Who will need to avoid ending up in a similar situation next year? We start with three players from the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n
Elvis Merzlikins \u2013 Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n
Bursting onto the scene six years ago and taking the crease from Joonas Korpisalo<\/a>, 32-year-old Elvis Merzlikins<\/a> has been in decline ever since signing a five year extension in Columbus. With his $5.4MM cap hit too high to present a change of scenery, 2026-27 is the last year of the deal. The goaltender will have to dig deep in a stale environment and find a level not seen in practically five years to solidify his NHL future. Already losing the #1 role to Jet Greaves<\/a>, the netminder must make the most of a backup job for the Jackets. His statistics have been underwater for some time, with a -7.3 saves above expected last year across his 30 appearances, according to Moneypuck<\/a>. That\u2019s not quite league-worst range, but still worse than struggling names like Sam Montembeault<\/a> in Montreal or Edmonton\u2019s Tristan Jarry<\/a>. The Latvian\u2019s save percentage has been below .900 over the past four years, so it\u2019s not glowing in the traditional metrics either.<\/p>\n Outside factors have certainly played a part in Merzlikins\u2019 decline. The tragic 2021 passing<\/a> of Matiss Kivlenieks<\/a>, a fellow goaltender from Latvia, is a burden he had to carry along with the devastating loss of another teammate<\/a>, Johnny Gaudreau,<\/a> three years later. The longtime Blue Jacket has also dealt with injuries, undergoing shoulder surgery<\/a> this summer which has an uncertain timetable for his return. It\u2019s not like he wouldn\u2019t be an adequate backup somewhere on a one-year deal later on, but every off-season the goalie musical chairs game causes a few names to be bumped out, Cam Talbot<\/a> and Connor Ingram<\/a> examples for now. For Merzlikins to avoid such a scenario a year from now it would require a turnaround back to league average, which would be a nice ending to his time in Ohio as a fan favorite.<\/p>\n Ondrej Palat \u2013 New York Islanders<\/p>\n 35-year-old Ond\u0159ej Pal\u00e1t<\/a> has put together an incredible career for a 2011 seventh-round pick, winning two Stanley Cups across his 905 games. Just about anybody would be content to hang up their skates after that, but if the winger wants to extend his NHL career into his late 30s and reach 1,000 he\u2019ll need to step up and find a way to pull more weight for the Islanders. Entering the final of the five-year deal he earned from the Devils, Pal\u00e1t\u2019s inevitable decline already started practically from day one as a Devil, unable to be a top-six contributor but still offering secondary scoring. It was especially apparent after he offered just 10 points in 51 games in Newark last season, ice time down to 12:45, which led to a cap-dump trade<\/a> across Manhattan over to Long Island in January. Scoring a goal and assist in his Islanders debut against the rival Rangers had fans fired up, but Pal\u00e1t wouldn\u2019t find the back of the net again in his remaining 28 games, finishing with 15 points across his 80 total.<\/p>\n New York will run it back with a mostly unchanged roster, hoping that new coach Peter DeBoer<\/a> elevates the group of veteran forwards on the way to a playoff push. Adding the slick Mattias Maccelli<\/a> means Pal\u00e1t will have to embrace a fourth-line role, and opportunities as a net front presence on the second power-play unit will be harder to come by. A team known to prioritize a tight fourth line which can kill penalties reliably, he had no such deployment as an Islander, so at this point the lefty is set to be a $6MM fourth-liner with no special teams contribution. There won\u2019t be much room for the Czech veteran to impact the game but if he can continue to be a valuable locker room presence, finding a way to secure around 13 minutes a night and chip in around 25 points, that\u2019s likely what it would take to create demand for his free agency. His old team in Tampa Bay is always looking for cheap veterans to fill out their roster, and perhaps a swan song on the Lightning could be waiting if he can get there. If players like Reilly Smith<\/a> and Michael Bunting<\/a> being unsigned today is any indication, a seat at the table won\u2019t be easy to find, but whatever happens it has been an impressive ride.<\/p>\n Stefan Noesen \u2013 New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n Out of the names which stand out in the East, forward Stefan Noesen <\/a>is not the only veteran candidate on his own team in New Jersey who faces an uncertain future. Center Nick Bjugstad<\/a>\u00a0has parallels as a pending UFA, but as a soon-to-be 35-year-old, the edge goes to Noesen. At 33 he has more tread on the tires and more to lose than Bjugstad, as somebody who scored 49 goals from 2022-25 before a setback. Drafted in the first round by Ottawa in 2011, the Texas native was unable to provide value to the Ducks as a prospect included in the 2013 Bobby Ryan<\/a> trade, and it didn\u2019t look like he\u2019d ever be in the NHL a decade later. It has been a roller coaster ride ever since, breaking out as a legit NHLer with 27 points in 72 games in 2017-18 with the Devils, only to become a journeyman again after that. Torching the AHL on the way to an absurd 48 goals in 70 games for the Chicago Wolves, finally Noesen became an NHL regular again in Carolina and earned a three year contract back in New Jersey, scoring 22 goals in 2024-25, 11 of which were on the power-play.<\/p>\n Unfortunately last season was another down for the persevering veteran, who has already experienced plenty of uncertainty across his 12-year career. Expected to be another 20-goal scorer this time last year, instead Noesen had just three in 38 games, his shooting percentage cut in half to 5.8%, ice time down to 11:45 and losing his role on the man-advantage which was critical. One of many Devils players to deal with ailments last year, Noesen underwent knee surgery in January<\/a> which ended his season. It\u2019s an uphill battle to get back to his memorable 2024-25 campaign, to say the least, as the Devils added Anthony Mantha<\/a>, Evan Rodrigues<\/a>, and Luke Evangelista<\/a>. With 14 forwards capable of playing every night, there\u2019s just no telling how the net-crasher fits into the plan under new GM Sunny Mehta <\/a>who prioritizes analytics and \u201cMoneyball\u201d sort of tactics to maximize contract value. Teams which struggle on the man-advantage always have a use for a player like Noesen, but his $2.75MM cap hit is a stumbling block. Whatever happens, Noesen hopefully can come into camp fully healthy, wreaking havoc on the forecheck and cracking the Devils lineup even if his time as a power-play mainstay is a thing of the past. If so, it would be a solid case to merit another contract at the highest level.<\/p>\n Image Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week we looked into younger players across each division who have the most to prove this year.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[153512,385,323616,5627,99,109969],"class_list":["post-839177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-elvis-merzlikins","tag-nhl","tag-ondrej-palat","tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals","tag-sports","tag-stefan-noesen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2025-03-06T051652Z_378520702_MT1USATODAY25593374_RTRMADP_3_NHL-NEW-JERSEY-DEVILS-AT-DALLAS-STARS-200.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n