Five NHL Players On Playoff Hopefuls Who Have Slumped Since The 4 Nations Face-Off

Last month, the 4 Nations Face-Off delivered the kind of edge-of-your-seat action that got hearts pounding for both hockey fans and NHL players — whether they were suiting up in the tournament or watching from a sunny beach vacation.

As regular-season action resumed, a bit of an early lull in intensity was understandable. But three weeks have now passed, and some players still haven’t found their ‘A’ games.

With plenty left to be settled in terms of both playoff qualification and seeding, here are five players whose team would love to see them get back on track as soon as possible.

Brock Faber, D, Minnesota Wild

At the 4 Nations, Brock Faber and Jaccob Slavin formed a tremendous top pair on the U.S. blue line. But after playing so well in his rookie season that he mounted a challenge for the Calder Trophy, Faber has had a tough time finding his form since returning to NHL play.

Before the break, Faber sat 10th in the NHL in ice time, averaging 24:55 a game. He had 22 points in 52 games and was a healthy plus-10. And while plus-minus is not a perfect stat, it shows us what we need to know when we see that Faber is minus-11 in 11 games since the break as his ice time has spiked to 27:07 a game. And he has just one goal and one assist in those 11 games.

#mnwild defenseman Brock Faber posted a game-high 29:42 time-on-ice total in tonight's game, his fifth-highest total of the season.

He now ranks fourth in the NHL with a 25:18 TOI/G average. pic.twitter.com/VFr3ZqP1mi
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) March 14, 2025

With a record of 4-6-1 since the break, the Wild have now fallen into a wild-card spot. They should still make the playoffs, but Faber seems to be wilting under his enormous workload with his undermanned squad.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, Edmonton Oilers

After a quiet start to the season, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was heating up before the break. In his first 18 games of 2025, he logged eight assists and seven goals, including a pair of game-winners.

In 11 games since the Oilers’ return to action, Nugent-Hopkins has just one goal and three assists, and is a minus-5. But he’s certainly not alone on his team. A long list of Oilers’ honorable mentions contains nearly everyone except Leon Draisaitl, including Zach Hyman (5 points), Corey Perry (2 points), Vasily Podkolzin (1 point) and Stuart Skinner (2-5-0, 3.54 GAA, .875 save percentage).

Brock Boeser, RW, Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks’ impending free agent headed into the 4 Nations break after scoring the game-winner in Vancouver’s 2-1 home-ice win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 8, giving him 18 goals and 35 points in 48 games this year. But he hasn’t scored since, and has chipped in just three assists as Rick Tocchet has tried to find the right chemistry among his forwards in the wake of the J.T. Miller trade.

"You have to earn your ice time."

Rick Tocchet on Jake DeBrusk, Brock Boeser, and Elias Pettersson receiving less ice time in the Canucks' loss to the Stars. pic.twitter.com/6qYPQYVWJO
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 10, 2025

Even the Canucks’ 6-goal outburst against the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t help Boeser get back on track. His pointless streak is now at four games and counting.

Stefan Noesen, RW, New Jersey Devils

Two months into this season, Stefan Noesen was named a ‘New Guy On Fire’ thanks to 13 goals and 22 points in his first 28 games back with the New Jersey Devils.

But Noesen started to cool off in December and the trend has continued. In 11 games since the 4 Nations break, he has tallied just one power-play goal and a couple of even-strength assists, despite being gifted quality minutes on the banged-up Devils. On Saturday, he lined up with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier, but went pointless for the seventh time in nine games in New Jersey’s 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Cam Talbot, G, Detroit Red Wings

One big reason why the Red Wings had climbed into a wild-card spot at the break was the strong play of Cam Talbot. He stabilized the team’s goaltending with a .906 save percentage and a record of 16-11-2. But when play resumed, Talbot allowed 21 goals over six starts, 3.53 per game.

That led Steve Yzerman to bring in Petr Mrazek at the trade deadline, in an attempt to keep the Wings’ playoff hopes alive.

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