Mid-Season Report Cards

Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
14,876
11,256
I don't remember the last time folks were keen enough to do this, but here is a stab:

Forwards

Matt Duchene
His production has been uneven and I'm not sure he has really been the zone-entry weapon we envisioned. But at the same time, I don't think his track record suggests we should have been expecting more than around a 60-pt pace for him - which is about what he's on, and tied for our lead in forward scoring. It'd be nice if he did a little more, but I don't think he's too far off.
Grade: B-

Filip Forsberg
Again some injury absences, but also pretty much on pace offensively with 28 pts in 35 games... we keep hoping these guys take a "next step", or play with a little more intensity at times, but I'm not sure we could have EXPECTED that.
Grade: B-

Ryan Johansen
Johansen is on a 52-pt pace which I feel is below what we're paying him for. I know he generally plays a decent two-way game even when he's not scoring, but he gets a lot of ice and opportunity, and I don't think his salary should allow us to be too accepting of a sub-par pace. He's only a couple points behind Duchene and Forsberg, but has played all the games.
Grade: C

Viktor Arvidsson
I feel like he's lacking a little bit on the breakaway receptions he used to get. And missed 12 games. Is 18 pts in 29 games good enough? It is for $4.25M... but it's off his pace of the last 3 seasons, so I was expecting more.
Grade: C

Mikael Granlund
He has had a much longer benefit of the doubt than last season's post TDL cameo - and still not really done anything of note with it. He's 10th on the team in scoring amongst our forwards. Just 1 pt above Watson and Sissons. For what he gets paid and the opportunity he has had, I don't think that is good enough.
Grade: D

Kyle Turris
It's hard to even grade him for all the bouncing around in the lineup he has been subjected to. And that baffling stint being healthy scratched. That said, I think he looks "back to normal" after last season's troubles. Not my favorite player by a longshot, but I think a 0.5 ppg pace for him given the circumstances of his utilization is about on par with how some of our other top forwards are performing.
Grade: B-

Calle Jarnkrok
He has already topped his production from last season and (knock wood) seems to be on pace for a career season production wise. I didn't see that coming. Good for him, it's really him and the 3rd line that has kept us afloat. Without their supporting production, our season would be over already. Production aside, I've also though he has played a little harder than in some past years.
Grade: A

Nick Bonino
The production is a nice bonus. He could be pushing for a career high too if he keeps it up. He's a pretty solid all-round player, easy sometimes to overlook on the ice, but doing a lot of the small things right in addition to chipping in those points.
Grade: A

Rocco Grimaldi
I have to admit, I thought he'd be in tough to even replicate last season's spunky showing where he earned his arbitration award, but didn't really put up notable numbers. But he has been an irrepressible presence on the ice and is contributing every night now.
Grade: A

Craig Smith
Slow start offensively despite his linemates chipping in more goals than expected, but lately that has turned around and suddenly Smith is back at a 20/20 clip. I think he has also shown the most consistent work ethic in our forward group. Even when he wasn't getting the points, a lot of the success on that line was his effort on the forecheck and in the corners.
Grade: A

Austin Watson
He's doing about as expected. Our team needs some physical presence and he generally brings it. Fights a bit, scores once in a while, I think he's right where I expected.
Grade: B

Colton Sissons
I think he was victimized a bit at times with the over-population at center and the strong showing of the Bonino line. He was doing "ok", but I was hoping maybe after signing that big contract he'd take another step. That hasn't really happened.
Grade: B-

Notes on others... Carr didn't pan out, not really any surprise. Blackwell is doing ok but I think there's only so many smaller forwards we can afford to have here, I don't see a future for him. Olivier was a surprise to come up, but he was ok within the narrow constraints of the role they gave him. Glad they seem to have moved on from Salomaki and Gaudreau as depth options. We know what they bring - it's not much. Trenin is really the guy I'd like to see as a regular moving forward.
 
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Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
14,876
11,256
Defense

Roman Josi
He's carrying the team. I don't know if that's as good a thing as it might seem, but you can't really blame Josi for it. He's stepped up like a boss with the new contract and the lifetime commitment. It would have been so nice to see a few of his teammates take this leap forward with him.
Grade: A+

Ryan Ellis

I still can't quite get over my dismay at him still being paired with Josi. But again, that's not really his fault. He has stepped up with his most productive start too. Still fumbles the play at times in his own zone, but overall probably having a better season there than last year, playing better all-round than I expected. We needed him to.
Grade: A

Mattias Ekholm
He has been solid. But maybe a little less "stalwart" than I was counting on defensively? Playing with a rookie may create more of a challenge for him, I suppose. But I have no complaints.
Grade: B

Dante Fabbro
I think he has handled the load quite admirably. Breaking into a #4 slot right away is exceedingly rare for a rookie, and he has managed it quite well. Can he handle an even bigger load with Ellis out? We're a little lucky he has managed as well as he has so far, I feel.
Grade: B+

Dan Hamhuis
Since I'm basically grading relative to expectations, I guess I can't say Hamhuis is doing any less than I expected. He's "hanging in there". In a bottom pairing role, he gets the job done adequately, most of the time.
Grade: B

Matt Irwin / Yannick Weber

I just think these guys are really more suited to being #7/8 fill-ins than having one of them play regularly. When your #4 is a rookie, your #5 is just hanging in there, it doesn't help that your #6 guys are not really able to do anything but "try to survive" for 12mins a night. I guess it's not really their fault. But it is a weakness on the team that hasn't been addressed.
Grade: C

I don't think I've seen enough of the fill-in D to really say anything about them. Santini and Tinordi have more of the size we need, but minor league talent overall. I'd rather see a little more of Carrier, then transition to Allard, Davies if needed.


Goalies

Pekka Rinne
He started so well. But he's showing cracks. Teams are exploiting the blocker side, I find he's "lunging" a bit more in his lateral movements than really being as smooth. Time is going to catch up, inevitably. This appears to be the year where it would have been nice for Rinne to be able to transition into more of a "veteran backup" role. Except we don't have anybody else ready to take starts away from him, alas. So we have no real choice but to ride Pekka.
Grade: C-

Juuse Saros
Bad start to the season again, has had some good games, but still hasn't really reeled it in or given us any option but to keep playing Rinne instead. For all the hope we had in past seasons, I guess we're getting a little nervous now that Saros might not be the heir we need. 24 is still young in goalie years. I'm not giving up hope yet.
Grade: D


Coaches

Peter Laviolette
I lump the whole staff together under Laviolette really... don't know how to break it down further. The special teams have been abysmal, so despite early hopes, Lambert hasn't saved us there. After trashing the PP last year, McCarthy seems to have trashed the PK now too? And our goaltending... sigh. There's nothing working anymore. It's time to change out the head coach and see if that can right the ship. Laviolette is a good NHL coach, he has a proven track record, and did a fine job for us for several years. But he's simply run out of ideas for this group of players.
Grade: F
 
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Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
14,876
11,256
You are a lot nicer than I would be. Drop everyone but the Bonino line and Jarnkrok by one letter grade and knock the + off of Josi and that's about where I would sit.
I can see this. I always grade "too nice", though. But I think I also blame some of the player performance issues on coaching. The F there really cuts across a lot of players' grades too. But if we had 3 or 4 key forwards playing just half a grade better, and our goaltending a grade better, we'd be in a lot less trouble than we are. The margins are pretty slim.
 

FossilFndr

RIP Steve
Jan 18, 2014
3,204
1,407
Fall Branch, Tn.
Does anyone think the forwards would do better if Josi wasn't on the team, or was more of a stay-at-home defense-man? In that I mean if everyone wasn't kinda deferring driving the offense to him they would take it on their shoulders. I'm not saying get rid of Josi, just that his offense makes them less urgent to fill that role.
 
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Armourboy

Hey! You suck!
Jan 20, 2014
19,008
10,375
Shelbyville, TN
I think a lot of the coverage problems are due to Dmen trying to do too much sometimes and the forwards either not getting back or not being in a position to be able to get back when its made.

I also think sometimes we lose offensive pressure because the forwards are trying to get back even though they may not need too. I think this is why you see times when there are 4 players on the blue line when a shot is taken.

I think Fiala's comments about playing in this offense may be a bit closer to the general feeling than many will want to admit.
 
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Gh24

Registered User
Feb 12, 2014
1,693
645
Does anyone think the forwards would do better if Josi wasn't on the team, or was more of a stay-at-home defense-man? In that I mean if everyone wasn't kinda deferring driving the offense to him they would take it on their shoulders. I'm not saying get rid of Josi, just that his offense makes them less urgent to fill that role.
I feel like this is said a lot and still it seems like it's forgotten way too often. Since we're doing alright on even strength I don't think we need to make any changes there, but I still don't understand why we're not utilizing our forwards more on PP and be less predictable. It's understandable if you got someone like Weber or Ovechkin or Laine, but no matter how much they're working to perfect the style, it's not working without a new Weber on the blue line.
 
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Gh24

Registered User
Feb 12, 2014
1,693
645
I think a lot of the coverage problems are due to Dmen trying to do too much sometimes and the forwards either not getting back or not being in a position to be able to get back when its made.

I also think sometimes we lose offensive pressure because the forwards are trying to get back even though they may not need too. I think this is why you see times when there are 4 players on the blue line when a shot is taken.

I think Fiala's comments about playing in this offense may be a bit closer to the general feeling than many will want to admit.
I'm repeating myself a little bit with this double post, but perhaps giving the forwards a bigger role on PP would lead to more positives than just more scoring chances due to variation.
 

Kat Predator

Registered User
Nov 28, 2019
3,766
3,761
My 2 cents:

The offense has been going in fits and jerks and has not delivered on its sales sauce.

JoFA was broken up out of the gate and it seemed to suck the air out of them. The 3 of them have ok numbers, but they aren't playing like the wrecking crew they had been. At this point, Arvy seems shy about shooting at times, which is weird to watch.

The second line started out on a torrid pace and dissolved quickly. It's been a roulette wheel of players for much of the season and it's hard to see any improvement in chemistry. Granlund's stat line looks bad, but I like his effort and work digging out pucks and getting to the net. In Minnesota, I always thought he was their Arvy, but we don't use him that way. The coaches haven't been able to figure out how to use Duchene and Turris as the #2C at the same time, which has been a mess.

Bonino, Smith, and Grimaldi are a line of guys that seem to enjoy playing hard and who work for everything. All three of them play on their toes, hustle, and get to the net. And they get results for it.

Sissons and Watson anchor the checking line, with whatever spare parts the coaches put out there. With Sissons on IR, the guys up from the Ads have filled in rather well. Trenin is the big, fast, straight-line player who can produce some points. He seems a good fit. Blackwell plays a lot bigger than he is to me. He doesn't seem to get rag dolled as badly as Arvy, Granlund, and Grims.
 
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Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
14,876
11,256
Turns out Poile was just waiting for your report. Lavy would still be here if you gave him a C :p
I hope the players are paying attention too, then. I won't be so generous in the post-season Report Cards if things don't turn around. :madfire:

And for some reason I didn't give the GM a mark. Huh. I can remedy that too depending on how this coaching change works out...
 

CanuckCity

Registered User
Aug 23, 2012
1,379
364
Budapest
Hey all, not sure where to post this but just wondering what youre all expecting out of Arvidsson for the rest of the season?

From what i see hes down om the 3rd line but still top PP unit. Is he creating chances? Is the PP expected to score more?

I need a shakeup on my fantasy team and hes been hurting me all season but i hate giving up on guys.
 

Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
14,876
11,256
Hey all, not sure where to post this but just wondering what youre all expecting out of Arvidsson for the rest of the season?

From what i see hes down om the 3rd line but still top PP unit. Is he creating chances? Is the PP expected to score more?

I need a shakeup on my fantasy team and hes been hurting me all season but i hate giving up on guys.
I think it's hard to have any firm expectations for our team for the rest of the season... as a team, or for players as individuals.

Arvidsson is just one of many struggling to hit his stride. The injury disrupted him for sure. I don't recall him playing anywhere but on one of our top lines when he has played. But he just doesn't seem to be getting quite the same stretch breaks as before. I don't think there's any clear answer, unfortunately... the team could suddenly light things up again post-break now that the new coaches have had time to settle in a bit more, or they could continue to struggle and under-perform... :dunno:
 
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nine_inch_fang

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Oct 8, 2004
5,908
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Nashville
Hey all, not sure where to post this but just wondering what youre all expecting out of Arvidsson for the rest of the season?

From what i see hes down om the 3rd line but still top PP unit. Is he creating chances? Is the PP expected to score more?

I need a shakeup on my fantasy team and hes been hurting me all season but i hate giving up on guys.
Arvy doesn't seem to have the break away speed to create some of the chances he would normally get every game. I think he's still struggling with issues from the hip/knee injury from that crosscheck so I wouldn't expect him to improve this year.
 
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