THN.com/podcast. From THN On The 'E': Mandolese's Epic NHL Debut, Senators Prospects and More Cory Conacher [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk5NjM4NjU3NTA0NjUwMzQz/usatsi_7056450.jpg] Cory Conacher At risk of an understatement, it’s hard to play in the NHL – let alone hang around for a long time. Some of the greatest hockey players in the world become depth players in the league, and many more only get a handful of games if they’re lucky enough to get a call-up. So when a player torches the NHL, that’s no feat to scoff at. A spectacular season can build high expectations for a player, and from then on out, they’re judged in comparison to that one season. Not everyone lives up to their new tag, and many can fall off just a couple of seasons after they got everything together. These players practically become legends themselves – Jonathan Cheechoo’s Rocket Richard Trophy win in 2005-06, or Scott Bjugstad scoring 43 of his 76 career goals in the 1985-86 season. One-year wonders aren’t exclusive to bygone hockey eras. Plenty have kicked around the league in recent years, with varying degrees of impressive production falling to the wayside in later seasons. In a mix of journeymen, depth players and rookies who started off with a big year, here are 10 one-hit wonders of the past 10 seasons. CONOR SHEARY Sheary showed he could score throughout a successful NCAA career at UMass, and he tore up the AHL once he signed with the Penguins. But Sheary’s stick was never hotter than his 2016-17 campaign. The winger put up 23 goals and 53 points – his highest totals since high school – and finished the year with a plus-24 rating. His play helped the Penguins win their second consecutive Stanley Cup. That high-water mark wasn’t meant to last, however. He’s hovered around the 30-point territory in a largely depth role ever since. He did manage a 43-point season for the Capitals in 2021-22, but at 31 years old, the 50-point plateau seems ever distant for Sheary. ANDREW HAMMOND ‘The Hamburglar’ – need I say more? With Robin Lehner and Craig Anderson injured late in the 2014-15 season, the struggling Ottawa Senators turned to Hammond to come up big, and he turned in a legendary performance. Hammond’s famed 20-1-2 run with a .941 save percentage and 1.79 goals-against average might be the single-most impressive stretch of games for any goalie – so impressive, in fact, that it propelled the then-lowly Senators to the playoffs. However, Hammond had a hard time living up to the hype in later seasons. He played average as the backup in 2015-16, then spent the rest of his career playing mostly AHL games. He retired in December 2022, but his memorable run is still a warm memory for the Ottawa faithful. WILLIAM KARLSSON It’s hard to call a consistent NHLer who just won the Cup a one-hit wonder, but everything Karlsson has done has been mere gold status compared to his triple-platinum 2017-18 season. As one of the original ‘Golden Misfits,’ Karlsson helped the Golden Knights make a surprise run to the Stanley Cup final. He scored 43 goals – third in the Rocket Richard race and six off winner Alex Ovechkin – and 78 points in a season where he won the Lady Byng. Since then, Karlsson has been displaced by the likes of Jack Eichel and Chandler Stephenson. On a much deeper team, ‘Wild Bill’ has only broken the 20-goal mark once, with 24 in 2018-19. But if you asked him in June, when he hoisted the 2023 Stanley Cup over his head, he probably wouldn’t care much. His one-hit season was foundational in the success of the Golden Knights, and he’s still a valuable contributor for the team with whom he broke through as a bona fide NHLer. CORY CONACHER The Cory Conacher-Ben Bishop trade was a headline move during the 2012-13 season, as Tampa Bay traded Conacher to Ottawa in exchange for its future starting goalie. It’s easy to see why — Conacher burst onto the scene for 24 points in 35 games in the lockout-shortened campaign, ranking fifth on the Lighting. He was deemed a high-value asset, one the Senators could use in the top six while alleviating a crowded goalie room. How did that trade work out for the Sens? Well, after scoring another five points in 12 games for Ottawa, Conacher barely reached 20 points in 60 games the next season as a pending UFA. So the Senators put him on waivers, and Buffalo grabbed him. Then he went on a journeyman’s voyage, playing for 10 different teams in three separate leagues since then. Conacher is still playing, but he’s never come close to his high-scoring pace from his rookie year. WILL BUTCHER When he signed with the Devils after winning the Hobey Baker Award and the 2017 NCAA championship with Denver, Butcher projected as a future pillar of the New Jersey blueline. The puck-moving defenseman made a big impression in 2017-18, ranking third on the team with 44 points and keeping up his scoring touch for the playoffs. Then, Butcher steadily declined. He scored 30 points but went minus-17 the next season as the Devils took a big step back, followed by 21 points in 2019-20. During the abridged 2020-21 season, he had 11 points in 23 games. The Buffalo Sabres traded for him in 2021-22, but a change of scenery didn’t rekindle his scoring touch in what stands as his last NHL appearance. Now, he’s on a two-way deal with the Penguins looking to revamp his career, a far cry from that big rookie year. JOE COLBORNE Drafted 16th overall in 2008, Colborne had a slow start to his career that saw him traded to the Leafs for Tomas Kaberle, then moved to Calgary after just 16 games in the Blue and White. But for his hometown team in the Flames, he started to right the ship with back-to-back 28-point seasons. That teed up a 44-point campaign in 2015-16, making it seem like Colborne had finally broken through his struggles. But even after that breakthrough season, the Flames left him untendered as an RFA, and Colborne signed with Colorado. The first game of 2016-17 reinforced the narrative that he had figured it all out, as he scored a hat trick in his Avs debut. But then he only scored a single goal the rest of the year, and injuries unfortunately ended his career the next season. JUSTIN SCHULTZ Schultz is still a quality NHLer, playing his most recent season for the upstart Seattle Kraken. But much like Karlsson, he’s on this list because one season stands out above the rest. During the 2016-17 season when Pittsburgh’s top defenseman, Kris Letang, struggled with injury, Schultz made up the difference with a 51-point campaign and kept pace in the playoffs as the Pens won the Cup. Schultz even got the 10th-most Norris votes for his efforts. But since then, Schultz’s play has been distant from that season as his scoring dried up, and he’s taken on a different role. He has stuck to a second-pairing job for the most part, so he hasn’t been asked to activate as he did in that banner 2016-17 season. ANTON KHUDOBIN On his sixth NHL team in 11 seasons, career backup goaltender Anton Khudobin struck gold in 2019-20. With a .930 save percentage and 2.22 goals-against average, he led the Dallas Stars to third place in the Western Conference after starter Ben Bishop struggled with a meniscus tear. In that span, Khudobin saved 17.8 goals above average. But then the COVID-19 pandemic shut the league down until the summer playoff bubble, and no one knew how players would fare after laying dormant for multiple months. For Khudobin, it must’ve offered a chance to rest and recharge because he came back in a similar stellar form. Against the best of the West, he earned a .917 save percentage and 2.69 goals-against average while leading the Stars to the Stanley Cup final. There, they lost to Tampa Bay in six games. Since then, the aging Khudobin has significantly regressed. His 32 games the following year saw a dip into .905/2.54 territory. In the past two seasons, the 36-year-old Khudobin has only played 10 NHL games. Retirement may be his next destination, but Khudobin’s legacy might be that big 2020 playoff run. KEITH KINKAID Remember that 2018 New Jersey Devils squad? Butcher played a stellar season on the blueline as previously discussed. Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier also kicked off their Devils careers. Taylor Hall even won the Hart after pacing the New Jersey offense all season. But often ignored is one guy between the pipes – then-28-year-old Keith Kinkaid – who played the better half in his tandem with Corey Schneider. Kinkaid put up a .913 save percentage and 2.77 goals-against average, important contributions for a team that wasn’t predicated on offensive fireworks. Kinkaid rose to the challenge presented to him, earning a 26-10-3 record before getting torched in a 4-1 first-round playoff series loss to Tampa Bay. After that, Kinkaid never really matched his hot season. He played an equal 41 games in 2018-19, but his numbers dropped to an .891 save percentage and 3.36 goals-against average. Since then, he’s only played 18 games for four different teams across the last four seasons. JORI LEHTERA It took seven seasons for Lehtera to finally play with the St. Louis Blues after they drafted the center in 2008. Yet after a four-year stint in the KHL in which he kindled a scoring touch, Lehtera came hot out of the gates with a 44-point rookie year in 2014-15. After a long wait, the Blues’ patience seemed to place a valuable scorer in their hands. That scoring dried up each subsequent season, though, and Lehtera scored 34 and 22 points the next two seasons, respectively. Soon, the Blues moved Lehtera and a pick that became Morgan Frost to Philadelphia, getting forward Brayden Schenn in return. Schenn helped St. Louis win the 2019 Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, Lehtera fell apart even further with the Flyers and didn’t break the 10-point mark in his first season wearing orange and black. In 2018-19, he scored three points in 27 games before the Flyers put him on waivers, and Lehtera has since gone back to play in Europe.
