It’s always a difficult process making player projections at the start of a fantasy season but what happens when we think the world of a player and he falls completely short of his lofty expectations? When making preseason projections, analysts take everything into account – past trends, a previous season’s playoff performance, their team, their age, and anything else we can justify. We’re defining a disappointing season as a player who finished at a final season ranking about 100 off of their Yahoo! O-Rank. Here are the notable ones:
Joffrey Lupul
O-Rank: 92; Final Rank: 623
On pace to match his Philadelphia numbers, Lupul was sidelined with a herniated disc that kept him out for the rest of the season. 2010-11 is up in the air for Lupul and if he does return, look for other second line wingers not returning from major back surgery.
Chris Kunitz
O-Rank: 94; Final Rank: 357
Kunitz is a career 20-25 goal scorer and was on pace for that again this year if not for missing 32 games due to injury. A hot playoffs (11 points in 14 games) will certainly fuel his O-Rank next year but make sure he’s going to be a consistent top-six Penguins’ forward before you shell out an 8-10th round draft pick for him.
Andrei Markov
O-Rank: 95; Final Rank: 333
Marred by injuries this season, Markov could only put together 45 games before being injured again in the playoffs. Opting for surgery on a right knee ligament, Markov is expected to be out until at least December. Surely this will mar his rank entering next season but he will reward your sacrificed IR spot with a solid second half – he went 6-28-34 in his 45 games in 2009-10.
Jay Bouwmeester
O-Rank: 96; Final Rank: 370
By all accounts, 2009-10 was a completely disappointing season for the speedy defenseman who continued his 0-games lost due to injury streak to five seasons but put up his lowest point totals since 2003-04. With Dion Phaneuf out of the way, Bouwmeester is the top D-man in Calgary but didn’t show it after Phaneuf was traded mid-season. We’re giving J-Bouw a pass here because his track record speaks for itself so take advantage of an undervalued O-Rank next season.
