Center:
Ryan MacLeod: B+. I debated giving him an A but again, this team sucked. Too often someone who overperforms expectations gets graded softly and the Lake Wobegon Effect takes ahold instead of actual grading. He had a career year offensively. Early season work with Zucker and Greenway kept them in games and was the sort of support we hoped for and rarely see. The downside of course… it’s a contract year. We know this can sometimes be a mirage. There were times when his line when saddled with the defensively disengaged Quinn and Peterka combo was scoring but getting their ears pinned back defensively. He was good on the PK but the PK unit as a whole was below average/not a strength.
Jiri Kulich: B. Seriously, the pursuit defensively and diligent work to re-acquire pucks was not part of his Amerk game so for that to be some of the features when he plugged in (eventually) was a nice revelation. He still has his shot, but he showed he will get to the net and stay around the net to score, just like his off-season coach worked with him to accomplish. Visually, there is no other forward on the team who is around the net as much with and without the puck. Is he a playmaker though? Or is his puck pursuit and defense the sort of F3 guy who can keep Tage’s stick unlocked with Benson as the playmaker and F1 on that line? Maybe. It’s a lot to bank on. Plus there are the two high hits late in the season to still overcome. He puts himself in position to get popped and they do not do anything to make sure it doesn’t happen.
Tage Thompson: C+. And this one was a struggle because I wanted to give him a D despite that being the part lacking and an A on how well he scores. Does he get the grade as a center or as a winger or some sort of hybrid? His goal scoring is amazing. His play off the puck is not good. He has the talent to light up lesser opponents with drags and dangles and a shot that punches wormholes in the space-time continuum. But he also makes ill-timed one-man moves that cost them goals or extended defensive zone time that I would expect out of bantam guys or get attributed to other centers on this team. The shot is still amazing, but his passing and playmaking isn’t at the level of a 1C nor is his defense. Ruff has acknowledged that which is why down the stretch to end the season, he was on wing. Those turnovers man... just move the puck and get to open ice.
Noah Ostlund: C. Came up, played the fourth line role, got the fourth line working the way they probably wanted it to work but didn’t because they have too many blockheads on the team to make it work. I still don’t think he’s ready, but I could see him pushing into the lineup next season at some point. I can’t wait to hear about not blocking his path instead of doing what other teams do and being good, then making a trade to allow a player to move into the lineup if needed.
Peyton Krebs: C. I thought he finally was more of the player they hoped for when running the middle with Zucker and Tuch. Now… that seems like a pair of wingers that most players could produce with and most did, though not Cozens (we’ll get to him). I’m not sold that he’s more than just a guy. If the rumors about Calgary are still there, sure, sell high on his end of season scoring. He mostly has rounded off his bad backhand turnovers at the bluelines – that’s more Thompson and Quinn SOP now – and is somewhat scrappy. I would assert that his game is essentially a bog standard NHLer but with how candy-assed this team is, it makes it seem more physical than it really is.
Dylan Cozens: F. Kid, you wear your emotions on your sleeve and too often seemed like you’d taken off your shirt. I wish him well, seemed like a good guy as compared to some other players who have moved through this organization. But it just did not work here.
Sam Lafferty: F. Dude. DUDE. Accountability?? Your introductory call and press clippings about accountability and then you put your head down and went through the motions. C’mon man, you played like you didn’t have your gear on until the last six weeks of the season. And then when others are taking runs at your best players, where the f*** are you? Isn’t that supposed to be your game? Why is Tuch throwing hands with a plug like Gadjobitch and not you? Honestly, I feel betrayed by someone who I advocated for coming in and mailing in this performance this season. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, even if your best work was on the wing.
Josh Norris: Incomplete. So he had a torn oblique, and they still traded for him. *blink* His defensive stuff in Ottawa was encouraging. He being a shot option on the PP is interesting though the Sabres unit seems to still be poorly designed and trying to get back to a Tage-Vic flanker tandem is a coaching decision that requires some nuance like another hub other than Dahlin to work which they don’t have when putting Tuch and Zucker out there to crash the net. To quote Zucker, hope is a shitty strategy and yet here we are hoping the guy is healthy enough to contribute when his history indicates that isn’t going to be the case.
Ryan MacLeod: B+. I debated giving him an A but again, this team sucked. Too often someone who overperforms expectations gets graded softly and the Lake Wobegon Effect takes ahold instead of actual grading. He had a career year offensively. Early season work with Zucker and Greenway kept them in games and was the sort of support we hoped for and rarely see. The downside of course… it’s a contract year. We know this can sometimes be a mirage. There were times when his line when saddled with the defensively disengaged Quinn and Peterka combo was scoring but getting their ears pinned back defensively. He was good on the PK but the PK unit as a whole was below average/not a strength.
Jiri Kulich: B. Seriously, the pursuit defensively and diligent work to re-acquire pucks was not part of his Amerk game so for that to be some of the features when he plugged in (eventually) was a nice revelation. He still has his shot, but he showed he will get to the net and stay around the net to score, just like his off-season coach worked with him to accomplish. Visually, there is no other forward on the team who is around the net as much with and without the puck. Is he a playmaker though? Or is his puck pursuit and defense the sort of F3 guy who can keep Tage’s stick unlocked with Benson as the playmaker and F1 on that line? Maybe. It’s a lot to bank on. Plus there are the two high hits late in the season to still overcome. He puts himself in position to get popped and they do not do anything to make sure it doesn’t happen.
Tage Thompson: C+. And this one was a struggle because I wanted to give him a D despite that being the part lacking and an A on how well he scores. Does he get the grade as a center or as a winger or some sort of hybrid? His goal scoring is amazing. His play off the puck is not good. He has the talent to light up lesser opponents with drags and dangles and a shot that punches wormholes in the space-time continuum. But he also makes ill-timed one-man moves that cost them goals or extended defensive zone time that I would expect out of bantam guys or get attributed to other centers on this team. The shot is still amazing, but his passing and playmaking isn’t at the level of a 1C nor is his defense. Ruff has acknowledged that which is why down the stretch to end the season, he was on wing. Those turnovers man... just move the puck and get to open ice.
Noah Ostlund: C. Came up, played the fourth line role, got the fourth line working the way they probably wanted it to work but didn’t because they have too many blockheads on the team to make it work. I still don’t think he’s ready, but I could see him pushing into the lineup next season at some point. I can’t wait to hear about not blocking his path instead of doing what other teams do and being good, then making a trade to allow a player to move into the lineup if needed.
Peyton Krebs: C. I thought he finally was more of the player they hoped for when running the middle with Zucker and Tuch. Now… that seems like a pair of wingers that most players could produce with and most did, though not Cozens (we’ll get to him). I’m not sold that he’s more than just a guy. If the rumors about Calgary are still there, sure, sell high on his end of season scoring. He mostly has rounded off his bad backhand turnovers at the bluelines – that’s more Thompson and Quinn SOP now – and is somewhat scrappy. I would assert that his game is essentially a bog standard NHLer but with how candy-assed this team is, it makes it seem more physical than it really is.
Dylan Cozens: F. Kid, you wear your emotions on your sleeve and too often seemed like you’d taken off your shirt. I wish him well, seemed like a good guy as compared to some other players who have moved through this organization. But it just did not work here.
Sam Lafferty: F. Dude. DUDE. Accountability?? Your introductory call and press clippings about accountability and then you put your head down and went through the motions. C’mon man, you played like you didn’t have your gear on until the last six weeks of the season. And then when others are taking runs at your best players, where the f*** are you? Isn’t that supposed to be your game? Why is Tuch throwing hands with a plug like Gadjobitch and not you? Honestly, I feel betrayed by someone who I advocated for coming in and mailing in this performance this season. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, even if your best work was on the wing.
Josh Norris: Incomplete. So he had a torn oblique, and they still traded for him. *blink* His defensive stuff in Ottawa was encouraging. He being a shot option on the PP is interesting though the Sabres unit seems to still be poorly designed and trying to get back to a Tage-Vic flanker tandem is a coaching decision that requires some nuance like another hub other than Dahlin to work which they don’t have when putting Tuch and Zucker out there to crash the net. To quote Zucker, hope is a shitty strategy and yet here we are hoping the guy is healthy enough to contribute when his history indicates that isn’t going to be the case.
