The sophomore slump; it’s definitely a thing. It doesn’t really have a definition, but you know it when you see it. Just recently, it has struck players such as Calder trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon, who scored 63 points as a rookie, then slumped to 38 in his sophomore year. A few years earlier, a player like Jordan Staal comes to mind, scoring 29 goals as a rookie and 12 in his sophomore year.
When it does strike, it’s incredibly discouraging to the fans and the player. For the fans, it shatters pure dreams of their favorite rookie doing nothing but great things in the future.