Team and Player Grading Thread

[57special]

A= excellent
B= above average
C= average
D= below average/fringe NHL'er
F= shouldn't be in league

No grade inflation here! I do consider salary in my evals, i. e. I expect Parise to be a much better player than Sturm, because he is paid 8 times as much. Salary cap matters!


Overall team grade.... A - Kaprizov has got these players excited.


Evason....B - Matches well, makes players accountable, gets them to work hard, but the PP drags his mark down.


Kaprizov....A+ He even has great hair.

Brodin...A His best season yet. His skating has somehow gotten better, and he has gotten more assertive offensively.

Fiala... A- tries too hard sometimes and makes bad decisions, but still very talented.

JEE... A- a top defensive C in the league, and is chipping in goals.

Greenway... B+ still raw, but much improved.

Zuccarello... B+ great production in a very small amount of games. We'll see how he does longterm.

Foligno...B+ big, tough, fast...makes team tough to play against.

Hartman...B+ tough, fast, versatile...see Foligno comment.

Kahkonen... B

Talbot... B

Sturm...B big, fast, good defensively, and a C? Low AAV? Sign me up!

Suter... B slight decline, but still vg. Great stretch passer.

Dumba... B seems to be coming around.

Cole... B- after a break in period, has been much better than advertised.

Rask... B- slow, weak, but oddly good. Don't expect it to last, but grateful for what he's done so far.

Spurgeon... B- seems off a bit. Don't know if it's lingering effects from Covid, an injury, decline, or being named Captain is playing with his head. Worrying.

Soucy.... C

Bonino... C meh

Bjugstad.... D slow, weak, but has somehow chipped in with a bit of offense or I would have had him lower.

Parise... D maybe this is too harsh, but I don't see what he does for the team now. Slow, doesn't win puck battles, small size means he doesn't cover ground. Stealing money at this point.

Johansson... F Can't stay on the ice, and when he does he's not good. He's not worth minimum salary. What a dumb trade.

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[GuerinUp]

no way evason gets a B.... and parise is an F, fiala is definately having a C season, zucc is an A so far... spurgeon a C

 

[57special]

My thinking is that durability is part of the mix when it comes to evals, so it lowered Lizard's grade. It was a B- for Evason, but I take your point...he seems to have the guys buying in to playing hard and well.

 

[Minnewildsota]

Why would Soucy be a "C"? Curious. I would have given him a B. I thought he's been playing fairly well and above what you should really expect from a 3rd pairing.

I COULD see the merits for "C", but again, curious on your reasoning

 

[57special]

I think that Soucy has been a little shaky in his own end, and not as good as he was last year. My hope was that he would come back and be even better. I am not really unhappy with him, just think he is capable of more. I really liked him last year.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Just by watching without any science or research...probably would help to look at xG stats for this to check but whatever.

Exceeding Expectations:
Greenway
Ek
Kaprizov
Zuccarello
Rask
Foligno
Hartman
Sturm

Brodin
Dumba
Soucy

Kahk

Meeting:
Fiala

Suter
Cole

Talbot

Below/Failing:
Parise
Bjugstad
Bonino
Johansson

Spurgeon (not terrible, just not what I expect).

Idk how to give letter grades so I think this is an easier way for me to sort them. This season is so weird and segmented that we're going to see guys going on 'runs' where they look really good then they'll go away for a bit. A lot of this is probably recency bias with Zucc/Rask/etc. but they're playing well. Overall the team is exceeding my expectations so far, but then again they've been able to play LA, Anaheim and SJS for like 15 games or whatever.

 

[2Pair]

GF /GA at 5 on 5
Soucy 14/6
Spurgeon 10/11

 

[GordieGallant]

Overall team play. B+ Can't give them an A until the PP improves.

Coach: B Totally agree with 57's take.

Kaprizov: A This kid is special. Fast, tenacious, incredible on his edges, strong on his skates, can make something out of nothing. Like most would like to see him shoot more.

Brodin: A Has always been a elite defender. Great at retrievals and eluding or beating pressure. Great stick, great gap control holds the offensive zone as well as anyone, and is one of the best skaters in the league. Incredibly quick feet. Nice to see him finally using his skillset in the offensive zone.

ZEE: B+ Great defensively and is a monster in front of the net. Huge pain in the ass to play against and gets in opponents heads. Would get a solid A if better on faceoffs. Starting to shine after playing in Koivu's vast shadow.

Zucc: B+ Very good playmaker, great hockey sense and most importantly has chemistry with 97. His stick may be as long as Soucy's.

Goaltending: B+ Both have been very good. So used to seeing one softy a game with Dubnyk.

Fiala: B Very Good offensive player. Fast. Like 57 said tries to do to much which leads to turnovers. Slow start.

Greenway : B Just a beast down low in offensive zone and is improving with more ice time.

Foligno and Hartman: B Tough, gritty, wingers that can score and kill penalties. Exactly what you need to make a deep playoff run.

Rask: B Not a speedster but is a smart, a decent playmaker and decent in the faceoff circles. Not as bad as some say.

Sturm: B Classic late bloomer who busts his ass and continues to get better. What's not to like?

Suter: B- Has lost a step but but still very good. Great at stretch passes and getting pucks to the net.

Cole and Soucy: B- Great trade to get Cole, and Soucy is showing flashes of offensive ability. Their +/- says a lot.

Spurgeon: C+ Slow start. Seems tentative for whatever reason. I think he will come around.

Parise and Bonino: C Veterans not used to playing bottom six minutes. Parise has lost a step, but Bonino's experience will be valuable if we make the playoffs.

Bjugstad: C- Slow start. I'd like to see a bit more physical play as he is a big guy. But what the hell I watched Koivu for years.

Johansson: D+ Hasn't done much of anything impressive so far. Hopefully can contribute.