Forwards
Datsyuk A -- Led the team in goals, points, +/-, PP goals, game winning goals, OT goals, takeaways, faceoff wins (225 more than anyone else).
Pavel is the MVP of the team,IMO. He was asked to do more than ever, carrying a sickly looking line for a month, carrying Abdelkader almost the entire second half, and doing more than ever defensively because of the need for someone who can win draws. Still, there were times this year he looked tired and just off.
Zetterberg B+ -- Productive year for Hank. People talked about him like an MVP candidate about 15 games in. But before the last 4 games, he went nearly half the season (23 games with 2G and 10 assists). His late season awakening was crucial tot he Wings getting in. It also saved him from his second MINUS season in three years. As productive as Zetterberg was, Z's goal scoring was a bit disappointing, and Hank needs to show he can be a plus player at center all year. Because if Pavel walks after next season ...
Franzen -- B- -- Good old Mule played 41 games. Double his numbers for these 82 game totals -- 28 goals 62 Points. That's about what people expect of Franzen. The problem is that Franzen played heartless hockey for way too much of the year. One understands Datsyuk and Zetterberg and Brunner dragging after they played 30 games in Europe. Still, Mule put up the numbers and looked much better as the go-to man on a line with Flip.
Brunner -- B -- Over an 82 game season, he pro-rates about 23 goals and 50 points. Nice find. But a bit disappointing because of the hot start he had. Needs to take Datsyuk lessons on winning board battles. Defense was brutal at times, but at times he showed willingness to hurry back and break up plays.
Filppula -- D -- Flip also played 41 games. So for 82 games -- 18 goals, 34 points. That's pretty brutal. He showed some signs of life late. Looked completely disinterested far too often.
Cleary -- D -- Is the worst player on the team, in my opinion. Worse than Emmerton. Worse than Eaves. Worse than Miller. Maybe not worse than Lashoff. 9 goals sounds OK. It works out to a 15-16 goal season. But 15 points with the ice time he had is just not acceptable. Worse, he seems to have taken Bertuzzi's role as the "dumb penalty" king. His defense, once strong, has suffered because he can't get up and down the ice with NHL caliber skaters.
Abdelkader - B -- Don't get me wrong, I think Abdelkader is a plug. It's not his fault he's misused. Abdelader finished on pace for an 18 goal 5 assist season. He basically proved that anyone can be a 20 goal scorer in this league with the right linemates and icetime. But Abdelkader deserves credit for physical hockey, good work on the PK, and playing with effort all year long.
Emmerton - C - -- Emmerton impressed the hell out of me early, looked pretty decent late. But he was really not very good for a long stretch. His 45 percent faceoff rate is tough to accept. A guy like him needs to be 50 percent or higher to have any future in this league.
Miller -- D -- Drew Miller had a rough year. Maybe he's starting to see that the youth movement is going to make him expendable. Miller had his chances this year, playing alongside Zetterberg for a spell. But he just couldn't get it done. Finished on a 15 point pace. Still a valuable PK guy. But PK guys like him are a dime a dozen.
Andersson -- C - -- Remember that 2 goal Joakim had against Vancouver? Yeah. it does seem like forever ago. Production fell off the charts when Tatar went to GR. Looked good as Nyquist got his legs. Andersson seems to work hard, but he's really soft for a big guy. He loses too many faceoffs, too. Andersson seems like he's got two-way skills. But really lackluster two-way skills. Not all that great on defense. Not very good offensively, either.
Eaves -- C - -- Was having a forgettable year until he started playing well over the last three weeks. Good come back year for him though. Showed he can still be an NHLer.
Tatar -- B+ -- Looked really good in his stint with Detroit and his 5-on-5 production was best on the team all year. Inexplicably demoted.
Nyquist -- B -- Really caught on the last 2-3 weeks of the season after a very uninspiring start. Check out his takeaway numbers. 19 in 22 games. Shows really good skill. But for whatever reason, he can't seem to finish the great chances he creates for himself.
Tootoo -- C+ -- Hit hard. Dropped the gloves. Skated well. Had some defensive issues but was really underutlized
Bertuzzi -- INC
Samuelsson -- INC
Helm -- INC
DEFENSE
Kronwall -- B -- Much was expected. Maybe too much. At one point, he led NHL defensemen in scoring even as the minuses piled up. He had like 18 points in 19 games. He finished with 13 in his final 29. But his defense was much improved in the second half, too.
Kindl -- B -- Kindl's production was pretty good. His +15 really stands out. He still has big troubles getting caught out of position and coughing up the puck, though. But good for him for winning a job this year. Hopefully he can iron out the kinks in his game and continue to get PP time. Averaged over a hit per game, but can be better.
Ericsson -- B -- Still makes too many boneheaded mistakes and he's as gaffe prone as Kindl. But Ericsson is a pretty nice fit for this team. Led a soft defense in hits.
Smith -- C -- This was a rookie year and Smith made lots of rookie mistakes. Toward the end, he showed improvement and more flashes of the offense we expected to see. He's always going to have defensive issues. He's pretty careless with the puck. Also, while he plays with a chip, he's not very physical.
Lashoff - D -- AHL player playing in an NHL situation and he was exploited. His three-year contract is absolutely mystifying. With Kindl, Smith and Dekeyser in the lineup next year, do you really want a young guy like Lashoff as your #7?
White - D -- I feel for White, because he's a guy who needs to play in scoring situations with puck possession guys. He spent too much of his time in third line situations and was bumped from the powerplay, so his numbers slipped. He did a nice job for us last year. Sucks that this year killed his contract value.
Quincey - C+ -- After a brutal start, he had a hockey labotomy and went to simplistic, back-to-basic D. No risky passes. No skating the puck up. No joining the rush. No hitting and no penalties. Truth is, I prefer Labotomy Quincey to the asshat who played for us last year. Quincey's defensive game improved when he put his cage on because he got more physical. We need him to be physical.
Dekeyser -- B+ -- Plays a soft, but smart game of defense-first hockey. Passes the puck OK too. Seems to have a head for the game.
Howard -- A -- Bounced back from a bad start and was impressive down the stretch. Needs to show he's a playoff goalie now.
Gustavsson -- INC -- Had a couple brutal games, and a couple nice games.
Datsyuk A -- Led the team in goals, points, +/-, PP goals, game winning goals, OT goals, takeaways, faceoff wins (225 more than anyone else).
Pavel is the MVP of the team,IMO. He was asked to do more than ever, carrying a sickly looking line for a month, carrying Abdelkader almost the entire second half, and doing more than ever defensively because of the need for someone who can win draws. Still, there were times this year he looked tired and just off.
Zetterberg B+ -- Productive year for Hank. People talked about him like an MVP candidate about 15 games in. But before the last 4 games, he went nearly half the season (23 games with 2G and 10 assists). His late season awakening was crucial tot he Wings getting in. It also saved him from his second MINUS season in three years. As productive as Zetterberg was, Z's goal scoring was a bit disappointing, and Hank needs to show he can be a plus player at center all year. Because if Pavel walks after next season ...
Franzen -- B- -- Good old Mule played 41 games. Double his numbers for these 82 game totals -- 28 goals 62 Points. That's about what people expect of Franzen. The problem is that Franzen played heartless hockey for way too much of the year. One understands Datsyuk and Zetterberg and Brunner dragging after they played 30 games in Europe. Still, Mule put up the numbers and looked much better as the go-to man on a line with Flip.
Brunner -- B -- Over an 82 game season, he pro-rates about 23 goals and 50 points. Nice find. But a bit disappointing because of the hot start he had. Needs to take Datsyuk lessons on winning board battles. Defense was brutal at times, but at times he showed willingness to hurry back and break up plays.
Filppula -- D -- Flip also played 41 games. So for 82 games -- 18 goals, 34 points. That's pretty brutal. He showed some signs of life late. Looked completely disinterested far too often.
Cleary -- D -- Is the worst player on the team, in my opinion. Worse than Emmerton. Worse than Eaves. Worse than Miller. Maybe not worse than Lashoff. 9 goals sounds OK. It works out to a 15-16 goal season. But 15 points with the ice time he had is just not acceptable. Worse, he seems to have taken Bertuzzi's role as the "dumb penalty" king. His defense, once strong, has suffered because he can't get up and down the ice with NHL caliber skaters.
Abdelkader - B -- Don't get me wrong, I think Abdelkader is a plug. It's not his fault he's misused. Abdelader finished on pace for an 18 goal 5 assist season. He basically proved that anyone can be a 20 goal scorer in this league with the right linemates and icetime. But Abdelkader deserves credit for physical hockey, good work on the PK, and playing with effort all year long.
Emmerton - C - -- Emmerton impressed the hell out of me early, looked pretty decent late. But he was really not very good for a long stretch. His 45 percent faceoff rate is tough to accept. A guy like him needs to be 50 percent or higher to have any future in this league.
Miller -- D -- Drew Miller had a rough year. Maybe he's starting to see that the youth movement is going to make him expendable. Miller had his chances this year, playing alongside Zetterberg for a spell. But he just couldn't get it done. Finished on a 15 point pace. Still a valuable PK guy. But PK guys like him are a dime a dozen.
Andersson -- C - -- Remember that 2 goal Joakim had against Vancouver? Yeah. it does seem like forever ago. Production fell off the charts when Tatar went to GR. Looked good as Nyquist got his legs. Andersson seems to work hard, but he's really soft for a big guy. He loses too many faceoffs, too. Andersson seems like he's got two-way skills. But really lackluster two-way skills. Not all that great on defense. Not very good offensively, either.
Eaves -- C - -- Was having a forgettable year until he started playing well over the last three weeks. Good come back year for him though. Showed he can still be an NHLer.
Tatar -- B+ -- Looked really good in his stint with Detroit and his 5-on-5 production was best on the team all year. Inexplicably demoted.
Nyquist -- B -- Really caught on the last 2-3 weeks of the season after a very uninspiring start. Check out his takeaway numbers. 19 in 22 games. Shows really good skill. But for whatever reason, he can't seem to finish the great chances he creates for himself.
Tootoo -- C+ -- Hit hard. Dropped the gloves. Skated well. Had some defensive issues but was really underutlized
Bertuzzi -- INC
Samuelsson -- INC
Helm -- INC
DEFENSE
Kronwall -- B -- Much was expected. Maybe too much. At one point, he led NHL defensemen in scoring even as the minuses piled up. He had like 18 points in 19 games. He finished with 13 in his final 29. But his defense was much improved in the second half, too.
Kindl -- B -- Kindl's production was pretty good. His +15 really stands out. He still has big troubles getting caught out of position and coughing up the puck, though. But good for him for winning a job this year. Hopefully he can iron out the kinks in his game and continue to get PP time. Averaged over a hit per game, but can be better.
Ericsson -- B -- Still makes too many boneheaded mistakes and he's as gaffe prone as Kindl. But Ericsson is a pretty nice fit for this team. Led a soft defense in hits.
Smith -- C -- This was a rookie year and Smith made lots of rookie mistakes. Toward the end, he showed improvement and more flashes of the offense we expected to see. He's always going to have defensive issues. He's pretty careless with the puck. Also, while he plays with a chip, he's not very physical.
Lashoff - D -- AHL player playing in an NHL situation and he was exploited. His three-year contract is absolutely mystifying. With Kindl, Smith and Dekeyser in the lineup next year, do you really want a young guy like Lashoff as your #7?
White - D -- I feel for White, because he's a guy who needs to play in scoring situations with puck possession guys. He spent too much of his time in third line situations and was bumped from the powerplay, so his numbers slipped. He did a nice job for us last year. Sucks that this year killed his contract value.
Quincey - C+ -- After a brutal start, he had a hockey labotomy and went to simplistic, back-to-basic D. No risky passes. No skating the puck up. No joining the rush. No hitting and no penalties. Truth is, I prefer Labotomy Quincey to the asshat who played for us last year. Quincey's defensive game improved when he put his cage on because he got more physical. We need him to be physical.
Dekeyser -- B+ -- Plays a soft, but smart game of defense-first hockey. Passes the puck OK too. Seems to have a head for the game.
Howard -- A -- Bounced back from a bad start and was impressive down the stretch. Needs to show he's a playoff goalie now.
Gustavsson -- INC -- Had a couple brutal games, and a couple nice games.
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