Josh Norris's development and performance have both been stunted by a recurring shoulder injury while Tim Stutzle also took a step back this season.
Not long ago, it felt like the Ottawa Senators had a bright future at the centre-ice position. And they still may. But as a group, their centre-ice stock has fallen mightily in the past year. What was once seen as an area of strength has become an area of concern.
Stutzle and Norris, in particular, were seen as the elite 1-2 punch up the middle for the club, the guys with high speed and skill who would help lead the Sens to their years of unparalleled success. It hasn't happened yet. They're getting paid as though it's happened, but it hasn't.
That's primarily due to injuries, especially for Norris, who has six years left on his deal at $7.95 million (AAV). His well-chronicled shoulder problems have cost him 106 games and two surgeries over the last two seasons. He'll turn 25 on Sunday and he's about to have another long summer of rehab.
But the newer development is the physical health and mindset of Stutzle, who has seven years left at $8.35 million (AAV).
Physically, the 22-year-old has been dealing with his own shoulder problems. This season, he's often been seen wearing KT tape on the neck/shoulder area. With a few games left in the season, Stutzle was shut down after Florida's Niko Mikkola smashed him into the boards during the Panthers' 6-0 victory last month
"I'd been having issues (with the shoulder) last year too," Stutzle said at his year-end news conference. "I missed a couple of games. But then it was great for the whole year (this season) and obviously that hit made it worse again."
When asked by colour analyst Gord Wilson about his health and how things have been progressing, Stutzle had this to say:
"Yeah, it's been good. I'm going to try and see some other opinions in Germany and try to get it better...It's going to be all good after the summer and I'm going to be ready to go for next year."
On a scale of 1-10, the injury concern for Norris is a 27. Stutzle isn't nearly the same concern, but he does take a beating every night and that reference to seeking "other opinions" isn't thrilling.
The secondary question about Norris and Stutzle stems from witnessing the warrior mentality playing out right now among the NHL's elites in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Even if they showed up for camp healthy, happy, and ready, are Stutzle and Norris the kinds of players who will be productive in the spring, robust enough to power through the abuse and frustration that every top player is forced to endure in "meaningful games?" Do they seem to have the makeup to perform at a high level with only a fraction of the time and space they get in the regular season?
We certainly didn't see that potential this season.
Even if you parlay the stats of a healthy Norris over a full season (30 points in 50 games), that's only 49 points. And another major shoulder injury speaks for itself.
With Stutzle, he had half the number of goals he had last year and often showed the same kind of in-game frustrations that Mitch Marner is currently getting nationally crushed for.
And neither player was exactly elite in their play away from the puck, which is a must at the position for a team that fancies itself as a contender.
If that's how it looks in the regular season, what will all this look like in the mayhem of the playoffs when no one takes shortcuts? Everyone is angry, playing with their hair on fire, and referees only penalize murder or attempted murder.
These are reasonable questions for Ottawa's new brain trust to wonder about as they figure out how to remold this team.
Ottawa's 1-2 is still very young and they can always bounce back. And oh, man, they have the speed and skill to do it. But no one can deny, especially with the money they're making, that their NHL stock has never been lower.