So, end of playoffs player ratings. I'll keep it short. Will likely take a hiatus from the boards over the summer after this. Grades are more about satisfaction with their performance than purely how good they were. Here goes:
Matthews - ***** | Looked like a franchise player this series. Very happy with his performance.
Johnsson - **** | Quietly was effective both even strength and on the PP. He performed really well for us.
Kapanen - ** | Kapanen showcased all the flaws in his game this series. Used speed to create room, negated it with bad shots. His tunnel vision robbed Matthews of some of his best chances.
Tavares - *** | All in all, we needed more from our new star center. Good job against the Bergeron line, but at the end they were on the losing side at ES and didn't get it done on the PP.
Hyman - ** | Wasn't quite the normal Hyman. Good pest, but couldn't bring his board game to full life.
Marner - *** | Gonna take heat here, but I think Marner reached 12 GA in this series. Part of an awful PK, his line had a bad differential, and in the end we needed more from our superstar.
Nylander - *** | Gonna take heat here, but I think Nylander's series was the definition of decent. Did what you could expect given his usage, no more and no less.
Marleau - * | Could be the worst PP player I've seen in years. Komarov was better. For a few games, every play he made on the PP killed the attack. He gave us nothing.
Brown - ** | Brown looks like Gauthier with the puck. Actually, he looks worse. PK work solidifies his rating.
Gauthier - ** | He was 6'5" somewhere.
Ennis - **** | Ennis came in and energized our fourth line. I really liked him.
Moore - **** | Moore was honestly one of our best forwards at times, combining the energy, skating, and technical ability to not only create havoc but actually do something with it.
Rielly - ***** | Consistently pushed pace and offense for us. His breakouts was a strong point for us, and it felt like he was a difference maker most nights.
Hainsey - *** | I was so impressed with Hainsey through four games. I was less enthused about the next two. And then he had a rough Game 7.
Muzzin - *** | Muzzin did a lot right in difficult minutes, but I can't really give a higher grade to someone who lost his matchup by that much.
Zaitsev - *** | Had an overall strong series. Second fiddle to Muzzin, same issue. They get joint grades here.
Gardiner - * | Was a non-factor through six, due to injuries and few minutes. And then he was one of two players to give away the game in the first. Can't rate him differently.
Dermott - ** | Rough Game 7 for sure, but I liked him through the rest.
Andersen - ** | I was contemplating a higher grade, but the cheap first goal brought it down. Statistically, he underperformed again.
Babcock - * | Bad lines, overly reliant on the wrong players, no adjustments to issues that were evident even early on. Not a lot to like from Babs. We outplayed them, they outcoached us.
A change might be needed, and Babcock is the obvious choice to go. If you compare lines, we held our ground with the first. Second line was good for both. Our third line was better. Don't know about fourth, but they certainly looked better. We were the better team in almost all areas, except special teams. And there were no adjustments, and we ended up with the worst PK performance in history. Blame the players for playing bad, but nobody else can be blamed for a lack of adjustments than the coach. Nobody else can be blamed for having one of our worst offensive forwards get more and more ice time when we are down, while actually talented players take a seat. The second line lacked a playmaker, but instead of playing one there they used Kapanen, who had no chemistry with Matthews. Kaps always work down the lineup, because he use his speed to create his own chances, he doesn't rely on teammates. In fact, he's pretty bad at using them. Yet he was glued to Matthews.
We were the better team in five out of seven games. How the **** did we lose this?
