Red Wings Grades 2020-21 (Really only 21, I guess)

[wingerdinger]

Why are guys so down on Lindstrom. He didn't blow me away, but he looked like a solid third pairing guy. Which on this team is impressive.

 

[14ari13]

Zadina’s 21. He’s played just about a full regular season in his career - 15G 22A 37P (.43 PPG) in his first 86 games on some god awful teams. That’s really not bad. He has plenty of time to improve.

Kakko - 19G 21A 40P in 114 GP (.35 PPG)
Hughes - 18G 34A 52P in 116 GP (.45 PPG)
Lafreniere - 12G 9A 21P in 56 GP (.38 PPG)

Zetterberg 44 in his first season at 22 I believe (on the line with datsyuk and Hull)
Datsyuk 36 at the age of 23.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Why are guys so down on Lindstrom. He didn't blow me away, but he looked like a solid third pairing guy. Which on this team is impressive.

I'm not down on Lindstrom. I hope we do get to see more from him next season.

 

[deca guard]

RASMUSSEN : B
- the improvement hes accomplished in his skating is massive . now hes a huge bodied , hustling , rugged , smart , good skating two way hockey player that keeps pace all 200' and all 60 minutes . zero float to his game , extremely determined spirited competitor . and at his age and big bodied size ide believe he still makes improvements getting more coordinated on skates and better handed . yes he wont be a high scorer but his two way 200' game will be so valuable that he could play as a 1st line winger with two talented guys . this guy is a very rare player because of size with skating and ruggedness that i think will develop a better shot and hands over the next few years and become a rock solid top 6 guy

 

[jaster]

Why are guys so down on Lindstrom. He didn't blow me away, but he looked like a solid third pairing guy. Which on this team is impressive.

I've been a fan of Lindstrom since he showed up in Detroit last season. He has decent upside as a real shutdown guy who can effectively relieve pressure. Has a nice physical element to his game. High IQ. High panic threshold. And while the knock on him used to be his skating, it has improved and isn't holding him back.

His upside remains that of a shutdown half of a 2nd pairing, but if he never graduates beyond the 3rd-pairing, he can still provide some valuable stability in that role.

 

[lilidk]

Sending guys with 2 years NHL time to a foreign league is always a good sign of where their career is headed.

Zadina benefits nothing from this, Detroit benefits nothing from this, and as we saw with Raymond, Frolunda is not a good place for you to go to be, "The guy".

I guess it's just my frustration with Blashill

 

[WingsMJN2965]

I guess it's just my frustration with Blashill

No guarantee he’ll even be here.

Though it is fun to watch the guy get shit on for not putting together a competitive team and then shit on for competing the last 5-10 games.

Realistically, I dunno why anybody thinks he would be successful with Detroit’s shit roster.

 

[Gniwder]

Why are guys so down on Lindstrom. He didn't blow me away, but he looked like a solid third pairing guy. Which on this team is impressive.

I'm with you, I'd give him a B-. He actually made some nice passes that eventually wound up in the net where he didn't get an assist. Only 5 players wound up in the plus column this season. Much more physical this time around though he was on the receiving end as well.

Vrana gets an A+ without any hesitation. He responded well to a shocker of a trade, got send to a cellar dweller and outperformed expectations going 1 PPG. Sure he needs a little work on defensive play, but when a guy scores 8 goals in 11 game, that is very forgivable. Finished 4th in goals while playing only 11 games. Only concern is his tendency to cough up the puck on transition.

Fabbri gets an A. He'd have more points if Zadina could actually score. Same with Larkin. Everyone is blaming Zadina's lack of points to Larkin/Fabbri/etc. I think it's the other way around, Zadina was the one dragging others down. If Bert/Larkin/Fabbri were healthy, Zadina wouldn't be on the first line. Vrana showed what an offensive skill player is supposed to look like and racked up points despite his teammates.

Erne also gets an A. Eating crow on this one. I think long term he's a third line player that can add some secondary scoring. Still needs to work on defensive play.

Cholo and Staal played better than I expected. Ryan disappointed a bit after his hot start. Larkin struggled and needs to broaden his game instead of relying solely on speed. Not gonna rag on players after a tough season, we should just all stick to blaming the spacegoat, Mantha. If Mantha had shown up at all this season, the team could have avoided the terrible start, lol.

 

[jaster]

Cholowski reminds me too much of Bowey. I'm over him. He's at an age where I'm typically fully willing to give the guy more time, especially given his position. And I guess I will since he'll probably be around at least another season. But he just doesn't have it. The improvement just isn't there. His defensive IQ, like Bowey's, is low, and that is unlikely to improve much. And, like Bowey, the little bit of offense he can provide just isn't enough mitigation.

 

[lilidk]

No guarantee he’ll even be here.

Though it is fun to watch the guy get shit on for not putting together a competitive team and then shit on for competing the last 5-10 games.

Realistically, I dunno why anybody thinks he would be successful with Detroit’s shit roster.

I am glad he made it in the end somehow it happened when we were without our best players. This team is not that bad, like you said they are.
Blashill did good job , but time to go different direction it's been too long and see skill players regressing bit painful

 

[WingsMJN2965]

I am glad he made it in the end somehow it happened when we were without our best players. This team is not that bad, like you said they are.
Blashill did good job , but time to go different direction it's been too long and see skill players regressing bit painful

Uhh, yeah, this team is pretty awful. Goalies are great, but the defense is brutal and realistically, we have about 5 qualified top 6 forwards and can only get 3 of them healthy at a time.

There are players who'd be fine when property assigned, but when you've got 4th line guys playing 2nd line assignments and 2nd pairing defenders playing 1st pairing assignments, those qualified guys look like shit.

 

[Barry Amsterdam]

Maybe C- is a minus too hard. Maybe not.

Shaman doesn't give a f*** about a low grade for Rasmussen. But criticize his boy Zadina, and he's all worked up.

I just don't know how one rationally defends Zadina's production.

Zadina
19-20 425 minutes 8-7-15
20-21 823 minutes 6-13-19

Zadina Goals in 20-21 = 6
vs Predictions
@Zetterberg4Captain 17
@newfy 18
@Barry Amsterdam 22
@MBH 15
@Pavels Dog 23
@Hen Kolland 19
@Winger98 14
@ArmChairGM89 19
@OgeeOgelthorpe 20
@Henkka 11
@Ezekial 19
@NotLeddy 19
@DATSOMATIC13 17
@ShippinItDaily 16
@JustJokinenAround 22
Bold Predictions & Other BS Contest

So our range was 11 to 23.
He scored 6.

I'm seeing people make excuses about a lack of a setup man.

The lack of playmakers didn't stop Vrana from scoring eight goals in 11 games.
So you can't blame Zadina's inability to "fill nets" on anyone but Zadina, really. Sure, his overall production is hurt by Blashill and the lack of playmakers.
But he still disappointed.

His shot isn't elite.
His size and skating are only average.
I still think he's got 20-30-50 ability. But man, that's a bit lower than I had him pegged two years ago.

C- is about right. Pretty disappointed in the season he had. Thought he better offensively the year before. His shot is very very good, I dont know he needs to find a way to use it though

 

[dragonballgtz]

Larkin: D
He seemed lost at times. I've given up looking for him to be a 70 point player, even though he hit that 2 seasons ago... but it would be nice if he could become a consistent 25G+25A player with great defense ability at this point.

Hronek: B
He's being asked to play above where he should be, like most players on this roster, but I didn't sense a regression in him like others.

Erne: A
Exceeded expectations.

Zadina: D
Wanted him to score more and show more offensive finish, probably has to do with being told to play a safer game. Seen a bit of flash here and there but not enough.

Rasmussen: C-
Feel like the same as Zadina, being coached to play way too safe. Only reason why I didn't give him a D is I don't expect a lot of offense coming from him. He improved his skating so that's good to play a 3rd/4th liner role.

No one else on the roster I care enough to grade or didn't play long enough to grade.

 

[Oddbob]

For next season I Prefer see Zadina in Frolunda rather than Detroit

YIKES!

 

[Oddbob]

Zadina’s 21. He’s played just about a full regular season in his career - 15G 22A 37P (.43 PPG) in his first 86 games on some god awful teams. That’s really not bad. He has plenty of time to improve.

Kakko - 19G 21A 40P in 114 GP (.35 PPG)
Hughes - 18G 34A 52P in 116 GP (.45 PPG)
Lafreniere - 12G 9A 21P in 56 GP (.38 PPG)

SHHH, context always wrecks the truth!

 

[Oddbob]

No guarantee he’ll even be here.

Though it is fun to watch the guy get shit on for not putting together a competitive team and then shit on for competing the last 5-10 games.

Realistically, I dunno why anybody thinks he would be successful with Detroit’s shit roster.

To me it isn't about his record, it is how he uses players when he has had better options to use in given situations. I also don't see any need to keep a coach 6 years deep with losing hockey. Roster bad or not, that is not someone we need to keep. Playing Dekeyser and Glendening when we need offence is at the top of my complain lists. Blending lines the instant they don't work is another, as well as benching some of the young guys the second they make mistakes while Nielsen and Namestnikov types get shift after shift of nothing hockey.

 

[Oddbob]

Why are guys so down on Lindstrom. He didn't blow me away, but he looked like a solid third pairing guy. Which on this team is impressive.

To me the better question is why are you up on Lindstrom? He is soft on his D coverage with weak outlet passes and slow to react a lot of the time.

 

[Gniwder]

Cholowski reminds me too much of Bowey. I'm over him. He's at an age where I'm typically fully willing to give the guy more time, especially given his position. And I guess I will since he'll probably be around at least another season. But he just doesn't have it. The improvement just isn't there. His defensive IQ, like Bowey's, is low, and that is unlikely to improve much. And, like Bowey, the little bit of offense he can provide just isn't enough mitigation.

Wow, that's harsh dude, and I don't even like Cholo. Bowey has the lowest hockey IQ of any D I've seen play a full season. Cholo was not that bad, he doesn't chase the puck like Bowey.

I had really low expectations, so he did better than I expected which was Djoos level D. There's a kid that should be let go. He has no business playing D.

 

[wingerdinger]

To me the better question is why are you up on Lindstrom? He is soft on his D coverage with weak outlet passes and slow to react a lot of the time.

Imo he's steady with good zone coverage with a willingness to battle in the corners and net front. He's also a decent puckmover while every other offense/transition aspect is weak it's enough to make him a bottom pair dman with room to grow. Much better than the d+ to c range I saw most grade him.

 

[SoupGuru]

To me it isn't about his record, it is how he uses players when he has had better options to use in given situations. I also don't see any need to keep a coach 6 years deep with losing hockey. Roster bad or not, that is not someone we need to keep. Playing Dekeyser and Glendening when we need offence is at the top of my complain lists. Blending lines the instant they don't work is another, as well as benching some of the young guys the second they make mistakes while Nielsen and Namestnikov types get shift after shift of nothing hockey.

You've seen the rest of the team, right? DeKeyser scored the most goals among our defensemen.

And there was a game or two where Glendening had the most goals of anyone else on the ice.

 

[Oddbob]

You've seen the rest of the team, right? DeKeyser scored the most goals among our defensemen.

And there was a game or two where Glendening had the most goals of anyone else on the ice.

Just cause Dekeyser scored a couple of flukey goals doesn't mean he is who should be out there. Same with Glendening. In OT, Djoos is the kind of player you play even if he sucks at ES and 5 on 5. Offensive minded players should still be out there.

 

[Oddbob]

Love people ripping Cholo, but praising Lindstrom who is definitely worse.

 

[Shaman464]

Wow, that's harsh dude, and I don't even like Cholo. Bowey has the lowest hockey IQ of any D I've seen play a full season. Cholo was not that bad, he doesn't chase the puck like Bowey.

I had really low expectations, so he did better than I expected which was Djoos level D. There's a kid that should be let go. He has no business playing D.

I keep saying this, Cholo should be converted to a winger. Dude has some offensive instincts that I think would be better served if he doesn't have to worry about being a defenseman first.

 

[lilidk]

I keep saying this, Cholo should be converted to a winger. Dude has some offensive instincts that I think would be better served if he doesn't have to worry about being a defenseman first.

You can say same about Makar or Hughes

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Don't know how a team that finished that far out of the playoffs has so many As. I can see the argument for Vrana who was here for all of three weeks. I can't see it for anyone else. Our leading scorer had 26 points and was a -18. Our goalies were, statistically, slightly below average. Now, they played fantastically compared to the garbage we've seen in prior years, but still average at best.

By these grades everyone is giving, we'd have a bubble or average team. We pretty clearly did not have that.