.