Alright everybody I wanna hear about how your players have been doing this season. Grade them/rank them/describe them; I don't care how you do it.
For
:
Johnny Gaudreau - A- he's been pretty standard, creating plays all the time.
Sean Monahan - A- same as Gaudreau really, just finishing rather than creating. He looks stronger on the puck than before.
Elias Lindholm - A better than I could have hoped for and much more skilled than I expected. He's the defensive conscience of the top line. His goal totals are a bit misleading because he doesn't have a great shot, he just gets into good areas to bury it into an open net.
Matthew Tkachuk - A+ he's tied with Giordano for the Flames MVP in my opinion so far. He's easily the most well-rounded player on the Flames. He's a great playmaker, and he's the best on the Flames at tips/redirections. He's also ridiculously strong on the puck.
Mikael Backlund - B he seems to have lost his scoring touch. He's still got decent speed and puck skills, and he's still one of the better shutdown centers in the league.
Sam Bennett - C+ Flames fans will tell you about how many good scoring chances he gets, but in the end it hardly ever ends up showing on the scoreboard. He's gritty and he's thrown some huge hits this year, so he has value outside of scoring.
Michael Frolik - C still a good defensive player, and he's chipped in with some goals too. He's obviously lost a step though.
James Neal - D hardly ever notice him, and when I do it's quite often because he just did something stupid with the puck. I understand that he's the kind of player to wait around for a good chance and bury it, but he needs to be doing that more to earn his contract (which I think everyone can agree didn't seem great when he signed it).
Mark Jankowski - D pretty unnoticeable as well. Hopefully he'll pick it up.
Derek Ryan - D there's not one thing I can think of that he does well. He's just all around "meh". He also seems really weak battling for the puck.
Austin Czarnik - C- he shows some decent skill. I wish he would get some more opportunities to show what he can do.
Garnet Hathaway - D atleast he's a gritty 4th liner? Nothing more than that though.
Dillon Dube - D has speed to burn and that's about it. He really needs to be sent down to the AHL to develop. His hands can't keep up with his feet.
Anthony Peluso - F why was he even ever dressed???
Mark Giordano - A he's been the backbone of the Flames defense for awhile now, and he's definitely not slowing down. If anything, he's speeding up. He should be a frontrunner for the Norris at this point.
T.J. Brodie - C+ I guess he looks better beside Giordano than he did away from him. He's the best skater on the Flames, and a good passer, he's just nowhere near the player he was 3 years ago.
Noah Hanifin - B not very flashy, just solid. Has looked better and better now that Hamonic is back. I honestly expected his skating to be better than it is. He never seems like he's skating as fast as he can, more just going as fast as he needs to. Excellent lateral mobility though, he walks around guys at the point all the time.
Travis Hamonic - B+ very solid playing next to Hanifin. Easily the Flames 2nd best defensive defenseman.
Juuso Valimaki - C he's looked better as the season has gone on. The offensive ability is crystal clear, just waiting for it to translate to points now. Great passer with a sneaky good shot.
Rasmus Andersson - C he started off his first couple games looking iffy, but he's looked better and better playing on the 3rd pair with Valimaki. Good skater, passer, shooter. He has all the skills.
Michael Stone - C glad to see him being scratched in favour of the rookies, though he's not necessarily any worse than them. I trust him more in the defensive zone, but his puck skills are nowhere near that of Valimaki or Andersson.
Mike Smith - F I think Peters is finally starting to get that Smith shouldn't be the go-to guy in net right now. He has single-handedly cost the Flames atleast a few games with soft goals, early goals; he just lets in a
lot of goals. Out of his 13 starts this season, only 4 of them have been "quality starts".
David Rittich - B+ he's been great, and hopefully he'll get the reigns for now. I'm a little bit worried about him as the starter, because last season when Smith went down with injury is when Rittich started to falter (after a great start to the season).
Okay your turn
For
:Johnny Gaudreau - A- he's been pretty standard, creating plays all the time.
Sean Monahan - A- same as Gaudreau really, just finishing rather than creating. He looks stronger on the puck than before.
Elias Lindholm - A better than I could have hoped for and much more skilled than I expected. He's the defensive conscience of the top line. His goal totals are a bit misleading because he doesn't have a great shot, he just gets into good areas to bury it into an open net.
Matthew Tkachuk - A+ he's tied with Giordano for the Flames MVP in my opinion so far. He's easily the most well-rounded player on the Flames. He's a great playmaker, and he's the best on the Flames at tips/redirections. He's also ridiculously strong on the puck.
Mikael Backlund - B he seems to have lost his scoring touch. He's still got decent speed and puck skills, and he's still one of the better shutdown centers in the league.
Sam Bennett - C+ Flames fans will tell you about how many good scoring chances he gets, but in the end it hardly ever ends up showing on the scoreboard. He's gritty and he's thrown some huge hits this year, so he has value outside of scoring.
Michael Frolik - C still a good defensive player, and he's chipped in with some goals too. He's obviously lost a step though.
James Neal - D hardly ever notice him, and when I do it's quite often because he just did something stupid with the puck. I understand that he's the kind of player to wait around for a good chance and bury it, but he needs to be doing that more to earn his contract (which I think everyone can agree didn't seem great when he signed it).
Mark Jankowski - D pretty unnoticeable as well. Hopefully he'll pick it up.
Derek Ryan - D there's not one thing I can think of that he does well. He's just all around "meh". He also seems really weak battling for the puck.
Austin Czarnik - C- he shows some decent skill. I wish he would get some more opportunities to show what he can do.
Garnet Hathaway - D atleast he's a gritty 4th liner? Nothing more than that though.
Dillon Dube - D has speed to burn and that's about it. He really needs to be sent down to the AHL to develop. His hands can't keep up with his feet.
Anthony Peluso - F why was he even ever dressed???
Mark Giordano - A he's been the backbone of the Flames defense for awhile now, and he's definitely not slowing down. If anything, he's speeding up. He should be a frontrunner for the Norris at this point.
T.J. Brodie - C+ I guess he looks better beside Giordano than he did away from him. He's the best skater on the Flames, and a good passer, he's just nowhere near the player he was 3 years ago.
Noah Hanifin - B not very flashy, just solid. Has looked better and better now that Hamonic is back. I honestly expected his skating to be better than it is. He never seems like he's skating as fast as he can, more just going as fast as he needs to. Excellent lateral mobility though, he walks around guys at the point all the time.
Travis Hamonic - B+ very solid playing next to Hanifin. Easily the Flames 2nd best defensive defenseman.
Juuso Valimaki - C he's looked better as the season has gone on. The offensive ability is crystal clear, just waiting for it to translate to points now. Great passer with a sneaky good shot.
Rasmus Andersson - C he started off his first couple games looking iffy, but he's looked better and better playing on the 3rd pair with Valimaki. Good skater, passer, shooter. He has all the skills.
Michael Stone - C glad to see him being scratched in favour of the rookies, though he's not necessarily any worse than them. I trust him more in the defensive zone, but his puck skills are nowhere near that of Valimaki or Andersson.
Mike Smith - F I think Peters is finally starting to get that Smith shouldn't be the go-to guy in net right now. He has single-handedly cost the Flames atleast a few games with soft goals, early goals; he just lets in a
lot of goals. Out of his 13 starts this season, only 4 of them have been "quality starts".
David Rittich - B+ he's been great, and hopefully he'll get the reigns for now. I'm a little bit worried about him as the starter, because last season when Smith went down with injury is when Rittich started to falter (after a great start to the season).
Okay your turn
