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Mid-season Player Grades

Nuckles

Nuckles

_________
Apr 27, 2010
28,342
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heck
We're about half way through the season and the Canucks are 2nd in the Pacific division (13th in the league). How would you grade our players' performances so far this season? (try not to weigh too heavily on recent play, consider the whole season so far)


- Henrik Sedin: B, Has been good, not great. The powerplay has been much better this season (15% last season to ~20% this season) and is entertaining when playing keep away with his brother on the PK. Scoring at almost a point per game pace.
- Daniel Sedin: B, see above.
- Radim Vrbata: A-, has provided some much needed scoring and was even selected to be an all-star.
- Nick Bonino: B-, was red hot to start the year but has cooled off since the start of December (3 points in last 17 games). Last season 20 of his 49 points came on the PP, but this year only 1 of his 22 points has come on the PP.
- Alex Burrows: C+, he has bounced back nicely from last season, but still leaves you wanting more offensively.
- Chris Higgins: C/C-, was much better earlier in the season and has struggled hard lately.
- Brad Richardson: A-/B+, has been great for someone I considered to be a 3rd/4th line tweener. On pace for almost 40 points and good defensively.
- Jannik Hansen: B+, has bounced back nicely from last season. He has played well offensively and defensively while providing some much needed speed to the lineup.
- Zack Kassian: C, I think he has played better than his stats show (due to lack of icetime and quality of linemates), but he still needs to produce more offensively since he's just not good defensively and likely will never be. He also gets injured/suspended a lot.
- Shawn Matthias: B-, a solid 3rd/4th line tweener. Isn't afraid to crash the net, decent defensively, no lack of effort. Like a lot of Canucks has struggled offensively lately (1 point in 12 games).
- Linden Vey: C+, has produced well on the PP, but outside of that hasn't been great on even strength. Lacks the strength for NHL board battles and is terrible at faceoffs. Overall still pretty good for a (23 year old) rookie.
- Derek Dorsett: B, gives it his all every shift, throws his body around, not terrible defensively, chips in offensively. Not much more you could ask for.
- Bo Horvat: B-, has done well for a 19 year old rookie. Good defensively, doesn't get pushed around, great at faceoffs. Not getting a lot done offensively, but not expecting too much with his icetime and linemates.

- Alex Edler: B+, I know some people will think it's too high of a grade for his lack of offensive output, but he has rebounded really well from last season and has been great defensively with Tanev and good at moving the puck up the ice.
- Chris Tanev: A-, higher grade than Edler because he isn't expected to produce as much offensively. Great defensively and good at moving the puck.
- Dan Hamhuis: C, he's been out for a while now but before he was injured he wasn't playing too great. He struggled at times and wasn't the dominate defensive force he was in the past.
- Kevin Bieksa: D/D-, ugh...just ugh...
- Luca Sbisa: D+, he has become known for his pizzas. He's been a physical presence on the back-end, but other than that he hasn't been good.
- Ryan Stanton: C+, hasn't been as great as he was last year, but he has been solid overall.
- Yannick Weber: B-, I think he has played well for a depth d-man. He has provided offense and is 2nd in scoring for our d-men (though that's not saying much).

- Ryan Miller: C+, Two weeks ago I would have given him a D/D-, but his recent play has bumped up his grade. He has struggled hard at times, and has played well at other times. Still not quite worthy of being called "good" for his salary.
- Eddie Lack: B+, considering the long breaks between starts and the tough matchups he's put against at times, I'm impressed with his .918 SV%.


- 2nd PP unit: F-
Click to read more...
 
y2kcanucks

y2kcanucks

Le Sex God
Aug 3, 2006
71,229
10,319
Surrey, BC
After 40 games this team has 49 points. After 40 games last season this team had 52 points. Basically what we've seen so far has little to do with where we could end up. What I've seen from this team so far this season is downward trending. The Sedins got off to another hot start, but have fluttered since. Bonino got off to a sizzling start but has disappeared since December. Miller got off to a crap start but has looked very good since Christmas, and that's one of the main reasons why this team hasn't really collapsed yet (to start the year when Miller was playing like crap our offense kept us from collapsing...at least when one side has been bad the other side has been able to cover).

The only constant this season has been the Edler-Tanev pairing being solid defensively. No offense generated, but at the very least they have been a good shutdown pairing. We need to bring in an offensive defenseman because that is not what Edler is going to be, but at least we aren't getting the Edler from last year.
 
Huggy

Huggy

Respectful Handshake
Jul 22, 2014
9,668
656
Vancouver
- Henrik Sedin: B-, plays in toughest division with a really talentless team; speed is a major issue now and the only way to win with these guys is overload the bot 9 with young talent; A cup will never happen, hopefully they can mentor youth to be professionals, I don't look as the Sedins as leaders anyway though, didn't hussle off for 2nd goal against Florida, again speed is gone theyre turtles
- Daniel Sedin: B-, see above.
- Radim Vrbata: A-, Wish we had him in 2011 instead of going after Ballard, that would have changed history
- Nick Bonino: C+, Really Really bad, no speed, no physicality, a shot that he never seems to be able to get off, Kesler trades looks worse and worse, especially when pieces like Theodore would have been much much better for the future
- Alex Burrows: B, Burrows is Burrows, he's not 28 anymore but he's better than a majority of the team, Love the guy and hope he can keep a spot on the team when he gets even older
- Chris Higgins: D, Definate trade bait, always looks good in start of season and end and fades in the middle, If anyone can bother to remember the 2011-13 playoffs Higgins was invisible too
- Brad Richardson: A, Definately the guy to get a raise although I'd never move him off the 4th
- Jannik Hansen: B, Hansen suits this system very well, let's all pray he can dial it in and score 20 every season
- Zack Kassian: B, has never played with anyone the entire season but Matthias and Richardson, is being mis utilized and the first shift of the season he played with Vey and Horvat and they immediately scored, never seen it again. The coach is ruining Kassian and again think Kassian is te perfect trade chip with Higgins and Lack to get a top 4 D that's 25 or younger,
- Shawn Matthias: C+, Reminds me a lot of Bernier, and Booth does the right things but doesn't have the pure skill to really do anything with it 12 points in 40 games and people are acting like he's a 3rd line force thats making our team stronger, really think sitting him for vey is the answer lately, He's also ruining Kassian's development for whatever that is worth, I don't think I've ever seen Matthias pass the puck to Kassian, yet Kassian always lays one right on Shawn's stick in time for him to turn it over within a few seconfd
- Linden Vey: B, 23 yrs old, first 50 NHL games 0.4 ppg, but this is Vancouver and he's small so let's calm down when we have conn smythe guys like Matthias and Richardson needing ice time
- Derek Dorsett: B, has been good, and vey good when we needed him, also over rated along with matthias and richardson
- Bo Horvat: B-, Really want to see a line of Kassian and Horvat, I just can't understand how you'd expect them to make Hansen Dorsett Matthias or Richardson produce, they making nothing but great passes and keep the play alive and these 4 are 4th liners, with Hansen being the only real 3rd liner

- Alex Edler: A, Team would be in contention for the lottery if he played like last year
- Chris Tanev: B+, PLease materialize a shot so we don't lose you because you're worth over 4 mil a year and we think that's malarky

- Kevin Bieksa: F It's time we seriously considering Waiving this guy if we want to compete in the playoffs, or make them, if not keep playing him 20 minutes a night, for the inevitable top 15 pick that will probably be a better player than Bieksa in a year
- Luca Sbisa: D+, Pretty much the worst mistake Benning will have made in his career here, we needed Theodore or Vatanen, you should have told Kesler to suck it up if one of those 2 players wasn't coming back
- Ryan Stanton: C+, Can't say a thing I rather have Corrado
- Yannick Weber: C+, for a 6th guy we need someone better, you can't have two mediocore guys in Edler Tanev for a top pairing, and then Bieksa hamhuis, your bot pairing needs way more meat than that, Weber is a steal of an 8th guy though

- Ryan Miller: C, over paid, doesn't steal any games, would have rather went with Lack and MArkstrom, instead of owing it to the Vets to sign a 6 million dollar goalie who's avg at least it means Demko is Benning's guy
- Eddie Lack: B+, He needs more starts, Markstrom is dominating the AHL, and we have too many forwards and not enough top 4 D, package Lack with some forwards for something we need. Lack is a starter
 
Jimson Hogarth*

Jimson Hogarth*

Registered User
Nov 21, 2013
12,858
3
Pretty good grades, can't really argue. I will add-

T. Sestito- C
Does what he's asked and isn't afraid to take the initiative to give payback for a team mate. Likely will never be a full time NHL player, but if he continues to pass through waivers he could be valuable as a call up.

N. Jensen- C/IP
Hasn't shown he should stick to the NHL in his 5 gp, but wasn't given a great opportunity either.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,710
84,673
Vancouver, BC
Forwards

Daniel Sedin - B. Has rebounded from last year, on pace for 70 points. Obviously no longer the player he was 4-5 years ago, but doing his job on the first line.

Henrik Sedin - B. See Daniel.

Radim Vrbata - B+. Has been a nice addition, on pace for 30 goals. Excellent on the PP but that line could use a bit more jam at times 5-on-5, too much on the perimeter.

Nick Bonino - B-. Excellent the first 20 games. Terrible the past 20 games. Hard to rate as a result. Disappointing performance on the 2nd PP unit.

Alex Burrows - B+. Solid bounce-back year. On pace for ~40 points while playing a terrific two-way game. Maybe our most consistent forward.

Chris Higgins - C. Like Bonino, was good early and the has been invisible for the past 20 games. Needs to be much better

Brad Richardson - A. On pace for 35 ES points. Outstanding value.

Shawn Matthias - C. Had one small stretch of terrific play, then got hurt. Has been generally mediocre outside of that stretch.

Zack Kassian - C. Has been underplayed with the wrong people, gotten hurt 3 times, but still needs to be better and get better results.

Linden Vey - C. Decent fringe skill player. All-around game has been underwhelming. Useful for his ability to slot anywhere on the bottom 3 lines.

Bo Horvat - B+. Doing his job well as a rookie. Big positive so far.

Jannik Hansen - A-. 2nd on team in goals from primarily 4th-line minutes. Big bounce-back from last year.

Derek Dorsett - B+. Not a great possession player and makes some coverage mistakes, but has been a very positive asset as a hard-driving 4th liner providing energy and more offense than expected.

Defense

Alex Edler - B+. Huge bounce-back year. Poor work on the PP prevents this from being an A, but has been a major asset and a major surprise given his brutal performance last year.

Chris Tanev - A. Probably our most important player. Given the effect he's had on Edler, he's almost worth two top-pairing defenders. Want to see him given more PP time.

Dan Hamhuis - C. Was playing average before getting hurt.

Kevin Bieksa - C-. Major disappointment. Was brutal for most of the first two months, has been better lately since being put back with Stanton.

Ryan Stanton - B-. Struggled early after an injury, but has been a fine player and terrific value for the past 20 games. Has a positive effect on Bieksa.

Luca Sbisa - D. Terrible fit, contributes virtually nothing, horribly overpaid. Offensive black hole, poor defensively, has looked atrocious when given top-4 minutes. Only thing preventing this from being an F is that he's done pretty well on the #2 PK unit.

Yannick Weber - A. Unfairly criticized. Making peanuts, has had to play regularly despite being penciled in as the 7th defender, and has been a + player, a quality possession player, and is our highest-scoring ES defender.

Goalies

Ryan Miller - C+. Started well, then was poor for an extended period, now trending more positively again. Generally average, not terrific value for his contract. Stretches where he's been given the Potvin treatment have been frustrating.

Eddie Lack - A-. After one awful start early against Colorado (or really, one awful period, to be more accurate) has been lights-out despite a tougher-than-normal schedule for a backup. Record is misleading as he's lost two 1-0 games.
 
ShouldveDraftedFiala

ShouldveDraftedFiala

Registered User
Feb 20, 2007
1,964
220
Sedins C-
Old tired one trick ponies that need to be taken out to pasture.

Vrbata B
Was probably expecting better linemates, but has done well considering.

2nd Line D+
Should really be a 3rd line on any respectable team, let's be honest.

Horvat B+
How sad is it that a 19 year old rookie is your top faceoff man? Give this guy more ice time and better linemates. Wait, is there really anyone on this team that would be an upgrade on his wing? Vrbata is all I can think of...maybe Kassian. There it it folks our new #1 line.

Tanev A
The reason why Edler looks better.

Edler B-
Being carried by Tanev. I think 75% of his shots are blocked. I really wish this was a statistic. His slow decision making and predictive plays on the blueline are sad.

Richardson + Hansen B+
Are having a good bounce back year.

Dorsett A
Everything you want in a 4th liner.

Miller D
We signed this guy? To 3 years? loooool. Say goodbye to yet another quality goalie from this organization.

Lack B+
Should be the starter, will be traded due to management incompetence. Par the course for Vancouver, doesn't seem to matter what GM we have.
 
Edo

Edo

The Mightiest Club
Jun 7, 2003
6,036
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vancouver
wowhockey.com
Burrows has arguably been our best forward. Whatever line he is on is usually our best, and he's done a great job on the PK. Easily an A.

Save for Higgins, all of our forwards have been fantastic.
 
MrShift4

MrShift4

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Aug 17, 2011
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I am just going to say that I think Jannik Hansen has been our best forward over about the last three weeks
And that's a problem
 
Pip

Pip

Registered User
Feb 2, 2012
69,191
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Granduland
Hansen and Burrows are definitely the two that you can throw on pretty much every line and the line will improve.

Huge bounce back years for both of them
 

Rotting Corpse*

Registered User
Sep 20, 2003
60,153
3
Kelowna, BC
As usual I don't put too much thought into the actual "grade." The comments are more important. I rate players based on their performance relative to their role and contract.

Henrik Sedin: B. He is what we'd expect him to be at his age.

Daniel Sedin: C+. I think he is a slightly worse player than his brother at this stage. Doesn't have the shot he used to.

Radim Vrbata: B. Again about the player I expected.

Nick Bonino: B-. Hmmm... if he's a 2nd line center then he's outstanding value at 1.9M. If he's not, then he's basically Chris Higgins but slower. Got off to an amazing start and looked like a sick sniper, and then bam has 1 goal in 20 games or whatever. Right now it's hard to really question the people who said his point production was largely due to playing on the PP with Getzlaf and Perry, and he has not been enough to catalyze the second PP unit. Given the opportunities I expect more, but am willing to give a B due to the great start and his cheap contract. If the next 20 games are like the last 20 he will slip to a C or worse. So slow.

Alex Burrows: A. Terrific defensive player who has contributed more offensively than I expected. PK has been excellent and the PP has look much better since Burrows was put there in front of the net.

Chris Higgins: C+. He's a reasonable tweener on a good contract. He's overmatched on the second line but still a useful guy to have around. We just have too many of these.

Brad Richardson: A. For a guy who was occasionally a healthy scratch in LA, he's been as good a bottom-six player we've had in years. Putting up great production and has been as consistent a player as we've had.

Jannik Hansen: A. Wicked bounce back from last year. Looked bad at the start of the year but from game 5 or so on has been consistently terrific. Best skater we have and second on the team in goals.

Zack Kassian: I. I don't know what to think about Kassian.

Shawn Matthias: B. Like Hansen has been great since getting off to a poor start. Not as good lately but I think Matthias's biggest problem is that we just have too many of these tweeny forwards. Dorsett sort of makes him redundant.

Linden Vey: C. I don't really think much of Vey. Has put up some points on the PP but I don't quite see what others see in him to be perfectly honest. Yes, he's young, but there's just nothing about him to remark on other than he's 23.

Derek Dorsett: B. Very good addition to the team....although as I said with Matthias we have too many of these players. Still, his effort and hustle is unquestionable and he's produced offensively.

Bo Horvat: B. Hard to grade because he plays few minutes but he's been excellent on faceoffs and has done well the few times he's been played in crucial situations. Right now is sort of a low event bottom six center, but for a teenager that's not bad.

Alex Edler: C+. Maybe that's a bit harsh since he's done a great job in a shutdown role and looks way, way better than last year. But I mean, zero goals at ES and plays an insane amount of minutes on the 1st PP unit and still struggles to produce there. Given his overall role and contract the lack of offense is disappointing to me, even if he's been good defensively. You can quibble with the grade but I rate him below his partner.

Chris Tanev: A+. Um, for 2M he's been on the top pairing doing an amazing job shutting down the other teams top lines. Always seems to be in the right place to skate the puck out of danger, and has produced more offense than Edler at even-strength. Our MVP IMO.

Dan Hamhuis: I.

Kevin Bieksa: F. He's just awful, I'm sorry. Will stick around on the team because he's the closest thing this generation has to Trevor Linden, but like Trevor late in his career he needs to have his role minimized significantly.

Luca Sbisa: LOL

Ryan Stanton: B. The converse of Bieksa, should be given tougher minutes to see how he handles it. Makes few mistakes and is mostly trustworthy. Hasn't strung up the assists he did last year.

Yannick Weber: A. Hideously underrated. More points than any defender but Edler, despite barely getting PP time and only on the second unit. Plays sheltered minutes and does just fine most of the time. The odd mistake here and there but gives us a dimension as an offensive d-man that we sorely lack. For a guy who was supposed to be the #7 and has been forced to play more than expected due to injuries, you really can't ask for anything more. Should have passed Sbisa on the depth chart if we had any objectivity. Given the amount of shifts they spend together, it is noteworthy that he's a +4 while Sbisa is a -8.

Ryan Miller: C. Inconsistent and has netted out to be around average. Not good enough for his contract but thankfully has looked much better of late. Is starting too many games but that's not his fault.

Eddie Lack: B+. Has had a really tough task playing the second half of back-to-backs against quality opponents, and sat through long stretches of inactivity. Has also had to play mop-up a few times for Miller and now he's lost two 1-0 games on top of all that. Outside of one tough game though he's been mostly good. I do think he's capable of playing better and would like to see him get more starts.
 
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Toxic0n

Toxic0n

We are all mumps
Dec 10, 2008
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Tank nation
y2kcanucks said:
The Sedins got off to another hot start, but have fluttered since.
Click to expand...
"Fluttered"
Hmm, in Dec-Jan so far, H.Sedin has 13 points in 16gp
D.Sedin has 15 points in 16gp.

You expected them to be 50-60 point players but scoring at nearly PPG is "fluttered" to you?

I've tried giving you the benefit of the doubt, but when you keep posting blatant lies over and over and ignoring facts, I'm not going to read your drivel anymore. Bye.
 
Intoewsables

Intoewsables

Registered User
Jul 30, 2009
5,755
2,898
Toronto
MS said:
Forwards

Daniel Sedin - B. Has rebounded from last year, on pace for 70 points. Obviously no longer the player he was 4-5 years ago, but doing his job on the first line.

Henrik Sedin - B. See Daniel.

Radim Vrbata - B+. Has been a nice addition, on pace for 30 goals. Excellent on the PP but that line could use a bit more jam at times 5-on-5, too much on the perimeter.

Nick Bonino - B-. Excellent the first 20 games. Terrible the past 20 games. Hard to rate as a result. Disappointing performance on the 2nd PP unit.

Alex Burrows - B+. Solid bounce-back year. On pace for ~40 points while playing a terrific two-way game. Maybe our most consistent forward.

Chris Higgins - C. Like Bonino, was good early and the has been invisible for the past 20 games. Needs to be much better

Brad Richardson - A. On pace for 35 ES points. Outstanding value.

Shawn Matthias - C. Had one small stretch of terrific play, then got hurt. Has been generally mediocre outside of that stretch.

Zack Kassian - C. Has been underplayed with the wrong people, gotten hurt 3 times, but still needs to be better and get better results.

Linden Vey - C. Decent fringe skill player. All-around game has been underwhelming. Useful for his ability to slot anywhere on the bottom 3 lines.

Bo Horvat - B+. Doing his job well as a rookie. Big positive so far.

Jannik Hansen - A-. 2nd on team in goals from primarily 4th-line minutes. Big bounce-back from last year.

Derek Dorsett - B+. Not a great possession player and makes some coverage mistakes, but has been a very positive asset as a hard-driving 4th liner providing energy and more offense than expected.

Defense

Alex Edler - B+. Huge bounce-back year. Poor work on the PP prevents this from being an A, but has been a major asset and a major surprise given his brutal performance last year.

Chris Tanev - A. Probably our most important player. Given the effect he's had on Edler, he's almost worth two top-pairing defenders. Want to see him given more PP time.

Dan Hamhuis - C. Was playing average before getting hurt.

Kevin Bieksa - C-. Major disappointment. Was brutal for most of the first two months, has been better lately since being put back with Stanton.

Ryan Stanton - B-. Struggled early after an injury, but has been a fine player and terrific value for the past 20 games. Has a positive effect on Bieksa.

Luca Sbisa - D. Terrible fit, contributes virtually nothing, horribly overpaid. Offensive black hole, poor defensively, has looked atrocious when given top-4 minutes. Only thing preventing this from being an F is that he's done pretty well on the #2 PK unit.

Yannick Weber - A. Unfairly criticized. Making peanuts, has had to play regularly despite being penciled in as the 7th defender, and has been a + player, a quality possession player, and is our highest-scoring ES defender.

Goalies

Ryan Miller - C+. Started well, then was poor for an extended period, now trending more positively again. Generally average, not terrific value for his contract. Stretches where he's been given the Potvin treatment have been frustrating.

Eddie Lack - A-. After one awful start early against Colorado (or really, one awful period, to be more accurate) has been lights-out despite a tougher-than-normal schedule for a backup. Record is misleading as he's lost two 1-0 games.
Click to expand...

Agreed with most of this.

I'd probably drop Horvat down a tick, but he's still been better than I'd expected. Really surprised his faceoff ability has translated so well so quickly.

Weber definitely gets too much flak around here, though 'A' seems a tad high to me. He's done everything one could/should expect out of him in a #6/7 role, but I wouldn't say he's crushing those minutes either. I'd really like to see him get away from Sbisa for an extended period of time. Unsurprisingly, he's looked noticeably better when playing with Stanton or Hamhuis.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,710
84,673
Vancouver, BC
Intoewsables said:
Weber definitely gets too much flak around here, though 'A' seems a tad high to me. He's done everything one could/should expect out of him in a #6/7 role, but I wouldn't say he's crushing those minutes either. I'd really like to see him get away from Sbisa for an extended period of time. Unsurprisingly, he's looked noticeably better when playing with Stanton or Hamhuis.
Click to expand...

Everything is relative to salary/role/expectations.

When your $800k #7 defender expected to be a healthy scratch most nights plays 35 of your first 40 games, is a +4 and a quality possession player, and leads your blueline in ES scoring, that's an A to me. He really couldn't be expected to do too much more, and has been a bright spot this season.

Shameful he was scratched last night and Sbisa was kept in the lineup.
 
Shareefruck

Shareefruck

Registered User
Apr 2, 2005
28,971
3,714
Vancouver, BC
People are way too certain about Markstrom considering he hasn't had a good stretch in a Canucks jersey yet. He's been excellent at the AHL level, but he was excellent at the AHL level BEFORE he appeared to be a bust at the NHL level, too.

It would be moronic to trade Lack willy nilly.
Nuckles said:
- Alex Edler: B+, I know some people will think it's too high of a grade for his lack of offensive output, but he has rebounded really well from last season and has been great defensively with
Click to expand...
It's the other way around. You're underrating his performance this year. He's clearly been at least an A, IMO
 
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Rotting Corpse*

Registered User
Sep 20, 2003
60,153
3
Kelowna, BC
Shareefruck said:
It's the other way around. You're underrating his performance this year. He's clearly been at least an A, IMO
Click to expand...

I can't give him an a while he flounders on our PP and can't produce at even strength. He plays very tough minutes but his role and contract expects some production.

His last goal away from the PP came in November. Of 2013.

Overall he's been very good and worthy of a high grade but the highest of grades should he reserved by those exceeding expectations in all areas
 

Rotting Corpse*

Registered User
Sep 20, 2003
60,153
3
Kelowna, BC
Kass Effect said:
Im a little surprised at Stanton's grades... he seems to either take a terrible penalty, or have his check get in behind him with ease. He's been Bieksa-quality of late.
Click to expand...

I admittedly don't have a good eye for defense as others who post here, but I just haven't really seen it again, it's relative to his role and contract
 
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