Who hasn't been meeting expectations?
Patrick Kane: This one may be the most disappointing of all so far. After coming back from what was largely a career-ending surgery for everybody else who's had it done. He blew everybody's mind by scoring 20 goals and 27 assists for 47 points in 50 games. When Yzerman re-signed him in the offseason, the hype was real. It was expected that after a full off-season and training camp, Kane would be able to perform even better than last season or at least replicate last season's production. That hasn't happened this season; having only 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points in 20 games is way below what was expected of him, especially being the primary playmaker on the first powerplay unit. Whether it's old age or just teams getting privy to what he's capable of post-surgery, he's been super underwhelming so far this season.
Vladimir Tarasenko: The big signing in the offseason. Tarasenko was supposed to fill the hole that David Perron left in the offseason. A large body in the top-six who's capable of netting 15-20 goals and adding some scoring depth to the powerplay. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case in the slightest. With only 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points, he's on pace for just 8 goals and 21 assists this season. That's not nearly enough to justify his contract and his place in the top 6-six or really anywhere on the team other than the bottom-six.
Joe Veleno: The age-old question, "What does Joe Veleno even do?" Well, that's a question that I don't think anybody knows. Sure, he's your 4th line center, and you don't expect anybody on the 4th line to produce any more than 20-30 points every season. However, Not only is he on pace for an eight-point season, but he also just isn't doing anything other than bungling passes and whiffing on Grade-A chances. Now he's part of the forward rotation in the bottom six, and after resigning for two years in the offseason, he needs to prove that he's worth keeping around for longer than his two-year contract says.
J.T Compher: After being signed to a 5-year deal in the 2023 offseason, he immediately became the Red Wings top choice for 2nd line center, and after having a career-high in goals last season, he was expected to produce far more than he has this season. I don't think anybody expected a 20+ goal season from him, but 15 was an obtainable number. At his current pace, he'll finish this season with roughly 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points, nearly half of last season's total. He's got the 2nd worst faceoff percentage (minimum 100 faceoffs taken) on the team at 45.3%: that's only .2 higher than rookie Marco Kasper. He's been repeatedly demoted in favor of Kasper as well.
Ben Chiarot: Where do I even begin with this man? After what was seemingly a bounce-back season last season, it was expected that he'd continue that trend this season. Unfortunately, he's regressed to his 2022-23 season form. Constantly abandoning his partner to pinch in at the worst times, Rushing up ice and below the opposing team goal-line and staying there for far longer than he should be, and last but not least, his apparent incapability to remain in front of the net. The worst part is that his high-risk moves don't amount to anything most of the time. I guess it's nice that we have at least one defenseman who's willing to do that stuff, and he's been a far more physical presence than he has in the past, not shying away from protecting his teammates and using his body to muscle players off the puck. But his defensive miscues have cost the Red Wings more goals than anybody would prefer.