Tribute Halfway Point Grades

[ACC1224]

Game 41 played last night leaving the club 21-9-7 for 57 points which is pretty much on pace from last season.

Grades

Forwards

Defense

Goaltending

Coaching

Management

Thoughts

Best Player

Worst Player

Biggest Surprise

Biggest Disappointment

Biggest Need

Click to read more...

 

[TMLAM34]

Our goaltending has definitely exceeded my expectation.

I’d also say Nylander has surprised me, he’s probably been our best player this season.


Grades

Forwards - B+

Defense - B+

Goaltending - A-

Coaching - B+

Management - B+

Thoughts

Best Player - William Nylander

Worst Player - Wayne Simmonds

Biggest Surprise - Conor Timmins and Pontus Holmberg

Biggest Disappointment - Alex Kerfoot

Biggest Need - Third line center

 

[wingman75]

I voted for MET EXPECTATIONS. Expected them to be good, and are top 3 in the league on a similar points pace to last season. For games that everyone agrees do not matter, they are managing to win a lot of them (as they should).

Grades

Forwards B+

Defense A

Goaltending B

Coaching A

Management B

Thoughts

Best Player Mitch Marner, Willian Nylander close second

Worst Player Wayne Simmonds, NAK while he was on the roster

Biggest Surprise Pontus Holmberg, Conor Timmins as a newly acquired player

Biggest Disappointment Autson Matthews (goal scoring only)

Biggest Need Top 6 Forward Depth

 

[ACC1224]

Game 41 played last night leaving the club 21-9-7 for 57 points which is pretty much on pace from last season.

Grades

Forwards - B

Defense - A

Goaltending - A

Coaching - A

Management - B

Thoughts

Best Player - Marner

Worst Player - Engvall

Biggest Surprise - Holmberg

Biggest Disappointment - Engvall

Biggest Need - Top 6 forward

Added my picks.

 

[ACC1224]

I voted for MET EXPECTATIONS. Expected them to be good, and are top 3 in the league on a similar points pace to last season. For games that everyone agrees do not matter, they are managing to win a lot of them (as they should).

Grades

Forwards B+

Defense A

Goaltending B

Coaching A

Management B

Thoughts

Best Player Mitch Marner, Willian Nylander close second

Worst Player Wayne Simmonds, NAK while he was on the roster

Biggest Surprise Pontus Holmberg, Conor Timmins as a newly acquired player

Biggest Disappointment Autson Matthews (goal scoring only)

Biggest Need Top 6 Forward Depth

Yeah when doing mine it seemed like maybe some of the categories may be over critical (Worst Player, Disappointment).
If this is as bad as it gets, they're in pretty good shape.

 

[1specter]

Met expectations overall, given their place in the standings and pt pace is about the same as last year.

The offense, while clicking lately, I think has been a little disappointing overall. When you dig into the advanced numbers they're not as much of a puck possession beast as they were last year, and IMO don't quite control the ice like they did last year either. Nylander has taken another step but Matthews is underperforming what I had expected and Marner and Tavares are around their averages. Jarnkrok has been a nice addition and is beginning to replace the void of Mikheyev from last season, while Kerfoot and Engvall had very bad starts but have also picked it up as of late, so that is positive. A true second line LW still continues to be a big need for the team.

Defense - very good, have exceeded expectations and the addition of Timmins has been excellent, while Liljegren and Sandin have taken huge steps. It's also nice to have Gio for a whole season, he brings so much stability to the back end. Still have some concerns about Holl come playoff time, but overall I feel confident in this group if they stay healthy. Team defense as a whole has also been very good, seems like the forwards as well are really buying into a responsible team game and they're learning to tighten up and close out games like a mature team would.

Goaltending - definitely exceeded expectations and a major bright spot of the season. TBD if they can give us what we need in the playoffs though which Freddy and Jack couldn't

Special teams - PP has slipped from 1st to 7th, not quite as potent as last year. Still not as dynamic as I wish it was, too much stationary passing; Matthews finishing less doesn't help. PK has taken a huge dive, have gone from 8th overall to bottom half of the league, really need to clean that up as a bad PK has cost us playoff series before (Bruins 2019)

Overall they're where they should be but they need to bolster the offense and clean up the PK.

 

[ACC1224]

Met expectations overall, given their place in the standings and pt pace is about the same as last year.

The offense, while clicking lately, I think has been a little disappointing overall. When you dig into the advanced numbers they're not as much of a puck possession beast as they were last year, and IMO don't quite control the ice like they did last year either. Nylander has taken another step but Matthews is underperforming what I had expected and Marner and Tavares are around their averages. Jarnkrok has been a nice addition and is beginning to replace the void of Mikheyev from last season, while Kerfoot and Engvall had very bad starts but have also picked it up as of late, so that is positive. A true second line LW still continues to be a big need for the team.

Defense - very good, have exceeded expectations and the addition of Timmins has been excellent, while Liljegren and Sandin have taken huge steps. It's also nice to have Gio for a whole season, he brings so much stability to the back end. Still have some concerns about Holl come playoff time, but overall I feel confident in this group if they stay healthy. Team defense as a whole has also been very good, seems like the forwards as well are really buying into a responsible team game and they're learning to tighten up and close out games like a mature team would.

Goaltending - definitely exceeded expectations and a major bright spot of the season. TBD if they can give us what we need in the playoffs though which Freddy and Jack couldn't

Special teams - PP has slipped from 1st to 7th, not quite as potent as last year. Still not as dynamic as I wish it was, too much stationary passing; Matthews finishing less doesn't help. PK has taken a huge dive, have gone from 8th overall to bottom half of the league, really need to clean that up as a bad PK has cost us playoff series before (Bruins 2019)

Overall they're where they should be but they need to bolster the offense and clean up the PK.

Good summary.
IMO, after last season I expected a little more this year which is why I felt they have slightly 'underachieved', although the bar for that is pretty high.

 

[DarkKnight]

Grades

Forwards B plus

Defense A minus

Goaltending A minus

Coaching B plus

Management B plus

Thoughts

Best Player: Marner. Honourable mention Nylander and Gio

Worst Player: Engvall

Biggest Surprise: Timmins, goalies

Biggest Disappointment: Malgin

Biggest Need: Forward depth with grit

 

[1specter]

Good summary.
IMO, after last season I expected a little more this year which is why I felt they have slightly 'underachieved', although the bar for that is pretty high.

I think it's fair to say that they definitely had a disappointing start - the way October went was rather shocking, and unfortunately it's probably cost them the division (though I don't think any of us foresaw Boston playing historic level hockey like this...).

However, given the changes to the team over the summer, I personally had felt that we were starting the year with a potentially worse roster than last season. Dubas still hadn't addressed the second line winger situation, and they lost Mikheyev and Kase while only bringing in Jarnkrok, and did not upgrade on Kerfoot or Engvall. I think maybe they had banked on Robertson or another prospect stepping up but that hasn't really happened (Holmberg has been a nice surprise for the fourth line though).

And the goaltending was a huge controversy as many saw Murray as a serious risk, including myself, and didn't like the trade in a vacuum. Thankfully, most of us were wrong on that one, at least so far.

 

[ACC1224]

I think it's fair to say that they definitely had a disappointing start - the way October went was rather shocking, and unfortunately it's probably cost them the division (though I don't think any of us foresaw Boston playing historic level hockey like this...).

However, given the changes to the team over the summer, I personally had felt that we were starting the year with a potentially worse roster than last season. Dubas still hadn't addressed the second line winger situation, and they lost Mikheyev and Kase while only bringing in Jarnkrok, and did not upgrade on Kerfoot or Engvall. I think maybe they had banked on Robertson or another prospect stepping up but that hasn't really happened (Holmberg has been a nice surprise for the fourth line though).

And the goaltending was a huge controversy as many saw Murray as a serious risk, including myself, and didn't like the trade in a vacuum. Thankfully, most of us were wrong on that one, at least so far.

Some good points, I may have to re-assess some of my rankings.

for the Goalies, I wasn't overly worried. I figured at worse they would be at last years level and if not they could shop for a stop gap.
I didn't like the Murray trade though, the sweeteners for taking him on were underwhelming.

 

[Twine Tickler]

Grades

Forwards A-

Defense A

Goaltending A-

Coaching A

Management A

Thoughts

Best Player Mitch Marner

Worst Player NAK

Biggest Surprise Connor Timmins

Biggest Disappointment NAK

Biggest Need To play our best hockey in May/June

 

[fahad203]

They are exactly where I thought they would be

Defense - A
Surprised to what they have done with all the injuries

Goaltending - B
I am still not sold on Murray or Samsonov. The margin for error against Vasi will be none. You can't give up softies and both Murray and Samsonov have severe tendencies to give up softies

Offense - C
This is the most disapointing part of this team. I still expect Matthews to get 45-50 goals. But depth has been underwhelming

Best player - Marner.
So consisent and plays 200 feet game.

Worse player - Kerfoot
I just can't come around to liking this guy

Surprised - Holmberg.
Dude is going to be a good one
Tough along the boards and responsible

Need - A high scoring winger for 2nd line. You just can't go into the playoffs with Jarnkrok as your winger

 

[ER89]

Overall On par with expectations. They're playing more complete games and I like that they're not cheating on offense as much. But they still lack the killer instinct which can prevent them from making a deep playoff run.

Defense - A
Sans Rielly, I have loved the defense. You can't be perfect but they've done a fantastic job to limit chances and shots. We need to give rielly easy matchups so we can play to his strengths. Let the others take the defensive responsibility, starting with Lilj - absolutely fantastic,

Goaltending - B+
When they're on, they're on. But when they're not it's a brutal tandem to watch. Solid guys and hopefully they'll develop into more reliable tenders but the goaltending in general is a huge win overall. Both likeable guys and have the potential to steal a series.... will they? TBD.

Offense - B
Very disappointed with the offense. With the type of scorers and forwards we have we should be much more lethal 5v5.

Best player - Take your pick between marner or nylander.
Cannot go wrong. Both of them bring it. Both have tendencies to make elite plays and both also do dumb shit from time to time. But that's okay. Really solid seasons from both. Love what mitch provides on the pk and in general. William is a beast.

Worse player - Rielly
It's not that I don't like rielly. I thought he should have been captain over JT, but he's forcing it a LOT. Hopefully he settles down but morgan can't be the jake to our game 7 boston series. When the season is done he's likely to be one of our better players but for now, this season has been abysmal.

Surprised - Liljgren/Timmins
I was always high on Lilj but this season he's showed me that his potential is a legit top pairing dman. Maybe even a low end 1. The kid is a BEAST. Timmins man - he needs to play every game. I think we stole a top 3 d-man from zona. Hanta yo!

Need - A top 6 scoring winger. Nothing else will suffice. Bonus points if hes a mean son of a bitch.

EDIT:

Adding a disappointing player award: Matthews.

He can play all the defense he wants but if he wants to have the top 3 contract in the league he needs to provide top 10 production at LEAST.

 

[kevsh]

I'm not giving grades but I voted "overachieved".

Easy call considering:
1) Going into the season there was a huge question mark surrounding the net. Not a lot of faith that Samsonov/Murray were going to work out.
2) They lost their top 3 d-men for extended period, with Muzzin still out, and they're still on last season's pace.

So the second one isn't so relevant based on pre-season projections, but if you said going in that Reilly, Brodie and Muzzin were going to miss a lot of time in the first half I would have thought they'd be in the wild card race.

 

[wingman75]

Good summary.
IMO, after last season I expected a little more this year which is why I felt they have slightly 'underachieved', although the bar for that is pretty high.

Honestly, as long as they make the playoffs, that expectation is met. Obviously the higher up in the standings the better.

My judgement, and I assume everyone else will be the same, will be reserved for the playoffs. Fair or not, that is our reality now. Another first round exit should mean a house cleaning on the management side at a minimum. I don't know what it would mean for the roster.

I feel this team is better than last seasons, or at least has a higher peak. Let's see how the trade deadline affects that.

 

[Judas Tavares]

Don't have a chance atm to put in my grades. But I will say this based on early results of the poll. From how doom and gloom this place was, I'd say the team has overachieved. If after the offseason you said, at game 41, the team will be tied for 2nd in the league, I think this board would have been overjoyed at the offseason that was had.

So in terms of where we all want them to be, ya maybe they have met expectations if you wanted top 2 in the league and nothing else was acceptable. In terms of where this board deep down expected them to be based of reactions to the offseason, ya, this poll should be highly swayed in the overachieving direction.

Once you set aside little nitpicks and remember that teams lose games (unless you are Boston lol), teams let in goals. Pretty much every game. Teams let in stinky goals. Teams don't play well all 82 games. I think once you understand (which we all do) that in a vacuum, rather than base everything off one game, I think many should be quite pleased.

 

[Notsince67]

Team has met expectations for me but would like to see more consistency from some players. A major injury to one of the top forwards would be a bit nasty over the long run. Team needs to get nastier in defending cheap shots against these guys.

What keeps me awake:
1. worry that Nylander loses that fire. Has been essential to this teams success
2. Holl's occasional bad brain that malfunctions in the worst times.
3. Kerfoot riding as a passenger and being a game breaker the wrong way.
4. JT's consistency.
Grades

Forwards - B

Defense - A-

Goaltending - A-

Coaching - A

Management - B+

Thoughts

Best Player - Marner

Worst Player -Jarkrok (from a positional perspective but getting better)

Biggest Surprise - Timmins

Biggest Disappointment - Engvall

Biggest Need - Top 6 LW

 

[wingman75]

What keeps me awake:
1. worry that Nylander loses that fire. Has been essential to this teams success
2. Holl's occasional bad brain that malfunctions in the worst times.
3. Kerfoot riding as a passenger and being a game breaker the wrong way.
4. JT's consistency.

Nice addition.

I agree with you on number 2, but I feel our other D are good enough to overcome most of his nonsense (which has been extremely limited lately). The improved forward defensive play also contributes to less mistakes I believe.

I would add something that I would put at # 1 for me. Goaltending. I love what I have seen overall, but I have concerns. I think we are stuck with these guys through the season and playoffs, so I hope to hell they are their best selves when it matters the most.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I chose "have overachieved", even though they haven't really overachieved. I know it's contradictory, but I figured the Leafs would be around where they are if they got enough adequate goaltending. The goaltending has surprisingly been much better than I ever thought it'd be, and in turn, Matthews has had a pedestrian season by his standards. The team also held the fort while ravaged by injuries on D, including Rielly. Marner and Nylander have been dynamite and carrying the team.

 

[Twine Tickler]

I'll elaborate on my grades for a second. I can't find any reason to not give this entire team straight A's. We've dealt with as many or more man games lost to injury as just about any other squad in the NHL, including a stretch where we were missing our top 2 goaltenders and top 3 defensemen. Despite all of that, we 3rd in the NHL standings. This is not done without complete buy in from all of our players. They've answered the bell, and committed to playing a 200 foot game.

The same amount of praise needs to go to the coaching staff for keeping this group focused despite every reason to get off track, and to management for building the depth to sustain that wave of injuries.

As for my individual awards. Mitch has been the straw that stirs our drink every game. He is about as consistent of a player as there is in the NHL. IMO, he is a slam dunk for our best player. Willy deserves the runner up, as he's been outstanding. But unfortunately for him Mitch has just been other worldly.

Timmins has been a pleasant surprise. He always had the pedigree, but for him to go from AHL/NHL tweener in AZ to a guy we can really rely on is a touch shocking to say the least. In fact, he looks to be a big part of our future right side. Excellent trade thus far.

NAK to me was the easy decision for worst, and most disappointing. He was a guy who I was really hoping could energize our bottom 6, and he did the exact opposite. He was terrible most nights.

In terms of our biggest need, I really think we have a winning squad. I feel like we've had that for the last 2 seasons TBH. Our biggest need is to believe in ourselves, and block out the noise. We will have a nightmare road to the SCF being in a stacked east, but we have the squad to get it done. What we have yet to prove is do we have the swagger and confidence to get it done when it matters the most. That can only be answered in May/June. I am not sure 1 or multiple additions at the TDL can give us that much more swagger. But if we do make a splash, I'd like it to be for a guy who exudes that confidence, and someone who can handle the pressure. A Patty Kane, or even Jonathon Toews. A proven winner, and a voice in the room and on the bench when shit hits the fan.

 

[Al14]

I expected much better from this team this season. After 6 first round exits, I really thought that this team, and core, would finally be mature and able to dominate, especially the bottom feeder teams.

I think they should be doing exactly what the Boston Bruins are achieving, especially with how highly paid our core players are.


Grades

Forwards: B-
Defense: B with Rielly, A+ without.
Goaltending: B+ would be an A without the recent slump by both goaltenders.
Coaching: B the team still comes out not ready to play too often.
Management: C: tired of Shanahan not advocating for better refereeing.


Thoughts

Best Player: Marner
Worst Player: Engval need more from a big bodied player physically.
Biggest Surprise: Timmins should not be scratched again.
Biggest Disappointment: Matthews not able to score at the same pace.
Biggest Need: A big scoring power forward winger. A true number 1 D would be great too.

 

[1specter]

This info is probably good to share here:



Nice difference in goals against, high danger goals against and sv%

 

[ACC1224]

I expected much better from this team this season. After 6 first round exits, I really thought that this team, and core, would finally be mature and able to dominate, especially the bottom feeder teams.

I think they should be doing exactly what the Boston Bruins are achieving, especially with how highly paid our core players are.


Grades

Forwards: B-
Defense: B with Rielly, A+ without.
Goaltending: B+ would be an A without the recent slump by both goaltenders.
Coaching: B the team still comes out not ready to play too often.
Management: C: tired of Shanahan not advocating for better refereeing.


Thoughts

Best Player: Marner
Worst Player: Engval need more from a big bodied player physically.
Biggest Surprise: Timmins should not be scratched again.
Biggest Disappointment: Matthews not able to score at the same pace.
Biggest Need: A big scoring power forward winger. A true number 1 D would be great too.

How would we know if he's advocating or not?

 

[Gary Nylund]

In terms of our biggest need, I really think we have a winning squad. I feel like we've had that for the last 2 seasons TBH. Our biggest need is to believe in ourselves, and block out the noise. We will have a nightmare road to the SCF being in a stacked east, but we have the squad to get it done. What we have yet to prove is do we have the swagger and confidence to get it done when it matters the most. That can only be answered in May/June. I am not sure 1 or multiple additions at the TDL can give us that much more swagger. But if we do make a splash, I'd like it to be for a guy who exudes that confidence, and someone who can handle the pressure. A Patty Kane, or even Jonathon Toews. A proven winner, and a voice in the room and on the bench when shit hits the fan.

Nice post. I agree completely and that's why I do NOT want to trade top future assets for a rental player. They'll either play like they can, or they won't But I also agree that if we do get someone, it would be someone who has the attributes you mention and Toews, now that is intriguing. I wonder if he could be had without parting with our best futures?

 

[Buds17]

Team has met expectations (pacing for another 1st round playoff series that begins and ends with home ice.)

Forwards-B (Productive group overall, although one that appears to be top heavy/top six reliant)
Defence-A- (Quality amount of depth that's been able to withstand injuries (Muzzin) )
Goaltending-B+ (A true tandem in which neither goalie has been extended beyond his means)
Coaching-B+ (Solid utilization of Murray and Samsonov by Keefe)
Management-B+ (Acquiring Timmins without subtracting from the current team was exceptional)

Best player-Auston Matthews (a close competition with a couple of others-Nylander, Marner)
Worst player-NAK (for the incredibly quick exit)
Biggest surprise-Pontus Holmberg's emergence as an NHL regular
Biggest disappointment-Alex Kerfoot (looks to have lost a top six spot to Jarnkrok already)
Biggest need-another forward of (some) importance